Tracy's Blog

As we continue through the Ash Wednesday service, next would be the sermon.  But it is optional so I will move on to the next section: Here the celebrant says (page 281-282) " Dear friends in Christ, 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 the time to prepare for this celebration and to renew out life in the paschal mystery. We begin this holy season by remembering 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, an ancient sign, speaking of the frailty and uncertainty of human life, and marking the penitence of the community as a whole. I invite you therefore, in the name of the Lord, to observe a holy Lent by self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and by reading and meditating on the word of God. Let us kneel before our Creator ...

One of the things I love about blogging is learning.  As I get ideas for blogs or start to study a passage, I often realize that things are different than I remembered or that passages say things I hadn't noticed before.  This is my experience with the Ash Wednesday service from the BAS today.  I was all excited because I wanted to reflect on the passage in which the celebrant exhorts us to "observe a holy Lent" (page 282) because in my memory, that is what came next. But I was wrong. Right after the Collect comes the Readings.  There are four readings for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12 Psalm 103:8-18 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 I love these readings but there is one that stands out to me as "the Ash Wednesday Reading".  I think it is because I first heard this passage preached on in an Ash Wednesday service whereas I was familiar with the other passages as they had already impacted me at v...

Yes, I do know what day it is today... Tuesday, March 11th.  It is not Ash Wednesday.  But I still want to talk about Ash Wednesday.  In fact, I may focus all my blogs over this year's Lenten season on the liturgy of the Ash Wednesday service from the Book of Alternative Services (the BAS online can be found here ).  Why?  Just because I love it.  Why do I love it?  Well, maybe I'll get to the bottom of that as I meditate on the prayers and passages of this service. So, let's start at the beginning (page 281). Celebrant: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. Celebrant: Let us pray. "Almighty and everlasting God, you despise nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our brokenness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who live...

There is a part of a worship song that often plays through my mind when I start to think about God's love.  It is from the song, " One Thing Remains ", and the chorus goes like this: "Your love never fails, never gives up.  Never runs out on me" I am captivated and comforted by the truth that God's love is unfailing.  There are two aspects of this that are so significant to me: 1) God's love never ends, never runs out. It " endures forever " as the Psalmist repeats over and over again in Psalm 136  helping us to get the point.  Nothing can happen that will make God's love stop. This is what I discussed in my January 23rd blog about God's love being everlasting.  It is also what Paul was so confident about and expresses in Romans 8:38-39 . 2) The second aspect of God's love being unfailing is that His love is sufficient.  It is enough. Human love is often small and tainted with fear, selfishness, or pride. The love of G...