2015LentBannerThe God-man Jesus Christ calls all who believe in Him to take up their crosses and follow Him. In at least one case, that call comes after Jesus had to emphasize for His disciples the Divine necessity of His own suffering, rejection, crucifixion and death in order to save all people from their sins (Mark 8:31-9:1).  More than literally retracing Jesus’s steps through Jerusalem on the via dolorosa (“way of sorrows”), following Jesus on the way of the cross can be both our taking up our crosses and following Him through this life and our again hearing and reflecting on His Passion, as we again do this Lent at Pilgrim, with special midweek worship opportunities, as well as our regular Sunday Divine Services.

The 40-day season of Lent is based in part on special 40-day periods known from the Bible, such as Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness after His baptism resisting the devil’s temptation (for example, Mark 1:12-13, part of the Gospel Reading for The First Sunday in Lent). Lent is often said to be a time to reflect on baptism, a time for rebirth and renewal, for the discipline of learning and growing in faith, and for repentance and prayer. (The purple paraments used during Lent in part symbolize penitence and self-discipline.) More than anything, however, Lent prepares us for the Holy Week and Easter celebrations of the mystery of our redemption by the death and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, with its special emphasis on repentance. At Pilgrim, we observe Ash Wednesday with a special Divine Service at 7:00 p.m. The imposition of ashes is offered for all those who wish to receive them. Ashes are a rich Biblical symbol of judgment and condemnation of sin, frailty, our total dependence upon God for life, humiliation, repentance, cleansing, and renewal. We were created from dust and, on account of sin, return to dust, and so we repent in dust and ashes. The ashes also remind us of our need for cleansing, scrubbing, and purifying, and the season of Lent provides such a time for renewal.

The following five weeks after Ash Wednesday, we offer special Midweek Lenten Vespers services at 7:00 p.m. Amid Lenten hymns and prayers, we also sing and pray penitential Psalms, hear Readings from a Passion narrative combined from the four Gospel accounts, and reflect on key statements or events from the Readings.

  • Lent I (02/22): The Lord’s Supper, Betrayal from the intimate fellowship
  • Lent II (03/04): Gethsemane, The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
  • Lent III (03/11): The Palace of the High Priest, Blasphemy
  • Lent IV (03/18): The Praetorium, The greater sin
  • Lent V (03/25): Calvary, When the wood is green, when it is dry

The Midweek Vespers will be preceded by a meal at 6:00 p.m. for as long as the schedule for the remodeling of our Parish Hall permits.

Although not strictly-speaking a part of Lent, the following are the Sundays in Lent 2015 and their Gospel Readings (appointed by Lutheran Service Book’s three-year lectionary series B, which largely uses the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, though less evidently this season).

  • First Sunday (02/25): Jesus is victorious over the devil’s temptation (Mark 1:9-15)
  • Second Sunday (03/01): Jesus is confessed as the Christ (Mark 8:27-38)
  • Third Sunday (03/08): Jesus prophesies of His death and resurrection (John 2:13-22)
  • Fourth Sunday (03/15): Jesus is sent for salvation but also brings judgment (John 3:14-21)
  • Fifth Sunday (03/22): Jesus serves by giving His life as a ransom for all (Mark 10:35-45)
  • Sixth Sunday (03/29): Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem to die (Mark 11:1-11)

The last week of Lent is Holy Week, during which we offer a Maundy Thursday Divine Service on April 02 at 7:00 p.m. and a Good Friday Divine Service on April 03 at 7:00 p.m. In addition, you may want to mark April 05 on your calendars for our Easter services: “Sonrise” Matins at 7:30 a.m. and Divine Service at 10:45 a.m. In between will be an Egg Hunt, Sunday School and Adult Bible Class, and possibly an Easter Breakfast, if the schedule for the remodeling of our Parish Hall permits.

All are invited and welcome to any of our activities in person or to read and hear the sermons at Pilgrim from any and every season of the Church Year online.

The image of the pavement on the via dolorosa used in the slider graphic and the banner on the top of this page is used from this page, where it is uncredited.