Written by Bishop Andrew Gentry   

Beloved Friends,

Today is Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent. The word lent is an old English word whose roots are in the Germanic languages that mean spring. In some churches Lent is the forty days before Easter or Pascha as it is called in the Eastern Church excluding Sundays. In the Coptic Churches Saturdays and Sundays are both excluded. In Protestant and Free Church Tradition Lent generally follows the Latin (Roman) practice. Why forty days and why are Sundays excluded? Well forty days because Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness preparing for his ministry, his crucifixion, and Resurrection. Why are Sundays excluded because every single Sunday is a celebration of Feast of the Resurrection and one does not fast or "put on sackcloth and ashes" on a feast!

The idea of ashes on the forehead is an ancient tradition to reminds us of our mortality. In the Latin Rite from whence most churches derive the ritual when the presbyter or deacon or layperson makes the sign of the cross on the forehead he or she says "Remember O Soul from dust you were made and to dust you shall return". I once was told by "feel good Christian" that such a ritual and sentence was in her words "morbid" but it is quite the contrary. It is a reminder to us to ask in our lives what is of true and lasting value to us and why for we are indeed made from the dust and shall return thereto.

Lent has many customs depending on the church tradition followed. For some a strict fast is the manner of the observance for others a deliberate "giving up" of some treat. My sweet Southern Baptist Mom who does observe Lent gives us "sweetening" as she calls cakes, pies, and or ice cream. I have told her time and time again that on Sunday she can have "sweetening" but she preserves in her discipline!

Ultimately though it is not what we take in or do not take into our stomachs but rather what we put into our hearts and souls and what comes out! Lent is a journey with Jesus into the desert places of our lives. There we encounter everything from doubt to despair while we await the great radiance of the empty tomb. As we make our way we come as did Jesus to the Great Silence of God on Holy Saturday. In Hebrew thought Time is not particularly "mathematical" it is more circular than linear and it exists both in the past and the present and the future. When Jesus cried out "My God My God why have you forsaken me?" the Great Silence began and in the Absolute Quiet of the Tomb the very cosmos awaited The Answer. Life dearly beloved is the same, especially in those seasons of separation and passing and of suffering and injustice. We cry out like Jesus and like him we await the response. For us the response ultimately comes as we breath our last on this planet we call home and embrace a new existence that we can only hope for and imagine now. For Jesus, God shouted "Life" and the burial shroud move and gave up its prisoner. Now it sometimes seems that that Shout is but a whisper in the midst of the noise of confusion, sorrow or even doubt of living but whisper or no it is telling us of a New Day a New Sabbath a New Sunrise that will never end. We must with a passion born of our humanity embrace that Whisper and breathe it in with a great swell of our lungs for it is the Great Silence answered once and for all.

Lent points us in the right direction, it is a signpost along our pilgrimage, it is a helpmate for our journey, let us rejoice in this time of preparation and hold the excitement of Pascha close to our hearts.

Peace
Bishop Andrew Gentry
The Church of All Saints and Sorts
A Congregational Catholic Church an Intentional Eucharistic Community