Lent
Dear People of Grace,
This year Easter Sunday is on April 24th, which means that Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent doesn’t occur until March 9th. Frankly put, it has been a long, hard winter, but that is beginning to change (I’m writing this letter on the day after Valentine’s Day). The days are getting longer, the snow from the Blizzard of 2011 is slowly going away, and there is even a chance of 60-degree weather in the next week. Usually by this time of year, we are well on to our Lenten journey. By now, we have usually gorged ourselves on pancakes on Shrove Tuesday; and if you are like me, you have already slipped at least once on your Lenten discipline, and you have gone on auto pilot at Sunday services and shouted out “Alleluia” at the breaking of the bread. But for all those things which we have normally done, we will be anticipating them just a little later this year.
It is an interesting fact that this year’s Easter and the preceding season of Lent is the latest that it’s been since 1900—April 23rd in 2000, April 22nd in 1984 and 1962. And it will be the latest Pascal Season we will have until 2038 when Easter falls on April 25th, the latest possible date for Easter! For the past two weeks or so, my priestly DNA keeps telling me that something big is coming up. You might understand why it is that I’ve had the sinking feeling that something has happened already. You might be having that very same feeling, too!
Sometimes life is like that. Where the normal expectations and routines of years gone by have been postponed or pushed back or like this year our internal clocks are being pushed back by a few weeks. The good news and the grace in all of this is that when it comes time for us to retire the “Alleluias” for Lent, and then 40 days later recover that same sacred “A word” our world will be fully transformed from the cold gray days of late winter into the budding glimpses of a glorious springtime ahead of us.
My prayer for you, as our season of Epiphany comes to a close and as we turn our hearts toward the solemn season of Lent, is that you uncover the lush green blades of a summer time Love of God in the coming weeks, even in the midst of Lent.
Lent does not have to be a time of self-loathing and pain. Quite honestly, like the season of Advent, Lent is a time of hopeful preparation. It is true that the lessons become more serious and the music takes on a solemn tone, yet there is joy that comes in the morning light of Easter. We as Christians and believers in Jesus’ Resurrection know that through all the trials of the Passion, there is Good News in the end. Likewise, there is something beautiful in the budding spring that will already be taking place, even as we are still wrestling with the self discipline and introspection we will be undergoing during Lent. Remember, not all of Lent is to be the week of the Lord’s Passion. Hopefully, as the forty days of Lent give way to the powerful sacrifice of Holy Week, we will be re-invigorated and strengthened in the optimism that we will find in the gift of the Cross on Good Friday.
As winter melts away, my hope is that you begin preparing your mind and your heart to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ Resurrection. But for now, take note of the melting snow and ice, the longer days and find hope. Find joy in the season of Lent. Fill your mind and soul with hope and preparation, as the world gets a little brighter with the Son’s rising.
Faithfully, I remain,
Your rector and friend,
(The Rev.) Joshua D. Walters
P.S. Your homework is to find the Tables and Rules for Finding the Date of Easter Day in The Book of Common Prayer.
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