Two
days ago began our Lenten journey. Maybe
you were ready for the journey. Maybe
you were unprepared. Some were unable to
attend an Ash Wednesday service. Others were reminded through ritual that “we
are dust, and to dust we will return.” Many bore witness to this truth by
bearing the mark of a cross of ashes smudged on their foreheads or in seeing
the mark on a fellow child of God.
Many
have chosen to “give up” something for Lent. The discipline of spiritual
fasting in all its forms is an old one. But discipline can also mean taking on
something new. Have you considered a new discipline of reflection on the way
God calls us – as a church and as individuals – to be a prophetic witness in
and to the world?
The
Office of Public Witness is offering a new resource in the wilderness for this
Lenten season, “Advocacy
as Discipleship: A People Called to Witness.” Whether alone or communally, this
guide will help you think about the links between Christ’s witness and our own
call to be advocates as disciples for God’s justice in the world. It is
designed as a four-week, daily reflection guide.
As
the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness, we too must be a people called to witness. Will you join us in this Lenten reflection?
If you will join us, we will begin this study on Monday March 9th with a schedule as follows:
Monday, March 10 (Week 1 – Day 1)
Monday, March 17 (Week 2 – Day 1)
Monday, March 24 (Interim week – what
are ways that
your ministry and life inform your reading of these
resource?)
Monday, March 31 (Week 3 – Day 1)
Monday, April 7 (Week 4 – Day 1)
Sunday, April 13 (Holy Week)
----Wednesday April
16 – 12 noon – googlechat – what has God been revealing?...
Follow
our Facebook page and Twitter account for weekly
posts and conversations based on our reflections. We will also post information
on Facebook and on our Public Witness Blog to
learn how to connect to the googlechat conversation on April 16th
during Holy Week.
As
we prepare together for this journey let us reflect.
“We can think of Lent as a time to
eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or plant good
seeds. Which is better is clear, for the
Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his
hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God…As we deflate
ourselves, God fills us. And it is God’s
arrival that is the important event.”
– Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
From
the Festival Lectionary Readings for Ash Wednesday, take a moment to meditate
first on Joel 2:12-13. After Joel, spend
some time reading Isaiah 58:6-12.
We
hope that you will prayerfully consider joining us in this Lenten journey. As
Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons encourages us to practice our piety as a
community, let our journey through this resource, “Advocacy
as Discipleship: A People Called to Witness” be a way we as a community
imagine we see that cross on each other’s forehead.
