by Julie K. Aageson

Merciful God, You called us forth from the dust of the earth;you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism. Look upon us as we enter these Forty Days bearing the mark of ashes, and bless our journey through the desert of Lent to the font of rebirth. May our fasting be hunger for justice; our alms, a making of peace; our prayer, the chant of humble and grateful hearts.*

It is Lent. In much of the northern hemispere the world is still cold and lifeless. Barren trees and brown earth wait for the lengthening of the days, for cleansing rains and the warmth of the sun. Fields are bare. In this desert season of Lent, Christians are invited to participate in dying and rising, in the mystery that in order to live, we first must die. Together with all of creation, we wait for transformation, for new life and a return to the life–giving presence of the God who is always with us.

"Return to the LORD, your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love," the prophet Joel reminds us. And so we begin the Lenten journey, an opportunity to turn from those things that preoccupy and separate us from God’s presence. Hungry and thirsty for new life and the steadfast love of God, we are reminded in Lent that hunger and thirst are divine invitations to God’s presence. Lent invites us to practice the presence of God in the simple disciplines of prayer, fasting, and acts of love for others.

So in Lent, we journey to the cross. We are invited to wear "sackcloth and ashes" as we confront the darkness of the world and in our own lives. We know that there can be no rebirth without death, no Easter without Good Friday.

Lent also invites us to return to the refreshing, life–giving waters of baptism — to join Noah and his family as they float the ark "out of bad times and into a freshly washed new world." In Lent, we relive the stories of God’s saving acts, hearing with new ears the many ways we are Jeremiah in the cistern or Elijah despairing beneath the broom tree. We too are looking for deliverance from our own messy arks. With Noah’s family, we search for the promise that life aboard this crowded ark is not the end of the story. Together with the people of Ninevah, we too are called to repentance and reformation.

We hear again the life–giving invitation: "Return to the LORD your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." Having lived through yet another season of death and darkness, we rediscover in the disciplines of Lent a God who is always with us, pursuing us with extravagant love. We hear God calling us to be Christ’s hands, Christ’s feet, Christ’s voice in a hurting and hungry world.

This Lent, may we be reawakened to God’s saving presence among us. Together with nature, may we be transformed from death into life, bearing Christ to one another and to a world in need of God’s promise of renewal and wholeness.

"O God, be our God, containing the seas, pouring water into a basin, washing us yet again. Make us into us, your body in the world, our feet washed, ready to serve" (Words around the Font, by Gail Ramshaw, Liturgy Training Publications, 1995; used by permission).

*Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1988; used by permission.

These resources* can be helpful on our Lenten journey.
Forty Days and Forty Nights (Augsburg Fortress, 2006) by Gail Ramshaw is a collection of reflections based on the Bible readings for Lent. It provides a devotion for every weekday with a brief Bible passage, a meditation, a suggested hymn from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and a prayer. For Sundays it lists the day’s readings along with questions for reflection. This is an enriching personal or small group resource.

Quantum Grace (Ave Maria Press, 2003) by Judy Cannato is a set of Lenten reflections on creation and connectedness. Cannato gracefully weaves together God’s presence in nature and the cosmos with our human yearning to understand the mysteries of the universe and our longing for God.

Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (Orbis, 2003) This is a remarkable compilation of works by G.K. Chesterton, Madeleine L’Engle, Henri Nouwen, Kathleen Norris, Barbara Brown Taylor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many others. Selections are organized around such themes as invitation, temptation, crucifixion, resurrection, and new life.

An extraordinary resource for exploring the many meanings of the Lenten journey is Lent Sourcebook I and II from Liturgy Training Publications. These two volumes include extensive collections of scriptural texts, quotations, images, prayers, poetry, and art.

Lenten Prayers for Busy People: A Forty-Day Retreat Wherever You Happen to Be (Orbis, 2004) by William J. O’Malley is a pleasing collection of readings and prayers from writers and poets including Flannery O’Connor, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton, together with psalmists and New Testament writers.

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