Reflection for Ash Wednesday

Today, Ash Wednesday, many Christians mark the beginning of the 40-day season of Lent - a time traditionally set aside each year for reflection on our relationship with God and with our fellow human beings. As the above video demonstrates in the opportunity it affords us to enter into a space of meditation and prayer, through special observances of prayer, fasting, and giving to others during Lent we prepare ourselves to commemorate the Paschal Mystery of Jesus - his and our own passing from death into new life.

This year in particular I will be praying and reflecting during Lent on the hope I and many other LGBT people of faith feel deep within us that someday our churches themselves will accept more fully the message of Lent and begin to repent and make amends for the ways they continue to deny our dignity as fully loved and accepted children of God.

In the meantime, my prayer for myself and for all of us this Lent is that we each continue to awaken from the habits and attitudes that distance us from God and one another and realize once more that we are loved and chosen by God, that we are empowered to serve, and that we are called to live lives rooted in faith, hope, and love.

Peace,

Padre Chuck