Lent
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series II, Cycle C Gospel Texts
Lent
The Season Of Renewal
Liturgical Color: Purple
(Ash Wednesday to Easter)
The Lenten season extends over a 46-day period. The six Sundays in Lent are not included as a part of Lent; so the season consists of forty days. Sundays, weekly commemorations of the First Easter (though every Sunday is Easter), have always been excluded from this traditional fast season. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and serves as a review of the events of Jesus' Passion. Passion refers to the sufferings of Jesus after the Last Supper and on the Cross.
The beginning of Lent appears to have been associated with a period of discipline, reflection, and abstinence in order to imitate Jesus' self-denial and to prepare for the celebration of Easter.
Lent developed for two reasons:
1. As a period of fasting which preceded Easter. At first, this fasting period was held on Saturday, the day before Easter, lasting until 3:00 a.m. Easter morning when the Lord's Supper was celebrated, recalling Christ's resurrection in the early morning. Later, this fast was extended to six days and eventually became separated into the events of Holy Week. Holy Week, then, is an older season than the entire Lenten season.
2. For the baptism of persons into the faith on Easter Eve. Because the early church existed "underground," candidates were carefully screened after a long period of preparation. The strictest part of this probationary period came just before baptism. A fasting of forty days was required, suggested by Jesus' fasting forty days in the wilderness, Moses' fasting at Mount Sinai, and Elijah's fasting on the way to the Mount of God. Eventually, this period of preparation for baptism evolved into a general period of preparation for Easter to be observed by all Christians.
The days of Holy Week have the following significance:
Palm Sunday -- Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Monday -- Jesus' cleansing of the temple.
Tuesday --aJesus' verbal conflicts and confrontations with his enemies.
Wednesday -- Jesus' silence and retreat in Bethany.
Thursday -- Jesus' initiation of the Lord's Supper. Maundy takes its name from the "New Commandment" which Jesus gave to the disciples to love.
Friday -- Jesus' crucifixion. The term "good" probably comes from "God's Friday."
* * *
Three or four weeks before Ash Wednesday, place the Scripture for today in the worship bulletin and church newsletter. Invite the people to read it several times. Ask them to bring their favorite Lenten meditation or quotation around this Scripture when they come to worship on Ash Wednesday. Use no bulletin.
Note: Somewhere and sometime during worship, hand out nails, large nails, or spikes, to all those who can handle it and for whom it makes sense. Do not give it to small children. Say nothing about it. Do so each week, with no comment. On the sixth Sunday of Lent, ask people to bring the nails to the Holy Week celebrations, and to worship on Easter. (Some may get the point by then.)
The Season Of Renewal
Liturgical Color: Purple
(Ash Wednesday to Easter)
The Lenten season extends over a 46-day period. The six Sundays in Lent are not included as a part of Lent; so the season consists of forty days. Sundays, weekly commemorations of the First Easter (though every Sunday is Easter), have always been excluded from this traditional fast season. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and serves as a review of the events of Jesus' Passion. Passion refers to the sufferings of Jesus after the Last Supper and on the Cross.
The beginning of Lent appears to have been associated with a period of discipline, reflection, and abstinence in order to imitate Jesus' self-denial and to prepare for the celebration of Easter.
Lent developed for two reasons:
1. As a period of fasting which preceded Easter. At first, this fasting period was held on Saturday, the day before Easter, lasting until 3:00 a.m. Easter morning when the Lord's Supper was celebrated, recalling Christ's resurrection in the early morning. Later, this fast was extended to six days and eventually became separated into the events of Holy Week. Holy Week, then, is an older season than the entire Lenten season.
2. For the baptism of persons into the faith on Easter Eve. Because the early church existed "underground," candidates were carefully screened after a long period of preparation. The strictest part of this probationary period came just before baptism. A fasting of forty days was required, suggested by Jesus' fasting forty days in the wilderness, Moses' fasting at Mount Sinai, and Elijah's fasting on the way to the Mount of God. Eventually, this period of preparation for baptism evolved into a general period of preparation for Easter to be observed by all Christians.
The days of Holy Week have the following significance:
Palm Sunday -- Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Monday -- Jesus' cleansing of the temple.
Tuesday --aJesus' verbal conflicts and confrontations with his enemies.
Wednesday -- Jesus' silence and retreat in Bethany.
Thursday -- Jesus' initiation of the Lord's Supper. Maundy takes its name from the "New Commandment" which Jesus gave to the disciples to love.
Friday -- Jesus' crucifixion. The term "good" probably comes from "God's Friday."
* * *
Three or four weeks before Ash Wednesday, place the Scripture for today in the worship bulletin and church newsletter. Invite the people to read it several times. Ask them to bring their favorite Lenten meditation or quotation around this Scripture when they come to worship on Ash Wednesday. Use no bulletin.
Note: Somewhere and sometime during worship, hand out nails, large nails, or spikes, to all those who can handle it and for whom it makes sense. Do not give it to small children. Say nothing about it. Do so each week, with no comment. On the sixth Sunday of Lent, ask people to bring the nails to the Holy Week celebrations, and to worship on Easter. (Some may get the point by then.)
