We spent our class on this evening at a Mardi Gras celebration to let the good times roll before the start of Lent.
At this celebration, we often sing "When the Saints Go Marching in". Here's a performance of it at an Andre Reiu concert.
While the weather prevented it this year, customarily we burn palms on Fat Tuesday which becomes ashes for our foreheads on Ash Wednesday.
Customarily, our prayer liturgy has words about ashes and repentance. Fire destroys what is old and lets new growth emerge, just as God desires for us to be made anew during Lent.
People often covered themselves with ashes as a sign of mourning for their sins. Prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel mourned the sins of God's people. Fasting was also a way to show contrition to God.
Esther fasted and wore sackcloth as she pleaded with God for her people. Their deliverance in the Persian Empire is the basis for Purim, which Jews still celebrate today, usually in March.
In the Gospel according to St. John, people brought a woman caught in sin to Jesus, but no one condemned her after Jesus turned the matter on them. Then Jesus told her to go and sin no more.
The prophet Isaiah says that when we're sorry for sins, God comforts us. Even though Lent is a somber time, it concludes with the joyful celebration of Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
As we journey through Lent, we remain connected as One Church professing faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit:
All my relations.
God's blessings,
Paul
 |
| From the 2024 palm burning prayer liturgy on Mardi Gras |
No comments:
Post a Comment