March 2020 Magazine Letter
LENT
The season of Lent is a time for focusing on the life and death of Jesus Christ in preparation for the greatest Christian celebration of all -Easter.
Lent is especially a time to contemplate the events of the final week of Jesus’ life. It is also time for reflecting on one’s own life and faith. Periods of self-reflection and self-discipline may be good in themselves, but the distinctive feature of Lent is that our soul-searching is done in the light of our relationship with God.
St. Paul in his letter to the Romans 12: 1-2 writes: “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God. . .”.
The renewing of our minds is the challenge of being able to change our perspective on life. We don’t have to be stuck in a rut and feel we never see and understand any more than we do at present. If our minds can be spiritually renewed then it is possible for us continually to change, adapt, manage and grow-and that is good news.
There is also a passage in the letter to the Corinthians that holds a key for how we might approach Lent: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes the Lord, the Spirit (2Cor.3: 17-18)
The disciplines and practices of Lent are not meant to shut us down-to or make us less of who we are-but rather they intend to open us up even more to the light of him who can renew and refresh our minds.
Yours, Silke
