Ash Wednesday and Lent

While I very much promise not to throw a Blog Post at you every five minutes, today is too bigger day not to.

Out into the wilderness went Our Lord, to examine himself and be tempted, but also to grow in the knowledge and love of his Father. It is tempting to see Lent as a very negative part of the Church calender. We are rather inclined to dwell on the burden of what we are sacrificing to much.  Whether you are fasting, giving up an addiction or just giving up something you consider important to you, it is important not to see these challenges purely as something you have to do. It is, of course, right that at certain times we sacrifice our opulent lifestyles as a gift to God. It can be all to easy to turn a blind eye to how much we have, when that is all we see.

So we cast ourselves out into the wilderness of loss and temptation. This is a positive gesture though. When you stop focusing on your own self sacrifice, you begin to see how you are learning about your faith and yourself. You begin to bloom in the desolation and learn to approach the temptation with a joyful resistance rather than as wearisome burden. As Jesus, stood in the desert, taunted and teased by Satan, he stood sure in this joyful resistance. Knowing what was coming was far more bountiful than the immediate offer.

So we as a family are giving things up, all of us give up Meat and Snacks. My second son always gives up his bed and sleeps on the floor to identify with the homeless. I will also give up my shoes and socks for Holy week in order to raise money for Us.

But also we will take up saying compline together. In this shared discipline I am hoping that we will grow together in the knowledge of the Father. That we will accept our sacrifices with grace knowing what was sacrificed for us, and what comes to us through that sacrifice. 

So today when you receive the ashes from your Priest, as you confess and turn away from your sins. As you remember from whence you came and to where you will return. Do so not thinking of the burden of what you will give up, but with the anticipation of that you will receive through your gifts to God.