Thoughts...

I have always loved the pattern of the Church year, though not always every season. As a child, I hated the gloominess and penitence of Lent, the use of Rite I and no Allelujahs for 40 days, and the weird custom of putting ashes on one's forehead, which I think in my childish mind was somehow associated with Revelations and the end times.

As a young adult, I am grateful for the soul searching. It is easy to blow off a service or two, but through the weeks of Lent, one is forced again and again to examine your soul in preparation for the Easter Season. Anyway, I was hit pretty hard by the Ash Wednesday litergy tonight.

"Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in though, word and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone...

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentence, Lord.

For all false judgements, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentence, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentence, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection."