From The Pastor
As we prepare for the season of Lent in the church calendar (February 14th through March 31st), I wanted to take a moment to explain what it is and why it is important to me, and hopefully important to you. The Catholic church describes Lent as “a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms (being charitable); and we practice self-control through fasting.”
Being a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we do not follow the Lenten season exactly as our Catholic friends do, however, we hope to observe it and add (take away?) certain practices in our lives that will bring us closer to Jesus. We can do something as simple as giving up chocolate and replacing that food with something healthy, to something as life-changing as fasting one day every week for the 6-week period leading up to Easter Sunday. Regardless of what spiritual practices we may decide to implement, I leave you with this prayer from Henri Nouwen for the upcoming Lenten season (beginning February 14th – Ash Wednesday):
“Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me. Amen”
Please join us on Wednesday, February 14th at 6pm for our Ash Wednesday service in the sanctuary.
As always, I look forward to seeing you, especially in worship,
Pastor Robert
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