Dear St. James’ Parish Family,
The holy season of Lent is nearly upon us. Yes, it is early this year! Ash Wednesday is February 10th, which means Easter will be March 27th. But before we get to the empty tomb, we must first
encounter ashes on our journey to the cross. One of my favorite prayers is the Invitation to Observe a Holy Lent from the Ash Wednesday service. Found on page 264-265 of the Book of Common Prayer, it concludes with this statement:
“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”
This is the work of Lent. It is work that we are called to engage in individually, but also – and always – as a community.
For this reason, we will be having a Monday Night Lenten Forum from 7:00-8:30 pm for the five Mondays of Lent beginning on February 15. The theme of the forum will be Creating a Life of Prayer.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time – waking and sleeping. It does not change God, it changes me.”
Or as one of my seminary professors once said, you have to learn to pray somewhere, some of the time, before you can prayer everywhere, all of the time. And so it is we will explore, learn about
and practice together five different ways of praying. We will close with a simple Compline service ending by 8:30 pm. Come to as many of the Mondays as you can, but know that each gathering will be a standalone session.
2/15: Lectio Divina – the practice of sacred reading
2/22: Centering Prayer – Christian contemplative prayer
2/29: Praying with our Bodies – labyrinths, walking meditation & movement prayer
3/7: Ignatian Contemplation – prayer to grow deeper in intimacy with God
3/14: The Anglican Rosary – includes making your own rosary
In addition there will be Lenten devotional materials for the whole family available to pick up beginning on Ash Wednesday. These will include a Family Lenten Calendar with activities, Episcopal Relief & Development’s Lenten Meditations booklet, a sticker-a-day journey through Lent for kids, and Lenten reflection pamphlets from C.S. Lewis & Henri Nouwen. I will also put out special Lent coloring and activity sheets every Sunday (for everyone, not just kids!), and our Sunday School classes will have a set of large Lenten coloring posters that will be used in many ways: their classes, set out on Sundays for anyone to color, sent home with families, who knows! We will hang them around the sanctuary as they are completed.
And finally, one last thing. Because even in Lent whimsy is important. Have you heard of Lent Madness? It’s sort of like March Madness, only with saints. For real. Click the links below to learn more and to see this year’s saintly scorecard bracket, but the elevator pitch is that much like the NCAA tourney bracket, Lent Madness is ‘tourney’ in which all of us get to vote for different saints each round until the winner is crowned with the Golden Halo. It’s a great way to learn more about saints of the church and have some fun along the way. I will be making copies of the bracket for those who would like to play along, you can sign up to receive the daily email with info about the saints and a link to vote – play along at home and at the end of Lent bring your bracket back to share with everyone else!
Lent is a big season, and so it is we enter into its abundance every year, returning again to the road that takes us to the cross, and yes the empty tomb. I very much look forward to journeying with all of you this year.
In Peace,
Kristin+