Dear Friends
Are you planning to give up something for Lent? I think I may have to give up mince pies! Yes, I know, Christmas was over weeks ago, but I made a lot of mincemeat and am still using it up. It’s curious, isn’t it, that the mince pies you can buy in the shops go on sale in the time leading up to Christmas, but they soon disappear from the shelves once we are into the new year. Hot cross buns, on the other hand, are now on sale all the year round. At one time you could only buy them on Good Friday, the day when Christians commemorate Jesus’ death on a cross. I wonder how many people these days understand the symbolism of the cross on these buns.
On Shrove Tuesday, some of us will enjoy pancakes. This day takes its name from the practice of being ‘shriven’, that is making confession of one’s sins and receiving absolution. Some people speak of ‘Pancake Day’ and may be unaware of its origins. In times gone by Christians were not allowed to eat rich foods during Lent, so pancakes were made on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday to use up the leftovers. Lent was a season of abstinence and austerity, with the purpose of entering a time of self-examination and penitence, as part of the preparation for the great festival of Easter. Lent was the fast before the feast. Even if we are less rigorous today in our observance of Lent, this is still a significant season in the Church’s year. We may go without something we enjoy in order to focus more on our prayer life and our relationship with God, as we move towards Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter.
The first signs of spring are always welcome, and never more so than when we have been through a harsh winter. Seeing the snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils lifts our spirits and brings a resurgence of hope. After the dreary dark days there is new life appearing all around. Even though March often brings cold and windy weather, we feel that summer is on its way. At the end of next month we shall celebrate Easter, and that is all about new life. Having gone through the anguish of Holy Week and Good Friday, when the focus is on Christ’s suffering and his death on a cross, we turn to the joy of the resurrection. The journey through Lent might be compared with those difficult winter days, and Easter to the glorious explosion of life and colour as spring bursts upon the world. As with many good things in life, the enjoyment and appreciation are all the greater if we have been deprived of them for a while.
With my love and prayers
Glynis Hetherington
Monday, 21 February 2011
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