Happy Spring: Blessed Lent

I went on my walk today along the little bayou and saw a Snowy Egret, a large Great Blue Heron, lots of turtles, an Ibis, and a large hawk carrying a little snake to the eyes waiting in the nest…oh yes, and a monarch butterfly. I found that to be meaningful. What a treat on the first day of spring for this human being who is indoors way too much.

Did you know the Old English word for the spring season is “lenten?” It is the season in which we see the days noticeably “lengthen”. Even the modern Dutch word for spring is “lente”. This is the word that gives us our name for the holy season, “Lent”

There are twelve more days of Lent. You probably already know the forty days of Lent do not count Sundays, because all Sundays, even those in Lent are little feasts of our Lord’s resurrection. After today, skipping Sundays, and counting days through Holy Saturday comes out to twelve. The first six are the weekdays of 5 Lent, and the second six are the weekdays of Holy Week.

We love all the signs of spring except pollen. We love the flora, the fauna, and the hearts full of grace. I pray that this couple of weeks can be perceived as the last leg of our journey with the Lord up to the foot of the Cross.

We will see tomorrow in the Sunday scriptures how God is working on our hearts. I mentioned in a piece last Monday something about Sunday’s Old Testament lesson and appointed Psalm. I previewed how Jeremiah announces God’s work of putting the sacred way of God within people, so that holiness is written on our hearts. Also, we will see from the psalm that as we keep to God’s ways, we will begin to seek God with our whole heart and treasure God’s promise within our hearts. We saw recently how prayer for the Fifth Sunday in Lent reminds us loving grace is supplied by God, so that no matter how scattered other things get, our hearts may be fixed where true joys are to be found.

Let’s pick that up strongly on Sunday. Let us have God work on our hearts for the next two weeks and be fully in the experience of The Lord’s gift of self in the holy meal, Maundy Thursday, April 1st, the mystery of his saving self-offering, Good Friday, April 2nd, and the miracle of his rising on the Paschal Feast, April 4th. It will do our hearts good. Happy spring, everybody, and a blessed Lent to us all.