Dear friend,
Yesterday in our worship service I read from a devotion by O.P. Kretzmann, former president of Valparaiso University. It provides a timely insight into our observance of Lent, so I will share part of it again here:
“From time immemorial the Alleluia has been omitted from the services of the Church during the season dedicated to the remembrance of the Passion of our Lord…It will be Easter morning before the Alleluia is heard again.
There is wisdom in this. It is another and profound difference between the Church and the world. The world never willingly abandons joy. Worldly people hang on to happiness with all the gusto they have–until, inevitably, it is taken away from them. They want to forget that the line of life must sometimes go down into the darkness of sorrow. It is never easy, but it is a great deal better to go down willingly than to be driven down like a slave…
Easter can come only to the heart that has known Lent.”
In Christ,
Pastor Heckmann
