The season of Lent is quickly coming and with this season comes a spiritual invitation for us to engage in practices of fasting and feasting.
We fast in order to seriously consider what is important to us. Do we believe that only God’s presence can satisfy our souls and that as Jesus said to his disciples after speaking with the women at the well when they encouraged him to eat, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” We fast to make room in our lives for God’s presence to reign in a fuller capacity.
We feast in order to celebrate that God continually provides our daily bread and that we desire to share in this blessing face to face with each other. We feast to imitate Jesus in his love for being will people and speaking truth and love into our midst.
This year we have chosen an overall theme of Dying to Live. Throughout Lent we will consider what needs to be but to death in our lives and what needs to be brought to life. We will look to Jesus and repent, die to our selves, and ask him afresh for the passion and commitment to seek only his kingdom and his ways.
Beginning with Ash Wednesday (Feb 25) we set out on a 45 day journey towards Easter. The Lenten season traditionally excludes Sundays from the rhythm of Lent but incorporates them on another wonderful level: feasting. Sundays, feast days, are important in Lent as they represent the spiritual life of fullness abundance that Jesus offers to us.
The last few years we grown in participating in this season. I think it is a great opportunity to reflect, to seek the Lord afresh, to confess, to change, to reorientate parts of of life that need it and to simply love and worship Jesus. Join in the journey.
In the coming days there are a number of practices for us to engage in as a missional Christian community:
- Fast for the full time of Lent. Reflect on areas of your life that you could abstain from in order to know the presence of God more fully. Fast or abstain from food, entertainment, facebook, sleeping in… but remember that fasting isn’t just about a removing but also a filling. With what will you fill the space with?
- Come to the Ash Wednesday Gathering at ETC Feb 25 prepared to engaged in repentance, remembering the work of the cross, and living in the joy Jesus has for us.
- Engage in the 2009 Lent Study & Prayer guide that will lead us through daily prayers, scripture reflections and other communal practices. Begin reading through Matt 22-28 as we use them to guide our Lenten and Easter journey.
- Set aside Sundays in Lent to feast with people from our congregation and neighbourhood. Traditionally Sunday has not been a day of fasting so you could use Sunday as a ‘treat’ day for whatever you are fasting from.
- Mark Thursday April 9th on your calendar as our Maundy Thursday meals in our congregations and the beginning of our weekend of prayer and fasting.
- Look ahead to celebrating spiritual life this coming Easter Sunday. Pray for friends who might be open to coming and contemplating the deeper meanings of Easter. Pray for those being baptized on Easter.
I have pulled over some of the resources that a numbers of SCCers had written for Lent last year. You can find them here. Scroll down the page to find them.
