Lenten Mid-Week Devotions & Lunch
Wednesdays @ 11:30 a.m.
Beginning Wednesday, February 21 through Wednesday, March 27, we will gather for devotions and a meal together in Room 202. This year we will be meditating and discussing selections from Have a Beautiful, Terrible Lent! by Kate Bowler.
Lent marks the forty days leading up to Jesus’ execution and a surprising return to life three days later. It is a practice that began during the fourth century as a way to prepare Christians for the holiest, hardest days of our story.
During Lent, we ask God to show us the world as it is. We begin on Ash Wednesday with the reality of our finitude rubbed on our foreheads – from dust we were made, to dust we shall return. Then, we walk through that reality in a kind of dress rehearsal. It is the downward slope of God – the Great Descent. The whole church must descend to the depths with their savior. Frankly, Lent is my favorite part of the church calendar. Suddenly, all of us are on the losing team. And we look at each other with well-earned wonder, horror, and awe. We begin to tell each other the truth again: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.
Of course, the cross isn’t the end of the story. But this season of grief is carved out to acknowledge the reality of Jesus’ sacrifice. Our savior knew pain and grief and despair, and so do we. Easter is coming, yes. But for now, we sit in the ashes of our broken dreams and broken hearts, knowing that God sits here with us.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Rachel Núñez, Director of Faith Formation, rnunez@holytrinityakron.org or call/text (330) 634-6597. †
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