Missio Dei 8
April 30, 2009
Without compassion there is no missio dei. The compassion of God, intermingled with the compassion he sows in human hearts, are the sine qua non (meaning literally in Latin “without which nothing” i.e. most necessary thing) of the sending enterprise of God and the church.
A popular way of my tribe in our call to mission is to find where God is working in the world and to join him there. This is sound biblical advice. But this is not meant to be the final biblical word on missio dei. The reverse is just as true and perhaps more revealing of the premise behind the statement. The church or group who receives a call to be compassionate will not only try to find God in the heart of the world (for where is God not working?) but will also find the world in the heart of God (a paraphrase of Nouwen). This dual understanding of our modus operandi is crucial for the mission of God. Prayerfully we seek our call to missio dei in the heart of the Father. Was it John Piper who said in Let the Nations Be Glad: “Missions begins in the Heart of God.”
The healing pen of Henri Nouwen in his book Compassion resonates with all this when he marries prayer and action into one enterprise:
Prayer and action… can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive. Prayer without action grows into powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation. If prayer leads us into a deeper unity with the compassionate Christ, it will always give rise to concrete acts of service. And if concrete acts of service do indeed lead us to a deeper solidarity with the poor, the hungry, the sick, the dying, and the oppressed, they will always give rise to prayer. In prayer we meet Christ, and in him all human suffering. In service we meet people, and in them the suffering of Christ.
Missional Order is about compassionate praying, ever-changing into Christlikeness, and being sent into the world as a way of life.
Praying Colossians 1
April 29, 2009
Are you in the habit of praying the Scripture? What’s it like for you?
Missional Order is about three common commitments we are encouraging ourselves and our readers to make. We take four time daily to pay attention to God and to pay attention to our lives. The second commitment we have made is continually work with God on the transformation of our character to become more like Christ. We have turned from our old lives to follow Christ and grow in Him for the rest of our lives. We do so intentionally. Our third commitment is to live missionally. Believing that we are on mission with God and that God accomplishes his mission through Christ’s followers in the world.
Continuous formation or conversion happens when our lives are bathed in Scripture. Not just reading for information but praying our way through the Scripture for transformation.
So I am starting a series to pray through the letter to the Colossians and encourage you to do the same. Both the morning and evening prayers make space for prayer. Praying through Colossians will fit well in that space. My focus in these prayers as far as I determine the direction of my prayers is Jesus. I will use the Message version.
1:1-2 I, Paul have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God’s master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!
Prayer: Jesus, you picked Paul when he was your ennemy, had mercy on him, changed him, and gave him his mission in God’s master plan. You did a great job. No one could do it better. I thank you that you are doing the same for us who follow you today. Together with brothers and sister in Christ strenghthen us to serve you wherever we live. We confess with Paul that everything good comes from you to us to flow to others. Enrich us with that same goodness. Let it reside deeply in us and transform us. Let it flow through us by Christ’s powerful presence in and through us by the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Confession 4
April 28, 2009
No one is better than Nouwen on personal reflection.
Wendy Wilson Greer compiled and edited some of the writings of Henri Nouwen in a 1999 book called: The Only Necessary Thing. This book is twice blessed since it features many of Nouwen’s prayer writings, and the thoughtful, organizing skills of Greer. In the first section called Desire she quotes the following from “Prayer and the Jealous God by Nouwen” in The New Oxford Review 52, No. 5 (June 1985): 7-12.
God’s Desire for Us
I am deeply convinced that the necessity to pray, and to pray unceasingly, is not so much based on our desire for God as on God’s desire for us. It is God’s passionate pursuit of us that calls us to prayer. Prayer comes from God’s initiative not ours. It might sound shocking, but it is biblical to say: God wants us more that we want God! The English spiritual writer Anthony Bloom (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh) says it better than I when he writes:
We complain htat God does not make himself present to us for the few minutes we reserve for him, but that about the twnety-three and a half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer, “I am busy. I am sorry.” Or when we do not answer at all because we do not even hear the knock at htedoor of our heart, of our mind, of our conscience, of our life. So there is a situation in which we have no right to comoplain of the absence of God, because we are a great deal more absent that he ever is.
Nouwen continues:
So, who is more in need of our prayer: We or God? God is. Who wants to be heard most: We or God? God does. And who “suffers” more from our lack of prayer: We or God? I say it in awe but without fear: God does. As long as we continue to reduce prayer to occasional piety we keep running away form the mystery of God’s jealous love, the love in which we are created, redeemed, and made holy.
My confession: Dear God, I confess that I don’t desire you as much as you desire me. Hear my confession and help me desire you more.
