LENT: Return to the LordSample

Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lent journey. Historically, believers were marked with ashes on their foreheads as a symbol of their repentance.

Return to the Lord with all your heart.

Lent is a season of waiting, fasting, and preparation as we journey toward Easter. It is a sacred pause in the year, an invitation to slow down and attend again to God.

Our hearts, so easily distracted, are prone to wander from whole-hearted devotion. The beginning of Lent marks a moment of realignment, a chance to turn our hearts back toward God. Through the prophet Joel, God calls not for outward displays of repentance, but for a genuine response of the heart. A return to the Lord, to his ways, his presence, and his love.

When we turn back, we discover that God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. His mercy meets us not with condemnation, but with welcome.

Lent is a season of consecration, forty days of daily returning to our God. We invite you to consider a fast during this season, most commonly from food, though it may take other meaningful forms. Choose something that is both achievable and intentional, allowing the hunger it creates to draw you toward prayer, dependence, and renewed devotion.

This forty-day journey runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, pausing each Sunday to remember that Lent is marked not only by fasting, but by weekly feasting in the joy of resurrection.

Let the journey begin.