Today is Shrove Tuesday, a day on which, for centuries, Christians sought to be shriven from their sins before the start of Lent. The words shrove, shrive and shriven date back to Old English, and refer essentially to doing penance to receive absolution. Today, the emphasis is more on personal confession and God’s forgiveness, and if all that sounds a little dour, think again, for the message of this day – and indeed this season – is one of joyful promise, something to celebrate; in my view at least, wholly positive rather than negative. That’s what I explore further in the following session taken from my book Daily Prayer 2 (for more Lent books see here and here for more posts on Lenten themes).
Something to celebrate
Read
Happy is the one whose wrongdoing is forgiven, whose faults are covered over. Happy are those to whom the Lord ascribes no guilt, and in whom there is no artifice. While I remained silent, my body grew weary with my constant groaning, for day and night your hand weighed heavily upon me; my strength dried up like sap in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin rather than attempting to conceal my guilt from you; I said, ‘I will confess my disobedience to the Lord’, and you absolved me from my guilt and wickedness. Psalm 32:1-5
Ponder
Mention Shrove Tuesday to my daughter and she immediately thinks of one thing: pancakes! They’re one of her favourite meals, so this for her is a day to celebrate, to look forward to and to make the most of. When it was first instituted, centuries back, however, the mood it aimed to inculcate was rather different. It was designed as a solemn occasion, a time for sober reflection and earnest soulsearching; for recognising and confessing one’s sins so that in the ensuing days of Lent one could strive to overcome them.
Which, then, is the right approach? Despite the Church’s original intention, Shrove Tuesday swiftly became associated with fun and revelry, celebrated in some countries with carnivals, in others with parties and feasting, in others again with pancake races. Aware that Lent involves six weeks of self-denial, people were determined to indulge themselves before it started – to eat, drink and be merry. The rationale may be questionable, but they were right nonetheless to celebrate, for Lent, like every Christian season, should finally be about rejoicing. The clue as to why is in the word ‘Shrove’, from the Old English term ‘shrive’, meaning to hear confession and grant absolution. We acknowledge our sins in Lent not to brood upon them but to receive forgiveness. That’s what God offers everyone of us – pardon today, tomorrow and every day: omething indeed truly worth celebrating!
Ask yourself
Do you tend to dwell too much at Lent on your faults and not enough on God’s pardon? Have you fully taken on board the fact that God delights to forgive? What stops you from doing so?
Pray
Loving God, help me to grasp more fully the breadth of your mercy and extent of your pardon, to understand that you do not seek to condemn or punish but delight rather to forgive, always being ready to wipe the slate clean and offer new beginnings. Help me, then, to acknowledge my faults, not in despair at my weaknesses but rejoicing at your grace, not dwelling on my weaknesses but exulting in the generosity of your love. Thank you that, today and every day, I can turn from the old to the new, knowing that the past is dealt with and the future beckons – a fresh chapter made possible by you. Amen.
Remember
Seek the Lord while you can still find him, cry out to him while he remains close. Let the wicked turn from their deeds and the unrighteous from their thoughts; let them come back to the Lord so that he can show them mercy. Return to God, for he will lavishly pardon. Isaiah 55:6, 7
Close
Teach me, Lord, that the only thing that stops me receiving your forgiveness is my failure truly to seek it or to make it my own. Amen.