Lenten Notes

On the Sundays in Lent, you will notice a difference in how we
come together as God’s people to worship God. Much of the festive
nature of the liturgy is missing. We begin our service with the Penitential
Order (BCP, 319), which shifts our Confession and Absolution to the
beginning of our service and with this shift, our awareness of our
dependence on God and our longing for God’s grace. Our music may
have a quieter tone. We do not adorn our altar area with flowers, and our
crosses are covered. A dark purple is used as the color of the season. The
word Alleluia, which is sung throughout most of our church year and
offered in the dismissal during the season of Easter, is absent- we “retired”
it last Sunday and will bring it back joyfully for the first Eucharist of
Easter!

These changes are not because Lent is a dull or dreary season, but
because it is a time for prayer and contemplation, of journeying within
ourselves to find that place of renewal and hope, placed there by the Spirit
of God in our baptism. This is a time of limiting our distractions, so that
we can listen to that small, still voice of God and respond with a renewed
heart.

We gather Sunday by Sunday for our service of worship where our
story as the people of God reminds us that God has met and will always
meet our needs and that God alone is the source of wholeness and
goodness in our lives. We join Christ in his struggle against evil and death,
so that we may also join him in the victory that destroys all death.

We invite you to check out our weekly bulletins and website
(stmatthew-epsicopal.org) for more information on opportunities to
worship, prayer, study, and service to others. Together, we will keep a holy
Lent and prepare our souls for the glory and joy that is ours as an Easter
people when we will say together “The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

Faithfully,
Deacon Dina (Deacon in Charge at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church)