Beloved Friends- We have now turned the liturgical corner and entered the season of Lent. The 40 days we carve out for a journey that leads us each year to the cross and then to Easter morning and the promise of the Resurrection. It is a season full of rich metaphors, traditions, invitations and opportunities to slow down and reflect on who we are, where we are going, what we value and who we claim to follow as disciples.
I pray we each on our own, and also together, find time to see and hear and feel God’s grace in these coming days. Come home this Sunday and find the signs and symbols of our journey in our worship space, in our music and prayers, and on the faces of those who gather week after week hoping to glimpse a vision of the kingdom just waiting to be noticed.
What follows is our Presiding Bishop’s Lenten Message. I offer it to those who may not have seen it earlier this week.
May you never forget that you are loved,
Lisa
February 11, 2020
Lent 2020: A Call to Prayer, Fasting, and Repentance Leading to Action
A Lenten Invitation from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to Turn and Pray on Behalf of our Nation
In times of great national concern and urgency, people of faith have returned to ancient practices of repentance, prayer and fasting as ways of interceding with God on behalf of their nation and the world. This is such a moment for us in the United States.
On Ash Wednesday I will join with other Christian leaders observing this Lent as a season of prayer, fasting and repentance on behalf of our nation, with continued fasting each Wednesday until the Wednesday before Advent begins. Our appeal comes during a time of profound division and genuine crisis of national character. This is not a matter of party or partisanship, but of deep concern for the soul of America.
The group of religious “Elders” who share this commitment – the same group that over a year ago published the “Reclaiming Jesus” statement – includes Evangelical, Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant leaders. The full text, together with the “Reclaiming Jesus” document can be found on the Reclaiming Jesus website.
While we hold diverse political affiliations and positions on many issues facing our country, we find common ground in two shared convictions:
- First and foremost, we are committed to Jesus Christ as Lord, and his way of love as our primary loyalty.
- Second, because we love our country, we are concerned about its moral and spiritual health and well-being.
For me, this call is rooted in my personal commitment to practice Jesus’s Way of Love, by which I turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go and rest in the way of our savior. Especially now, drawn together by love, hope and concern, and recalling the wisdom of our ancient traditions, I am grateful to join others in the spiritual practice of prayer, fasting and repentance for our nation.
Let us pray.
Almighty God … We humbly pray that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in your Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Your brother,
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church