Saint Michael’s Church
Serving God and Bishop’s Stortford
Clergy Letter For mARCH 2010
|
CLERGY LETTER FOR MARCH 2010 |
|
The Revd Toby Marchand writes....
|
 |
A Reflection On The Meaning Of LentSt Francis of Assisi, so the story goes, once spent a whole Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday, on an uninhabited island in the lake of Perugia. And so earnest was his desire to be like Christ in all things that he took with him for food only two small loaves, and of these ate only one half loaf. The forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness have inspired many Christians down the centuries to take the same trail. They are designed each Lent, to inspire us ---- in our own small way. What do we expect to get from following him here? The promises are familiar enough: a deeper spiritual life; a new understanding of the faith; new ways to serve God and our neighbour. A refresher course in discipleship, in fact. But beware lest we hope to gain new “techniques of evangelism” or new “methods of service” by our following of Christ. Christ went in to the wilderness to confront the voice of silence. And that voice gives him a vision, a vision of what the world might be. A world where we live not by bread alone but by every word that comes out of God’s mouth: that is, where God is trusted, and the world he has given is accepted, with all its mysteries and dark problems, as ultimately for our good. This vision is clean, clear, simple, cutting like a sword of light through the clouds of doubt and perplexity. Jesus is captured by it. Now he knows his vocation --- to give this vision to the world before it is too late. Instead of hoping for more techniques to cope with your world, or for more control over your bodily appetites (giving up chocolate, or alcohol, is not really what Lent is about) try looking at the world and saying to yourself: ”O God is this all? Is this what I have to trust? Am I to cope with this by using only love, truth, and forgiveness?” Put that way round it may make the vision that Jesus caught hold of in the desert burst upon you with new clarity. The experience, once you have had it, tells you that Christ was right. It also tells you how far beyond us he is. Take his vision seriously and you find yourself worshipping him, not only as God but as true man, made in the image of God. One of the biographers of St Francis’ says that St Francis ate the half-loaf to cast out from himself the poison of taking pride in his own achievements or his own successes. St Francis ate the bread not in case he should think of himself as holy as Christ, but because his forty days showed him how far he still fell short of Christ. But for us, falling short like that takes us further than we would ever go on any journey of our own. Toby Marchand
|
Office Address:
Saint Michael’s Church
Windhill
Bishops Stortford
Hertfordshire
CM23 2ND