March 6, 2011 - Catechesis at Bethel: What is Lent?

Lent is a season in the Church Year which focuses upon the Passion (suffering and death) of Jesus to accomplish our salvation. Lent is often called a “penitential” season because of the emphasis on repentance. Remember, however, that “repentance” also includes faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. So the emphasis in Lent isn't US and OUR sins, but JESUS and His giving Himself as the Lamb of God to take away our sins.

Historically, Lent has had different meanings and purposes. At one time, it was a period of “discipline” for those who had sinned publicly and were waiting to be publicly absolved and readmitted to the fellowship of the church. In other times, it has had a Catechism emphasis, being the time when catechumens were instructed in the faith in preparation for Baptism and Confirmation at the Easter Vigil. The best understanding of Lent is that it is about Jesus and what He suffered to save us. In worship, we forego the joyous sound of “alleluias” until Easter and our hymns will concentrate more than ever on Jesus' saving work as the sacrifice for our sins.

The Season of Lent is 40 days long. (Sundays in Lent are not counted and neither are Good Friday and Holy Saturday). These 40 days remind us of the 40 days of the rains of the Flood, the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert, and the 40 days Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted, among other “40s” in the Scriptures. These times remind us especially about the battles we face in this life and that we trust in the Lord to fight for us against our enemies and provide for us until we reach the safety of eternal life.

Three particular Christian practices are emphasized in Lent. Lent is seen as a time of extra prayer. During Lent and throughout Holy Week, the Church has extra times for worship so that we can give more attention to the preaching of Christ and the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Lent is also a good time to practice daily prayer in our personal devotions. A simple order of prayer is available right in the Small Catechism (p.327 in the hymnal).

Fasting or abstaining is another Lenten discipline. Fasting means not eating for a length of time. Abstaining means not eating certain foods or, as is the more modern custom, “giving something up.” The point of these practices is NOT to deny ourselves some pleasure but to remind ourselves that Christ is our true bread and that the food of this world does not last. Sometimes meat (which really includes fish, too!) is not eaten on Fridays as a simple reminder that our Lord suffered in His flesh on a Friday. It's a devotional reminder of our Lord's suffering, again, not to deprive ourselves, but to focus our attention and meditation upon our Savior.

Almsgiving or works of charity are another type of Lenten practice. Here we learn again to crucify our own sinful flesh and its desires by remembrance of our Baptism and instead use our time or money for the benefit of our neighbor. You might take money that you would otherwise spend on something for yourself and use it for your neighbor in some way or practice loving your neighbor by helping them in some way.

Remember, the purpose of Lent is never to make ourselves miserable or focus on how sorry we are. When Lent is about US, then it's a gloomy season indeed! Rather, there is a subtle joy in Lent because even though the suffering and death of Jesus are quite awful and caused by our sins, it is exactly to save us from our sins that He underwent His Passion. Therefore we don't have to mope or seem subdued in Lent. Rather we can smile and be happy, knowing that Lent is all about what our Savior accomplished!

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, the day we are reminded that the curse of sin is death, and that we will one day die and become dust once again. Yet this very reminder of our mortality because of sin kicks off a season in which we hear with great joy the work of our Savior Jesus to rescue us from sin and death. So Happy Lent, because of Jesus!

March 24, 2010 - Lent 5 Midweek - The Passion Reading: Calvary

“If He's the Son of God, let Him come down now from the cross! He saved others; He can't save Himself!” So they enemies of Jesus mocked Him. It does seem a bit silly. Jesus DOES have power. He could hop down from that cross and blast those enemies with His mighty power, causing them to melt with fear and be destroyed for their evil. But He hangs there. He could have called down twelve legions of angels in the Garden and not ended up on the cross in the first place. But He let Himself be taken. People like to get all excited about how mighty and powerful Jesus is. But He's not powerful now. Now He's weak and dying and almost dead and then dead. He's no big, powerful, lighting tossing, glory-shining God now, is He? He's just nasty. And scary. And horrible. And sad looking. He's naked on a cross, nails through His hands and feet, a head crowned with thorns. He's surrounded by people who hate Him so much they can't even find a drop of human pity at such suffering but instead mock and laugh at Him. What a sad and sorry sight that this is what the Son of God looks like: bloody, dying, nailed to a cross, the Roman Empire's sick version of capital punishment.

