Dear Readers
I hope this new month finds you well! February often feels to me like the bottom of the hill. We have now been in Winter for what feels like months, and are not much closer to the sunshine of Spring. Our resolutions made with optimism and vigor on January 1 are now old and stale, perhaps faltering, perhaps a little less shiny than they were when we made them. Lent is about to begin, with Ash Wednesday—more on that in a moment—but the refrain is I am dust, and to dust I shall return, hardly a cheerful and sunny thought taken in itself. February was actually an unlucky month to the ancient Romans and that’s why it has fewer days: the Romans wanted February to end as fast as possible. We might feel that desire too.
I’m here to tell you that there is no better place than at the bottom of the hill. Because it means we have nowhere to go but up. Up, up to the sunshine that is ever increasing in our days; up, up the temperatures—at least in my local climes here in the USA. Up, up to let our resolutions mature into penances. However things may look to you this month, try not to feel down because there’s so much left yet to do. Maybe look up—and see all the things you are about to do. And then you get to do the fun part: you get to do it!
We Are An Easter People
On February 22nd, Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent will begin. Lent is a season of preparation and penance, signified by purple vestments and altar cloths—the same purple vestments and altar cloths we saw not long ago, in Advent, when we prepared for Christ’s arrival. Now we prepare for His departure, and to do this we take on penances and practices which we hope will lead us closer to Him.
My priest, confessor, dear friend, and the officiant at my wedding once told me that what we do for Lent we ought to take with the mind that we will keep them forever. Then, if you do nothing else through the rest of the year but you keep your Lenten practice until next year, you will get a little better every year of your life, a little closer to God.
I like to think of two practices every year: I give up something that harms me, and start something that helps me. I offer this as a suggestion for how to think about it—but do choose something that you can be confident will lead you closer to God.
Thank You
However you feel about these waning days of winter; however you feel about Lent, however you feel about the year to come: Thank you for reading. I pray that you feel closer to God this month, and that whatever happens in your life, you can say that it is helping you to grow.
God bless you all!
-Scoot
Ad Jesum Per Mariam