Rule of Benedict 27
April 26, 2009
I have been going through the Rule of Benedict off and on (mostly on) over the last couple of months. I resume today with verses 22-28 of Chapter 4. A good commentary on the rule of Benedict is Preferring Christ by Norvene Vest.
Chapter Four of the Rule begins with the love of Christ. But love of Christ is accompanied always by obedience to Christ. The rest of chapter 4 are points of obedience. Review the previous posts for more information.
Verses 22-28:
Not to gratify anger: not to harbor a desire for revenge, not to foster guile in your heart, not to make a feigned peace, not to forsake charity. Not to swear, lest perchance you perjure yourself; to utter truth your heart and your mouth
Comments: Two reactions to anger: Negative and positive. On the negative side is to refrain from certain actions bad and good; on the positive side to only speak truth. Anger is a puzzle for many. Paul says “be angry and sin not” seemingly being OK with anger which does not lead to sin. In Colossians, the same Paul says to put away anger or to kill it (3:1-7). Jesus prohibits any expression in anger in Matthew 5.
In psychology, we are asked to manage our anger by acknowledging we are angry and that anger is a secondary emotion, which stems from hurt, fear, false expectations, or illusion of control. Normalize anger (everyone gets angry), set goals for people in relationships with you that are realistic, and respond instead of react by making yourself some room to think and confuse the stimulus and the cause of anger (which resides within). Psychology may also encourage the expression of anger as appropriately as possible. is that enough? All of these are good things. They help in a pinch. But is there no rescue plan from anger?
What’s the Christian to do? What do you do with your anger?
Prayer: Lord, I cannot prevent the emotion of anger from being in me. I cannot eradicate it. Help me to put it to good use from the betterment of others and myself. Help me to respond without anger as a first response to when I am wronged. Christ, have mercy. Amen.
What do you do?
April 23, 2009
What do you do when you sense an oppressive enmity settling on you? I have been feeling such an enmity lately and today’s morning prayer helped a lot.
Readings for Day 23
April 23
Psalm 57:1-11 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me. 3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness. 4 I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts– men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 6 They spread a net for my feet– I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path– but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah 7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. 8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
1 Samuel 27:1But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
James 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Whoever “they” are in the Psalm (unspecified) they are no match to what God sends from heaven: to “they” he sends rebuke; to me he sends His love, His faithfulness, His Hesed. I can hardly wait for the day to unfold to be surprised where I will find this love, faithfulness, and hesed.
Thanks Papa. Your mercy endures for ever.
Shaped by the Story
April 17, 2009
What happens when we read Scripture as God’s Story and with great determination figure out how to insert our lives into that Story, rather than trying to figure out when and where we can fit God into our busy lives?
In his book, Shaped by the Story, Michael Novelli provides the following summary of God’s story with the thread of kingdom running throughout.
“From the very beginning’s of the story, God expresses a desire to live in close harmony with God’s creation and for God’s creation to enjoy his kingdom rule. God created humans as image-bearers of the divine, continuing God’s creativity and care of creation on earth. Then humans decided to create their own kingdoms, where they could live according to their own desires.
So God set in motion a kingdom agenda to restore creation to wholeness. Story after Bible story describes the amazing lengths God went to in order to extend grace to us-to give humans opportunities to reconnect our broken relationship with him. God even came and dwelled with the Jewish nation-a community God chose to distinctly live while reflecting the ways of God the King.
The apex of the kingdom storyline is found in Jesus. Jesus announced the kingdom of God breaking into history, displaying God’s restorative power in his life, miracles, and words. At the cross Jesus gained decisive victory over evil for us, liberating us from the power of sin. Then Jesus entered as the firstborn into the -resurrection life of restored creation. God’s Spirit was sent to continue the restorative work, empowering a global community of people called the church to embody God’s kingdom, join in God’s actions, and tell God’s Story. to the world.
How is your faith community emodying God’s kingdom in your community? How do you see your church fitting into God’s redemptive story? What “part” or “role” will you “act out” today?
Confession 3
April 16, 2009
What do you think of this text? Have you experienced anything like this? Do you think the force of the passage is compelling enough for us to do it? Do you believe confession should be done publicly in and by the church? In some churches general confession is made of sin.
Nehemiah: 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. 9:2 Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. 9:3 For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins and worshiping the LORD their God.
One fourth of the day (assuming it’s 12 hours) is 3 hours. Has anyone tried a confession retreat? I would like to take a Saturday morning and spend the best of 3 hours confessing mine and others’ sins.
