From the Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Associate Rector
"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."
- The Book of Common Prayer, p. 265
As I said in my Ash Wednesday sermon this week, Lent has been, at least for some of us, a time when we're supposed to be on our best behavior; when we're supposed to keep busy looking virtuous. At best, that theology of Lent is a minor self improvement program, a kind of extended New Year's resolution. At worst, that theology of Lent is a form of punishment, a daily reminder of our failures and shortcomings inflicted with a healthy dose of shame.
I hope you will consider a different version of Lent and make room for Lent in your lives this year. A holy Lent is an opportunity to clear away the clutter from our lives and concentrate on what is truly meaningful and important to us. Such a Lent might include giving up meat or chocolate if those are getting in the way of something else you need more. You might want to focus this Lent on ways in which consumption of meat or chocolate hurt the planet or cause pain for parts of our human family.
Lent might be about attempting to experience God in new ways and in new spaces. We will try to help create some of those spaces during this season at St. Mark's. On Sundays we will try a new form of worship - Taize - that uses silence and short simple songs that are more like prayer than musical performance. It might feel strange and uncomfortable at first, but I
