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BISHOP'S OFFICE

Lent as a Pilgrimage of Holy Renewal

The season of Lent is not merely a liturgical interval in the church calendar. It is a sacred return. It is the time when God gathers us again into the living memory of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and invites us to inhabit that story not as spectators, but as pilgrims. Amid hurried schedules and anxious headlines, Lent interrupts our ordinary time and reorders it around the life of Christ.
 
Each year, this holy season comes to us with quiet insistence:
Pause.
Remember.
Listen again.
 
The prophet reminds us:
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”  - Micah 6:8 (NRSVA)
 
This ancient word echoes powerfully in our present moment. Lent is precisely this walk – a humble journey with God through the wilderness of our time. It is a season that gathers justice, mercy, and humility into one sacred rhythm of life.
 
We remember that the life of Jesus unfolded amid political oppression, social fragmentation, and religious distortion. The wilderness, the testing, the rejection, the cross – none of these were abstractions. They were realities within a complicated world. And yet through that very world, God revealed redeeming love.
 
Our own society feels fractured – shaped by polarization, exclusion, anti-immigrant sentiment, and distorted forms of Christian nationalism. Such forces threaten to narrow the Gospel and fracture the Church’s witness. But Micah’s call resists distortion. Justice without mercy becomes harsh. Mercy without justice becomes sentimental. Humility without courage becomes silence. Lent reweaves them together.
 
In this moment, The United Methodist Church is reclaiming spiritual clarity with renewed conviction: Love boldly. Serve joyfully. Lead courageously. These are not slogans; they are Lenten disciplines.
 
To love boldly is to practice “hesed” – steadfast love – that refuses fear.
To serve joyfully is to embody mercy as delight rather than duty.
To lead courageously is to walk humbly, yet firmly, with God.
 
The Wesleyan tradition reminds us that faith is never private possession. Holiness of heart is inseparable from holiness of life. Salvation is not self-contained piety but participation in God’s restoring work in the world.
 
Here, Eastern spiritual wisdom deepens our understanding: we exist not as isolated selves but as interwoven beings. Our repentance affects the neighbor. Our prayer touches the community. Our sanctification is shared. Lent becomes not only a personal fast but a communal awakening.
 
Thus, Lent asks us:
Where must justice be practiced in our public life?
Where must mercy soften our speech and action?
Where must humility purify our ambition?
 
The cross of Christ gathers all of this into one movement of redeeming love. It is not a symbol of tribal triumph but of universal embrace. Through it, God reconciles not only individuals but all creation.
 
May this Lent be for the Church a season of holy realignment –
when justice is embodied,
when mercy is lived,
when humility shapes leadership.
 
Through the wilderness,
toward resurrection dawn,
we walk humbly with our God.