Our English word Lent finds its origins in Ole English meaning spring season referring to the lengthening of days which when the temperature outside is in the 20s doesn’t feel much like our idea of spring. The tradition of fasting for the 40 days before Good Friday dates from the early fourth century.
How is it that we are to observe a fast? The prophets chastised the rulers of their day who used public displays of fasting as a sign of purity. Christian writers, too, call us to observe not only outward signs of fasting but to use Lent as a time to redeem ourselves from our past failings and sins.
During this season of Lent while a terrible war rages in Ukraine, our stores are full of Easter decorations, mostly made in China by workers who often toil 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week. The best fast is not to succumb to buying those items but to use the money we would have spent to go to relief efforts in Ukraine.
Prayer for the Day
Turn to us, O Holy One, and be gracious to us,
For we are afflicted with our failings and sins;
We hear the call of this Lenten season but only want to give up trifles,
Not wanting to surrender what is important, we avoid harsh truths;
But you, O God, call us to shake off the pride that infects our souls,
And to turn to you so that we can be healed and redeemed.
In the name of the One who understood us all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.
- St. John Chrysostom, theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople (347-407)
What if we view this desert time of Lent as not just a time to reflect or lament or to confess or to fast but a time where we learn to be free.
- Megan Westra, inner city pastor and writer
Is this not the fast that I choose: to loosen the bonds of injustice,
To undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free,
And to break every yoke.
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And to bring the homeless poor into your house, to clothe the naked?
Isaiah 55: 6-7