Listening to the readings again on Easter Sunday with the women going to the tomb to prepare Jesus’s body reminds me of something I read recently about Mary – Jesus’s mother.
It is interesting, is it not, that Jesus’s mother – arguably His greatest disciple, a woman of tremendous faith, who stayed by Him to the bitter end, is not listed amongst the women going to attend to Jesus’s body.
And this poses the theory that the first person Jesus appeared to may well have been His mother and that this is why she was not among those going to the tomb at dawn. Such an appearance would be part of completing her participation in the essential parts of the paschal mystery.
Mary suffered above all others in the suffering and death of her son. Christ kept the commandments. He honoured His heavenly Father, His earthly father and His mother, so it makes sense that he’d visit her first.
If a son lived far away and his mother was told he’d died but he was actually alive and healthy and he returned to the area, it would highlight that he was not a good son if he visited his friends first and his mother last.
Jesus was the perfect son. So, why would He not visit His mother first. There’s also her faith, which, despite the apostles losing theirs at Jesus’s passion, Mary had in abundance. Scripture tells us that the Lord shows Himself to those who have faith in Him. And, of course, she loved her son so much and scripture tells us that those who love Him will be visited by Him.
How joyful she must have felt at seeing her son alive once more.
There is a special kind of joy at Easter. It’s not just the spring flowers springing up into life or the longer days. What it is is a deep, radiant joy born from our Lord’s victory over sin and death so that we might have eternal life with Him.
Jesus leaves the darkness and rises to new life. Through God’s grace, this gives us the gift that, no matter what our past was, we have permission to leave it behind and embrace the hope and joy of new lives in Christ. His sacrifice and act of intermediary reconciliation grants us forgiveness of our past sins, our present sins and our future sins.
Palm Sunday is the day we appoint to mark Jesus’s parade into Jerusalem.
Up to this point Jesus has told His disciples to keep the knowledge of His Messiahship to themselves because His hour had not yet come. But now, the time had arrived. Jesus was making a declaration and He took dramatic action to make the announcement. Jesus rode into Jerusalem in a way which would be an unmistakable claim to be the Messiah – God’s approved king.
This event had been carefully planned. “The Lord needs it” was a password chosen and set up a long time prior to this event taking place.
It was certainly an act of defiance and courage. There was already a price on Jesus’s head. And yet, He enters in a way which throws the lime-light upon Him – giving Him centre stage. Every eye now beheld Him.
Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9. Even with His deliberate claim to be king, Jesus underlined the kind of kingship He claimed – king of love and peace.
Jesus used the language of the culture of the time. His procession used symbols which were part of the common understanding; touching a hope and a need in the people’s hearts. Consequently. the people eagerly responded.
Jesus rode a colt. A colt is an unridden donkey – which symbolised purity and peace. This confirmed His fulfilment of the Messiah role was by bringing reconciliation and peace.
In those days in that country, donkeys were considered noble. Only in war did kings ride a horse. In times of peace they rode donkeys.
By riding a donkey, Jesus came as a king of peace and love – not the conquering military hero the Jews had expected and awaited.
The waving of palm branches acknowledged Jesus’s authority. By throwing down their cloaks, the people were ushering a prince into their midst; showing honour and homage. And the traditional welcome to a new king – “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.
In the loudest way possible Jesus was saying, “Here I am, your king, your prince of peace.” The reply – “Hosanna” meaning “save us” – accepting that Jesus is the saviour.
Some of the pharisees – not all but some – heard the crowds and did not like it. They felt contempt at all the rabble as well as being afraid of Rome – who did not like disturbances from others.
In response to the pharisees telling the crowd to be quiet, Jesus answers that if the crowd were silent the stones would shout out.
When it is time, it is time. God’s purpose will be fulfilled. The king has come. The kingdom is coming.
The triumphal entry did not happen in a vacuum. It was not an accident. Everyone gathered together saw the meaning before them plain and simple. The king was entering the city in righteous victory and the crow were in desperate need of salvation and rescue.
We often read the whole passion – the whole suffering – on Palm Sunday because out of context from each other the rest doesn’t make full sense.
