From the vicarage
The whole of March is in the season of Lent when I hope every member of the Church will be thinking about their relationship with God. The idea of giving up something or taking on something is a means to an end, and not an end in itself. Whether you just give up chocolate or one meal a day, or even spend the six weeks of Lent on just bread and water, the discipline of fasting is of no use if you do not have a goal of drawing closer to God. Similarly, to take on extra Bible reading, a Lent course, some ministry or giving to a charity all may be of value, but unless the heart and motivation is right, then our works and effort are of little eternal consequence.
I do want people to give up or take on things during Lent, but so that they draw closer to God. In Church tradition, there have been many practices which have been aids to deepen our relationship with God. One is to go on pilgrimage. I shall be leading a pilgrimage to Israel this month and am confident that those who come to Israel will in fact draw closer to God and each other. To visit the Holy Places in the Holy Land is an outward physical journey which takes the inner being deeper into God. To be in a boat on the Sea of Galilee and look to the surrounding hills is to experience the same sights as the Lord Jesus himself. You can see the foundations of St Peter’s house in Capernaum and know that Jesus slept in that place and rose early to go into the surrounding area to pray . How could anyone fail to pray and give thanks in Capernaum? I am thrilled whenever I visit the Holy Land and am led deeper into God. I’m sure that those on this pilgrimage will also deepen their own life of faith.
But not everyone can make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There will be opportunities in future to make other pilgrimages closer to home, such as to Durham or to Lindisfarne. But even that may be difficult for some. So I want to encourage those of you who cannot make the outward journey of a pilgrimage. It is still possible to make the journey inward. God, the Holy Spirit dwells within each Christian. He reveals to us the truth about Jesus and encourages us to think about our relationship with the Lord. Lent is a period in the church year when we take this even more seriously. We all need to make that inward journey of faith.
A holy Irish woman called Samathan once gave advice to a monk who wanted to travel on a pilgrimage. She told him, ‘God is in every place so you do not have to travel far away to meet with him’. This month you do not have to travel far but you do need to have a clearly defined intention to seek the Lord.
Yours in Christ
John