Lent, not just personal

​REY LAMBATIN, CHOIR DIRECTOR
As we enter the season of Lent, we often think of this as the time for personal reflection and a time for solitary prayer, reading or meditation. There is no other time in the church year that gives me more opportunities for personal reflection like the season of Lent. It’s a tradition rooted in me by my very Catholic mom since I was a child. I knew back then when it is Lent season - our house, the community, and the church seem quieter and more solemn, and I realize that this is to encourage self-reflection and bring a sense of reverence to the occasion.

But Lent should not just be a personal journey.

Many times, we hear in the gospel and Sunday messages that we walk in our faith journey as a community, and Lent season shouldn’t be any different. We are a church, that we may offer support and encouragement to one another in our community. This is one of the reasons why in observance of this season we have, aside from the weekly worship services, the adult catechisms and bible studies on Wednesdays. It’s a good added opportunity for us to gather to fellowship, study together, and support and encourage each other. It is essential for us to find a balance between an individual Lenten journey within the context of community. And as the choir director, I believe this emphasizes more the value of collective singing, not just in the choir, but as a congregation. Each week we join our voices together to sing hymns of praise, healing, and inspiration. This, we may not realize it, is an act of encouragement to our community. That every time we use our voice to sing a hymn with the congregation, we are engaging fully as the worshiping body, and participating in our community’s faith journey.

​And in this Lent season, it is my prayer that this collective journey will enable each of us to contribute our individual gifts to an effort to make a difference in the community of God’s people.