My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
We are in the midst of Lent. This is the season where we are called to remember our frailty, our sin, our own mortality. We are preparing for the Friday we call Good; that day that Jesus was nailed to the cross, shedding his blood for our sins, taking upon himself all that has separated us from God.
But what does God expect from us? God expects that we will accept His forgiveness, that we will humble ourselves before Him. God expects that we will come before Him with a “broken and a contrite heart.” We are not to come to God proud in our own accomplishments and successes, but recognize that He is the author of all that is good and generous and merciful. We as individuals, as parishes, as a Diocese, have a tendency to think of ourselves as better than we are. We are the “remnant”. We are the faithful in the midst of a world (and a church) that has turned to its own gods and away from the one true Lord. We are more faithful, more true, more seeking to follow the Lord than others. Aren’t we wonderful? Aren’t we special to God?
As we walk through this Lenten season, let us rather focus upon what Jesus did for us on the cross. Let us come before our God with humility instead of pride, with a broken and contrite heart rather than a heart filled with our own importance. And let us look upon others, not as somehow inferior, but as those for whom Christ was willing to be nailed to the cross.
It is with great sadness that we remember and lift up to the Lord’s mercy our sister Jeanne Moody. She knew that she was broken, but she also knew the love and mercy of God which was shed upon her and that has lifted her up into His nearer presence. May the Lord have mercy upon her soul and raise her up to His glorious kingdom!
My brothers and sisters, Lent is the time when we are called to focus ourselves on our offering to God of all that we are and all that we have as a response to His great love for us in sending His Son to die for our sins. Let us take this to our hearts and come to Him with a humble spirit, with a broken and contrite heart.
Your brother and bishop,
+Hendy The Rt. Rev. Dr. Alexander H. Webb
Bishop Ordinary, Diocese of the Northeast
Anglican Church in America
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