More on Lent

I'm sharing more from my friend Jean's emails. This is an excerpt from Epicopal Bishop Colin Johnson Toronto. These are his thoughts on Lent from February 20, 2006.


The great spiritual guides of our tradition warn us not to
focus so much on the vices we wish to get rid of, but
rather to develop the virtues to which we aspire. Athletes
can often lose the race by looking over their shoulder
rather than toward the finish line. The traditional Lenten
disciplines are a preparation to celebrate the new life of
Easter. That new life is given to us in our baptism into
Christ's death and resurrection, and it is renewed week
by week as we are fed by Christ through word and
sacrament in the eucharist. The disciplines are meant
to recall our need for repentance and for the mercy and
forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel. They are exercises
to prepare us for healthier, fuller living, pruning rather
than constraining and circumscribing our lives. They help
put us in touch with the world and the people around us.