Skip to main content

'For such a time at this'

Christians are formed in spiritual practices that are designed to help us grow in love and holiness. During Lent we enter into the desert or wilderness, metaphorically speaking, to learn more about God's love. Christians have sought solitude and time alone with God since the earliest times of the Christian faith. We should not be unduly worried therefore about the prospect of needing to spend time alone. Christians who have fasted, prayed and practiced contemplation annually for the 40 days of Lent, are well prepared for this time of testing. We can encourage others, who may be less prepared, by our prayers, by our example and our teaching. This may be an opportunity to proclaim the love of God to others and to share with them something of the wonders of the Christian spiritual tradition.

 Moreover, during Lent we are encouraged not only to pray and fast but to be deliberate about practicing 'acts of service and compassion'. This is also critical to how we should and must respond at this time. There will be many vulnerable families and individuals, who through illness, loss of income or other vulnerabilities will be particularly sorely tested at this time. We need to ensure that as Christians we make a co-ordinated and compassionate approach to the challenges that we face together. Rather than stockpiling, add something to your shop to donate to the foodbank. Check on your elderly neighbours (by telephone or dropping in a card), to ask if they need any help and keep on calling on the telephone to ensure they're okay. Perhaps this will be a time when we connect up as a community, when we remember the golden rule to love our neighbours as ourselves. Churches are very well placed to be centres of care for the elderly and vulnerable, as we are connected with many elderly already who are at the centre of our Christian communities. 

 Christians were formed for such a time as this; a time when we recall that we rely completely on the love of God, upon his goodness and his enduring promises to us. The messengers of God frequently tell us 'do not be afraid'. We must do our best to be a faithful presence in our communities and a model of compassion and generosity, to help those who have most cause to be afraid to trust in the mercy of God. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Please be respectful when posting comments

Popular posts from this blog

Art and Imagination: the apocalyptic vision

Rev 12.7-12   Michael Defeats the Dragon   And war broke out in heaven ; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, ‘Now have come the salvation and the power    and the kingdom of our God    and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,    who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb    and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. Rejoice then, you heavens   ...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘Things Fall Apart – the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world’

 Holy Week Reflection   The Jewish people had a framework for understanding the world and most importantly their relationship with God and with one another. They had the Law and the Prophets and yet at various points in their history they were radically challenged by the events that occurred in their communal history. The deliverance from the hands of the Egyptians became a foundational narrative for them about God’s ability to save. They were not a people unused to suffering, unused to war, unused to persecution and these experiences led them as a people to expect from their God – compassion, mercy and most importantly deliverance. They could understand their sufferings in various ways, they could attribute them to their own sin and waywardness, but at the centre of their faith was a belief that God had established a covenant with them and that he would be faithful even if they were faithless. Jesus came into this history as a possible Messiah, as the Anointed One w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Radical Story-telling?

Public Domain   The Flight into Egypt  File: Adam Elsheimer - Die Flucht nach Ägypten (Alte Pinakothek) 2.jpg Created: 31 December 1608 Which of the Gospel writers include an account of the birth of Jesus? When were they writing, for what audience? Mark’s Gospel is almost universally considered to be the earliest Gospel and it’s understood that both Matthew and Luke used it as a source text. But Mark has no account of the birth of Jesus, he begins with John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism. Only Matthew and Luke have birth narratives and they are different whilst sharing some common features: Mary and Joseph are to be married and there’s a miraculous virgin birth in Bethlehem. But that’s about it. Jesus is born in a house in Matthew’s account whilst he is placed in a manger in Luke’s because there’s ‘no room at the inn’. Mary’s thoughts and feelings are not mentioned in Matthew at all, whilst from Luke we get the story of the Visitation, Annunciation and the wonderfu...
2 comments
Read more