Recently a group of us attended the Ash Wednesday service at St.Paul’s cathedral, which was a combined service with the Catholic cathedral . It has become a yearly event and a nice way of sharing our faith and seeing how much that we as Christians have in common. After the service we gathered for a meal and someone asked “Where did Lent come from?” That’s what started me out on tonight’s topic.
The word ‘Lent’ is the Old English word for Spring. Spring is the season of renewal. For us, Lent is the season of spiritual renewal, the season when we take a hard and honest look at ourselves, the season when we do a little spiritual housecleaning. It is a time of fasting and repentance. It is a time to address our shortcomings and to try again to follow the example of Christ and to model our lives as he taught us to do.
In Old English, Lent is the word for Spring. In almost all other languages it’s name is a derivative of the Latin term ‘Quadragesima’ or ‘the forty days.’
It is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays. It began on Ash Wednesday and ended on Holy Saturday. In recent years this has been modified so that it now ends with evening Mass on Holy Thursday to prepare the way for the Triduum, ( Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday). Sundays are excluded from the reckoning of the forty days because Sunday is the day on which Christ arose, making it an inappropriate day to fast and mourn our sins. On Sunday we must celebrate Christ’s resurrection for our salvation.
While there has always been a period of preparation for Easter, it wasn’t until some 1,700 years ago in the Eastern Church and some 1,400 years ago in the Western Church that the period of 40 days was finally settled on. 40 days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion and preparation in the Bible.
Moses stayed on the mountain of God 40 days.
“ He stayed
there with Yahweh for forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing”
(Exodus 24 : 18.)
Elijah
travelled 40 days before he reached the cave where he had his vision.
“ So he got
up and ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he walked for forty days
and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.” (1 Kings
19 : 8.)
Nineveh was
given 40 days to repent.
“ Jonah set
out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh
was a city great beyond compare : it took three days to cross it. Jonah went on
into the city, making a day’s journey. He preached in these words, ‘ Only
forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed.”
(Jonah
Prior to
undertaking his ministry, Jesus spent 40 Dys in the wilderness praying and
fasting.
(Luke 4 :
1-13)
Fasting
and Prayer
Fasting
and prayer
When Moses,
Elijah and Jesus fasted and prayed, they did so to come closer to the presence
of God, to reflect on God’s goodness, on God’s meaning and purpose in their
lives.
Lent isd
our time to focus on these things. A time to take a second look, a time
to remind ourselves about the part God plays in each and every day we
live. It is a time to put aside the distractions. To put aside all
those things that close our ears to God’s voice, that blind our eyes to God’s
presence in others.
When we
were children we promised to give up something for Lent. We made a sacrifice in
solidarity with the sacrifice Jesus made. We gave up toys, or games or
candy until Lent was passed. Then on Easter we went on a binge, and usually,
the notion of fasting or penance was forgotten until the next year.
Fasting and prayer were not means to an end. They were an end in and of
themselves. Instead of helping us to reach out to God they merely
fulfilled an obligation and gave us a sense of having done the right thing.
Unfortunately,
this attitude often carries on to adulthood. We still go through the
motions year after year, feeling right on the surface, but not reaching
within. It is not how you pray but why you pray. Not what you give
up, but why you give it up. Lent should help us to listen, to see, to
come closer to God and to let God come closer to us.
You,
Springtime Jesus,
just as I'd
settled down for winter,
you broke
into my heart
and danced
your love right across it
in a mad
excess of giving.
Just as I'd
got comfortable
with bare
branches and unfeeling,
just as my
world was neatly black and white,
there you
were,
kicking up
flowers
all over
the place.
Springtime
Jesus,
I tried to
find a way to tell you
that there
were places
where you
could or could not dance.
I wanted to
guide you on my paths
and have
you sign the visitors' book;
but you
laughed right through my words
and sang to
me your melting song,
causing sap
to fire the branches,
causing the
flames of buds
to flicker
into green bonfires,
causing a
windquake of blossom,
causing
burstings, searings, breakings,
causing
growth‑pain,
causing
life.
Springtime
Jesus,
the
fullness of life can be frightening
and I'm
lacking in courage.
It isn't
easy to live with a heart
that's wide
open to invasion.
Teach me,
Jesus, how to move with you,
step for
step, in your love dance.
Touch my
fears with your melting song.
Gift me
with your laughter,
and, in the
mystery of your Springtime,
show me the
truth of the blossoming Cross.
All: For we have
wounded your love.
Refine us with the
flame of your Spirit
Cleanse us with the
springs of living water.
Save us with words of
forgiveness and peace
Make us whole,
steadfast in spirit.
Broken are our bones,
yet you can heal us,
And we shall leap for
joy and dance again.
O God of love, we
adore you. You transfigure our disfigured faces, you strive with our resistant
clay, you bring out of our chaos, harmony.
O God of love, we
adore you.
God the Creator bring
us new life, forgive us and redeems us. Take hold of this forgiveness and live
your life in the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.
The Paschal Way
You said that if I walked your path with you
I would experience the blossoming of heaven.
I thought that you meant flowers,
blooms of celebration strewn
along the Hosanna road,
or arranged by flickering candles
in a church filled with peace,
or clustered fragrant in a heart
made into permanent summer by prayer,
or handed to me by friends
who valued flowers as much as I did.
You said that if I walked your path with you
I would discover the sweetness of God
and I expected to be given flowers.
But actually you were talking of thorns
and a cross on the road to dying
and hands and feet pierced by a truth
that I did not want to own
and a feeling of forsakeness
and a letting go
and a love so terrible it came
like a sword in my struggling heart
and finally, nothing but you and I
in the silence of the tomb
You asked me to walk your path with you
and yes, you did mean flowers
but not the fragile things of a day.
Something of permanent fragrance
and a beauty that can't be measured
by a panacea of small comforts.
You were talking of the tomb transformed,
imprisonment into freedom,
crosses into wisdom,
suffering into compassion,
darkness into light.
You were talking of your presence,
in a life made larger by your Easter Journey.
You were talking of resurrections without end.
Leader: For the hungry and overfed;
All: May we have
enough.
For the mourners and
the mockers:
May we laugh
together.
For the victims and
the oppressors:
May we share power
wisely.
For the peacemakers
and warmongers:
May clear truth and
stern love lead us to harmony.
For the silenced and
the progandists:
May we speak our own
words of truth.
For the unemployed
and the overworked:
May our impress on
the earth be kindly and creative.
For the troubled and
the sleek:
May we live together
as wounded healers.
For the homeless and
the cosseted:
May our homes be
simple, warm and welcoming.
For the vibrant and
the dying:
May we all die to
live.
(with collection)
Gay and Lesbian Fair: Saturday 13 March, Newtown
School, Riddiford St.
Galaxies meets at St Andrews on the 1st and
3rd Sundays of the month at 7.30pm
For further information contact:
Deborah
Gordon
Phone: (hm) 04 389-1777
Email: dm.gordon@clear.net.nz
www.galaxies.dns2go.com