Jesus, the true king, the one coming in the name of the Lord, entering in triumph, helps us understand the whole passion more fully. It was never about human thrones and powers – it was always about triumph over evil and death.
The one who resurrected Lazarus comes to Jerusalem, in faithful obedience to the covenant, to allow humanity to expend its evil upon Him and for Him to then rise up from the dead. Humanity expends its evil upon the Son of God. The Powers and Principalities of the world snuff out the light. Satan claims he has victory over the God with whom he thought equality could be grasped.
But … that is not the end of the story …
… Jesus comes to us the same way He came to Jerusalem – amidst the praises of the people. enthroned by the cries begging for salvation and the royal welcome.
He guides us through His passion-tide, to bring us to share in His meal, to kneel at His cross, to wait by His tomb, to await His resurrection and victory over the darkness, the grave and His defeat of Satan, as we shout “Alleluia” on Easter Sunday.
The six stages of Holy Week:
Jesus as king
Jesus’s obedience to God’s will
Jesus as suffering servant
Betrayal and loyalty
Jesus’s passion/suffering
Salvation through Jesus
What a difference a day makes.
What a difference a week makes.
Palm Sunday, crowds are cheering Jesus and celebrating. Yet, just a few short days later, the same crowds jeer and call for the brutal murder of Jesus upon the cross.
Jesus knew what was coming but He still taught and proclaimed the Kingdom of God to His final breath.
Jesus made one last appeal to be accepted as their king. Before the hatred of men engulfed Him.
Once again, He confronted them with love’s invitation.
In the first part of Luke recounting the teaching of Jesus and the fig tree are people discussing Pilate mixing the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices.
This event, and that of the Tower of Siloam also mentioned by Jesus, were probably very well known by the crowds of the time, however, we know little about them today.
It is interesting that Pilate’s brutality is mentioned – which links up with the content of other historical references to him – and this gives us an impression of Pilate in advance of Jesus’s trial.
Considering this brutal nature of Pilate makes his act of washing his hands of Jesus stand out more. Pilate was quite happy to brutally kill people but he did not want to claim responsibility in any way for the death of Jesus.
Jesus uses the conversations of the crowd – one about a state sanctioned event and one an apparently random accident – for His teachings.
Jesus implies that we must not equate tragedy with divine punishment. However, repentance is needed universally. Unless we repent we will perish. To perish means the destruction of one’s soul.
The unrepentant will suddenly find that they have delayed too long and they have lost themselves.
Jesus asks the people – do they think that the Galileans being talked abount were greater sinners because of what happened to them. The Jews linked sin with suffering.
But there is no scale of sin. A sin is a sin.
Jesus expounds further by telling the parable of the fig tree. The fig tree was favoured because they had a higher chance of growing in the poor and shallow soil of the region.
Uselessness invites disaster. What is useful goes from strength to strength where what is useless is eliminated.
What would we answer when asked “of what use were you in this world?”
The land owner initially pronounces imminent and decisive judgement. The tree had not borne fruit for the last three years and so he wanted it cut down.
Nothing which only takes can survive.
The fig tree was taking strength and sustenance from the soil. In return it was producing nothing. This was the fig tree’s sin.
There are two types of people:
Those who take out more than they put in.
Those who put in more than they take out.
There is the duty placed upon us of handing things on better than we found them.
A fig tree normally takes three years to reach maturity. If it is not fruiting by then it is unlikely to produce fruit. But, this fig tree was given another chance.
The gardener pleaded for the tree to be given an extra year and the gardener would dig around the tree, placing manure around it. If the tree bears fruit it will stay but if the tree bears no fruit after the extra year it will be cut down.
The fig tree was given a second chance. We are given a second chance.
A second chance to change and repent.
It is always Jesus’s way to give man chance after chance. Peter, Mark and Paul all are witnesses to that. God is infinitely kind to those who fall and rise again.
God transforms us by grace – a grace that calls us to be generous towards those still trapped by poverty, want and devastation.
All sinners face the same fate before God. Everyone must stand before Him in judgement.