But the mockers have it half right. If Jesus comes down off the cross, He'll save Himself. Himself. Just Himself. If Jesus comes down of the cross He'll save Himself but not us. If Jesus saves Himself, we perish. We die in our sins. We are doomed forever. But if Jesus doesn't save Himself, He saves us. Can't be both. You can't have a God who doesn't touch sin and still gets rid of your sins. But you can't get rid of your sins unless there's a God who becomes man to touch them, to carry them, to get covered in them and be crushed to death by them. No, they're right. He can't save Himself and others. If Jesus saves Himself, others are doomed. If Jesus doesn't save Himself, others are saved.

This is our faith, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the God who became man to save us does it by not saving Himself. We would save ourselves. If we were being tortured on a cross, and we could somehow get down, we would. When we sin we always try to save ourselves. We try to ignore it. Cover it up. Blame it on someone else. Say it's not our fault. Make excuses why we did it. Just hide it and hope it goes away. That's why Jesus doesn't save Himself. He knows that we try to save ourselves and that's exactly why He needs to save us. If we try to get rid of our own sins, our own condemnation before God, then we're done for. So the Father sends the Son to do it and the Son comes willingly and does it. Jesus knows that the only way to save us is to not save Himself. So He does not come down from that cross. He hangs there until the bitter end, until the sins of the world are paid for and He can say, “It is finished” and then commends Himself into His Father's hands, knowing that He will be raised the third day, having triumphed over all things.

And now, the One who didn't save Himself so that He could save you, does for you what He did to the thief who saw that He could be saved if Jesus died. Jesus declares your eternal life. At the font, from the pulpit, at the altar, the Lord is saying to you: I gave myself up for you. Now you will be with me in paradise on the day you die. No working out some religion or way of life. No figuring out the part you have to play. No wondering whether you can be sure. Just this Good News: The Son of God who DIDN'T save Himself has saved you. The One who was lifted up on the cross and refused to come down now lifts you to the heavenly places and won't let anything bring you down from there. Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

March 21, 2010 - Judica: The Fifth Sunday in Lent - Genesis 22:1-14

So God promised Abraham that he would have a son and that through that son the Promise would be carried on. Even though Abraham was almost 100 years old, he and Sarah were finally given their son Isaac. Here he was! The child of the promise! The child they would never have thought to expect except for the Lord's promise. Here was the one who would grow up to have his own kids so that Abraham's family would be just like God said: more than the stars of heaven. Except when Isaac is just about grown up the Lord tells Abraham to go kill him! God has promised that through this son, Isaac, the Promise would be carried. And then God tells Abraham to kill Isaac! What do you do when God says one thing and then says something completely different! What are we supposed to think when God seems to so blatantly contradict Himself? What are we supposed to think when the Word of God tells us what a beautiful picture marriage is supposed to be and we are married in the church with the Lord's blessings and then it seems like the marriage is coming apart? What are supposed to think when God's Word says, “train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they won't depart from it” and we've brought our kids to church their whole lives and they just get to a certain age and decide they don't really need church anymore? What do we do when we hear over and over that God loves us and then we find out we have some terrible sickness or disease from which we might even die! What do we do when we hear over and over that our sins are forgiven and yet we carry around a load of guilt that just won't go away? These contradictions, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, between what the Lord says and what is, are our being tested as Abraham was tested. When you know God's promise but the exact opposite happens then pay attention: this is test. But this is only a test!

