Hello friends,
Some numbers show up everywhere in scripture!
SEVEN: the days of creation; the number of Jesus’s miracles in John’s Gospel; a number of perfection and completeness.
THREE: the Trinity; the number of times God calls to Samuel; disciples at Jesus’s transfiguration; days between Jesus’s death and resurrection.
TWELVE: tribes of Israel; twelve disciples; twelve baskets of food left over after Jesus feeds the 5,000.
And then there is FORTY . . . a number often associated with times of testing, preparation, and transformation. Forty days of rain during Noah’s flood; forty Exodus years in the wilderness; and forty days of Jesus in the wilderness, preparing to begin his ministry of care for neighbor, and kindness to stranger, and love of enemy. This is the energy we are channeling during Lent.
Forty days can change everything!
As Lent begins next week, I invite you to forty days of preparation — forty days to pace yourself, and consider your life in Christ, and to open your heart to God’s transformative love so that when Easter comes, we will all be able to better embrace our place of BELONGING in Christ’s beloved community. And so, I have an invitation for you:
JOIN A BELOVED COMMUNITY GROUP AT NEWMAN THIS LENT
Traveling together,
Sam
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