Lenten Words from Saint Stephen’s
If you looked at the heading, you may have noticed that “Words from Saint Stephen’s” has become “Lenten Words from Saint Stephen’s.” It is that time again and this blog entry was posted on Friday, March 4, two days after Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. For the next six Fridays -through Good Friday on April 15-we will be offering a set of short essays based on different “Lenten Words.” The KEY word, of course, is Lent.
In the days of Lent (Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday), perhaps the most challenging of the Church’s Liturgical Seasons, we are offered an opportunity to begin, yet again, on a path to repentance and prayer and the restoration of a vital spiritual life as we travel with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Lent invites us to rediscover and renew a more connected way of being in the world. It is not an accident that on the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we are marked with a messy cross of Christ on our forehead to remind us that we are God’s children in the world, and that we will return to dust after we die.
It is important to recognize that the Ash Wednesday cross on our foreheads puts us in the company of thousands of pilgrims all over the world who will have been marked by God with the same cross. In the time of the Pandemic, this is a powerful realization and a Grace-filled experience. Lent 2022 begins, then, with a recognition of our connection to a global community, one in solidarity, that is identified by ashes on the forehead. At the same time, the solidarity of Ash Wednesday connects us with the thousands of suffering Ukrainians who have had their lives violated, their families ripped apart, and their country under attack by Russian forces whose commander-in-chief is a despot, determined to force Ukraine to return to the authoritarian “family” of Russia.
Our Friday “Lenten Words” will be signposts on the path: references to scripture readings, art, and literature, for example. And our hope is that these “Lenten Words” will lead to a richer and fuller encounter with Lent, one that allows us to recognize the fragility of everyday life and how the solidarity that is part of our Lenten journey can help us to face such fragility.
Historic image of Lent at St. Stephen’s
Should you wish to have a “Lenten Word” every day, we recommend that you subscribe to the “Brother Give us a Word “daily prayer program from The Brothers of the Society of Saint John (SSJE) via the link below:
— Father Peter
