Tag Archives: Lent

Be Countercultural

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Fiery Sunset
c. J. P. Mahon

Seems like Christmas was just a few weeks ago. Now we are celebrating the first Sunday of Lent. Tempus fugit! Time flies. We have emerged from the Christmas season celebrating the incarnation of the Christ, sojourned through a few weeks of ordinary time and now are entering a time of reflection and penance. Rohr reminds us that Lent can be a liminal desert experience for us if we use the time to reexamine our lives as Christians. BTW, liminal means threshold. Lent puts us on the threshold of baptismal renewal at Easter. Continue reading →

Ash Wednesday

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Ash Wednesday

Joel (2:12-18) calls for a fast. He calls the people to repentance. Fasting is one of the three key Jewish practices. Prayer and almsgiving round out the set. Repentance is to be personal—rend your hearts. Change your attitudes. Change your ways of thinking. Change your ways of acting. Repent. Turn your lives around. Change your families, your communities and your institutions. Return to God. Joel does not call individuals to repentance. He calls the whole community even those who ordinarily would have been exempt. The community is called to confess its sins and repent in order to avoid further calamity. Continue reading →