Lent 2010

The 40 day Journey known throughout much of Church history as Lent has been called a “School of Repentance” that we get to attend every year!  In the Scriptures the number 40 relates to the period spent in the Ark by Noah, the period spent by Israel seeking the Promised Land after the Exodus, and the amount of time Jesus was in the Wilderness after his baptism and prior to beginning his ministry.  For us, the Season of Lent is an invitation to 40 days of renewal ("Lent" means "spring"),  40 days to prepare ourselves to take in the Good News  of Easter through deeper disciplines of prayer, fasting, and acts of compassion.  Scriptures to reflect on: Psalm 51, Psalm 103, Joel 2, Matthew 6:1-21.

We want to pass on some suggestions for making the most of this time leading up to Easter.


The Lenten Prayer of Ephrem the Syrian

Attributed to 4th century hymn writer and Church Father, Ephrem of Syria, this prayer has been used in the Church through the centuries and is a helpful guide to the things that both poison and energize our spiritual life.  

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth and apathy, 

faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.  

But give rather the spirit of chastity and wholeness, 

humility, patience, and love to Your servant.  

O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors 

and not to judge my brother; 

For You are blessed forever, to ages of ages. 

Amen 

NOTE: You can access the prayer and a beautiful commentary at Lyle’s Teaching Blog, Ruminations  (click here) Hard copies are also available at the church.


Weekly scriptures and a suggested way to meditate and reflect more deeply from Pastor Cheryl Lavornia (click here)

Daily Readings (and audio) from the Book of Common Prayer, ESV translation (click here)                    

These are readings from the Psalms and each of the other parts of the Bible for each day.  You can also choose to listen to each reading.

Sanctuary Lenten Calendar -  

Lent is a season in which we practice giving up something important in order to refocus our lives on God. By fasting from certain things, we practice dying to ourselves. And by refocusing our lives, living to God, we intentionally choose things that help us become the kind of people God desires us to be.

**This calendar suggests daily practices for fasting-from and living-to during the Lenten season.