Janesville churches get ready for Lent

Catherine W. Idzerda
Thursday, February 11, 2016

Parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Janesville pray during Mass on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10. Catholics around the world observe Ash Wednesday as the beginning of Lent. This year, several Janesville churches are joining together to create a series of luncheon talks with the theme of ‘spiritual discipline.’
All talks begin at noon Wednesdays. Each one will include a simple lunch afterward. Everyone is welcome.
Feb. 17: “Fasting (yes and no)” with the Rev. Tanya Sadagopan of First Congregational Church. Held at First Presbyterian Church, 17 N. Jackson St., Janesville.
Feb. 24: “Study” with the Rev. Rick Hamilton of First Christian Church. Held at First Congregational Church, 54 S. Jackson St., Janesville.
March 2: “Confession” with the Rev. Bruce Jones of First Presbyterian Church. Talk will be at First Presbyterian.
March 9: “Giving” with the Rev. Rick Hamilton. Talk will be held at First Presbyterian.
March 16: “Prayer/Meditation” with the Rev. Bruce Jones. Talk will be at First Presbyterian.

JANESVILLE—For many churchgoers, Lent has become a 40-day endurance test involving fish sticks, extra church services and the challenge of improving some small fault or giving up one of life’s ordinary pleasures.

It comes around every year on Ash Wednesday, like a spiritual antidote to the excesses of Christmas.

But pastors say Lent can be so much more that. Viewed from a new perspective, Lent can be a time to connect head and heart, a period of reconciliation and grace that can help Christians transform their faith from obligation to joy.

With that in mind, several Janesville churches have joined together to sponsor a series of luncheon talks. The theme this year is “spiritual discipline,” and each talk will cover the basics of fasting, study, confession, giving and prayer.

First Presbyterian, First Congregational and First Christian churches are all participating.

It’s a series the group has worked on before.

“Even though theologically we can be at different places, these are things Christians can agree on and can use to deepen our own faith,” said the Rev. Bruce Jones of First Presbyterian Church.

Some of the spiritual disciplines have become more like obligations—those duties churchgoers do just because they go to church.

“Lent is a signpost to be more intentional about our faith,” Jones said.

A better understanding of those traditional practices can help people deepen their faith.

Each of the disciplines involves some kind of sacrifice: the sacrifice of time for extra study or prayer, of money for giving, of comfort for fasting and ego for confession.

“The sacrifices reflect the sacrifices of Christ,” Jones said.

Jones said the practices of Lent can help people connect a faith that is in the head—the faith of intellectual understanding and civic obligation—and faith that is in the heart—a joyful understanding of the love of God.

“Sometimes there’s a disconnect,” Jones said. “Sometimes the longest journey is the 18 inches between the head and the heart.”

Mercy and sacrifice have a special meaning for Roman Catholics this year, said the Rev. Rob Butz of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Janesville.

Last April, Pope Francis declared a “Jubilee Year of Mercy” from Dec. 8, 2015, to Nov. 20, 2016.

The pope stressed that the Year of Mercy was a time to underscore the church’s “responsibility to be a living sign of God’s love in the world.”

During Lent, believers are encouraged to perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Corporal works are practical actions, such as working at a food pantry or volunteering at the homeless shelter. Spiritual works include comforting the sorrowful, forgiving injuries, and praying for the living and the dead.

“We teach people about the faith by instructing them in God’s mercy, but also by embodying it,” according to a handout from Catholic Relief Services about the jubilee year.

Those are the themes of Lent, as well, Butz said.

“Lent for Christians is a time of grace and reconciliation,” he said. “It’s a time for us to proclaim our faith and deepen that faith by walking more closely with Jesus.

“Jesus came to sacrifice his life for us freely out of love for us,” Butz said. “The small sacrifices people make help put them more in union with Christ.”

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