When Abraham was tested, what could he conclude? On the one hand, God said his son was the one who would be the heir of the promise. But God also said that Abraham had to kill the boy. So what does Abraham cling to? How does he reconcile these two completely different messages from God? The book of Hebrews says that Abraham believed that if God had to raise Isaac from the dead, that's what He would do. In other words, Abraham figured that even if he killed his son Isaac, the Lord would still keep his promise by raising Isaac from the dead and making him the father of many nations. Here's another one: We heard the Father's voice declare about Jesus, “This is my beloved Son!” And yet now the Father is going to let Jesus be arrested and beaten and mocked and scourged and crucified and die, forsaken on the cross! So is Jesus the Father's beloved Son or not? He says one thing and does another. But here is where the contradiction is overcome and answered. In Jesus on the cross you have the greatest contradictions joined. In Jesus you have the God who hates and despises sin and the God who forgives and has mercy. In Jesus you have the Law which promises punishment to those who break it and the Gospel which promises forgiveness to those who cannot earn it. In Christ we have the huge contradiction that Man is God and that God dies. Christ can cry out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!?” because He still believes and holds fast to the promise that He is the Father's beloved Son.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus died for you. His death is for YOUR salvation. Therefore, anything when you experience that seems to contradict God's promises to you in Christ, is ONLY A TEST. Christ has died and taken away all your sins. He has risen and conquered death. You are Baptized and that makes you a child of God. Your sins are forgiven for Jesus's sake. You have His body and blood in you. Therefore when you experience things in this life that contradict that, don't believe them! Don't think God has thrown you under the bus! Usually our first reaction is despair: “Why is God doing this? He says I'm His child so what did I do to deserve this?” Or “I've tried doing it the Lord's way and it seems like that only leads to misery and problems!” These are the devil's whisperings which want to teach you despair. The devil says, “See? God's not true. He's a liar! He says one thing and does another. That's God for you, Mr. Bait and Switch!” But we know that the Devil is the one who is the liar! As Jesus says, he's not only a liar but the Father of lies. He's always been a liar. So when everything in your life seems to scream “Not a child of God! God's lying! God's playing you!” then hold on tightly to His promises which cannot be broken. Here is the Promise Jesus gives, “If anyone keeps My Word, He shall not see death!” Not even death itself can harm you because the Lord's made such a promise. When these contradictions are thrown at you, run to church. Hear your baptismal name. Hear the absolution. Hear the preaching. Eat and drink more Jesus! These gifts of Christ will sustain you against the things that seem to contradict them!

And how is the contradiction finally resolved for Abraham? He says to Isaac, “The Lord will provide a lamb for Himself.” And then, when the angel stops him from actually killing Isaac, there is a ram caught in a bush that they can sacrifice. Then He names the hill “The Lord will provide.” An even better translation is “the Lord will be seen.” This is the hill where the Lord is seen. Because the angel of the Lord shows up and keeps Abraham from killing His Son. But also because this may have been the very hill that almost 2000 years later the Lord was seen upon, nailed to the cross. Upon mount Calvary the Lord is seen saving us. Suffering for us. Dying for us. Pouring out blood and water for us. On that hill, not Abraham's son, not a ram caught in a thicket but the Son of God is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. On the mountain of the Lord He will be seen. Calvary is that mountain. Calvary is the mountain where the Lord can be seen answering for our sins and forgiven them. Calvary is the mountain where the Lord can be seen taking the place of sinners in order to save us. Calvary is the mountain where the Lord is seen rescuing us from death and hell. Calvary is the mountain where the Lord is seen being Abraham's Savior and Isaac's Savior and ours too.

Jesus tells His enemies in today's Gospel, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He did see it and was glad.” That's because Abraham learned that on the mountain of the Lord it's not we who die or our kids who have to die. It's the Lord's lamb who dies. Brothers and sisters in Christ, because Abraham knew the promise of the Savior who would come, he was comforted when everything seemed like the Lord was contradicting Himself. When the crosses and trials of your life seem to say that the Lord says one thing and does another, then look to Christ and see that it's not true! Look to Christ and know what the Lord's heart toward you always is. Trust in your Baptism. Believe the absolution. Cling to Christ's body and blood. There you have the true promises of God that can never be overcome, even when it seems like they are being contradicted. For after all, you have Christ's resurrection to answer the question: Does God love His Son or not? He said He did but then He killed Him. But then He raised Him and that's the final answer! Life. Forgiveness. Victory. These things win out over whatever the devil has going. And they are your victory in Christ. Does God love you or not? He must. For He has provided a Lamb for you, His Son Jesus Christ! Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

