Church Chat
February 15, 2007
Getting our Minds Set on Christ
If you're like many people, you heard of Lent growing up
because of Mardi Gras in New Orleans or because you had Catholic
friends who gave up something during Lent.
But what is Lent anyway? Lent is the time of preparation
for Holy Week (the week of Easter). It's a forty day period
from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (the day before Easter)
but doesn't include Sundays. The forty days symbolize the
time of the Israelites and Elijah in the wilderness and Noah
on the arc in the Old Testament, and Jesus being tempted in
the New Testament.
At my home church our youth program is called GYMSOX, which
means Get Your Mind Set On Christ. Lent is a time to get our
minds set on Christ-on his love for us, his self-emptying
humility, his suffering, and his death to bring us to God.
Lent is a time of sorrowful reflection, in which we take stock
of what Jesus did for us and of who we are in relation to
God's great mercy.
There are three traditional practices of Lent: 1) prayer
which is looking toward God, 2) fasting which is looking toward
self, and 3) almsgiving which is looking toward others.
We invite you to use Lent as a time to center your mind and
your heart on Christ, to identify with his suffering and to
share his great love with the world.
Some thoughts on fasting: fasting historically meant doing
without food or drink to identify with the suffering of Jesus.
One could fast by not having meals during the day or by having
just bread or just drink. Another way to fast is to give up
something that is important to you or that takes up a lot
of your time and energy, for example, giving up television
during Lent, or reading the paper. You could fast from channel
surfing or playing video games. The hope is to make a sacrifice
to better understand the sacrifice of Christ.
We will begin our practice of Lent here at the Kirk on Ash
Wednesday, February 21, with a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m.
and a special worship service at 7:00 p.m. You will find devotional
materials in the narthex beginning next week.
Yours in Christ,
Cathy Church Norman
Associate Pastor for Congregational Life
|
