Lent is a time for personal and corporate spiritual renewal, a pilgrimage with Jesus. While the word "Lent" comes from the Anglo-Saxon lencten, which means "spring" (a time of the lengthening of days), on the Christian calendar it falls on the forty days (excluding Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. This season grows out of the Jewish Passover celebration and the rites of initiation and passage from many cultures. The focus of Lent and Easter in the Gospels is caught up in a simple expression: "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ comes again."

A good place to begin the Lenten pilgrimage is in careful study of the scriptural accounts of Jesus’ journey to the cross and resurrection (Year A—Matthew 26 through 28; Year B—Mark 14 through 16; Year C—Luke 22 through 24). If it is not possible to plan special services for all of the sacred moments of the season, time should be provided in Sunday worship services to include the reading of the scriptures that share the complete story of Christ’s passion, not just the joyful conclusion. Easter cannot be fully appreciated without a genuine sense of the loss and death that precede it.

The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday, an ancient holy day in the Christian calendar. In scripture, ashes paradoxically signify grief, sin, and human mortality while also symbolizing joy, forgiveness, and victory over death. In ancient France, those who were recognized in the community as sinners appeared in public wearing ashes. Soon it became the custom that every Christian wore the sign of the ashes on the first day of Lent to signify that each person was a sinner and needed to repent and be forgiven. In some congregations, the ashes are traditionally created by burning the palm branches that were used in Palm Sunday celebrations the previous year.

The Lenten season continues in reflection and self-examination. In essence we are called into the wilderness like Israel and Jesus before us to prepare for something new. In this wilderness we confront the most painful parts of ourselves, face our weaknesses, and search for our path to newness. The community gathers to study, share, and worship, providing support and structure for the journey. We travel together with Jesus toward Jerusalem.

Palm Sunday has traditionally been celebrative, focusing on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. However, in recent years, especially if no other Holy Week services are held, the scope has enlarged to include a focus on the passion narrative and the name of the day is changed to "Passion Sunday." After the reading of the Passion, there is a somber and quiet reflection on the events of the days to follow in Jesus’ life.

Perhaps the least understood of the days in Holy Week is "maundy Thursday." While this is the night on which the Lord’s Supper was first celebrated, there is a deeper meaning. The actual Latin word from which "maundy" is derived means "command." The central theme of that first Lord’s Supper was one of humble service. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and commanded that the disciples do the same for each other. Jesus taught that he came not to be served but to serve, to share the hospitality of God and the intimacy of breaking bread together.

On Good Friday we are in mourning and a somber tone is appropriate. In some Christian traditions, a meditation service is based on the "seven last words" of Jesus on the cross. Others commemorate the events of Good Friday with a traditional "tenebrae" service, progressively extinguishing candle flames until all worshipers are plunged symbolically into darkness. Perhaps the most important part of the Good Friday remembrance is its closure. Easter Sunday is coming but hasn’t arrived. Good Friday ends in silent mourning for the death of Jesus.

Some traditions observe Holy Saturday as a day of fasting, reflecting the quiet Jewish Sabbath and Christ’s rest in the tomb. The somewhat hopeless feelings of Good Friday and Holy Saturday remind us of the scriptural promise: "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5 NRSV), Easter morning!

At the end of the Lenten pilgrimage, on Easter Sunday, services sometimes begin in a somber tone and progress through the remainder of the scriptural story, building toward a climax of great joy in the resurrection.