Lent 2021
Let’s Do Lent: A Communal Practice
from Pastor Coffey
Let’s do Len
t. That kind of sounds like the phrase, “let’s do lunch.” And I mean it to. If we were going to “do lunch,” which we’re not because of Covid, we would pick a date and time, pick a place, and then meet up and enjoy conversation and a meal. We certainly wouldn’t mean, when saying “let’s do lunch,” that you would go have your lunch and I would go have mine at another time and place.
So let’s do Lent. Let’s make this Lent of all Lents a shared, communal practice. We have the date. We have the time. We need to pick a “place.” But the place is not geographic, it is a gathering around shared practices.
Maybe you normally begin Lent by coming up with your own individual ways of observing the traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor. That’s fine in any normal year. This is no normal year. I think we need this Lent to feel connected in a shared set of spiritual practices that unite us and guide us toward the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ, the Paschal Mystery, at Easter.
I’m inviting you to share these practices with me beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 17, and continuing through the day of the Easter Vigil, April 3. Lent is 40 days, not counting Sundays, mirroring Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and Israel’s 40 years of wandering. I’ll leave Sundays out of this plan. You’re welcome to as well.
Prayer: 10 minutes of prayer time at Noon. I’ll begin with Psalm 51:10-12:
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
I’ll continue with contemplative prayer, a silent listening for God’s presence and voice. I’ll end with the Lord’s Prayer. You can do the same or use other ways of praying. If you’re interested in learning more about practicing contemplative prayer, here is a short video from Richard Rohr that may be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0o5J0-8OA0
Fasting: I’m going to give up one food practice I don’t really need – eating fast food. You can give up some food practice you don’t really need, which might be the same or different. Since mine is something I do too easily, the fasting from it will keep me reflecting on all my appetites and thoughtless ways of satisfying them, and reflect on my hunger for God’s love and justice, which is what fasting does for us.
Giving to the Poor: I’m going to set aside $5 per day to give to a local organization that helps people who are struggling. Mine will be Casa Marianella. So at the end of Lent I’ll give $200 ($5 a day for 40 days not counting Sundays – it’s Lent math). How much can you set aside every day for 40 days? What way of helping those in need will you be able to practice? Here’s a thought: If 25 of us set aside $5 a day for 40 days, we would collectively give $5,000. A lot of people will be fed and helped.
I invite you, if you want, to share with me your intentions to join me in these Lenten practices by email (pastor@felcaustin.org). You can also share with me which ways you intend to live out these three spiritual disciplines. I will share with the congregation the number of people participating, and some of the ways they are doing so. This will be anonymous information shared to help inspire the whole community.
We can’t do lunch right now. And we can’t get together during Lent in our normal way of being church. But we can do Lent together through Sunday worship, Evening Prayer on Wednesdays in Lent, and sharing these practices together. Join me and your church in sharing a communal Lent.