God is patient but, whilst He allows second chances and time for repentance, there is a limit.
There is a final chance!
If we refuse chance after chance, if God’s appeal and challenge come again and again in vain, the day finally comes, not when God has shut us out, but when we by deliberate choice have shut ourselves out.
Jesus uses the events of Galileans being executed and the tower falling on people in Jerusalem to emphasise the urgency of repentance, warning that those who don’t repent will perish.
A sin is a sin. There are no sins that are lesser than others. All sins are a sin.
Don’t be like the fruitless tree!
Focus on producing good fruit; on living a life which pleases God – rather than focussing on the misfortunes of others.
Jesus is emphasising that repentance is not just about acknowledging sins but actively changing to conform to God’s will.
The fig tree parable highlights God’s grace and the opportunity for change and restoration.
There’s that well known phrase: “The calm before the storm”. But there is a calm amidst the storm, and, it brings to mind lyrics from certain hymns.
“Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us o’er the world’s tempestuous sea; guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us, for we have no help by thee.”
“Eternal Father, strong to save, whose arm does bind the restless wave…O Saviour, whose almighty word, the winds and waves submissive heard, who walked upon the foaming deep, and calm amid the rage did sleep.”
Of course, Jesus as man would have needed, and had sleep. Jesus got tired, just as we get tired. We get the sense that, at times, Jesus was exhausted. He had huge crowds following Him about wanting His attention, to be healed, to be taught, to just be close to Him. He couldn’t just jump in the care to drive to the next town – He had to walk.
When we read passages like Jesus asleep amidst the storm, it is often that Jesus either wanted some time with just His disciples so He could continue their training and preparation for what was to come or/and He wanted some peace and quiet to pray and recharge.
Jesus trusted God. He knew He was near God no matter whether at sea or on land. Jesus knew He was in safe hands. He felt safe and relaxed and sleep overcame Him. Tired as He was, He slept through the sudden storm.
The Sea of Galilee often has and had sudden storms. More than 600 feet below sea level, it is surrounded by table lands beyond which are great mountains. Rivers cut deep ravines through the table lands and down into the sea. Table lands are large, flat, elevated areas of land. The ravines act like huge funnels drawing down cold winds from the mountains and so the storms strike.
This is how the storm that struck the boat Jesus and His disciples were in suddenly appeared. There was real peril. It was understandable that the disciples were scared. The woke Jesus who calmed the storm.
Everywhere that Jesus is, the storm becomes a calm.
Jesus calms the storms in and of our lives.
Jesus calms the storm of temptation.
Stevenson once said: “You know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh? One cold bleak morning I met Satan there.” It comes to us all to meet Satan. If we try to meet the tempest of temptation alone, with only our own strength, we will fail. But, if we meet it with Christ, He brings the calm and the temptations lose their power.
Jesus calms the storm of passion. He calms the hot heart and blazing tempers. On meeting one with these, someone said to them “I see you have succeeded in conquering your temper”.
The response?
“No, I didn’t conquer it. Jesus conquered it for me.”
Jesus calms the storms of sorrow.
At some point everyone experiences sorrow. The death of our loved one, tragedy, trauma, distress…
Jesus wipes our tears away and soothes our hearts. He holds us up. He calms the storm.
“With Christ in our vessel we can smile at the storm as we go sailing home.”
Jesus calms the storms of life. Wherever He is, the storm becomes a calm.
I love the title that Nicholas King’s translation gives this Gospel passage. Unlike most others which use “Mary visits Elisabeth” this one is “Two Mothers Are Brought Together”.
Even though their babies had not yet been born, Mary and Elisabeth were both expecting and so were most definitely mothers. They were also cousins. How apt that the saviour of the world and his forerunner were related. It was natural for Mary and Elisabeth to meet up and support each other – Elisabeth in the last three months of pregnancy and Mary in the first three.
Through these two lowly women (and at that time women were considered by society to be inferior and were overlooked and ignored) God begins His transformation of the world.
