The season of Lent
begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with a vigil for Easter. It starts out as a 40
day season of instruction for Christians. Most churches and religions have
moved away from the true tradition of this season and a lot of the practices
aren't followed today. There is a significant loss of spirituality in the
church. While Lent is supposed to be about penance or repairing damage done,
people live according to the time they're in and have made season of the Lent
more about fun and vacation. Even Christmas and Easter have lost most of their
religious affiliation.
Lent is supposed to prepare us
for the deliverance event of the resurrection. We have lost the true meaning of
it and made it about Easter outfits, Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts. Now
the season starts with Ash Wednesday, whose focus should be on our sinful human
condition and God's acceptance of us. The week is often begun with a
celebration leading up to abstaining from certain foods and activities, but
we're more concerned with the celebrating part in this day and age. Sometimes
certain colors are associated with the Season of Lent and the color for Ash
Wednesday is gray, representing the ashes rather than purple of the rest of the
season. The five Sundays during the Season of the Lent represent the death and
resurrection of Christ. The first representing temptation and the need to be
saved. The second is supposed to represent new birth and forgetting yourself.
The third is the need to be defended from evil and the fourth is our need for
sinful things and soul food. The fifth would be about entrapment of the world.
The lack of rituals in the
Western world concerning Lent has been associated with the churches offering
fellowship and food instead of meditation and togetherness without words. If
we're always talking, how can we listen to God's word? All of the rituals surrounding
Lent are useless unless we can hear God and obey his commands.
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