Here we are again, at the precipice of Lent. This year I am filled with an excitement for Lent. That is not maybe the response to Lent that you might expect. We think of Lent as a penitential season when we are thinking about the things that keep us from God, and when we give things up, which no one really likes to do. However, for me, this year, thinking about Lent, celebrating it with people for the first time in two years in the sanctuary, I am getting back in touch with what Lent was originally intended to be about—a preparation for joy.
Lent emerged in the early church out of a desire to prepare for the joy of the Resurrection. The church recognized that that joy could be best experienced, most fully realized, if people were not distracted when they began the journey through Holy Week to Easter. So, they began to set aside time to get themselves in order. The forty days before Holy Week were when people were to assess what was going to distract them from the joy of God’s love in the Resurrection, both at Easter and the mini-easter celebrated every Sunday.
Lent was never intended as a time of intentional suffering and misery. There’s more than enough suffering in the world already, far more than God intended. Instead, Lent is an invitation to discipline—which does not mean suffering or punishment—but learning. In Lent we are invited to learn about the things that are coming between us and Gods love and hope for us, and to put those things aside so that we are ready celebrate with joy the Paschal Feast.
Whatever you do to mark Lent this year, I pray that it brings you new learning and a fuller experience of the joy of God’s Love.
The Rev. Jed Fox
The Rev. Jedediah (Jed) Fox has been the rector of Church of the Redeemer since January 2015. Prior to being called to Redeemer, Fr. Jed served as curate and assistant at The Church of St. Michael and St. George in St. Louis, Missouri, and was a seminarian at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin while attending the General Theological Seminary. Fr. Jed was raised at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Helena, Montana.
You may contact Fr. Jed at rector@redeemer-kenmore.org.
Church of the Redeemer
Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.
Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
