The various seasons of the Church Year provide opportunities to explore different aspects of our faith. Each season brings with it certain rituals and practices and it can be easy to simply go through the motions without ever growing spiritually. When we choose to fully embrace each season we discover holistic spiritual health that nurtures both ourselves and our world year-round. New lessons are learned, more wisdom is gained, and ever increasing action is encouraged for both this time period and the rest of our lives to follow.
Despite beginning with the public display of ashes on one’s forehead, Lent is perhaps the most introverted and contemplative season of the Church Calendar. It is a time where we challenge our faith personally and ask ourselves how we can be more Christ-like, better disciples of Jesus. The season is more rich in questions than answers, and they seem to build up as we get towards Holy Week (the week we remember Jesus’ final days and death on the cross). For those of us that see the life of Jesus as the crux of God’s endlessly expansive love story for humanity, there is too much to contemplate in a mere 40 days.
While we have hopefully grown individually during Lent, the challenge now transitions towards becoming happy disciples that want to continue growing after this season has come to an end. Indeed, this is something we should reevaluate at the end of each season of the Church Year and the conclusion of personal life chapters, lest we become stagnant in our faith. Where am I today? What is God calling for me to work towards? What am I willing to do to expand the Eternal Kingdom? What am I holding back? (Mark 4; Matthew 13; Luke 8:4-21)
Side effects of each season of the Church Year should linger with us. On a macro level, after Lent and Holy Week we should find that we have a deeper love for Jesus—understanding a tad more the extent towards which Jesus loves us and went to the dire end for us. We should find a deeper love for the gospel narratives, realizing that this good news is as fresh today as it was two millennia ago. We should see ourselves in the story God is continuing writing to this day in new ways.
Other practical side effects might be continuing to practice a new prayer or meditation routine you discovered during Lent. Or, becoming more involved with a community group or service organization. Or, being more committed to making it to church services each Sunday, continuing to read the scriptures more regularly, or investing your time and resources in the next generation of Christ-followers. What did you do during Lent that you can continue? What did you not get to during Lent, and what is holding you back from getting to it after Lent?
May each season of the Church Calendar not just fuel us for the present moment, and instead empower us to do the work that God is calling us to do all the time.
Relevant Reformation 