March 17, 2010 - Lent 4 Midweek - The Passion Reading: The Praetorium

You've probably been told that all sins are the same. When it comes down to it, there's no sin that's greater than another one. They are all bad. That's not what Jesus says! Pilate says, “Don't you know that I have the power to crucify you or release you?” Jesus says, “You would have no power over me unless it were given to you from above, so the one who handed me over is guilty of the greater sin.” There. He said it. Who handed Jesus over? Here He is not talking about Judas but about the High Priest. Here is what it comes down to: Pilate had the power to stop the murder of an innocent man and didn't do it. In that sense Pilate murdered Jesus. But the High Priest, knowing that Jesus was the Savior promised by the Scriptures, rejected Him and handed Him over to die. Pilate sins out of cowardice and ignorance, breaking the Second Table, by harming His neighbor. The High Priest sins out of unbelief and hardness of heart, breaking the First Table and rejecting God Himself! Which one is worse?

Brothers and sisters learn carefully what Jesus is saying. We sin against the Second Table all the time. True, every commandment we break is ultimately against God. But every day we do things to hurt or harm our neighbor: dishonoring our parents, murdering, lusting, stealing, lying, and coveting in one way or another. We are constantly stepping on others' toes and for this Jesus goes to the cross. He goes there because we don't love our neighbors as He tells us to. And we sin against the First Table too, since we have other gods and despise the Lord's name and Word. Jesus went to the cross for those sins too. But the sin that damns, the sin that will get you and cut you off from Jesus forever is the sin of the High Priest, the confession, “He's not my Savior. He's not my King. He's not my God!” Every other sin, even sins as bad as Judas' and Pilate's, are covered by the blood of Jesus. But the sin of the High Priest is this very awful way in which he puts himself outside of Christ's sin-canceling blood by rejecting Him. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you have many sins and they are no greater or worse than Judas betraying or Peter denying or Pilate wimping out and murdering. Confess them! Acknowledge that you deserve God's wrath and judgment. And then rejoice that His wrath and judgment fall upon Jesus.

When Jesus is handed over, when He is sentenced like a criminal even though there is no fault in Him, He is doing the Father's will. When Jesus tells Pilate that his authority over Jesus has been given to Him from above, He's acknowledging that the only reason He is going to die is not because of some Roman governor who has no backbone but because the Father wills it. It is the Father's will that Jesus suffer and die in order to take away our sins. It is God the Father's good pleasure to save you and me from our sins by sending His Son to take our place, just as He took the place of a murdering and thieving Barabbas. It is God's will that your sins be wiped out by the blood of His Son. That's why Jesus undergoes this suffering. That's why He is given into Pilate's hands and that is why He gives His life: for your salvation.

All sins are not the same. All sins send Jesus to the cross but the sin of unbelief cuts us off from Jesus. But don't you worry. He went to the cross for you. He Himself has chosen you at the font in Holy Baptism. He stands behind your pastor's word of forgiveness and preaching and He makes sure by His body and blood that He lives in you and you in Him and that you will be raised up on the Last Day just as He rose from the dead after His suffering and death. Truly Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Such a kingdom would be one in which we get what we deserve! But in Christ's kingdom, He gets what we deserve and we get forgiveness of sins, eternal life, joy and peace. Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

March 14, 2010 - Laetare: The Fourth Sunday in Lent - St. John 6:1-15

The Feeding of the 5,000 teaches us two things about Jesus. First of all we learn that it is our Lord Jesus who is the one through whom we have everything that we need. Those people on that mountain were hungry. They hadn't eaten all day. They needed food. But there wasn't any food except for a few loaves and some fish. So Jesus takes that food and makes sure they all get some. All 5,000 of them! Jesus takes care of their bodies and He'll take care of what we need for our bodies and lives. But the Feeding of the 5,000 also shows us that Jesus is the Bread of Life who feeds our souls and gives us bread that lasts forever. In His breaking of the bread and distributing it by His disciples, we have a picture of His church in which He feeds us with Himself, the Bread of Life, distributed by His pastors to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins, and, as He says later on, so that He will raise you up on the Last Day. Jesus' main job is to give us this Bread of Life, His flesh, given for the life of the world, so that you will have eternal life. But He also feeds the people with bread and fish to teach us that if He is the One who is our Savior, then He's also the One who will provide what we need every day of our lives.

