Is this a fast, to keep

The larder lean?

And clean

From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish

Of flesh, yet still

To fill

The platter high with fish?

Is it to fast an hour,

Or ragg’d to go,

Or show

A downcast look and sour?

No; ’tis a fast to dole

Thy sheaf of wheat,

And meat,

Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife,

From old debate

And hate;

To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent;

To starve thy sin,

Not bin;

And that’s to keep thy Lent.

– Robert Herrick (1591–1674), “To Keep A True Lent”¹

Lent is a season within the rhythm of the Church year, preceding the startling explosion of Easter's resurrection, whereby hearts tear, spirits break, and wills bend towards walking with Jesus in the way of the cross. (1/2) Share on X

A 40-day practice of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving whereby we walk with Jesus on the road to the cross, Lent calls us to die to ourselves in order to renew the reality of our own resurrection within life gone stale. (2/2) Share on X

INTRODUCTION TO LENT

Listen to these startling words, whispered by God towards a lover long gone: “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead” (Joel 2:12-13a, NLT). David echoes this same sentiment in Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”

Lent is a season within the rhythm of the Church year, preceding the startling explosion of the Easter resurrection, whereby hearts are torn, spirits are broken, and wills are bent towards walking with Jesus in the way of the cross. Robert Webber writes, “Here is what God wants of me – a spirit that is truly broken of pride and self-sufficiency, a heart that feels its own willful path, a path that has led itself away from the presence of God and an obedience to His will for my life.”² In essence, a fresh tearing of our souls, a deliberate wounding through which hardness of heart is softened, and a return to dependency upon God is renewed.

A 40-day practice of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving whereby we walk with Jesus on the road to the cross, Lent calls us to die to ourselves in order to renew the reality of our own resurrection within life gone stale. Joan Chittister echoes this call, writing “Lent demands both the healing of the soul and the honing of the soul, both penance and faith, both a purging of what is superfluous in our lives and the heightening, the intensifying, of what is meaningful.”³

Lent is an intentional journey into the heart of Christ, for the purpose of allowing Christ to journey deep within our own broken hearts, gently bringing us to death, in order that we may live again.

A DAILY SYMBOL OF LIGHT

At a fixed point each day, light a tealight as a welcome reminder that God’s Spirit dwells as Light within us and throughout every corner of the world. Ask the Spirit to open your spirit to the presence of God in your life & during these moments of meditation. Select a weekly Lenten text and practice the discipline of responsive listening as a means of opening up to God’s active word. Once finished, return to the Lenten themed meditation for the week. Again, let the words read you.  What is God saying? Engage in action that responds to God’s living word in you.

LENTEN FORMATIONAL PRACTICES

The season of Lent asks us to “enter into a fresh conversion experience with Jesus Christ by an act of metanoia (turning), a turning from sin to Christ. To assist us in this pilgrimage Lent calls us to fast, pray, and give alms. The nature of these actions is to help us to actually embody what it means to turn from sin and put our trust in Jesus. Fasting, prayer and almsgiving is not only the act of giving something up…it is also the activity of taking something on…to turn towards a virtue that replaces our sin” (Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time).⁴

1. FASTING: “The purpose of this fast is to be liberated from the flesh…to liberate us from the power that flesh holds over the spirit, the power that brought Adam into ruination” (Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time).⁵ The question to ask the Spirit is “What is my spirit in bondage from in this season of life?” followed by, “What is the Spirit desiring to free me from?” Fasting can encompass bodily actions (freedom from addiction to alcohol, caffeine, food, etc), to distractions (freedom from social media, technology, etc), to internal vices (freedom from negative self-thought, sinful patterns, etc).
2. PRAYER: Prayer fills the space that fasting creates in one’s life. As Robert Webber writes, “Prayer is the actual experience of turning to God in dependence.”⁶ As fasting produces room within one’s busy, distracted life, prayer breathes fresh life and wind into that newly created space. Explore a fresh discipline of prayer in this Lenten season.
3. ALMSGIVING: “Almsgiving is the symbol of the virtue we are taking on to replace our sin” (Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time).⁷ In essence, giving testifies to the internal transformation taking place in our soul through the practices of fasting and prayer. Almsgiving is an ancient spiritual practice that takes seriously Jesus’ teaching that our heart will reside in the place where our treasure lays. How can you actively seek to fast from something in this season, and to then financially engage in a project of justice and mercy, putting your resources where your heart truly desires to reside? Engage a friend in this creative work, and tell the story of where God leads you among your faith community.

~ Chris Kamalski, Editorial Director

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Lent is an intentional journey into the heart of Christ, for the purpose of allowing Christ to journey deep within our own broken hearts, gently bringing us to death, in order that we may live again. Share on X

Footnotes

¹ Robert Herrick, (1591–1674), “To Keep A True Lent.” Accessed via https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/library/poem/to-keep-a-true-lent/ on February 14th. 2024/.

² Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year. Ada, Michigan: Baker Books, 2004.

³ Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Advent of the Spiritual Life: Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2010., 

⁴ Ibid., Webber. 

⁵ Ibid., Webber.

⁶ Ibid., Webber.

⁶ Ibid., Webber.