Tag: Lent 2026
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Lent Week Six: “Have mercy…”
In this final week of Lent, we come almost full circle back to where we started: a merciful God. The prayer now calls on God to “Have mercy on us and forgive us.” We call upon God, echoing the language of His self-revelation on Sinai (Exodus 34:6-7). In effect, like the lament Psalms do frequently,…
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Lent Week Five: “We are truly sorry…”
As we continue on our Lenten journey, we reach a turning point in the prayer. No longer are we simply confessing that we have sinned or detailing the ways in which we have sinned. Though, if we are honest, there is nothing simple about confessing. It is hard, uncomfortable work. In confession we admit that…
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Lent Week Four: “We have not loved…”
At this point in our Lenten journey, I think it is time we stop, take a breath, and remember where we have been. We started with Ash Wednesday, remembering that we are physical human beings made of dust, and that this is a good thing. Yet we were also reminded that we are dust in…
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Lent Week Three: “By What We Have Done and Left Undone…”
As we continue our Lenten journey through this prayer of confession, we are confronted again with sin. This confrontation takes us deeper into what sin looks like, and it is even more uncomfortable than we might expect. If last week taught us anything, it is that we tend to think of sin as a verb,…
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Lent Week Two: “We confess…”
After beginning with God, we turn to much more familiar Lenten language: confession and sin. Yet we should not move too quickly into confession and sin. Before we tackle these serious topics, we need to stop and consider once again the God to whom we confess. As we noted last week, we approach a merciful…
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Lent Week One: “Most Merciful God…”
This prayer begins our Lenten journey in a most appropriate place, with God. Beginning here has a good track record. It is the same place the Bible begins. So, we walk our Lenten journey not alone but with God. As the Bible begins by noting, God is our creator (Genesis 1:1), and there are some…
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Ash Wednesday: Living Dust
Every year Christians from around the world and throughout Church history have gathered on Ash Wednesday to commemorate the beginning of Lent and to have ash smeared on their foreheads. An odd ritual, to be sure, but a profound one. Ash Wednesday, after Christmas, is probably the most serious reflection on the goodness of creation.…
Joshua Strickler 