But look how much unbelief we have! How ungrateful we are, both for His bodily and His spiritual blessings! We ask with Philip: “Where are we going to get enough?” When we have some, we ask with Andrew, “How is that enough?” We worry and fret and grumble about how we don't have what we think we need and we have no idea where it's going to come from! The Lord gives us our daily bread and then when it gets low again, we wonder where we're going to get it, as if the Lord never gave us anything! And then we neglect what our Lord has for us spiritually too! Here in the church He gives us His own body and blood, the Bread of Life and we act as if we don't need it. Parents: You work hard to provide clothes and food for your kids. If you didn't, they would starve! But what do you think will happen to their faith if you don't insist they come and eat the Bread of Life! Anything and everything becomes an excuse for neglecting the bread of life: I'm too tired. I just needed to sleep. I had something more important. Sunday is my day off. Believe me, I've heard them all. Is the Bread of Life so unimportant that you can skip it so easily? Faith that is not fed by Christ's body will do nothing but wither and die. It doesn't matter whether it's Jesus's bodily gifts, which we complain we don't have or His spiritual gifts which we act like we don't want—either way and for both, repent! Turn from the complaining that got the Israelites killed in the desert and cling to Christ who has all these things for us!

Jesus is the provider of our daily bread. Sure, we have jobs, we work, we make money, we buy what we need. But if we think this is all our doing, then we are denying what Christ is teaching us. He is the One through whom we have all that we need. And He does it even despite our complaining! Look at the children of Israel. There they were grumbling in the desert. They wanted bread. So the Lord sent them manna, day after day for forty years. They grumbled for meat and the Lord sent them quail, day after day for forty years. Then here on the mountain with Jesus. The people are hungry and Jesus' own disciples can't figure out that they should trust Jesus to take care of it. So He does. He feeds them. And there's even a basket of leftovers for each of His twelve doubting apostles. And how about you? Does the Lord take care of you or does He let you starve? When we have to beg our kids to “take one more bite” or push away half a plate of food at a restaurant, I'm pretty sure that the Lord is providing our daily bread! But while Jesus is indeed the Provider of our daily bread, that's not all He has for us! We sell Him short if we believe like the TV preachers tell us that Jesus came so we can have lots of money and nice cars and houses! Daily bread, sure, but He has so much more. And I'm not talking “stuff.”

Gathered around Mt. Sinai, the Lord fed His people with manna. Gathered on the mountain with Jesus, the Lord fed them fish sandwiches, as much as they wanted. Feeding the people from the mountain two times like this points us to a greater mountain from which our food comes: Mt. Calvary. Jesus, later in chapter 6 explains to the people that He is the Bread of Life. His flesh, given for the life of the world is the true bread which, when we eat it, gives us eternal life. Jesus says, “Sure, I can make sure you've got enough to eat. So never mind that. Don't get all worked up about having enough groceries! Rather, eat my flesh which is the true Bread of Life and I will live in you and you in Me and I will raise you up on the Last Day.” When Jesus gives His life on the cross for our sins, He is giving His flesh as our food. Just as He told His disciples: “Take, eat; take, drink.” Here is a feast from God on the mountain, given to us in His Supper when His church is gathered together. Here is Christ's promise that His death on the cross is for you, when He gives you His body and blood to eat and drink. The amazing thing is not that Jesus gives us what need to eat and drink; it's that He takes away our sins and gives us eternal life and that is a bread that lasts forever. That is sustenance not just for the body but for body and soul together. Here is a treasure greater than anything we could buy at the store, for it is given to us freely as a gift: Forgiveness of sins. Eternal life. Salvation. That beats fish sandwiches every time!

And the grace of God is seen in that Jesus knows what we need even before we ask. He knew He was going to feed those 5,000 but He was testing Philip and Andrew. They failed. He knows that He is going to give us what we need even before we ask. But we fail too, doubting that He'll provide for us. But He still does, because that's the kind of Jesus He is! But more than that, before we even knew we were sinful, before we would ever have thought to ask for a Savior, He came in the flesh to give that flesh up into death for our life. He came to be the Bread of Life when we didn't even know we needed THAT kind of bread! When things seem tight, when you don't know how you're going to make it, remember that the Lord already knows how He's going to provide for you. Instead of grumbling and complaining, turn to Him in faith and say, “Lord, I don't know how you're going to do it but since you prove over and over that you can provide for me, then do so!” You can pray that way. That's faith that takes hold of Jesus and doesn't let go. But more than that: Here is a promise: There will never be a shortage or a testing with His body and blood. It is always available to you here in His church. Whenever the doubts and worries and all the other sins of your life pile up, come here and eat this holy meal, rejoicing that because the Father has given His Son to die for you, He will graciously give you ALL things that you need.

