Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent – the 40 days leading up to Easter. This season has been observed by many different traditions in the church for hundreds of years. Our goal in observing lent is not to earn favor with God by fasting and praying, but to allow us a season to reflect on the reality of the darkness that surrounds us. We live in a world that is permeated with disease, with cancer and AIDS, with starvation and poverty. We see injustice and misery in one part of the world and excess and luxury in another. We see ourselves in the mirror and know the sin that dwells in us, and it’s a reality we often want to look away from.
The Gospel speaks to all of these realities – it speaks to the suffering in the world and promises the hope of the resurrection and the hope of Jesus making all things new. It speaks to the evil in our hearts and condemns the sin to death, while freeing us from our condemnation. This is the hope we proclaim relentlessly.
Lent is not a season to deny hope, but rather to remind us why we need hope. It’s a season when we observe the darkness around and within us in anticipation of celebrating the light and hope of Easter morning. We look remember our death to prepare for the celebration of the promise of eternal life. So like Moses time on Sinai, like Elisha’s time on Horeb, and like Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, we take this journey of prayer and fasting together.
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