Articles - From the Curate

The Church Season of Christmas/Epiphany time comes to its 40-day end on the 2nd February as the Church celebrates Candlemas, celebrating when Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the Temple. This marks a sort of pause and breathing space between the end of the season celebrating Jesus coming into our world (the Word made Flesh - the Incarnation) and the beginning of the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday (22nd February), which leads us on into Jesus' journey towards the Cross.

It does always seem very quick doesn't it … one minute we are thinking of Jesus as a tiny little baby and then next we are thinking of him as a grown man, journeying to die on the Cross ... all in the space of weeks sometimes.

… this is just because our tradition of marking Seasons within the Church has been built up over time, added to and adjusted over the centuries, to build up a journey of Jesus' whole life, death and resurrection. Different aspects of which can show us different aspects of God … we can see Jesus as a baby in a very different way to seeing Jesus suffering as a man on the Cross ... all this can deepen our understanding of who Jesus is and hopefully then, of God.

So in this 'pause', it's a good opportunity to take stock of where we are on our faith journey … are we moving on our journey at all? Have we maybe stopped/slowed down? Are we striving happily onwards or are we a having a bit of difficulty?

Wherever we are on our own journey, it's good to sometimes stop and reflect on it and see if we want to do anything to move us onwards within it.

There will be some church opportunities to help us on our faith journey during Lent, including: ecumenical evenings, a Quiet Prayer Day in church one Saturday, Compline every Monday evening, House Group meetings, as well as the starting up of a Nurture Course (one for young people and one for adults). This is for anyone wishing to be confirmed and for anyone just wanting to come along and look afresh at their faith journey, as well as for anyone who feels they want to help walk alongside others on their journey. Just get in touch with David or myself if this appeals to you.

It's not just at Church that we can be accessing ways to help us on our faith journey. Maybe we want to try to begin /restart a daily structure of reading some bible text and reflecting on it … (for example: using the Sunday readings, printed on the notice sheet or referenced in the magazine, to reflect on at home or buying a Lent Guide from the Book Stall to use at home, etc).

Maybe deciding to set some daily time for prayer (for example: a quiet half an hour at home, listening to beautiful music, talking to God in the car/on the bus on the way to work, etc) .… we are all different and therefore praying to God is different for us all, we just need to have the desire to want to do it and to put something into action daily if possible.

Opportunities/suggestions to think about before Lent begins. I will leave you with a question you might want to ask yourself:
Do I want to move on in my journey of faith with God … and what can I do to make that happen?
Talk to God about it and watch out/listen for His prompting!

Best wishes
Diane

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