notes from the vicarage

Notes from the Vicarage

Lent Once More-Do One Thing Extra

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd. We just seem to leave Christmas and we look forward to Lent and Easter. It is well worth giving Lent some careful and prayerful thought in the weeks before it arrives otherwise we can be caught on the hop. If we start the Lenten season on the wrong foot we are not going to get the full benefit of the forty days and forty nights. If we do not prepare we may have that nagging feeling at the backs of our minds that our Lenten observance is not as good as it should be and that we are letting God down.

Lent is a spiritual journey and the only reason that it exists is to prpare for the glorious celebration of Easter. Each Lent we hope to grow a little in our Christian faith to enable us to celebrate Easter with great joy and to renew our baptismal promises on Easter Day in the knowledge that we have increased in love for our Blessed Lord and are trying to do His will each day of our lives.

For all of us at St. Helen's Lent is a season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. During the forty days there are lots of extra activities to choose from as our parish keeps Lent. Do one extra thing this Lent, even if it is the absolute minimum to commit yourself to be at church each and every Sunday

If this is your normal rule then how about an extra weekday Mass or Stations of the Cross or the Lent lunch or reading a spiritual book or reading a few chapter of the bible each day or the Lent Study Course. It is entirely up to you what you choose to do but do something.

I hope and pray that you all prepare for this holy season and have a good Lent and wonderful Easter.

Canon Robert McTeer

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