Jesus dished out bread on the mountain to a hungry crowd. He'll make sure you have what you need for this life. But more than that, better than that, He gave His flesh for the life of the world on Mt. Calvary, to be a holy food by which we don't just survive another day in this life but have life everlasting. It is easy for us to doubt whether the Lord will provide. But His going to the cross is His promise that He will give you all things. He has taken away all of your sins. He has rescued you from death and the Devil. He has accomplished and delivered to you the fruits of eternal salvation. He gives you His holy body and precious blood as the meal of salvation. For such a Lord and Savior who does all that, what's a bag full of groceries to Him? See, then, in Jesus, the One who is your provider both for you body and for your soul, for this life and the life to come. He who is the Bread of Life will feed you now and forever. Happy Lent in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Lent 3 Midweek - The Passion Reading: The Palace of the High Priest

It matters where you go to church. If you don't believe that, then behold Judas this night. Judas betrayed Jesus. He handed him over to His enemies because he was greedy. He got paid to do it. Judas thought only of Judas and how he might get some money by giving Jesus up to those who wanted to kill him. But how is this different than Peter? Peter was asked if he knew Jesus. He cursed and said, “No way!” Three times Peter denied Christ. How is that different than what Judas did? Both denied Christ. Both betrayed Him. Both let him die. Both turned their backs on Him. And how is that different than us? We deny Christ. By our words and actions we shout to the world that we don't know Him and at the first sign of something more interesting or exciting, we are ready to hand Jesus over and go running after it. The truth is, Judas' sin, Peter's sin, our sin is the same: we have sent our Lord to the cross.

So what is so different or bad about Judas? What causes him to perish? It's where he goes when his sins trouble him. Was Peter sorry for what he did? Sure. He went out and wept. Was Judas sorry for what he did? Sure. He went and gave the money back. But listen carefully. Judas is faced with his sin. He stands horrified at his betrayal of the Lord. So he goes to the church of the Jewish religious leaders. He confesses his sins: “I have betrayed innocent blood!” Their reply? “How is that our problem? What is that to us? See to it yourself. Judas, if you have a problem, if you've sinned, then you fix it. You're on your own. It's all on you, Judas.” But Judas, seeing that he could not get rid of his own sins, despaired and hanged himself. The tragedy of Judas is not what he did. It's the preaching he heard. For when Judas' sins crushed him, there was no one to comfort him. They just left him to his own sins, to despair and to death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you bring your sins to Christ, His answer is not, “What is that to me?” His answer is, “Your sins are everything to me. They are why I came. They are mine now. Don't worry; I'll take care of them.” Christ comes to be betrayed, to be denied, to be mocked, tortured and sent to the cross to die because we are sinners. Because we are traitors. Deniers. God-haters. But that is why He came! He didn't come to teach us how to deal with our own sins. He didn't come to show us the right way of handling the things we've done wrong. He came to deal with and handle our sins Himself. He came to touch the rotten, wicked, filthy, contaminated, nuclear waste filled sewage of our sins Himself. To die for our sins. To blot out our sins. To rise again and declare our sins dead and buried and you alive in Him! Whatever you have done, your Lord has taken it upon Himself and you are forgiven.

So now live in that forgiveness. Don't avoid your pastor as if he's not about your sins. Bring them to him and say, “I have betrayed innocent blood. I have murdered. Lusted. Coveted. Stolen. Denied God and despised His name and Word.” Whatever it is you have done, confess it and hear not “Hey, that's your problem!” Hear what Jesus says, spoken by your pastor for your comfort. Here in Christ's church, He's all about taking your sins away. So He says, “I forgive you all your sins!” And so I say, “I forgive you ALL your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus! Amen.