March News
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MARCH NEWSLETTER
Dear Friends,
One of my vivid memories from childhood was my mother’s insistence that we all have a good breakfast before starting the day. This was even more important when we were heading off on holiday with the prospect of a long journey ahead of us. Despite all the packing up, and the last minute jobs still to be done, we still had to fit in a hearty breakfast. My mother maintained it would set us up for the journey. I wonder what sets you up for the special journey through Lent? For me, it is our service together on Ash Wednesday. Joining together with other Christians on the first day of Lent is a reminder that the journey ahead is both a personal journey and a shared journey. During the forty days of Lent, we are invited to remember Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness, and to accompany him on his journey to the cross. We also walk with one another in faith and fellowship. In the words that introduce the service on Ash Wednesday we are invited to ‘the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance, by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating of God’s holy word’.
Many years ago I spent Ash Wednesday in Dublin. One could immediately see who had been to church that day as they still bore the cross in ash on their foreheads. It was very moving to see people going about their daily work marked with the sign of the cross: a powerful act of Christian witness and a reminder that it was the first day of Lent. At the service on Ash Wednesday, we are all invited to receive the sign of the cross in ash on our foreheads. Christians in early times used to wear sackcloth and sprinkle themselves with ashes as a sign of penitence. We receive the cross in ash in that same spirit – reminding us of our human frailty and mortality, but also of our need of God. It is a poignant moment in our Ash Wednesday service to have the sign of the cross traced on one’s forehead. It launches us into Lent with those stirring words ringing in our ears: ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.’ The ash is made from the burning of palm crosses from the previous year; reminding us that this journey through Lent will end with Holy Week and Easter. Jesus’ journey to the cross was one marked by love, faithfulness and sacrifice. Will our journey through Lent be the same? Wishing you all a holy and blessed Lent. Joan Do join us for our special Ash Wednesday service on 9th March at 8 pm. |
