Lenten Newsletter 2024
Dear Friends in Christ
It is important to remember that the Church year revolves around two “cycles,”
one for Christmas and one for Easter. The Christmas cycle begins with a season of
Advent as preparation and the Easter cycle begins with Lent.
We have started our Lenten journey with Ash Wednesday. Revd. Carol and I
managed to celebrate the Eucharist in all our six chapelries on Ash Wednesday.
We are grateful for God’s grace which carried us through.
Why did we do this? Ash Wednesday indicates the start of Lent. It is a time of
preparation for Easter. During the Ash Wednesday Service, ashes made from the
palms of the previous Palm Sunday are blessed. People who wish to receive ash
crosses on their foreheads, go to the altar rail. The words, “Turn away from sin
and believe the good news” are used. These words Jesus used, according to the
Gospel of Mark as he started his ministry. Before the ash crosses are given, as well
as after the ash crosses are received, is said “Remember that you are dust and to
dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Ash Wednesday therefore points to our
mortality as well as pointing towards life in Christ which is eternal.
Now our Lenten journey starts…
Lent lasts for forty days as it became associated with Christ’s fasting during his
time of testing in the wilderness. This story we find in Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-
13 and Mark 1:12-13. It is important to see the importance of this time in the
wilderness – Jesus did not decide to go there himself. Jesus was “led by the Spirit”
Matthew and Luke say while Mark says that “the Spirit drove him out…” He might
not have wanted to go to the desert, but he needed to go. He needed to retreat
away from the usual way of life and be in a different environment to experience
the presence of God in a different way.
We can not all move to the desert for 40 days, but we can find small ways to
change our usual routine in order to be more aware of God’s presence in each
moment. Each of us have our own way of living our lives – we have a specific time
we get up and go to bed and then have rituals around getting up and what we do
daily. Fasting can assist us as this will change our routines and once we change
things in our lives, we stop running on automatic and start becoming more aware.
Fasting used to be “abstinence from food or drink or both.” However, some of us
can easily stay without food and it would not bother us. We therefore need to be
more creative and think about the things which we feel we cannot be without –
our mobile phones for example. What are the things we have in our lives that we
often say, “we cannot do without”. Or what are the things which we believe are
not important enough and we ignore like time for me or being hospitable and
spending time with others. Or maybe being busy has become my way of life and I
need to fill each moment with a task.
Stop, become aware of your breathing and the presence of God and ask God to
guide you to a different routine – a different rhythm – time in the wilderness.
Revd. Bruce Jenneker explains that “The Weekdays of Lent are a pilgrimage of self-
examination and Bible Study, repentance and acts of loving-kindness.” It does not
have to be hours of doing this. Find small ways in your daily ordinary routines to
incorporate some of these. Nothing rigid and forceful but rather be kind and show
love. Create opportunities to stop during the day and do self-examination – look
within and invite God’s Spirit to guide you, through your heart. What needs
attention? What needs love?
Remember that “this pilgrimage is punctuated by the celebration of Sundays in
Lent when the promise salvation and new life is proclaimed with joyful
expectation.” (https://anglicanchurchsa.org/liturgical-resources/keeping-lent-in-
autumn-by-bruce-jenneker) Sundays are always days of resurrection! That is why
there are more than 40 days when you count the days of Lent including Sundays.
I am planning to spend time ‘listening to the lives of people from Scripture” during
this Lent. My prayer is that these stories will bring healing for us as they speak to
our stories. I will make these reflections available on a Tuesday and they can then
be used personally or in Bible study groups. I will also use it during our
Wednesday Services at St Peter.
God bless us as we journey together through Lent 2024 and find each other on
the way.
Your Sister in Christ,
Melany