Lent, (not lint) is sadly missing (just not on this shirt)!
Last night Brenda and I attended a Lenten "Mass" at the EFS Kyrka here. It marked Ash Wednesday, the first day of 40 days (Sundays don't count) leading to the greatest Christian Holiday... no NOT Christmas, but Easter!
Although it is not really a parallel, to me Lent is reminiscent of the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur. Lent is an ideal time to reflect on the sacrifice that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made on our behalf in the Crucifixion of the Christ. In another tie-in to Yom Kippur, Lent is usually "celebrated" by some sort of fast (which is why Fat Tuesday comes day before Ash Wednesday, if you didn't grown up around Mobile; ). The idea of the fast is to help us in our spiritual self-discipline and remind us to focus on the Death-Burial-Resurrection of our Messiah.
In contrast toYom Kippur, which is prescribed in Leviticus, Lent is not mandated anywhere in Scripture. Therefore, in our zeal NOT to go overboard (i.e. our zeal not to be too zealous), many of us IGNORE Lent.
Is that such a good idea? Just because something is not prescribed, doesn't mean it is proscribed.
It seems in our zeal not to be too zealous, we give up opportunities to help each other grow in Christ.
I need all the help I can get to live more like Christ. I'll take any help I can get.
Well, enough preaching for now, I don't want to be too zealous!
Last night Brenda and I attended a Lenten "Mass" at the EFS Kyrka here. It marked Ash Wednesday, the first day of 40 days (Sundays don't count) leading to the greatest Christian Holiday... no NOT Christmas, but Easter!
Although it is not really a parallel, to me Lent is reminiscent of the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur. Lent is an ideal time to reflect on the sacrifice that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made on our behalf in the Crucifixion of the Christ. In another tie-in to Yom Kippur, Lent is usually "celebrated" by some sort of fast (which is why Fat Tuesday comes day before Ash Wednesday, if you didn't grown up around Mobile; ). The idea of the fast is to help us in our spiritual self-discipline and remind us to focus on the Death-Burial-Resurrection of our Messiah.
In contrast toYom Kippur, which is prescribed in Leviticus, Lent is not mandated anywhere in Scripture. Therefore, in our zeal NOT to go overboard (i.e. our zeal not to be too zealous), many of us IGNORE Lent.
Is that such a good idea? Just because something is not prescribed, doesn't mean it is proscribed.
It seems in our zeal not to be too zealous, we give up opportunities to help each other grow in Christ.
I need all the help I can get to live more like Christ. I'll take any help I can get.
Well, enough preaching for now, I don't want to be too zealous!
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