Holy Season of Lent +

Ash Wednesday marked the entrance of the Holy Season of Lent, which is a time of fasting and abstinence observed by traditional doctrine of Christian spirituality.  It is a 40-day season of devotion to one’s Christian faith that concludes with the Easter Vigil.

The 40 days represent the time that Jesus retreated into the desert and was tempted by Satan.  The purpose of Lent is preparation of believers for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and the recalling of events linked to the Passion of Christ which culminates in Easter – the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The number 40 has many Biblical references:  the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Ex 24:18); the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb (I Kings 19:8); God made it rain for forty days and forty nights in the days of Noah (Gen 7:4); the Hebrew people wandered forty years traveling to the Promised Land (Num 14:33); Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh forty days to repent (Jon 3:4).  Also there is the traditional belief that Jesus lay for 40 hours in the tomb which led to the forty hours of total fast preceding the Easter celebration.

Pause during this Holy season to be reflective and thankful for the gift of life eternal.  There are three disciplines observed during Lent to increase joy and aid the soul in living the fullness of faith:

·         Fasting or self-denial

·         Increased prayer by attending worship and various devotions

·         Sacrificial giving of alms (charitable donations)

 

“O, remember not our old sins, but have mercy upon us, and that soon; for we are come to great misery.  Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy Name; O, deliver us and be merciful unto our sins, for thy Name’s sake (Ps. 78-79)