The Purple Days

Happy Ash Wednesday!

I want to wish you a wondrous Lent, filled with beauty and peace as we contemplate our mortality, our morality, and our relationship with God.

Beginning tomorrow, I'll be posting updates from LentMadness, so be sure to check back here to make informed decisions as you vote for the winner of the Golden Halo.

Will you be attending an Ash Wednesday service tonight? If so, post a smudge-pic (er, I mean, a photo of your sacredly-imposed ashes) on Facebook or Twitter and share it with us!

- www.facebook.com/fcclaf
- www.twitter.com/revgeiger

Are you giving something up for Lent? Remember, we give things up to recognize our dependence on God and to strengthen our dedication to Christ. Consider, rather than sacrificing a joy in your life, engaging in an intentional act of love each day throughout Lent. The important thing, when using this season as a spiritual tool, is to do whatever you do to further your service and devotion to the Lord.

From the Book of Common Prayer:

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided  a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy  Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning  of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.