Lent

  •  Wednesday February 22, 2023 - Sunday April 02, 2023

The practice of Lent is an opportunity to follow Jesus who was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for 40 days of prayer and fasting.

Together, we help each other say ‘no’ to all of the things that we consume and that consume us (Mt 4) so that we can say ‘yes’ to the Lord. In that saying ‘no’ to other things, we begin to feel hungry. And weak. We begin to feel our need. It has been there all along—this hunger—but it gets masked by the quick fix foods of our self, sin, and society. We can hide our hunger, but only in Jesus the bread of heaven can it be satisfied.

It is in the wilderness that we feel our need for Jesus and that we learn to receive his presence as a feast for our hungry souls. So many of us have no space for silence, speaking with and listening to the Lord and receiving love, strength, and guidance from him.

We long for a fresh start. We need a spiritual, physical, and emotional detox. So let’s clear out space to meet with him, and if it’s harder than we thought it would be, that just means we’re recognizing how much more we need him than we thought.

—Pastor Trevor

Gatherings in Lent and Holy Week

Join us on Sundays at 10am at Bureau Gravity.

2/22 Ash Wednesday
2/26—First Sunday of Lent
3/5—Second Sunday of Lent
3/12 —Third Sunday of Lent
3/19—Fourth Sunday of Lent
3/22—Wednesday Prayer & Fasting
3/26—Fifth Sunday of Lent
4/2—Palm Sunday
4/6—Maundy Thursday
4/7—Good Friday
4/8—Holy Saturday
4/9­­—Easter Sunday­

SUNDAY GATHERING
City of Light Church Aurora · Lent 2023

About the Art

Our art for Lent is called "Agony in the Garden" by John August Swanson. On what we now call Maundy Thursday, the night before Jesus died, Jesus went to the garden of gethsemane to pray. He asked his three dearest disciples to watch and pray with him, but they fell asleep.

This Lent, we long to be with Jesus, to watch and pray with him, to be awake to his heart and agony over sin, and to journey with him to his cross.

This year, we are also gathering for a Maundy Thursday service at City of Light for the first time. Make plans now to join us for this time of closeness with Christ.

Resources

City of Light Resources

Books

  • The Good of Giving Up by Aaron Damiani—Aaron is the pastor of our sister church Immanuel Anglican in Chicago and this book is a simple, practical, and moving invitation to meet Jesus during Lent.
  • The Great Lent by Alexander Schmemann—This is a dense but rewarding look at the meaning of the season of Lent.
  • Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren—In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God's presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us.

Confession

  • Why Confession by Meghan Robins—An article from our sending church on why confessing our sins to one another is full of grace.
  • Confession by Word and Table—A podcast from two pastors in our diocese exploring why we confess.
  • Confession Liturgy—Here are the simple prayers we use to confess our sins and receive the forgiveness and grace of God.

Fasting

  • Digital Decluttering Inventory by Father Aaron Damiani—A short survey to get a handle on technology in our lives.
  • Why Prayer and Fasting by Bishop Stewart Ruch—A short article from our Bishop that includes the meaning of fasting and practical advice on beginning a fast.
  • Fasting for Lent by Winfield Bevins on AnglicanPastor.com—More Biblical context and practical advice for fasting during Lent. They also have a bunch of other articles on Lent here.

Household Worship

  • Introducing Lent to Children—This article by Robin Floch gives simple language to help children understand and enter into confession. Robin is a children's pastor at an Anglican church in Texas and has written the curriculum we're currently using in City Kids.

Misc.

News

Intro to Lent Podcast

Are you new to Lent, want to know more about it, or want some help figuring out how to enter into it this year? Check out this podcast with Father Trevor as we enter into Lent together this year. 

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News

How to Keep the Sabbath

In a crucible season in my family's life, God used the sabbath to teach us to trust in him. Here are a few things that we've found helpful as we seek to keep the Sabbath.—Fr. Trevor McMaken

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News

The Church Year: Entering into the Story Of Jesus

Through the church calendar, we not only retell the story of Jesus and his church, we participate in it and are transformed by it to be more like Jesus.

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