In our Good Friday service we focused on confession, mainly for lack of love. We then wrote our sins on 3×5 cards and literally nailed them to a 10′ wooden cross at the front of the church. As we did we sang It is Well with My Soul. About 70 of us filled the cross with cards of confessions of our sins.
I confess, Lord, that our predecessors in the faith have failed to apprentice us to Jesus. I confess that we are making the same mistake. Lord, help us to change and have mercy on us. Amen.
Rule of Benedict 26
April 13, 2009
Today, I continue my reflections on the Rule of St Benedict from Chapter 4:20-21. These two verses pack a huge one two punch to the heart.
To keep aloof from worldly actions; to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
Reflection: Well, the whole Christian worldview and basis for actions is in these fourteen words. Keeping aloof from worldly actions is general and would be made more specific in the rest of the chapter. But it is also answered by the preferring nothing to the love of Christ. This too is general in nature and will be specified in the rest of the chapter.
My question here is: What worldly actions would you consider to keep aloof from? Are there boundaries that must separate Christians from the world? Is crossing boundaries helpful to anyone, churched or unchurched?
Lectio: Lord, I do indeed hear that I nurse worldly actions such as anger. Thank you for the reminder that anger is to be put away or put to death for me (Colossians 3) as a debutant lover of God.
Prayer: Lord, indeed mercy me and grace me with abilities to kill anger again and again. Amen.
Are you attractive?
April 10, 2009
“as I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract everyone to me.” - Jesus
To be “lited up” was a nice way of reffering to being tortured to death on a Roman stake. Jesus in his humiliating death became attractive. It wasn’t power, but weakness. It wasn’t in dominating, but in being troutured that Jesus became attractive, compelling. I don’t follow this “way.” I seek power and control as neceesary means to being attractive (liked by others ). Churches and organizations I have been a part of have sought to be excellent, succesful, and the best in an effort to be popular. This seems contrary to the way of Jesus.
Another thing that strikes me is just what is attractive? In John’s telling it is Jesus. Are we supposed to develop programs and services that are “attractive” or are we, the community of Jesus, the tangible body of Christ on the earth to be attractive? I believe we are to be attractive and not because we have it all together, have power or control of things or are able to manage life well. Our attractiveness comes, when like Jesus, we are “lifted up from the earth” as an offering and sacrifice to God. The churches attractiveness should be in her (people’s) willingness to choose and embrace suffering for the sake of the world, which itself is broken and suffering. We will be attractive when we love and serve rather than judge and ignore.
Lord be gracious to me, that I may be crucified with you and may you be my strength springing up out of my weakness. Grant me the grace to embrace those who are suffering. Allow me to be part of a community that chooses suffering over comfort and that places others before self.
Missio Dei 7
April 9, 2009
What does solitude have to do with being missional?
It seems, I am not sure, that many of the missional activities of Christ were preceded by times of solitude. Some seem sandwiched between times of solitude. Before choosing the disciples for their mission of representing his rule in this world we find him alone with God, his Abba. Before engaging in ministries of healing, feeding, teaching about the reign of God, he goes off into some solitary place to reflect and be. Between the last supper and the greatest of the missional acts ever known, dying for us, we see him in solitude, leaving all his life in the hands of the Father.
Being missional happens in the rhythm between activity and a soul nourishing solitude.
This week, a friend of the family I have been directing to Jesus to become his disciple, coming to church with our family, and just starting to read the Bible for the first time in his life, popped these questions in an email: How do I know I have found Jesus, and how do I accept him? One of my daughters had told him about accepting Jesus. Wow, I said to myself? After only a short time, a couple of outings together doing life with me, and without any religious background, this friend knows to ask these questions? How do I good news him without trivializing the experience by the premature saying of a prayer? My tendency, for this is how I was evangelized, was to quote him a few verses from that famous road tract to logically prove he was a sinner, repeat the sinner’s prayer after me, and pronounce him a Christian ready for heaven on the next train.
Instead, I retreated into my closet for a couple of days to ask Jesus how to gospel my friend. And so we did get together, talked at length about the will of God, and debriefed what he was experiencing, turned his questions around: How do you know that Jesus found you, and has accepted you? Answered those questions. He was experiencing the proof and results of these questions by reading Scripture that were getting his attention about his condition in life. I confirmed and affirmed his questions and experience. I encouraged him to continue reading and asking, knocking, and seeking. I also told him about the way I used to do this kind of thing and encouraged him to continue on the never ending path of becoming Christian. We talked about the conversion of Ruth and how it was about adopting a new way of life, God, a community, for life.
