Introduction to Lent 2026
We live in Wisconsin, so we know that our winters are cold and snowy, sometimes too cold and snowy. Yet we make it through those dark months and await the coming of the new spring season. We can and do endure the cold darkness, knowing there is change ahead. We read and hear what seems to be a constant stream of difficult news. We endure in the face of worry, fear, cold, discomfort, knowing that God’s love will carry and protect us. Lent enacts that endurance for us, leading us through the desert so that we may glory in the cross just a few short weeks from now.
We have prepared some things designed to help you enter more fully into Lent. As you arrive for Mass, you’ll find dimmed lights and a hushed atmosphere to facilitate meditation and centering prayer. As Mass begins, we will rise as a community to proclaim the Entrance Antiphon – a short scripture passage which sets the tone for the liturgy. Like last year, the assembly will stand to proclaim the psalms to one another. Finally, we will go forth from each Lenten Mass singing a new-to-us song, “Christ in Me Arise.” The lyrics offer a prayer for guidance as we go out into the world, taking Christ with us to guide our footsteps.
Liturgy Coordinator Judy Zunk and Music Coordinator Alicia Levin