“Sacrifices and Blessings”

LENT, the most solemn season of the Christian year, begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22, and concludes at dawn onEaster Sunday, April 8. Lent began in the early church as a time of preparation for catechumens (new Christians) before being baptized during the Easter vigil. The Council of Nicaea, A. D. 325, first referred to Lent as “Forty Days.” Lent is a season of waiting, preparation and sorrow as Christians contemplate the last days of Jesus’ life and ponder the meaning of his death.

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With Lent upon us, you may have been asked a question that seems to be repeated often this time of year. That questions is: “What are you giving up for Lent?” It would appear that we have been conditioned to see Lent as a time to begin a new lifestyle, or at least we see Lent as a time to remove some of the things about our personal habits we do not like very much. Often Lenten sacrifices amount to giving up: coffee, candy, desserts, smoking, overeating and so on. In other words, those things which have kept us from living full healthy lives.

Lent has more to do with faithfulness and commitment thanour “giving up” often indicates. Lent, of course, has to do with remembering the life and suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Lent has to do with our preparing to receive the gift of salvation. Lent has to do with following the Christ through actions that remind all people of the love and quality of life that Jesus came to share.

As we each prepare for Lent in our own way, let us courageously “give up” those things we need to give up. But more importantly, let our Lenten sacrifices this year take such forms as: reaching out to a neighbor in need, spending extra time with a lonely person, sharing in the work and ministry of our church, taking a stand on a major social issue, etc. I have a feeling that if we commit our actions to the Lord Jesus Christ, our activities this Lenten season will seem less like sacrifices and more like blessings.

Raymond F. Lange