One of the gifts of praying the Daily Office is being immersed in the words of holy Scripture. There are some days when, in the moment of praying the Office, the assigned readings are either confusing, disturbing, or seem to have little relevance to our lives. And then later in the day, some event will summon up a phrase from the words read in the morning Office. The Daily Office lectionary has, of course, been established for years, but God knows precisely how to illuminate certain words or phrases for us in the course of our lives.
On Wednesday, the first reading at Morning Prayer consisted of portions from Isaiah 63 and 64. These familiar words leaped off the page for me: “O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand” (63:8). On the eve of Lent, it occurred to me that these words sum up exactly what Lent is: Lent is a season of inner renewal in which we allow ourselves to be clay in the hands of God.
This is not easy work. If I’m honest with myself, I usually want to be the potter for the clay of my life. And God becomes a “consultant” in the process. God, I will do this with my life, and I need this also. Give me advice on how to accomplish it. But am I willing to fully submit myself as unformed clay to the hands of almighty God? That is the hard work of Lent.
It’s not difficult to find Lent burdensome, morose, and devoid of joy, and yet this is precisely the opposite of what Lent should be. Lent is a season of joy found in the gifts of penitence and self-examination. Lent starts not with our sinful nature but with the goodness implanted within us from our birth. Recognizing our tendency towards sin is how to reclaim the original goodness (to quote the late priest and theologian John Macquarrie) latent within us. And we can only do this by being clay to the hands of God the potter.
On Ash Wednesday, February 22, we will hear humbling words as ashes are imposed on our foreheads: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” In the same place on our foreheads where we were anointed with the oil of chrism in baptism, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked as Christ’s own forever, we are given a physical reminder of our mortality. But this Lent, could we find joy and hope in the words said to us as ashes are imposed on our foreheads? Being reminded of our mortality enables us to rely on God to be shaped more fully into his likeness. That is something to celebrate.
Lent is a season of fasting, penitence, self-examination, renewal, and living more fully into our baptismal identity. But it’s also a season in which we try to find God’s grace in the disappointments and failures of life. In those humbling moments, we recognize that we cannot find abundant life on our own. And yes, God desires that we have abundant life (see John 10:10). But we need God’s help. After all, we are only clay. God is the potter, and God longs to mold each and every one of us into his likeness, reclaiming the original goodness within us, which God made and knew while we were still in our mother’s womb. We are “marvelously made” (Ps. 139:13).
Please note that on Ash Wednesday we have Low Mass at 8 a.m. and Sung Mass at 7 p.m., both with imposition of ashes. I hope you will made it a priority to come to Mass (or if you can’t make it to Good Shepherd, go somewhere else during your workday) in order to mark the beginning of a holy Lent. Our invitation to a holy Lent is not just about ourselves but about the salvation of the entire world. Join us for Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings at 6 p.m., after Evening Prayer. If you wish to make a private confession, reach out to me at any time to schedule a time for that sacrament. May you find the joy of God’s forgiveness in this Lenten season, and may you assent to the loving, creative hands of God the potter, who is forming you into a new creation.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle