While the natural-cosmic event was surely most captivating, I also discovered my inner-anthropologist kicking in to make the following observation about the before-and-after dynamics that I think sheds some light (pardon the pun) on liturgical time-keeping.
Read morePerhaps the point is not *this* shared penitential practice as opposed to the other practices but rather this *shared* penitential practice.
Read moreLent must also lead us to experience, celebrate, and live out the grace of God’s mercy, to reveal and see in ourselves the goodness that God sees in us, as in all creation.
Read moreEvery year there is debate about whether or not the organ may be used during Advent and Lent, and especially regarding its use during the Sacred Triduum.
Read moreLent is a time of return, that which was lost is found again and a new beginning is sought. Lost sheep are brought back to the fold.
Read moreGiven the history of Ash Wednesday’s emergence and various morphings over the centuries as a ritual-symbol inaugurating a season of penitence, I simply do not see why, in the Roman Catholic Church, at least, the most apt liturgy would not be based on the sample penitential services (basically, liturgies of the word) found at the end of the Rite of Penance.
Read moreI recently received an email from a friend in which he concluded with the line: “Have a less ascetic Lent but a more thoughtful one.”
Read more by Deacon Nicholas Denysenko
“I marvel at the paradox of beginning a military incursion on the first day of Lent. Lent is a season of joy for Orthodox Christians—we sing Alleluia more often in Lent than we do during the rest of the liturgical year—and we celebrate the real purpose of Lent by intensifying prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.”
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Read moreIf Lent were a competitive sport, Rachel Held Evans would win this year. She gets points for creativity, vulnerability, simplicity, and a distinctly Paschal practice. Luckily, Lent, like origami, isn’t a competitive sport.
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