That was a lot to think about and we left it there, after prayer of thanksgiving, and for God to continue to draw him unto himself. I am in constant contact with this friend and our relationship allows for ease of back and forth with questions.
The funny thing is: I kept thinking during our discussion that I got to seal this deal by asking him to pray the sinner’s prayer. What use is my EE training if I don’t do it the prescribed way? Finally the other way prevailed. My wife who was listening in with our grandson, thought it was a most natural way of doing things like this. I can hardly wait for him to ask about baptism. Then I’ll have to go into solitude again and see what Jesus would say to him. Meanwhile, we will do a few things together, invite him to our house at every opportunity, etc…
Being missional is a way of life, part of the rhythm of life, that is lived between solitude and “gospeling” others. Until it becomes that, it remains shallow.
What do you think?
The Year of Living Rhythmically #2
April 8, 2009
One week from this Saturday, the Eastern Orthodox Churches will begin their Easter Vigil, known to them as Pascha. This ceremony begins late on Saturday night and stretches into the wee hours of Easter morning. The faithful who have fasted throughout the season of Lent, and some who haven’t, gather together to worship Christ and re-live his resurrection.
Each year the Orthodox Church re-reads the same sermon for their Paschal celebration. There is no innovation, no coming up with a better idea for next year, instead they rely upon a sermon penned by the 4th Century church father, John Chrysostom. It not only celebrates the resurrection of Christ but it also highlights the wideness of his mercy, the universality of God’s grace.
Even those who come late to the fast are invited to the feast.
- If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.
- If anyone is a wise servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.
- If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.
- If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him keep the feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of his delay. For the Master is gracious and receives the last, even as the first; he gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.
- Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden; feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted; let no one go forth hungry!
Confession 2
April 6, 2009
Here in the presence of Almighty God, I kneel in silence, and with penitent and obedient heart confess my sins, so that I may obtain forgiveness by your infinite goodness and mercy. The Book of Common Prayer
How much does confession figure in your daily life?
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot.
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O lamb of God, I come! I come!
Did this verse from Just as I am still speak to your soul?
Psalm 32: 1-2
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered over.
Happy the man whom the Lord does not hold guilty and in whose spirit there is no deceit (JPS).
Reflections: A happiness from the Lord comes upon the person who does not hide his sin but lets God do the cover up job. Is forgiven, is covered over are what is called divine passive verbs, meaning God acts on our behalf. Our part is confession. His part is forgiveness (separates our sins from us) and hiding our sins or putting it out of sight. The benefit is happiness (blessedness); perhaps tears of joy.I suspect that the happiness that we enjoy as a result of forgiveness is shared happiness. That is God enjoys happiness when we confess and shares this happiness with the confessor.
What testimony can we give to this? We are not in the habit of sharing our happiness upon forgiveness. Do you do this in your church? We pray in confession but notice no difference in the mood of the people? Could it be that happiness can go unnoticed? Could it be that we are going through the obligatory motions of confession?
The nature of this happiness is surely different from say enjoying an ice cream, good delivery of the sermon, or siding with the winning team. It’s much deeper, not unlike coming home and seeing that all is in order or knowing in our hearts that a ton of good has been done in the name of Christ around the world despite what we hear on the news. Or that deep sense of contentment knowing the faithfulness of Christ by faith.
Prayer: My sin, O the bliss of this glorioius thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well with my soul. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 25
April 5, 2009
Chapter 4:10-19.
To deny yourself, in order to follow Christ (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23). To chastise the body (1 Cor 9:27): not to seek after delicate living; to love fasting. To relive the poor; to clothe the naked, to visit the sick (Matt 25:36), to bury the dead. To help in affliction; to console the sorrowing.
Comments: Benedict saw that at the heart of life with Christ is Christ himself. When we know this and know Christ himself, nothing remains as is. The breaks of life as we know it come to a screeching halt; a great reversal is activated. The first? Last! lose it? Gain it! Dying? To be with Christ! Poor? Inherit the kingdom!
For Benedict this is intentional. It is realized and actuated by “habits of love”: Prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Norvene Vest says: prayer, because that is how we come truly to know and be nourished by Christ. Fasting and other such bodily disciplines to train our bodies as servants and fellow workers, rather than as instruments so delicate as to lack the capacity to serve wholly. Almsgiving and service to the sick or afflicted in order to discipline our spirits toward generosity and habitual self-giving”. This great Jewish Triad was important for Jesus and the way he did life day in and day out. Following him implies it is also important for us.
Lectio: Daily little acts of submission and obedience are better than heroic or extreme behaviors periodically.
