Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which means that we’re in the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is perhaps one of the oldest liturgical seasons that we have in the Church (with the exception of the celebrations of Epiphany). Lent began as a time of contemplation for a group called the “catechumenate”. These “catechumens” were people that were engaged in learning about the Christian faith before they were Baptized. Normally the early Church did not Baptize people in this season of Lent, and so this was a period of learning and reflection that led up to the sacrament of Holy Baptism. 
Today our celebration of Lent is a little different. We Baptize people during the season of Lent (although even in the American Lutheran church it used to be “verbotten” to do so), and our systems for learning and reflecting on the sacraments are a little different than what they were in the early centuries of the Church.
And so the question that is before is in the 21st Century Church is this: What is meaningful about Lent today?
This Lent you will hear about how the conjunction “AND” is meaningful, and how Jesus is our great “I AND”, who connects God and man, death and life, and Law and Gospel. We hope that you will consider yourself a part of our “catechumenate” this Lent, to learn and reflect on the Gospel given to you by Jesus Christ.
in Christ,
PJ