Pressing the pause button

There are times when we should all step back and take a good look at ourselves and where we are going; what sort of person we aspire to be and how we are going to get there.

For Christians Lent is just such a time and here we are with Lent just begun with Ash Wednesday when Catholics in particular have blessed ashes put on our their foreheads in the sign of the cross and the words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “repent and believe in the gospel.”  This is a reminder of our mortality.

So begins a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in the period leading up to Easter when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, an event offering to all new life in the here and now and for eternity.

Our fast in lent recalls the 40 days when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast in preparation for his mission as Son of God and the temptations he encountered.

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights” Matthew 4: 1-2. This was the Gospel reading last Sunday the first Sunday of Lent. The devil asks Jesus if he would use his power as the Son Of God to turn stones into bread. Jesus replies, quoting scripture, “man does not live by bread alone” Hunger for God’s word is far more important.

Is Jesus going to be a wonder worker? The devil tells Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple parapet, saying surely the angels will take care of him. Jesus again quoted scripture and says, “You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” Finally, the devil shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world. “I will give you all these if you worship me,” he says, to which Jesus replies, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God alone.”

What might we understand by fasting? In Isaiah 58: 1 -9 we read “Is not this the fast that I choose: to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see him naked, to cover him…Then shall your light break forth like the dawn…”

Lent is a time for growing close to Jesus Christ; to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves. In this way we change and so does the world around us.Pressing the pause button

There are times when we should all step back and take a good look at ourselves and where we are going; what sort of person we aspire to be and how we are going to get there.

For Christians Lent is just such a time and here we are with Lent just begun with Ash Wednesday when Catholics in particular have blessed ashes put on our their foreheads in the sign of the cross and the words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “repent and believe in the gospel.”  This is a reminder of our mortality.

So begins a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in the period leading up to Easter when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, an event offering to all new life in the here and now and for eternity.

Our fast in lent recalls the 40 days when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast in preparation for his mission as Son of God and the temptations he encountered.

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights” Matthew 4: 1-2. This was the Gospel reading last Sunday the first Sunday of Lent. The devil asks Jesus if he would use his power as the Son Of God to turn stones into bread. Jesus replies, quoting scripture, “man does not live by bread alone” Hunger for God’s word is far more important.

Is Jesus going to be a wonder worker? The devil tells Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple parapet, saying surely the angels will take care of him. Jesus again quoted scripture and says, “You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” Finally, the devil shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world. “I will give you all these if you worship me,” he says, to which Jesus replies, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God alone.”

What might we understand by fasting? In Isaiah 58: 1 -9 we read “Is not this the fast that I choose: to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see him naked, to cover him…Then shall your light break forth like the dawn…”

Lent is a time for growing close to Jesus Christ; to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves. In this way we change and so does the world around us.