“Lent has two quite remarkable bookends. On Ash Wednesday, we are reminded that we are dust and that God loves us even in our dustiness. At the end of this season, we will celebrate the power that God’s love has to transform this world. Easter reminds us that not even death can keep us from God’s unconditional love. As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus this Lent, we know that living out God’s love for the world is our ultimate goal.”
–The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Episcopal Relief & Development Lenten Meditations.
I really appreciate how our Presiding Bishop has framed the Lenten journey in this meditation. As I suggested in my Ash Wednesday homily to the good folks at Trinity Litchfield, Lent is a gift to the Church. If we are willing to lean in from Ash Wednesday to Easter, we will be given an incredible opportunity to deepen our faith.
In my experience, when we are “Lenten aspirational,” there is a real likeliness of our lives being transformed. The majority of my daily disciplines began in Lent (spiritual readings, reflections, writing, etc.) and are now deeply embedded in my spiritual routine. Each of these experiences has challenged me to change and transform. Each practice required heavy lifting initially. Yet doing them in the frame of the Lenten journey, as spoken about in our liturgy, “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent” (Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Book of Common Prayer) has bolstered my capacity to establish a holy rhythm.
The Lenten journey is an invitation for transformation. It is an invitation to us to move more and more towards becoming the people God is calling us to be. Each step, as the Presiding Bishop suggests, brings us further along this journey of transforming the world.
“As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus this Lent, we know that living out God’s love for the world is our ultimate goal.”
Source: Bishop Brian Prior – A Lenten Invitation