Sunday 21 February 2010

Time to sweep and clean the room – Lent (3)

A helpful reminder from Archbishop Rowan about the meaning and purpose of Lent (in 3mins 58secs).

But it's important to remember that the word 'Lent' itself comes from the old English word for 'spring'. It's not about feeling gloomy for forty days; it's not about making yourself miserable for forty days; it's not even about giving things up for forty days. Lent is springtime. It's preparing for that great climax of springtime which is Easter – new life bursting through death. And as we prepare ourselves for Easter during these days, by prayer and by self-denial, what motivates us and what fills the horizon is not self-denial as an end in itself but trying to sweep and clean the room of our own minds and hearts so that the new life really may have room to come in and take over and transform us at Easter.

A full transcript of ++Rowan’s video recorded for Lent 2009 can be found here.

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