The Liturgical Season Of Lent Year B

This year the season starts on February 14^th (Ash Wednesday) and ends on March 25^th (Annuncication of the Lord). The traditional fast of 40 days does not include Sundays. Purple is the season’s colour, though this gets complex near Easter. Red is used from Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday.

In other contexts there may be great wisdom in adopting Lent as an identifiable season of preparation for Easter. All of us need to sanctify our calendars and make clear that nothing in the winter and springtime of the year—not Valentine’s Day, not spring break, not March Madness, not even the hockey playoffs—is as important to our identity as Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Readings

Lent Year B	First reading	Psalm	Second reading	Gospel
Ash Wednesday February 14, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12	Psalm 51:1-17	2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10	Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
First Sunday in Lent February 18, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Genesis 9:8-17	Psalm 25:1-10	1 Peter 3:18-22	Mark 1:9-15
Second Sunday in Lent February 25, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16	Psalm 22:23-31	Romans 4:13-25	Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-9
Third Sunday in Lent March 3, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Exodus 20:1-17	Psalm 19	1 Corinthians 1:18-25	John 2:13-22
Fourth Sunday in Lent March 10, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Numbers 21:4-9	Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22	Ephesians 2:1-10	John 3:14-21
Fifth Sunday in Lent March 17, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Jeremiah 31:31-34	Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16	Hebrews 5:5-10	John 12:20-33
Liturgy of the Palms March 24, 2024 Sixth Sunday in Lent ART — PRAYER		Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29		Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16
Liturgy of the Passion March 24, 2024 Sixth Sunday in Lent ART — PRAYER	Isaiah 50:4-9a	Psalm 31:9-16	Philippians 2:5-11	Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, (40-47)
Annunciation of the Lord March 25, 2024 ART — PRAYER	Isaiah 7:10-14	Psalm 45 or Psalm 40:5-10	Hebrews 10:4-10	Luke 1:26-38
	Italicized readings, complementary to the standard reading, may be used with, or in place of it.

Sources

• Tissot, James Jacques Joseph, 1836-1902. Temptation in the Desert, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54304  Cropped
• From the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.
• Lectionary from The Vanderbilt Divinity Library