It is 12 days to Ash Wednesday. Lent is almost upon us. What has this to do with Luther’s Catechisms?
Much!
Lent is an excellent time for reviewing the Six Chief Parts of Christian Doctrine. Pastor Joe Abrahamson, Faith Lutheran Church, Clara City, Minnesota authored an excellent article about this, titled “Luther’s Small Catechism and Lent,” Published at Brothers of John the Steadfast.
Pastor Abrahamson writes:
Our general outline for this yearly practice is as follows:
- Ash Wednesday: The Ten Commandments-The Law Of God
- Lent 1 Wednesday: The Creed-The Gospel of God
- Lent 2 Wednesday: The Lord’s Prayer-The Response of Faith
- Lent 3 Wednesday: The Sacrament of Baptism
- Lent 4 Wednesday: The Office of the Keys and Confession
- Lent 5 Wednesday: The Sacrament of the Altar
- Maundy Thursday: Christian Questions and Answers
His approach recognizes and conveys:
- The Structure of the Catechism and Teaching
- How the Parts Work Together
- The “What” of the Christian Faith
- The “How” and “Where” of the Christian Faith
- The Application to Our Lives
Head on over to his article at Brothers of John the Steadfast to see how Pastor Abrahamson develops these thoughts.
Keep watching LutheranCatechism.com because in the near future we also will be pointing to video teaching of the Small Catechism by Pastor Abrahamson.
For the Large Catechism, remember that LutheranCatechism.com provides without charge bulletin inserts for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter that present readings from Luther’s Large Catechism. See the blog post, “Free ! –– Bulletin Inserts — Large Catechism Readings for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter,” explaining those inserts and providing links to download the printer-ready PDFs.