LENT CAN SCARCELY BE TOO LONG

The purpose of Lent is to arouse. To arouse the sense of sin. To arouse a sense of guilt for sin. To arouse the humble contrition for the guilt of sin that makes forgiveness possible. To arouse the sense of gratitude for the forgiveness of sins. To arouse or to motivate the works of love and the work for justice that one does out of gratitude for the forgiveness of one’s sins.

To say it again—this time, backward: There is no motivation for works of love without a sense of gratitude, no sense of gratitude without forgiveness, no forgiveness without contrition, no contrition without a sense of guilt, no sense of guilt without a sense of sin.

In other words, a guilty suffering spirit is more open to grace than an apathetic or smug soul. Therefore, an age without a sense of sin, in which people are not even sorry for not being sorry for their sins, is in rather a serious predicament. Likewise an age with a Christianity so eager to forgive that it denies the need for forgiveness. For such an age, therefore, Lent can scarcely be too long!

Edna Hong
Bread and Wine

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SIT OUTSIDE IN THE DARK

You do not have to do these things; not at all. God does not, I regret to report, give a hoot. You do not have to do these things - unless you want to know God. They work on you, not on him. You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require it nor demand it.

Annie Dillard

LENT PRAYERS

DAILY

You alone bring order to the unruly wills and affections of sinners: may we love what You command, and desire what You promise, so that, among the swift and varied changes of this world, our hearts may be fixed where true joy is to be found.

MORNING

Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep Your ways: grant that having cheerfully done Your will this day, we may, when night comes, rejoice and give You thanks; through the One Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

EVENING

You made this day for the works of the light, and this night for the refreshment of our minds and bodies: keep us now in Christ; grant us a peaceful evening, and a night free from sin, and bring us at last to eternal life; through the One Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and for ever. Amen.