FROM HERITAGE TO CULTURE
“Return to me with your whole heart.” Every year, this opening line from the Prophet Joel not only defines this day, but also this sacred season. But this season does seem different. Many church pundits have already written about how desperately the church needs Lent this year. A season of repentance for our sins.
At the same time, it is hard to repent for what you do not acknowledge. This is true for all of us, who profess to be Christians in name but so often fail in word and deed.
There is this line in our first reading that I don’t know has every caught my attention the way that it did this year. “Let the bridegroom quit his roomand the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altarlet the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,and make not your heritage a reproach.”