Shrove Tuesday ~  Shrove Tuesday occurs the first Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  As the vigil for the beginning of Lent, this day officially ends the season of Epiphany. The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb “shrive,” which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by confessing and doing penance. On Shrove Tuesday, many Christians make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God’s help in dealing with. Often they consult on these matters with a spiritual counselor, or receive shrift. To shrive someone, in old-fashioned English, is to hear his acknowledgment of his sins, to assure him of God’s forgiveness, and to give him appropriate spiritual advice. The term survives today in ordinary usage in the expression “short shrift”. To give someone short shrift is to pay very little attention to his excuses or problems. Shrove Tuesday originated during the Middle Ages. As in contemporary times, food items such as meats, fats, eggs, milk, and fish were restricted during Lent. To keep such food from spoiling during the next forty days, many families would have big feasts on Shrove Tuesday in order to consume those items. Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour. In France, the consumption of all fats and fatty foods on this day coined the name “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras (in French, Mardi=Tuesday; gras=fat, as in “pate de foie gras”, which is liver paste and very fatty).

Ash Wednesday ~ This Holy Day emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality, even as we confess our sins before God within the community of faith. The traditional practice of placing ashes upon the forehead was historically the focus of the Ash Wednesday observance and gave the day its name. In many churches, the palm branches from one year’s Palm/Passion Sunday service are saved, dried, and later burned to produce the ashes for the following year’s Ash Wednesday Service.

Imposition of Ashes ~ Ashes have great meaning  to God’s people, for they remind us of our helplessness and our dependence on God who alone is our help and salvation. The intentional use of ashes as a sign of mortality and repentance has a long history in both Jewish and Christian worship: ashes are a nonverbal and experiential way for all believers to participate in the call to repentance and reconciliation. The church traces the use of ashes from these ancient traditions to outwardly remind us of the need to mourn our sin and turn to God in whom alone there is forgiveness. By receiving the ashes on our forehead in the mark of the cross, we affirm our willingness to walk with Christ to the cross during these next forty days of Lent. May God be with us as we journey with Jesus.

Lent ~ This season of forty days, not counting Sundays, begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. The name Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means the lengthening of the days approaching spring. The Lenten Season is a holy time during which we recall the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Lent is a season of soul-searching and self-examination, of reflection and repentance. We Christians traditionally observe Lent as a time of prayer and penance, faithfully repenting for sin as a way to focus on our need for God’s grace. As we worship together during Lent, let us re-commit ourselves as faithful followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, praying together: Lord be merciful to me, a sinner.

One Great Hour of Sharing ~ Always observed on the fourth Sunday in Lent, the One Great Hour of Sharing is a world-wide ecumenical day of special offerings when all God’s children share their blessings with others so that others may live. For United Methodists, the special offering received provides the funding for the administrative functions of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).

World Day of Prayer ~ Always observed on the first Friday in March, World Day of Prayer is a worldwide ecumenical movement of women of many faith traditions who come together annually to observe a common day of prayer. Believing that “Informed prayer leads to prayerful action,” faithful women affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence in the world. Throughout the entire World Day of Prayer, women collectively pray all over the world, beginning with the first sunrise and ending at the last sunset, thus following the sun’s path around the globe with prayers.

Daylight Saving Time ~ This term refers to that seasonal seven-month period during which we live our lives according to “advanced time,” rather than actual “sun time.” This year on March 9 we “spring forward” by setting our clocks ahead one full hour so as to enjoy more waking hours of daylight, thereby reducing the need to turn on more lights.