From the Rector: A Holy Lent

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent . . .

(from the Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Book of Common Prayer p. 265)

Dear friends,

This week we enter into the joyful starkness of Lent. Lent is a six-week period in which new Christians have traditionally been prepared for Holy Baptism at Easter. Over time, that spirit of preparation extended beyond new candidates for baptism to include the wider church community, and so we celebrate this time of simplicity and self-examination to help prepare our hearts for the Easter feast.

An old tradition for the First Sunday of Lent is to begin the liturgy with the Great Litany, an extended series of prayers, sung in procession around the church building. In it, we pray for almost everyone and everything under the sun, including ourselves. The First Sunday of Lent was once the beginning of the season. Since Sundays aren’t considered fast days, six weeks of six fast days meant 36 days total. Over time, a desire to match the biblical 40 days of Jesus’ time in the wilderness meant that Lent was extended back an additional four days, to start on the preceding Wednesday.

Many people choose to take on a Lenten practice of some kind. A Lenten practice can be “giving something up,” but it can equally well be “taking something on.” There are lots of possibilities, some of which have traditional names: giving money to a worthy cause (“alms”); eating more simply, often paired with giving away the cost of what you might otherwise have spent (“fasting and abstinence”); trying on a new practice of daily prayer or spiritual reading; volunteering with an organization that furthers God’s love in the world. All these things can be deeply enriching. It may be better to pick something small and meaningful than to try something overly ambitious. Lenten practices aren’t about spiritual heroics, but about opening us up to our dependence on God’s unfailing love and grace.

This Lent, I particularly want to encourage us to consider participating in our parish book study on Stephanie Spellers' The Church Cracked Open and in our interfaith fast event on Thursday, March 2, in solidarity with those in Sonoma County who are unhoused. You'll find more about both those opportunities below.

God bless us as we enter into this holy season.

In Christ's love,

Stephen