Category Archives: lent

Journeying on into Lent

lent

During Advent and into January over 30 people from our 3 Churches met together in groups of 5 or 6 to reflect on the significance of the season, using the book ‘Journeying towards Jesus’ by Denis McBride.

In the 5 sessions (each one lasting 1 – 1/2 hours) the groups explored the various Advent themes from the Second Coming of Jesus to the feast of Christmas, challenging us “to move from being onlookers to active followers of Jesus”.

People agreed that they found the experience very relaxed, encouraging and inspiring; they said that they learnt a lot, enjoyed sharing their thoughts and making new friends, as they got to know members of their group.

Following this success, we are offering everyone the opportunity to be part of a group during Lent and Easter using another seasonal book by Denis McBride – ’Journeying with Jesus’, reflecting on “the movement of the Jesus story”.

The aim, Denis McBride says, “is to promote a conversation between Jesus’ journey and your own, so that you might share some of that insight in your group”. We start with ’In the Wilderness’ and move through passages in the life and death of Jesus to ’On the Road Again’ – the Emmaus story.

Denis McBride approaches reflections with a light touch while giving us thought-provoking questions to consider.

There will be a gathering on Shrove Tuesday (5 March) 7.30pm at St Brigid’s to mark and celebrate the successful Advent and Christmas “journey” and to explain more about this Lent and Easter one. Warmly invited are all those who took part in Advent and / or the previous “Do You Love Me?” series, all who would like to be involved this time, and of course, those who just want to find out more!

Marie York

LENT: PAUSE, SEE, RETURN

lent,

“Lent is the time for allowing one’s heart to be touched…” Pope Francis said at Mass on Ash Wednesday. “God does not tire, nor will he tire, of holding out his hand.” He encouraged us to pause, see, and return to the Father.

He offered suggestions of how to pause, including refraining from showing off, or from an attitude which gives rise to unproductive thoughts and self-pity. These lead us to forget our call to encounter others and share in their burdens. He urged an end to the desire “to control everything, know everything, destroy everything,” which stems from a lack of gratitude for our life and what we’ve been given. Lent is a good time for the “creative power of silence” in order to “leave behind the unrest and commotion that fill the soul with bitter feelings which never get us anywhere… Pause from this compulsion to a fast-paced life that scatters, divides and ultimately destroys time with family, with friends, with children, with grandparents, and time as a gift… time with God.” Francis warned about “haughty looks” and “fleeting and pejorative comments,” words stemming from a lack of “tenderness, compassion and reverence for the encounter with others, particularly those who are vulnerable, hurt and even immersed in sin and error.”

Francis urged us instead to see – to reflect on those actions which promote faith, hope and charity – to look upon the faces of the vulnerable and in need, like families who, despite hardship, still strive to make their homes “a school of love.” May we see the faces of children and youth, yearning for a future, the faces of the elderly reflecting “God’s wisdom at work,” and the faces of sick people and their carers, whose vulnerability reminds us of the value of every person. “See the remorseful faces of so many who try to repair their errors and mistakes, and who from their misfortune and suffering fight to transform their situations and move forward.” Finally, the Pope encouraged everyone to make time during Lent to “see and contemplate the face of Crucified Love… To see his face is an invitation filled with hope for this Lenten time, in order to defeat the demons of distrust, apathy and resignation.”

Pope Francis invited all to “return without fear to those outstretched, eager arms of your Father, who is rich in mercy, who awaits you. Return without fear, for this is the favorable time to come home.”

Full text can be viewed here.

Shaken and stirred?

lent

“Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” (Pope Francis)

Lent begins on Wednesday, and Easter this year falls on 1 April. 45 or so days. I wonder, and let’s be honest – will we be any different by Easter Sunday? If the answer, based on pervious Lents, is more or less no, then that’s a challenge to allow ourselves to be shaken this year, and stir from that lethargy which can so easily grip our spirit.

Here are some things we can do…

* Mass On Sunday prepare at home, look at the readings, make sure you greet people, especially strangers… During the week why not attend a weekday Mass?
* Deanery Mass This year St Brigid’s hosts the Cardiff Deanery Mass when people gather from all over the city with the priests and Archbishop. Put in your diary – Wednesday 28 February at 7pm (note earlier time)

There will be Confessions available for the hour before Mass – this will replace our Penitential Service this Lent. * Confession Let the Lord speak to your heart about where you are in life. Celebrate Reconciliation at our regular times, or by appointment or before the Deanery Mass.
* Stations of the Cross Before Mass in each of our 3 Churches: Tuesdays at Christ the King, Friday at St Paul’s, Saturday at St Brigid’s, all at about 9am

* Walk With Me Reflections for each day – available in each church
* “Do You Love Me?” We now have many groups following this project already started or about to
* Holy Week Maundy Thursday this year at Christ the King; Good Friday at St Paul’s and Christ the King; Easter Vigil at St Brigid’s. More details later.

Most of all, have a spiritual spring clean. Take a good look at how you are living, your priorities, your gifts, your relationships – everything. Let’s have the courage to allow the Lord to really stir us this Lent!

Fr Matthew

Whatever happened to Lazarus?

lent

One of the worst bumps on the head I ever got was going down the steps into the tomb of Lazarus about 25 years ago. We were on our second September pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and were anxious to visit Bethany, where Lazarus lived with his sisters Martha and Mary. The modern village of al-Eizariya is believed to mark the spot, and there we find a church dedicated to the family, while the adjacent Tomb itself is on ground owned by Moslems. As I went down the 20 or so steps, at the bottom I banged my head on the low roof. Ouch!

So what happened to Lazarus after his raising by Jesus? He is mentioned a few times later in the Gospels, but for the time beyond that we have to rely on tradition (or legends). The Eastern tradition tells how he went with St Paul to Cyprus, becoming first bishop of present-day Larnaka. From there, as Islam advanced westwards, his relics were taken to Constantinople (Istanbul) and later to Marseille in Provence.

At this point this tradition joins another Western one, which has Lazarus and his sisters, along with the other Marys from the Crucifixion plus a maid, put out to sea by hostile Jews. They drift across the Mediterranean until they land in Provence. The beautiful town of Les-Saintes-Maries on the edge of the Camargue lies where the group traditionally landed. From here the group scatters across southern France, except for the other Marys, who stayed and gave their name to the town. Our September pilgrims also visited some of these sites in 1993 and again in 2011.

One of the strangest parts of the Eastern legends of Lazarus tells how Lazarus never smiled during the thirty years after his resurrection. He had been traumatized, we would say today, by the sight of unredeemed souls he had seen during his four-day stay in the underworld/Hades. Well I suppose being dead would have quite an effect on you, wouldn’t it? The only exception was, when he saw someone stealing a pot, he smilingly said: “the clay steals the clay.” But I’m sure Lazarus was raised again, this time not a resuscitation like in today’s Gospel, but a rising to eternal life, through Easter, which we will all celebrate in two weeks’ time.

Fr Matthew