MARCH 03 -
This week, our
liturgical calendar is going to invite us to shift gears. We are transitioning
from the period of exuberance and joy (Epiphany), into the period of contemplation
and service (Lent). Designated with the colour purple, Lent encourages a
discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, a season of being more
intentional about the use of our whole selves: our time dedicated to
communication with God through prayer; our self-awareness of needs and
limitations through fasting; our service to the world through generosity of
means through almsgivings. These actions are meant to bring our hearts closer
to God and to one another, as we spend a penitential 40 days preparing for the
joy of Easter. As you prepare for your own Lenten journey, I invite you to
consider what in your life is keeping you from a deeper relationship with God
and the world: perhaps skipping one TV show allow time for prayer, or trading
store-bought coffee for homemade (and donating the difference to a charity), or
making a treat to share with a lonely neighbour, or... the possibilities are
numerous, and as unique as we are. Whatever your practices are for this Lenten
season, I hope that it will be a holy time.
Our season of Lent begins this Wednesday with prayer:
a Holy Eucharist and imposition of ashes will take place at 10.00am and 7.00pm.
MARCH 10 -
A colleague of mine used to end
every Lenten service with "I hope you go and have a miserable Lent!"
This friend was not a curmudgeon,
but he was a wordsmith. Suspecting a trick, I looked up 'miserable' in my
trusty Oxford Dictionary: "wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable."
Finding no trick, I asked my friend for a deeper analysis.
He explained that the history of
Lent is to grieve or be sorrowful for our sins - those times when we have
turned away from God. And that anytime we turn away from one of God's children,
we are turning away from God - from sinning. And that is to be grieved.
He was hoping that people would take
a new look at their lives, and feel so grieved by how they had turned away from
God that they were inspired to change. He wanted them to be miserable: unhappy
and uncomfortable with their indifference to others' suffering, their anger
against their loved ones, their cynicism against the 'other', their
selfishness, their bitterness, their... sin. He wanted them to have a spiritual
awakening to redirect their lives towards God.
Imagine how the world around us
would change, if we were all so miserable that we made the change happen. Imagine
the new depths of faith and heights of compassion that we might experience as a
result of those changes. Imagine how much closer to God we might become if we
acknowledged the wretched unhappiness of our sin, and repented and returned to
the Lord.
Imagine what might happen if we had
a miserable Lent.
MARCH 17 -
I was asked this week: "Can we have Green
Communion Wine?"
Well, friends, it *is* St Patrick's Day! And isn't
everyone Irish on St Patrick's Day?
Actually, no. Even Patrick wasn't Irish - an English
youth kidnapping into slavery, a daring escape and return to England, before
his own Christian conversion, and return to the Emerald Isle to spread the
Gospel. With a questionable past, he and his followers established Christianity
in Ireland - making him one of 3 patron saints (alongside Brigid and Columba).
Patrick is a man of legend (quite literally - the
staff-into-tree thing is unsubstantiated, the shamrock idea first appeared in
writing some 1,000 years after his death, the island had never had snakes to
begin with...). It is this legendary Patrick that interconnected with the
cultural celebrations with green beer and pinching leprechauns.
But Patrick is also a man of faith; a deep and
continual faith in the goodness of God and the promise of eternal salvation.
His "Breastplate" hymn has withstood the test of time, his examples
of teaching locally have inspired generations, his name graces countless
churches and cathedrals. Patrick is certainly to be remembered for his service
to God and to the Christian tradition!
So enjoy the day - get your green on, search for
leprechauns, speak with an Irish accent: but also recall the great gift of
faith that was passed along through such missionaries as Patrick!
Prayers of the
People for March 17
We pray for the Church: the people of God, the people
we love, the people we try to love, and the people who try to love us. We pray
for the people for whom church is a welcoming community, for those who are
still seeking their place, and for those who find church to be too difficult to
attend.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for those in authority: for our queen and her
family; for our prime minister, premier, and other elected officials; for our
town council and for all those whose decisions affect the lives of others. May
they be calm and careful in their deliberations, and always defer to the
greater good.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for those whose lives have been touched by the
news of the week: for the grieving families of air disasters, for those in
uncertain political situations, for those who have become stateless, for those
who have experienced violence in their cities and in their homes, and for those
who work to bring about justice, unity, and peace.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for those who experience sickness, in
themselves and in those they love. We ask for patience and compassion for all
who struggle with invisible illnesses, for those whose energy is depleted, and
for those who await diagnoses. We ask your healing comfort on their souls; as
we offer thanksgivings for all the caregivers
and medical staff who work to ease the world's suffering.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for our community: for those who trace their
roots deep into history, and for those who are new to town. For those who work
here: for a few days as part of a film crew; in the early morning collecting
garbage; for generations on the sea or on farms, in offices and shops.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for ourselves: in this season of Lent, that we
would quiet our minds and open our hearts. Help us to see and hear you more
clearly in the opportunities we have to serve others; and to orient our lives
to you through grateful acts of generosity.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy.
We humbly offer these prayers, spoken aloud and in the
whispers of our hearts, knowing that you will answer as may be best for us.
Hear us Lord;
Lord, have mercy. Amen.
31 MARCH -
In the
psalm today, there is a frequent inclusion of the word 'selah', usually written
in brackets.
The
purpose of the selah is a type of verbal punctuation; in practical terms, it
was sometimes used as a musical direction (psalms were originally sung prayers)
or as a means to prepare the following paragraph.
The
selah, however, also holds a more spiritual invitation to engage with the
psalm. It encourages a pause for reflection and contemplation. When it is used,
it invites the person praying the psalm to stop, take a breath, and think about
what was just said. A selah is an intentionally holy pause.
What a
wonderful reminder as we continue in Lent, that despite the busyness of the
world around us we can inject a selah into our day: a pause, a holy moment, to
take a breath and reflect on the presence of God.
Selah!
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