Pineridge Blog

Ash Wednesday 

Lent began Wednesday. We came together Wednesday night, as is the old Christian tradition, to mark ourselves with ashen crosses and pray that we might know God’s saving grace. It is very simple and very moving just to pause and reflect on the fragility of our finite lives and the unending gracious love of God.

Even if you didn’t make it Wednesday, you can still begin Lent wherever you are. Here is the invitation we read from the Book of Common Worship. Let it be an invitation to you to know, as the Psalmist writes, “God’s love endures forever.” Let is be an invitation for you to begin Lent again now:

“Beloved people of God:

every year at the time of the Christian Passover

we celebrate our redemption

through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration

and to renew our life in the paschal mystery.

We begin this holy season

by acknowledging our need for repentance,

and for the mercy and forgiveness

proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We begin our journey to Easter with the sign of ashes.

This ancient sign speaks of the frailty and uncertainty

of human life,

and marks the penitence of this community.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ,

to observe a holy Lent

by self-examination and penitence,

by prayer and fasting,

by works of love,

and by meditating on God’s word.”