By Devin McGinnis
Rembrandt, Harmenszoon van Rijn. The Return of the Prodigal Son.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)
These are the words that start the season of Lent. As we pilgrimage through these weeks we wait, we fast, we prepare, and not one Alleluia escapes our lips.
I have been apart of the Anglican tradition for two years now. Ever since joining the Anglican Church Lent has been difficult. It is not that I do not understand Lent, indeed, it is because I now understand the meaning, the gravity, the purpose, that Lent has become hard.
For forty days we fast in preparation for the great feast of the resurrection. We fast, we remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. We remember our baptism. We remember that we have renounced the Devil and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God. We remember that we have renounced the empty promises and deadly deceits of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. We remember that we have renounced the sinful desires of the flesh that draw us from the love of God. Further, we remember that we have turned to Jesus Christ and confessed him as our Lord and Savior.
We remember that we have joyfully received the Christian Faith, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We remember that we have promised to obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in them all the days of our life. We remember these, but then we also remember that we continue to sin–that we are dust and to dust that we shall return.
We remember these by fasting, by reminding ourselves that wine, tobacco, whiskey, or food cannot be what we turn to–that they are not what we await, that they do not sustain us. We fast to remind ourselves that man does not live by bread alone. We fast during this weary and heavy season of preparation.
However, we are sustained. We break our fasts on Sunday and we are sustained by Christ in bread and wine. We commune with Christ, we take and eat. We take and eat because we cannot fast when the bridegroom is present
“While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they?” (Luke 5:34).
We come weary and we are bidden to take, eat, and rest. We are dust and we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under his table. But He is the same Lord, who always delights in showing mercy. We take, we eat, we are fed with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, and we are assured in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of the Son, and heirs of His eternal Kingdom. Our faith is strengthened and the Words of promise are spoken to us–the forgiveness of sins
In the words of St. Chrysostom, from his Paschal Homily:
“You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one. Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!”
Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church © 2017
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