Does it surprise anyone else that it is time for Lent again? As I looked back on what we did last year for Lent I kept finding it hard to believe that a year has already passed. But here we are again at the beginning of another beautiful time of the Church year, another period of preparation.
As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord through the disciplines of; repentance, prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we remember and emphasize that all our sins have already been atoned for. So it is with joy and thanksgiving that we observe the practices of Lent, not out of obligation. For some of us it’s a time to hold the mirror up to our faces and behold once again what a sad state we are in and cling to our forgiveness.
It isn’t because the calendar says “Lent” that we suddenly begin to “feel sorry for our sin”. Our sin is ever before us…all year long. I know I don’t need Lent to tell me how wretched of a sinner I am. Life is a season of “Lent” of repentance and absolution, of constantly running to the cross…or it should be.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
But because I’m such a sinner, I don’t always hold His cross before my closing eyes, so I’m thankful that the Church sets this specific time aside to remember the great suffering of our Lord and to wallow in all the forgiveness Jesus’ suffering won for us. A specific time to sit and know how little we deserve and to give thanks for Christ’s great mercy.
