Ash Wednesday & Lent

Ash Wednesday (February 17, 2010) ushers in the season known as Lent, which begins forty days prior to Easter (April 4, 2010). As the first step in the Lenten journey, the Ash Wednesday service invites us to acknowledge our mortality, our sinfulness, and our dependance upon the grace of God.

Lent, a thought by D.Bisgrove
...during times of extraordinary
trials or uncertainty—which certainly describes what many are going through in this time of
economic upheaval, those disciplines become even more critical.
This argues for making use of the current season in which we find ourselves, Lent. Historically this is a time when Christians take stock of their spiritual health in anticipation of the celebration of Easter. It is a time of self-examination, repentance and self-denial (hence the idea of ‘giving up something for Lent’)—all of which are great ways to identify and repent of those things that have taken root in our lives as a replacement for the hope we have in Christ. So take time, as an
individual and as part of a community, to examine your life and access the power God has given
us in his Spirit.

Of course, there’s always the danger that spiritual introspection can make us more despondent,
which is why repentance and self-denial must be done in light of retelling ourselves the ‘old
story’ of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. Peter wrote that this living hope comes through “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). This
reminds us that Christian hope is not a philosophy or a technique but the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the reason Christians believe
that Sartre’s hopelessness doesn’t define reality; that injustice, greed, disease and death will not
ultimately define us or the world. Death has been swallowed up in victory. When Jesus died, so did death’s power over us. And when he was resurrected, it infused the whole creation with a living hope. It is this old story of Jesus’ triumph that we must tell ourselves.
And to the degree that we do, and find ourselves filled with hope, we will naturally want to
tell the story to others. For only in the story of Jesus will we find what we ultimately seek—our
living hope. --David Bisgrove

Here's more about Lent & Ash Wednesday, from years past

Lent & Fasting (from 2008)
-Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday (from 2008)