Lent 2024SHROVE TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 13 * 5 PM Pancake supper ASH WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14 * 12 NOON & 7 PM Holy Eucharist with the Imposition of Ashes WEDNESDAYS * 7 PM beginning FEBRUARY 21 "The Chosen" Season 3 viewing & discussion View our 2024 HOLY WEEK schedule here. |
LentLent is the forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays), beginning on Ash Wednesday. Lent is that season which prepares us by bringing us symbolically through the wilderness to the Paschal Mystery. Like Noah's forty days on the ark and like Israel's forty years in the wilderness of Sinai, the forty days of Lent prepare us to receive the promise of the Paschal Mystery: redemption and new life.
The wilderness of Lent is meant to cleanse us from that which inhibits our relationship with God and by engaging in the ancient Lenten disciplines (practices) of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we prepare ourselves to live more fully as followers of Jesus. Through PRAYER we come to know our true selves and to recognize that which is holding us back from being exactly what we were created to be: Beloved children in the embrace of a loving God. Moreover, in prayer (especially common prayer) we meet God in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, fully becoming brothers and sisters in Christ and with Christ. Prayer can take many and varied forms (intercession, thanksgiving, meditation, contemplation), but of particular importance during Lent is the common and corporate prayer of the Church. By FASTING we rid ourselves of all that does not enable charity and love to prevail. We fast to rid ourselves of character, habit, and behavior that keep us from healthy and holy relationships with God and with one another: greed, consumption, consumerism, vengeance, prejudice, and selfishness, just to name a few. Fasting has traditionally been expressed through giving up food - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the two days on which the Church particularly encourages its members to fast in common. However, fasting can take the form of relinquishing or "giving up" anything for the sake of the kingdom and for the sake of deepening one's relationship with God. In ALMSGIVING we make ourselves more aware of the needs of others, especially the poor and marginalized. We do this because it is an apt and holy expression of charity and mercy - a way to not only demonstrate but to grow more fully in love just as God loves us. Traditionally, almsgiving has included the giving of resources (financial or otherwise) for the benefit of the poor and hungry. Almsgiving, however, can also mean the offering of one's time or talent to fulfill the need of another. |
ASH WEDNESDAY - BEGINNING THE JOURNEY
We gather to begin our Lenten journey in community on Ash Wednesday, joining in prayer and scripture, and participating in the imposition of ashes. Ashes, imposed on the forehead (with the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return") are a reminder of our mortality and our need for divine life.
SHROVE TUESDAY - CLEANING OUT THE FAT
Shrove Tuesday gets it name from the Old English scrifan, meaning "to impose a penance." In medieval Christian England, "to shrive" meant to give absolution for someone's sins by way of confession and penance. Shrove Tuesday was, therefore, the day before the beginning of Lent when the priest would hear confessions and give absolution for the practice of a holy Lent. Now, Shrove Tuesday also came to be associated with the preparation of the home for Lent. So, on the one hand, Shrove Tuesday (also called Mardi Gras, Carnival, Feteirsdag-Fat Tuesday, and Sprengidagur-Bursting Day) is an opportunity for one last day of feasting and merriment before the somber days of Lent begin. On the other hand, Shrove Tuesday, long associated with Pancakes, is a way to empty the larder of the rich foods like eggs, mils, and sugar for Lenten fasting and abstinence.
We gather to begin our Lenten journey in community on Ash Wednesday, joining in prayer and scripture, and participating in the imposition of ashes. Ashes, imposed on the forehead (with the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return") are a reminder of our mortality and our need for divine life.
SHROVE TUESDAY - CLEANING OUT THE FAT
Shrove Tuesday gets it name from the Old English scrifan, meaning "to impose a penance." In medieval Christian England, "to shrive" meant to give absolution for someone's sins by way of confession and penance. Shrove Tuesday was, therefore, the day before the beginning of Lent when the priest would hear confessions and give absolution for the practice of a holy Lent. Now, Shrove Tuesday also came to be associated with the preparation of the home for Lent. So, on the one hand, Shrove Tuesday (also called Mardi Gras, Carnival, Feteirsdag-Fat Tuesday, and Sprengidagur-Bursting Day) is an opportunity for one last day of feasting and merriment before the somber days of Lent begin. On the other hand, Shrove Tuesday, long associated with Pancakes, is a way to empty the larder of the rich foods like eggs, mils, and sugar for Lenten fasting and abstinence.