The Christmas festivities may now seem a long time ago but our celebrations have only just come to a close with our observance of Epiphany, when Jesus was seen by the wise men, and then Candlemas when Jesus was presented to the priest in the temple in Jerusalem. It is now that we turn to face the New Year and all it holds for us. We leave the festivities behind and move into a time of preparation, the season of Lent, as we look forward to celebrating once again the risen Christ.

The season of Lent is traditionally a time for abstinence. It stems from olden times when those being prepared for Baptism at Easter (the only time of the year when baptism took place) would spend their time in study, prayer and fasting in order to focus the mind on the Christian message. Our modern day Lenten activities are intended to do the same.

The concept of fasting, whilst involving ‘giving something up for Lent’, does not these days quite convey the strength of a spiritual fast. The idea of giving something up for Lent is probably, if we were honest, just as realistically coupled to the notion of losing a couple of inches off the waistline. And while this would most likely do us some good (it would me), it doesn’t really reach towards the more spiritual goal.What is aimed for in the pursuit of spiritual goals can be a very personal thing. There is no simple answer. Living the Christian life, or striving to, in this complex modern world is no easy thing. We are surrounded by the call for self-fulfilment and self-satisfaction: I want...I need…I deserve…’because you’re worth it’ says the advertisement. The idea of the Lenten fast is to subjugate our own ‘wants’ to the will of God, to what He wants. ‘I’ must take second place, and that’s not a very comfortable thought. To submit oneself to real prayer and fasting is to try to place oneself totally into God’s safe hands …and that is a very difficult thing to do.

May your preparation this Lent bear much spiritual fruit.

Yours in Christ