Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
In the invitation to keep a holy Lent we share on Ash Wednesday, the liturgy invites us into a season of “penitence and fasting”. For many, these churchy words buzz with excitement and resonate with purpose. But for many others, they aren’t familiar or, let’s be honest, all that useful. So what do we mean by penitence and fasting?
Penitence is an action or a set of behaviors one uses when seeking to make amends. It presumes, as we do in the church’s common confession, that we’ve sinned and need to deal with it. Sin isn’t a question of if, in other words, but when. And we start with the presumption that we all need to do this.
Fasting is a more familiar word, perhaps. We know it as self-denial, which we most often associate with a refrain from eating. But the spiritual purpose of fasting is not as widely considered. Fasting involves intention — and helps us focus on what truly matters. We are called to fast weekly on the Sabbath to restore our relationship to God, the world, our neighbors, and ourselves. In Lent, we make a season of fasting, to better connect with those very relationships.
The pairing of these two, penitence and fasting, should help us see them as connected, too. As a posture or a way of experiencing the world that helps us behave (practice) in ways that better embody our devotion to getting these relationships right, loving, and grace-filled. So our work this season isn’t to withhold things from our lives for the sake of it, but for the sake of growth, connection, and becoming more who we are called to be.
With love,
Drew+