Jottings for Lent (using Common Worship Times and Seasons)

 

The introduction to the Ash Wednesday Communion service:

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting.

 

By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord.

 

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.

 

(See also the introduction to the season in Times and Seasons https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/times-and-seasons/lent#mmm117)

 

Remember too Jesus’ words about prayer and fasting in secret (Matthew 6:5ff).

 

Given that Lent is not in the Bible as such, do you think it’s a helpful practice?

 

We should remember Christian freedom in this area. There is no Biblical command (or arguably even an expectation) that Christians should keep Lent at all or in any particular way. Remember the role of Lent in the Reformation and the Affair of the Sausages! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_the_Sausages

 

(What do you think about a Christian calendar / church year?)

 

Can you keep up 40 days of penitence and self-denial? Do you think you should? How might you use the Sundays during Lent?

 

What might people give up or take up and why?

 

What might the benefits of giving something up be?

  

E.g. would it be good for me not to eat any chocolate for 40 days? Would that make me more like Jesus?

What are the aims of fasting?

 

What have you found helpful or not?

 

Obviously we should always avoid all sin at all times, not just during Lent. Do you have any thoughts on sin avoidance strategies?

 

We should also intentionally pursue godliness and Christlikeness. What practices might help us to do this during Lent or at other times?

 

What role do you think things such as habit / “ritual” / self-discipline / effort have in promoting godliness? Are there dangers or limitations to these? What else is required?

 

What difference will the context of global pandemic and lockdown make to your Lent? Maybe you feel life has already been simplified and there has been some enforced self-denial? Or perhaps there has been some self indulgence with Netflix, jogging bottoms, chocolates and booze?

 

If Jesus’ 40 Days of temptation in the desert has influenced the 40 days of Lent, how would you compare and contrast them? What is unique in Jesus’ experience? What If anything might we emulate / learn from?

 

Does Colossians 2:20ff give you pause in thinking about Lent?

 

The Common Worship Lectionary Bible readings for the Principal Service for Ash Wednesday:

 

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12

 

Psalm 51:1-18

 

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

 

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 or John 8:1-11

 

Let us pray for grace to keep Lent faithfully.

 

Almighty and everlasting God,

you hate nothing that you have made

and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:

create and make in us new and contrite hearts

that we, worthily lamenting our sins

and acknowledging our wretchedness,

may receive from you, the God of all mercy,

perfect remission and forgiveness;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

 

Let us now call to mind our sin and the infinite mercy of God.

God the Father,

have mercy upon us.

God the Son,

have mercy upon us.

God the Holy Spirit,

have mercy upon us.

Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity,

have mercy upon us.

From all evil and mischief;

from pride, vanity, and hypocrisy;

from envy, hatred, and malice;

and from all evil intent,

good Lord, deliver us.

From sloth, worldliness and love of money;

from hardness of heart

and contempt for your word and your laws,

good Lord, deliver us.

From sins of body and mind;

from the deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil,

good Lord, deliver us.

In all times of sorrow;

in all times of joy;

in the hour of death,

and at the day of judgement,

good Lord, deliver us.

By the mystery of your holy incarnation;

by your birth, childhood and obedience;

by your baptism, fasting and temptation,

good Lord, deliver us.

By your ministry in word and work;

by your mighty acts of power;

and by your preaching of the kingdom,

good Lord, deliver us.

By your agony and trial;

by your cross and passion;

and by your precious death and burial,

good Lord, deliver us.

By your mighty resurrection;

by your glorious ascension;

and by your sending of the Holy Spirit,

good Lord, deliver us.

 

Give us true repentance;

forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance

and our deliberate sins;

and grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit

to amend our lives according to your holy word.

Holy God,

holy and strong,

holy and immortal,

have mercy upon us.

 

Make our hearts clean, O God;

and renew a right spirit within us.

 

Father eternal, giver of light and grace,

we have sinned against you and against our neighbour,

in what we have thought,

in what we have said and done,

through ignorance, through weakness,

through our own deliberate fault.

We have wounded your love,

and marred your image in us.

We are sorry and ashamed,

and repent of all our sins.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

who died for us,

forgive us all that is past;

and lead us out from darkness

to walk as children of light. Amen.

 

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.

 

God our Father,

the strength of all who put their trust in you,

mercifully accept our prayers;

and because, in our weakness,

we can do nothing good without you,

grant us the help of your grace,

that in keeping your commandments

we may please you, both in will and deed;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

Since we are justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has given us access to his grace.

 

Intercessions etc.

 

The Lord’s Prayer

 

This is love, not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son.

He is the sacrifice for our sins,

that we might live through him.

If God loves us so much

we ought to love one another.

If we love one another

God lives in us.

 

 

Christ give you grace to grow in holiness,

to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always.

Amen.

 

Some diocesan Lent and Ash Wednesday resources:

 

https://www.chichester.anglican.org/ash-wednesday/

 

https://www.chichester.anglican.org/lent-2021/