At Mary’s first words comes an immediate response from Elisabeth’s unborn child – John leaps. John has acknowledged both Mary’s presence and her baby’s significance – fulfilling the prophecy about Him that even before His birth He would be filled with the Holy Spirit. Before he is even born, John is pointing to the Messiah – announcing His coming.
Elisabeth is also filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling her to announce what Mary has not yet imparted – that Mary is also with child. It is through the Holy Spirit that Elisabeth knows who Mary’s child will be – enabling her to call Mary the “Mother of my Lord”.
These two women are demonstrating tremendous faith and determination to fulfil God’s will and His work for them.
Elisabeth blesses Mary. Our English language is often proclaimed quirky and translations into English can result in some things being obscured. In this case the translation obscures the fact that Elisabeth uses more than one word for blessed.
When Elisabeth says Mary is blessed among women and that Mary’s unborn baby is blessed she uses a term which means that both present and future generations will praise and speak well of Mary and her child.
But when Elisabeth says “Blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” she uses the same term Jesus used when He blessed people in the Beatitudes. Therefore, we could translate Elisabeth’s words as “Happy is she who believed”.
Despite all expectations and women’s lack of status in society, instead of being shamed for having this baby, Mary is honoured and she is blessed with divine joy because she believed and trusted in what God is able to do and what God promises to do.
Mary’s trust and faith is a direct opposite to Elisabeth’s husband Zechariah who had demanded proof that the angel’s word was true when the angel told him Elisabeth would have a baby. Whilst not mentioned in today’s reading, Zechariah’s punishment for his doubt was to be struck dumb. It was not until the baby was born and Zechariah wrote on a slate that his baby was called John that God granted him the ability to speak again.
Instead of doubting and demanding proof, Mary asked what would happen and then willingly accepted. A lowly village girl demonstrating believe and trust where the priest had doubted.
Elisabeth had had her own share of social exclusion and judgement. The role of women at that time was to have children and, until God granted her the gift of John, Elisabeth had been treated by society as a failure. God’s grace reversed Elisabeth’s social status. Elisabeth overturned social expectations and continued the pattern of social reversal as she greets Mary at the door with honour. When Elisabeth welcomes Mary she practices the same kind of inclusive love that Jesus shows to outcasts and sinners. She sees the reality of God’s love at work amongst those whom society excludes.
This passage reflects the importance of community support and shared experiences in faith. Mary’s visit was not just fulfilling a family obligation but was also Spiritual affirmation. Mary and Elisabeth trusted that God was coming to save and free them. They gave thanks, they responded to God’s love. They supported each other as they waited in hopeful anticipation.
Let us support each other in love with hiope and faith as we wait expectantly for our Lord to return.
Today, we have heard about the proclamation of God’s message.
The message is that people need to repair their lives and prepare for Christ’s coming. John (the Baptist) proclaims this by calling the people to repent and be baptised.
We also have the beginning of the end before the new beginning.
We have the introduction of four men who will play significant roles in Jesus’s crucifixion. In fact, the seven people Luke mentions at the beginning of our Gospel reading, are only remembered today, despite historical records, because they are mentioned here in Luke’s Gospel.
God chooses unlikely people. We sometimes wonder about our calling, but God knows what He is doing. He knows the right people to call. God often calls the lowly.
And John fulfils the prophecy from Isaiah quoted by Luke. “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord…'”
But why in the wilderness and not Jerusalem? The wilderness is sparse whereas Jerusalem was highly populated and held the Temple.
Yet, throughout history the wilderness has been a place where God has shaped His people and forged the nation of Israel. It is where God’s prophets did most of their work and where Jesus was tested. God continues to work in the wilderness; for the wilderness is where and when life seems bleak and barren. It is when we are most open to hearing God. God works in the wilderness of our lives.
The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins is the type of baptism that John introduced to the Jews. They were already familiar with a different type of baptism – a type called Proselyte Baptism which was a ritual required of any Gentile who wished to become a Jew to cleanse sins.
But John was introducing a baptism which required all to repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of sins.
This concept was unfamiliar to the Jews and so the prophecy that John would give the people knowledge of salvation was fulfilled through his teaching of this concept.
