Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches an Ash Wednesday sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., reflecting on the prophet Joel’s call to return to God, who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. She contrasts the ways congregants may experience Ash Wednesday as either a joyful invitation or a daunting summons to repent, fast, pray, and give alms, emphasizing that God extends both the invitation to feast in being marvelously made and the invitation to confront how people fall short and grow distant from God, neighbor, and self. She critiques reducing Lent to minor sacrifices and urges congregants to do the harder, embodied work of self-examination and real spiritual practices—especially fasting joined to prayer—framed as a “tithe” of the year meant for transformation rather than punishment. The sermon culminates in the church’s traditional Ash Wednesday invitation, recalling Lent’s origins in preparing converts for baptism and reconciling those separated by sin, and calling the congregation to observe a holy Lent through self-examination and repentance, prayer, fasting and self-denial, and reading and meditating on God’s word.00:00 Ash Wednesday Call: “Return to the Lord” 00:23 The “Who Knows?” God: Fear, Mercy, and Taking Repentance Seriously01:45 What Kind of Invitation Did You Receive? Feast vs. Fast04:15 Marvelously Made… and Yet We Fall Short: Why Lent Gets Uncomfortable05:51 How We’ve Softened Lent: More Than Giving Up Chocolate07:17 Lent as a Tithe of the Year: The Hard Work That Heals08:47 The Three Pillars in Practice: When You Fast, Pray, and Give10:12 Take the Invitation Home: Lent Can Change Your Life11:26 The Church’s Formal Invitation to a Holy Lent

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stdavidsepiscopaldc.substack.com