I haven’t yet got to the bottom of this – any ideas would be most welcome, writes Paul Towner! Why is it that, with Easter being able to be any date from 23rd March to 24th April, that three time in just over twenty years Ash Wednesday falls on 17th February? The reason I am asking this is not simple calendrics, as it has more to do with, believe it or not, liturgy and prayer!
You see, on the last Sunday before Lent, Quinquagesima in the Prayer Book, the set epistle reading is the whole of 1 Corinthians 13. So in 1999 and in 2021, and also this year, the set reading for St Valentine’s Day is all about love!
This set me thinking about the motivation for the Lent disciplines I and many others adopt – what is the motivation for the choices I make? It might be that I want to spend less on food, and give more to charity – a good cause! It could be that I want to spend more time in prayer and less in watching TV – again surely a good thing. It might be that I wish to learn to exercise some self-control, and challenge myself to be more patient – plenty of scope there.
But 1 Corinthians 13 makes it clear that any and all of these without love are worthless, and achieve – nothing! Being driven by “the desires God places in my heart” is without doubt a godly purpose. But might it not be even richer, more in keeping with this amazing chapter, to ask that the love of God draws us into actions, that His love fills our intentions, that His love informs our choices? Then our Lent disciplines will produce good fruit, to God’s glory.