Lent: just in case you're wondering!
Did you know that Lent began this week on Ash Wednesday?
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar, directly following Shrove Tuesday or better know to some as Pancake Tuesday. So why pancakes?
Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent. I personally would have chosen chocolate ice cream Tuesday... but no one asked me:)
Did you know that Ash Wednesday occurs 46 days before Easter? It is a moveable fast that can fall as early as February 4 and as late as March 10.
According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of this 40-day liturgical period of prayer and fasting or abstinence. Of the 46 days until Easter, six are Sundays. As the Christian sabbath, Sundays are not included in the fasting period and are instead "feast" days during Lent.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a celebration and reminder of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. The ashes used are typically gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday.
Just in case you were wondering and now you know!
Last week we began a series called There’s an app for that! During the Sundays of Lent we will be searching the scriptures for 4 very important Apps for Life. This week we will look at the Forgiveness App.
If you are a parent you might want to take a look at this great article that was forwarded to me http://orangeparents.org/unexpected-wounds/.
For those of you who thought last week was entertaining... with necklaces caught in pulpits, and children coming to the front to give announcements... I assure you, you don’t want to miss this week. You just never know what will happen or what you might walk away with!