Ash Wednesday 2023
Dear Members of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania,
Over the course of the last few days, I had several errands to run- pharmacy, grocery store, hardware store- you know the route! In each of the stores that I entered, there were Easter displays with candy, cards, stuffed animal bunnies, wind-up yellow chicks, and plastic eggs… and, over in the corner, a “Clearance” rack with forlorn heart-shaped items, boxes of Valentine’s candy, socks and scarves with pink hearts printed on them, a wilting group of potted miniature rose bushes. I took notice of these displays and as the day’s errands progressed, I made it a game to seek out the Easter treats and the Valentine’s cast offs in each store, catching onto our cultural rhythm of moving quickly forward in anticipation of the next shiny thing.
Easter is a whole ecclesiastical season away. 46 days, if you count all the days. Valentine’s Day is but a week expired. Surely our love lasts longer than that!
Today we enter the sacred season of Lent. We begin with offering our penitence, laying ourselves open in a litany that demands humility, and seeking God’s mercy as we commit to fasting and prayer, self-examination and repentance, self-denial and reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. Many folks take on a discipline at Lent or give something up. I’d like to invite us, this year, to explore more deeply what Lent might hold for us and, even, to think about a number of opportunities that might unfold as we move through this holy time. Allow Lent to work in you- on you- and for it to be a time of real transformation. The place where we begin might look quite different than the place where we end up on Easter, depending on how attentive we are to the working of the Spirit in the fullness of the season.
Discipline is a teacher; we learn, through careful and faithful repetition of prayers, actions, and patterns of self-denial that we are stronger than we think, and that our God has strength to supply us in our time of need. But listening to our bodies, looking for the nuances of grace that pull us gently to another path, and looking for transformation as it unfolds and following its lead, is also a holy way. And so, my invitation to all of us this year is to be present to this season as we move through it. Don’t just give up chocolate or cheese or wine but give it up and then notice what that does in you and how you negotiate the discipline. If you’ve taken on a task: contemplative prayer, a long walk every day, greeting others with an attitude of compassion, then check in on yourself after a time and wonder how you are becoming someone new. Look for the way that Lent is working in you, be attentive, and don’t be afraid of a course correction if it feels right. Most of all- don’t train your eyes on the bunnies and jellybeans; Easter will come in its own good time. This holy season is to be experienced in its own fullness. God’s compassion and mercy will not disappoint.
Together we stand at this threshold of Lent. Godspeed on your passage.
The Rt. Rev. Audrey C. Scanlan
XI Bishop
