Purge

Pastor’s Epistle—February, A.D. 2018 B

Certain months have become all but synonymous with their dominant holiday. December is Christmas, in both preparation and celebration. January is the New Year, and October has become one long Halloween. Even March, for Americans, has been largely subsumed by St Paddy’s Day.

February, however, maintains a certain aloof distance from St Valentine’s Day, despite all efforts to the contrary. Nor is it defined by Mardi Gras, which falls in February more often than not. February, it seems, has a theme all its own, which runs through many of its resident holidays but does not define the month by any one of them.

February is a time of cleansing, of purging. That’s actually what the name Februus means. The winter is winding down, though spring has not yet sprung, and it’s time for us to clean out the cupboards and let in the light and prepare ourselves for new buds and blossoms about to bloom. Down come the evergreens as the evenings linger longer. In come the sunbeams, reflected in the suncatchers and the snow. Even the fevers that accompany us in this time of year carry with them a theme of purging and cleansing.

How appropriate, then, that we start off the month with Candlemas, a festival also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin. The candles we bless in honor of Christ, the Light of the world, repel the darkness of winter and bring us warmth amidst the snows. Shortly thereafter St Valentine reminds us of both the urgent passions of youth and the fidelity to be found in marriage. And then Ash Wednesday most powerfully peels away the gross excesses of our daily lives, that we might be clothed once again in humility, simplicity, and repentance. These are purgings, one and all.

And of course the purpose of purgings is to restore health, wholeness, and balance. They serve to dispel the darkness that clouds hearts, minds, and souls, and to let in the Light. As we prepare for our Lenten season, for the lengthening of days and the long walk to Calvary, let us dispense with the superfluities of life and return to the core tenants of our Christian faith: light in the darkness, life for the dead, food for the hungry, and forgiveness for the sinner.

These are the gifts of Christ that will sustain us in the long journey ahead; these, and none other.

Let us then be purged.

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.