Reflective Thoughts on Lent by Henri Nowen

I found the introduction for the Lent devotional we are going through motivational and thought I would reprint it here for those who may not yet have a devotional booklet.

Lent is the most important time of the year to nurture our inner life.  It is the time during which we not only prepare ourselves to celebrate the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also the death and resurrection that constantly takes place within us.  Life is a continuing process of the death of the old and the familiar, and being reborn again into a new hope, a new trust and a new love.  The death and resurrection of Jesus therefore is not just an historical event that took place a long time ago, but an inner event that takes place in our own heart when we are willing to be attentive to it.  True repentance is an interior attitude in which we are willing to let go of everything that prevents us from growing into spiritual maturity, and there is hardly a moment in our lives in which we are not invited to detach ourselves from certain ways of thinking, ways of speaking, ways of acting, that for a long time gave us energy, but that always again need to be renewed and recreated.

Lent offers a beautiful opportunity to discover the mystery of Christ within us.  It is a gentle but also demanding time.  It is a time of solitude but also community.  It is a time of listening to the voice within, but also a time of paying attention to other people's needs.  It is a time to continuously make the passage to new inner life as well as to life with those around us.

When we live Lent attentively and gently, then Easter can truly be a celebration during which the full proclamation of the risen Christ will reverberate into the deepest place of our being. 

Henri J.M. Nouwen
September 1996

Understanding Ash Wednesday



Join us for the service in the FLC, Feb. 13th at 6:30p.

For some, the observance of Ash Wednesday may be new, especially those whose background is in "free" church traditions.  In the past decade, a huge resurgance of its observance has been seen within the many churches including the Church of the Nazarene.  As with most periods of the Church Calendar outside of Christmas and Easter, some people view Ash Wednesday as an exclusive tool of Roman Catholicism, or at least “High Church” traditions.  But the Church Calendar is an effective way to preach the full gospel to yourself, your family and the church. It focuses our attention on all aspects of Christ’s earthly ministry, from the promise of His coming (Advent) to the gift of His Spirit to the church after his ascension (Pentecost).

 

So What Exactly Is Ash Wednesday?
 

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The date is set by counting back forty days from Easter (excluding Sundays), which takes you to the Wednesday seven weeks before Easter. The church arrived at this determination in the fourth century. Why forty days? Each day symbolizes one of the forty days when Christ fasted in the wilderness, before Satan tempted Him (Mark 4:2).
 

Three Purposes Of Ash Wednesday:

• to reflect on our sin and the resultant death that reigns in us, and our need for Jesus to save us.
• to renew our commitment to daily repentance — to “die daily,” as Paul said (1 Corinthians 15:31).
• to remember that Christ conquered sin and death.

When do we eat?
 

Ash Wednesday is typically observed as a day of fasting. Which is why a lot of people pig out the day before (“Fat Tuesday”).
 

Why Is It Called “Ash” Wednesday?
Why Do Christians Put Ashes On Their Heads?
 

Ashes are a reminder, in scripture, of our mortality and frailty resulting from the curse of the Fall (Genesis 3:19; 18:27). The Bible also uses ashes as a sign of sorrow or repentance (2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1-3; Jeremiah 6:26).
 

Putting ashes on your forehead or the back of you hand in the sign of the cross is not some kind of magic charm. It is simply a visible reminder of our condition and the power of the cross to forever change that condition.