Getting Ready For Easter

Rector’s Rambling- March 2012


This is the time of year when people ask me what I do for Lent in preparation for Easter. It is a simple question, and hopefully this year I will be able to give a clear and simple answer.

1. Theologically, I try to engage in readings and activities which help me to come face to face with my own shortcomings that I might appreciate more specifically the wonder of God’s grace which is offered to us all in Jesus Christ.

2. Personally, I try to make myself accountable for my actions, and to actively consider my habits and thoughts as they compare and contrast to God’s commands in the Bible.

3. Religiously, I participate in those disciplines which the Bible, Holy Tradition, and personal experience indicate will help me to receive God's forgiveness, grace, and growth.

And so specifically, what have I committed to do this year?

1. I will read the Bible, more than any other book, and prayerfully ask God to apply it to my conscience and my life.

2. I will pray regularly, employing the common forms of the Book of Common Prayer and those personal forms of private prayer which seem to address the needs of the moment.

3. I will receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion regularly (at least weekly.)

4. I will visit my confessor each month and participate in the Rite of Reconciliation found in The Book of Common Prayer.

5. Each week in Lent, I will meditate on the Stations of the Cross, found in the Episcopal Book of Occasional Services, in order to more fully appreciate what Jesus did for me, and for us all.

6. I will attend the spring reunions of my fraternity, where the rituals call me to consider the claims of morality and of God in my life. I will pay special attention to The Holy Royal Arch, The Order of the Temple, the Rose Croix, and the 31^st and 32^nd degrees, in which I regularly recommit myself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

7. I will prayerfully and meditatively read one classic of spiritual literature during Lent; this year, The Conferences of John Cassian.

I hope this synopsis of my Lenten plans will help all of you as you develop your own. Remember that while our devotions and disciplines do nothing to earn us credit with God (we are all saved by grace alone,) they will help us to order our own introspection, and to prepare our hearts and minds to recognize and respond to God’s free gift of grace in our lives.

Faithfully,

Bill+