The Church makes the annual migration to the waters of baptism where we died with Jesus and were reborn and made new.  Early Christians used these days to prepare for baptism, remember baptism, embrace the new life given to us in baptism.  As strange as it seems to enter into Lent when we currently cannot enter into our church, perhaps this is a year when we can most especially embrace the reality of baptism; the promises made, and the irrevocable claim that God made on us in that pool of water.  

We will enter into these days relying on the same God who cared for Jesus in the wilderness and made our ancestors united as One Body even when they were disparate, fractured, and forced to improvise.   We will navigate our Lent together, and the seeds we will plant that will grow in us this Lent.

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Pastoral Letter from Bishop Hughes for Lent