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Season of Lent
Dear beloved of St. Michael’s,
Warm greetings to you all on the eve of the holy season of Lent! The observance of this season, along with the Great Fifty Days of Easter, is one of the Church’s oldest traditions. To make some palpable increases in our devotion in the days leading up to the observance of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection is something that Christians have done since the earliest days of our faith.
But how exactly we increase our devotion is something that we must discern each year, and context matters. The basic pillars are always the same: fasting, prayer, and acts of charity. How might our current context inform what specific forms of these three pillars are most fitting this year? I think that the passage from Isaiah 58 we will read on Ash Wednesday provides some strong guidance:
Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
These verses state unequivocally that God’s chosen fast involves us making sure that all people, bar none, receive basic needs, mercy, and hospitality. But the end of the last verse adds an extra dimension of challenge: we are not to hide ourselves from our own kin. And we’re not allowed the luxury of defining our “own kin” narrowly. Every person on the planet is, in one way or another, our kin.
In this era of extreme partisan division it is all too easy to see issues of mercy and justice through a distorted lens. Each of us is tempted to believe fervently that our own party, our own tribe, our own ideological enclave is the sole champion of justice and righteousness, and all others are opponents. But Isaiah challenges us to rise above this way of thinking and being. Yes, God’s chosen fast is indeed one of extending tangible acts of mercy and justice toward those who need them most. But we dare not do so at the expense of hiding ourselves from our own kin. Somehow, and without God’s grace and help it is an impossible task, we are called to be the people who loose the bonds of injustice and share our bread with the hungry without allowing ourselves to descend into the partisan rancor that surrounds us on every side.
It's a tall order to put it mildly, but this is the Lenten fast to which I believe God is calling us this year. And by God’s grace and power, it is something that I believe we can faithfully accomplish. May God bless and empower each and every one of you as you embark upon the holy work to which this season calls us.
In Christ,
Andy+
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