Welcome to Christ Episcopal Church

Here we are, with Ash Wednesday coming up on March 5.

From the outside, Lent can seem like a real bummer. We spend 40 days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday (not counting Sundays) in a season of fasting and prayer. Our usually cele-bratory worship morphs into reflectiveness and penitence – for example, we move the confession of sin and absolution to the beginning of the service. All of it is designed to give us the courage to journey with Jesus step by step to the cross.

Many of us will be in the habit of “giving something up” for Lent. Sometimes it’s a favorite food, like candy. Maybe we adopt an ancient Christian tradition and give up meat one day a week. Or maybe we take a break from social media, or from television, or from some other leisure activity.

Those denials aren’t just meant to be sacrifice for sacrifice’s sake. They’re types of “fasting”, and the point of fasting – from a theological perspective – isn’t to lose weight or to substitute some other distraction or luxury for what we give up. Giving up steak for lobster is hardly the point. Our Lenten fasting is a spiritual practice – where we deliberately give something up to create new space for God in our lives. To turn away from the constant stream of noise and distractions our society offers and instead enter deliberately into a quiet, still place where we might perceive how God is working in our lives – and what the Spirit might be inviting us into.

We have plenty of opportunities this Lent to engage with God – to add a discipline to our lives that will help us walk the path with Jesus. Here are just a few you might choose from

Commit to studying scripture. Reading carefully through one or more of the Gospels is a great way to spend some time this Lent. Or if you’re looking for conversation, our 10am Wednesday worship service, our 11:00 Wednesday Bible Study, and our 5pm Sunday evening viewing of The Chosen are all great opportunities.

Commit to weekly worship. Gathering regularly around Jesus is nourishment for our souls – our water and rest break during the marathon of the week. If you’re not in the habit of gathering regularly on a Sunday or Wednesday morning, Lent is a great time to recommit – if only for a season.

Take a prayer walk to clear your mind, exercise your body, and spend time with God. Walk in your neighborhood or try out one of the many beautiful trails in and around Red Wing!

Pray with others. We have a Centering Prayer group that gathers online on Mondays at 7pm. We also have two special Lenten opportunities each Wednesday. At noon we’ll be participating in an ecumenical Lenten service, and at 5pm we’ll have a light soup supper in the Parish Hall followed by Evening Prayer. Commit to learning a new prayer practice!

I’m looking forward to Lent this year. I need help as I take that journey to the cross. Because in the midst of the many challenges the world is offering right now, I need to remember who I am, and whose I am. That I am a disciple of Jesus, and through Jesus’ death and resurrection I’ve been claimed by God as God’s own, forever. I need to be reminded that God has already won the victory.

In Christ, Pastor Aaron Twait