The Season of Lent
One of the ways that we as a church can participate with the larger Church around the world is to observe certain days and seasons that make up the “church year.” Within the first two centuries of the early Church the idea of focusing on various aspects of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection at different times of the year had already taken hold and have persisted as a tradition to this day. For instance, we observe Advent each year in the weeks leading up to Christmas, which is a time of remembering Christ’s first coming and anticipating his second coming. Another of these times is a season known as Lent, which occurs in the weeks leading up to Easter.
Lent derives its name from an old Saxon word meaning to “to lengthen” and was associated with the season of spring, a time of the year when the days would begin to once again lengthen. Historically Lent has been used to remember Christ’s sufferings on our behalf and to intentionally examine our own lives for places that certain sins may have crept in. The spiritual discipline of fasting is often utilized during Lent as a way to heighten one’s spiritual sensitivity to certain sins that may be present in one’s life. As we identify with Christ’s suffering through the confession of sin, we also identify with him in his resurrection as we experience new life through his forgiveness and grace.
Throughout the history of the Church various readings from the Bible have been offered as a roadmap through Lent. Using some of these ancient lists as our guide, we have created a set of daily readings to help you walk through the season of Lent. One set is from the Old Testament and is based on the Psalms, and the other set is from the New Testament and is based on the Gospel of Matthew. There are also questions provided for each day that are intended to help you interact with each passage, and a set of reflective questions at the end of each week. Our hope is that this simple tool will help you to prepare your heart more fully for the highest day of the church year, Easter Sunday, a day when Christ’s triumph over sin and death was displayed to all creation and made available to all who place their faith in him.
Ben