Lent: Preparing for the Big One!

THE central, most important holiday (really, "Holy-Day") of the church is Easter Sunday.  On this day we re-live and re-experience the reality and impact of Jesus' resurrection from the dead and his victory over the powers of evil.  And by celebrating this victory we again appropriate them for ourselves: Jesus' new life becomes ours; his victory becomes reality for us.  This is what the Faith is all about, and without Easter, none of what we do makes sense.

Lent, the forty days before Easter Sunday (called in Latin quarantine, from which we get our term for removing the sick from the healthy), has been traditionally the time to prepare ourselves for the Easter celebrations.  The word "lent" comes from an old English word for "springtime" (when the days lengthen or "lenten").  The soil of our souls needs to be tilled as one would prepare a garden for planting seeds and receiving new life.  The seeds of the Gospel are planted again within us and new life springs from within us, bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God.

The season of Lent begins here at Trinity with the traditional Ash Wednesday Service at 7 pm on February 17th.  We will again offer the imposition of ashes as a sign of repentance.  The following Wednesdays before Holy Week feature our Soup Suppers (bring your own bowls; bread and drink provided) followed by a short lenten devotional service designed to deepen and enrich your journey toward Easter.

God's blessings and peace,

Pastor Larry Becker