Lent at St. Stephen's
Returning to the Sacred Presence
One of the greatest theologians the world has ever known, St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), wrote about his prolonged, drawn-out search for God and the revelation he finally had that God had been with him all along:
I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! I have learnt to love you late! You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself. I searched for you outside myself…. You were with me, but I was not with you.
Confessions, Book X.27
Waking to the reality of this very present Eternal Life, this “Beauty ever ancient, ever new,” is a transforming experience. This life-giving Presence is always with us and within us. The problem, of course, is that we are often distracted by many cares and occupations that keep us far away from God and from ourselves. It is as if we spend much of our lives wandering “in a land that is waste,” while God constantly calls to us to return – return to ourselves, to our true life in God.
The forty days of Lent serve as a time for Christians to return to the Sacred Presence, to the God who has never left us, even though at times we have been far away. Lent is a time to renew classic disciplines of prayer and reflection, as well as ancient practices such as fasting and Bible study. All of this is designed to renew a right spirit within us and to prepare us for the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter.
Lent always begins with a day of special devotion and discipline known as “Ash Wednesday” which this year falls on February 17. The traditional worship for this day is especially powerful and calls for the “imposition of ashes.” Parishioners are invited to come forward to receive the imprint of ashes on their foreheads, as a sign of their mortality. In this stark way, we are put in mind of the difference between those things that are passing away and those things that endure forever.
On our Lenten offerings pages, you will see a number of classes, services and other opportunities designed to help you in your observance of a holy Lent and prepare you for a return to the Sacred Life and Beauty that is always with you.
