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By Cheryl Anderson • Post-Crescent staff writer • February 17, 2010
Christians today kick off a 40-day observance that is at the heart of their faith.
Ash Wednesday services at Christian churches mark the beginning of Lent, the holy season that leads to Easter and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Lenten season follows the 40 years the Hebrew people wandered the desert and the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert before beginning his public ministry.
"Lent provides a wonderful chance for us to take stock of those places in our lives that are not as strong as we might like them to be," said the Rev. Ty Stoneburner, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Cicero, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
Lent also affords Christians the opportunity to concentrate on their personal relationship with God.
"If it were not for God's power over the grave, Jesus' death would have been futile," Stoneburner said. "Jesus did the dying, but God did the raising."
While the exact date varies each year, Ash Wednesday is a time of fasting, penitence and self-denial in preparation for Easter, which this year occurs April 4.
Although the Seventh-day Adventist Church does not celebrate Lent, the faith mirrors the concepts of the Christian observance.
"The Christian faith offers one great hope in Christ's coming, but also a sober, righteous and godly lifestyle pattern that helps us to joyfully prepare for it and witness to it while still in this present age," said the Rev. Samuel Garbi, pastor of Seventh-day Adventist Church Fox Valley Region in Neenah.
The sixth Sunday of Lent is known as Palm or Passion Sunday, signifying Christ's Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death on Good Friday and resurrection Easter Sunday.
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Source: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20100217/APC0101/2170484
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Bolds and Highlights added for emphasis.
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