Tell me something good…

What if a season starting with ashes leads to Good News?

I’ll be honest: when I think of the word “Lent,” I don’t usually think of “Good News.” Any season that begins with Ash Wednesday - and the imposition of ashes with the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” - suggests seriousness and solemnity, a stark reminder of our mortality. Lent is a penitential season, a period of time for pondering what we’ve done wrong, of showing sorrow, and working with God to do better. Important things all, to be sure. But none of this feels like “good news.” Those words sound more like Easter than Holy Week to me.

So I was surprised to come across a Lenten study program called “Tell Me Something Good.” What’s so “good” about Lent? Where is the hope in remembering our mortality? At first it didn’t make sense to me. But as I read more, I began to understand the possibility in the theme. What if Lent wasn’t so much about How Bad We Are, but much more about pondering deeply the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in order to Be More Like Him? What if we used this dedicated time in our shared life of faith to dig deeper into what Jesus’ life and ministry were really about: radical welcome, love for neighbor, care for the vulnerable, nourishment for the hungry, nonviolence in the face of injustice.

This Lent, St. Paul’s Woodbury is leaning into the sacred story of the Good News of Jesus together. Using beautiful materials from A Sanctified Art, both adults and kids will have opportunities to connect with Jesus’ life and ministry. We will connect with the roots of our faith in scripture, prayers, songs, art, poems, skits, and reflection on how we can be more deeply grounded in the life-giving, liberating love of God in Christ.

“Tell Me Something Good” will be the focus of Church School curriculum and the Rector’s Forum. We also have take-home devotional materials for individuals and families, including Daily Devotion Cards with a short devotional question, a weekly prayer mantra, and a daily prayer, and Lenten Devotional Booklets that focus on each week’s theme. These materials are free and available in the narthex and sanctuary. You’ll also see a Seasonal Hymn Booklet with songs for each week of the season in the pews. The hymns have new words sung to familiar tunes, meant to uplift and sustain our exploration of God’s Good News in Jesus.

The authors of “Tell Me Something Good” describe it this way:

Jesus’ words are easily distorted and sanitized in our modern world. Following Jesus leads to a richer, more expansive life, but it’s not necessarily comfortable. Jesus’ ministry can be described as “radical” which comes from the Latin word “radicalis,” meaning “root” or “ground.” Therefore, the good news should bring us back to our roots. Emulating Jesus and embodying his teachings should ground us in who God createdus to be. Can we be “good news” people in a world too often burdened by bad news?

This Lent, let us remember that the good news really is good news. It is joyful—like fine wine saved for celebration. It grows like a mustard seed and smells like perfume poured from an alabaster jar. It tastes like bread passed endlessly through a hungry crowd. It sounds like laughter and feels like mercy. The good news is alive in the world.

I’ve already started using the devotional cards (this week’s mantra: God will never stop inviting me) and find their short, meaningful questions and prayers give me a sense of God’s peace and presence. The visual art in the study booklets is vivid and beautiful, giving us images to support our contemplation. The poems open up the themes in new, imaginative (and often surprising) ways.

I’m looking forward to our shared, parish-wide conversation using these materials as prompts. My prayer is that, in our digging deeper together, our community of faith will be even more deeply rooted in God’s love as embodied in the life of Jesus.

With every blessing for a Holy Lent,

Rev. Tuesday