Dear Friends,    As I was preparing for the      season of Lent I came upon a ‘Charlie Brown’ cartoon which has little Linus, looking very forlorn, asking Lucy, ‘Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?’  Lucy looking very self-righteous replies: ‘I just think I have the knack for seeing other people’s faults’.  Linus turns indignant; ‘What about your own faults?’ he asks. ‘I have a knack for overlooking them’ answers Lucy.

Well, we have now entered the forty days of Lent and by church tradition we are challenged to spend the period in self-examination and self-denial.  The aim being that the forty days are sufficiently long enough to help us change all but the most deeply rooted habits. It is like spiritual aerobics where the Christian tones up on their spiritual life.

Lent can be thought of in negative terms if it is about ‘giving things up’ and no doubt there will be aspects of our lives which need close inspection.  Time spent with God and reflecting on our lives are always rich and fruitful.  Lent is a time to hear and believe that God loves us, and then spend at least forty days attempting to find out what that means. Jesus was sent into the desert to face his temptations straight after his   baptism in the river Jordan.  It was just after being baptized by John that a voice was heard from God that said to Jesus ‘you are my Son, with whom I am well pleased’.  For Jesus he knew he was truly the Son of God and loved by his Father. When Jesus heard God’s words, he set out to a place of quiet and solitude, the desert, so that he could think and pray about them.

At the heart of the Christian story is the belief that God made the world and everything in it out of love.  Jesus came to live and die for us so that we can understand God’s words to him as being meant for us too ‘You are my beloved daughters and sons; you give me pleasure’.

Going into the desert isn’t an option for most of us, but perhaps we can make a little time during Lent to try think about what our lives are for. And that might mean giving up, at least for a bit, some of the things that distract us, so that we can focus better on the essentials of what life is all about and our place in God’s marvellous world.

 May your Lent devotions help you experience God’s love for you in a deeper and more profound way.

Rev Glenn Coggins,

Vicar of  the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.

For me one of the most moving feasts in the Church’s calendar is   Candlemas on the 2nd February every year.  It arrives forty days after the birth of Jesus but is not as well known as Christmas and Easter.   Candlemas tells the story of Jesus being presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph to God the Father and shown to his people.  The Law stated that every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord.  In the Temple at the time were two people, Simeon and Anna, who were elderly and were waiting to see Jesus the new born child.  God had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he saw baby Jesus and when he saw Jesus he swept him up in his arms and praised God saying this words….

Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace

          your word has been fulfilled

My own eyes have seen the salvation

          which you have prepared in the sight of every people

A light to reveal you to the nations

          and the glory of you people Israel.    Luke 2:29-32

Not only did Simeon recognize Jesus as the light of the world but  also spoke of the life of Jesus to come of how he was to face not only   glory but also pain.  Later on in the passage, Anna—who was a widow and had never left the Temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying—also thanked God for Jesus and spoke about his life to come.

There is so much in the meeting of Jesus and Simeon and Anna that speaks to us today.  They are both known as the ‘quiet in the land’ – going about their daily lives in prayer and quiet watchfulness for God at work in the world.  They watched patiently in humble faithful expectation for   Jesus and although they had both known sorrow they had not grown bitter and never gave up hope.  It also was a meeting of both young and old and the part they played in God’s plans.  The witness and life of Simeon and Anna show to us there’s no retirement in God’s eyes!

The feast of Candlemas is very much a turning point in the Church year as we take one last look back at the birth of Jesus and now turn to face Lent and the events of Holy Week. and Easter. It is very much a bitter sweet turning point as we will soon begin our journey into forty days of Lent and spend time reflecting on our own lives.  Join us at St Peter’s on Ash Wednesday, 26th February, at 7:30pm when we gather to start our Lenten observance and in the meantime let’s pray that we too may recognize  Jesus, the light of the world in our lives and the life of the world.

Rev Glenn Coggins,

Vicar of  the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.