Dear People of Christ Church,
Here’s what the Book of Common Prayer says to us this week in the “invitation to a holy Lent” in the liturgy for Ash Wednesday:
[You are invited], 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.

Prayer, fasting, self-denial. The thing that the BCP doesn’t communicate well, though, and which I was writing in circles a little bit about last week, is that it’s also about joy. Lent is about looking for joy behind pleasure. So here’s my Lent FAQ.

“Meditating on God’s holy word?” Like reading the Bible?
Yes, and there’s an app for that. And before there were ipads, there was an app then, too, that required flipping through pages in your prayer book. Derived from monastic practice, a handy form for morning and evening prayer, with assigned portions of Scripture for each miniature “service.” Can be done on your own (and online!) easily—given the number of people who practice it in some form, you are likely to be praying with someone, someplace, whenever you do it. Evening and Morning Prayer are at www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html. They also have an app for android and iOS. dailyoffice.org has more expansive language language and has nice visual art tie-ins with the saints of the day. You can also listen to audio Evening and Morning Prayer with the New Zealand Prayer Book: www.david.guthrie.net.nz. And, of course, you can do it in the prayer book! The assigned readings for where we are right now are on page 951 (we’re in Year 2), and the readings fit into the liturgy that begins on page 75. There are a lot of different choices for prayers, so there’s something for every season.

Fasting and self-denial sounds kind of negative.
It can seem that way. People of faith of all backgrounds have turned to forms of fasting and abstention over the centuries to emphasize that our life encompasses more than our mortal bodies. Particularly in American culture, too, with our often unhealthy relationship with food and alcohol, it can be good to “reset” our relationship to things that can lend themselves to abuse. At the same time, if giving up sweets or fasting for some time makes you just think about all the unhealthy ways (particularly women) are taught to think about our bodies, it might actually not be a good spiritual practice for you. My regular Lenten thing is to give up the radio in the car. It builds almost an hour of silence into my day and the fact that something so seemingly trivial is so hard makes me think it’s probably doing me some good!

Every single day? I have to do it every day?
Actually, there’s some space here. The Sundays of Lent don’t count because they are celebrations of the resurrection, no matter what the season. The 40 days of Lent between Ash Wednesday and Easter are actually 40 plus Sundays. But if you stay home from church to eat chocolate on Valentine’s Day, that’s probably contrary to the spirit of the thing.

Is there anything fun I can do for Lent?
There’s Lent Madness, an internet sensation that matches saints against each other in March Madness basketball style match ups to win the “golden halo.” That’s at www.lentmadness.org. And, of course, the Lent groups at church will totally be a blast. Sunday groups start this week and Tuesdays start on Feb. 23. Read more below and please sign up so the leaders know who to expect.

Blessings on your Lenten journey!

Peace,
Sara+
For more on Ash Wednesday, listen in to my sermon here: soundcloud.com/sara-irwin-530951447/ash-wednesday-2016