A Lenten Invitation

It was a privilege to mark the beginning of Lent around Squamish with so many of you on Ash Wednesday. As I said in my reflection from last week, it is one of my favourite days of the year. The service, the prayers, the ritual itself is powerful in and of itself – it doesn’t need much around it in terms of exposition or explanation. So, for those who came, and for those who didn’t, I wanted to give us another opportunity to sit with this invitation from the Ash Wednesday liturgy. 

Dear friends in Christ,
every year at the time of the Christian Passover 
we celebrate our redemption
through the death and resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration 
and to renew our life in the paschal mystery. 
We begin this holy season
by remembering our need for repentance,
and for the mercy and forgiveness
proclaimed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We begin our journey to Easter with the sign of ashes, 
an ancient sign,
speaking of the frailty and uncertainty of human life, 
and marking the penitence of the community as a whole. 

I invite you therefore, in the name of the Lord, 
to observe a holy Lent
by self-examination, penitence, prayer, 
fasting, and almsgiving, 
and by reading and meditating on the word of God.     

(Book of Alternative Services pg. 281-282)    

May we all observe a holy Lent.  

Thanks be to God!

CG+