Prayer: May this reality of Christ’s life so invade every nook and cranny of my bodily existence. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Are you convinced that following Christ or living a Christ-centered life demands by necessity a life of denial?
The Way of the Cross 6
April 4, 2009
Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Time passed by and a soldier came to check on the crucified ones. He looked at them and realized that the two thieves were still alive while Jesus seemed dead. He asked for instructions from his superiors. He had to come and break the legs of the living and with a spear pierced open Jesus’ side.
Cruelty building upon cruelty. All this for the sanctity of the feast. The soldiers had received orders to get rid of the dead bodies before sunset because “the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath and they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down” (Jn 19,31).
Everyone started to leave. They had to hurry to get back to their homes before the beginning of the Sabbath, otherwise they were not allowed to celebrate it.
But sitting under the cross in complete silence stood Mary with those accompanying her.
Two men were seen coming up to Calvary. They went to the soldiers and presented them with a written permission. The soldiers did not hesitate. It was Pilate’s order. They had to bring down the body of Jesus and hand him over to these two persons.
One was “Joseph of Arimathea …a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews…” the other “Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs” (Jn 19,38-40). They took Jesus from the cross and laid him on the bare ground.
His mother could see again her son. She could hug him for the last time. She could cry aloud and pray. She whispered softly “Why did they do this to you? Why had they taken you away from me?” She saw the bloodstained body and could not believe this was the same infant to whom she gave birth in the grotto and laid in a manger. She wanted to hear him scream again the scream of life, she wanted to understand fully the Mystery she had carried in her womb and who now laid there lifeless in her arms . Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Those standing by looked over to the horizon and realized they had to hurry to bury him before the sun sets in the west. They took away the lifeless body from his mother and wrapping him in white linen cloth carried him to the tomb.
Missio Dei 6
April 1, 2009
10 ways NOT to live missionally.
1. Live as if the only soul that matters to God is your own.
2. Busy yourself with what matters very little in the kingdom of God.
3. Seek all the things that you need first, then seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
4. Believe that the power of God resides in the Gospel, but evangelize and disciple others as if that were not true by using consumerist means.
5. Don’t pray for neighbors.
6. Use the Scripture as an instrument to judge rather than to motivate loving actions and good works toward neighbors.
7. Model a lone ranger approach to evangelize without connection to a close knit community.
8. Depend on the preacher to get it done. After all we’re not all learned and gifted to live missional lives.
9. Promise heaven to motivate acceptance of the claims of Christ rather than a life with God in the here and now that looks forward to eternal life with God.
10. Believe as if God bypasses the believing community in drawing the non-believing community unto himself.
Let’s make it 20 ways not to live missionally. What would you add?
The Year of Living Rhythmically #2
April 1, 2009
A friend of mine recently turned 40. When I congratulated him on passing this milestone he smiled and replied, “Thank you. It’s just another year for me to learn how to repent.” Part of what prompted such an unusual response from my friend was the fact that he recently joined the Eastern Orthodox church. Grateful for being a part of God’s family and the privilege of entering the Kingdom, my friend found repentance to be the most appropriate means of expressing thanks to God. While all of Christianity stresses repentance it is interesting to pay attention to the attitude toward repentance found in the traditions of our Orthodox brothers and sisters.
Alexander Schmemman, Orthodox theologian and priest, describes the season of Lent as a “school of repentance.” Such a description reminds us that repentance is in fact learned rather than something natural to us. It is not inherent to our personalities. Precisely because repentance is something to be learned we should develop, or perhaps discover, ways through which it becomes a part of the rhythm of our lives. The observance of Lent, which is at the center of the church year, is one way to do this.
For those of us outside of churches with strong liturgical traditions, these following words help us make sense of practices like Lent, which seem so foreign. Schmemman continues:
“…the liturgical traditions of the church, all its cycles and services, exist, first of all, in order to help us recover the vision and the taste of that new life which we so easily lose and betray, so that we may repent, and return to it.” (from Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, pg. 13)
Rather than a dry and disconnected religious activity, Lent and the other seasons of the church year, serve the purpose of reminding us of the new life, the renewed experience of God’s presence, which we have received through faith in Christ. None of us are immune to the toll that time and inattention can have on our faith. Regular opportunities for renewal built into our very calendars and fortified by the seasons of the year reignite our passion for following Christ, experiencing God’s love and enjoying the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
If you have not engaged the Lenten season this year let me urge you to do so. It’s not too late to participate in this season of repentance, reflection and preparation for the great and celebration of Easter. All proper preparations for Easter morning include repentance.
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