John taught the ethical requirements of repentance. It requires bearing fruit worthy of repentance and sharing with those in need. To deal honestly with people and not use power in an abusive way.
Advent is a time of preparation. Here we find the way to prepare – bearing fruit worthy of repentance -sharing with those in need – dealing with people honestly – using power justly – turning around and facing a new direction.
Repent and turn around away from the sin. Turn away from worldly compulsions and turn towards Godly affections.
The reward of repentance is remission of sins. This is more than just forgiveness. It is also freedom from compulsions and addictions and habits that threaten to undo us.
Repentance is called for by John at both personal and national levels for without it Israel was heading towards destruction.
At the end of this Gospel Luke emphasises again repentance and forgiveness . “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations…”
People still need forgiveness. God still forgives.
People know they are sinners. Dealing with sin seriously can be a relief because if sin is not ignored but is addressed then forgiveness can be believed.
Just as Israel needed repentance, we also need to prepare our hearts and minds to receive the Lord and to help our friends and family prepare their hearts and minds as well.
The important work and the real goal is the preparation of our hearts and minds to receive God and the work of the Holy Spirit.
We can contribute to the Spirit’s work in many ways but especially through prayer and the preparation of our hearts.
ALL will see God’s salvation.
Jesus has eliminated barriers to the salvation of all people.
We live in a highly divided world. God calls ALL people in every land, every race, every persuasion, every circumstance.
ALL are called. ALL will see the salvation.
No-one is excluded. The call is to repent and receive forgiveness of sins.
This morning we have two key elements. We have the good news which is the gospel and we have Remembrance.
Our gospel1 this morning recounts an event which took place at the Sea of Galilee. Now, in Jesus’s time this was the centre of a prosperous fishing industry. The importance of knowing this will become clear shortly.
And the event Mark is recounting is the pivotal moment of Jesus calling His first disciples. Relevant both then and now is that the call to follow Jesus was a call to BE with Jesus as well as to learn and be Jesus’s representatives, carrying out the ministry He gives. The disciples were with Jesus and learning directly from Jesus.
So Jesus calls to those He had chosen, and immediately they left their nets, their boats, their fishing businesses, their families, everything. No hanging back, no hesitation, no requests for extra time to finish what they were doing or to pack their equipment. Immediately! Leaving everything! To follow and be with Jesus!
These were just ordinary men, the same as you and me. They heard the call, calling to something deep inside them, and they knew they must heed it. They followed Jesus. They made mistakes just like all of us and they learnt from these, repented and were forgiven. They went on to do great work spreading the good news of Jesus all around the world and this was not without suffering and death but Jesus was with them and had prepared them for this work. They did not follow blindly but with eyes which had been opened.
God calls every single one of us and our whole lives must come under His rule. Our money, our relationships, our work, our time, our everything should be under the rule of Jesus – not because we accept Him as king but because He IS king. And what we are called to do is to repent and believe. To turn away from sin and accept the forgiveness freely offered to us by Jesus.
Believing that Jesus is king who brought God’s kingdom to us and embracing it in faith, turning from sin and embracing forgiveness is the very starting point of discipleship. We are unable to move forward without repenting and submitting to the rule of Jesus.
Belief is not merely accepting something as true. Belief involves a response from our whole being in complete obedience.
Just like in Jesus’s day when the people trusted in all sorts of things: their ancestry, land, temple, and laws are just a few examples of many, people today trust in many differing things. Jesus was calling them and calls us to trust the good news that God was and is doing something new through Jesus. To be part of His kingdom requires letting go of all these earthly ties that distract us and putting our whole trust in Jesus. Repent and believe because God has come and you can belong to His kingdom and have your sin taken away.
But that doesn’t mean we have to forget.
Remembrance Sunday is an opportunity to remember and honour those who have lost their lives in conflict and those who were left physically and emotionally scarred.
It is an opportunity to all join in the silence together and allow our remembrances to help us face more honestly what it means to be human and to deepen our commitment to peace.
In all of this we seek God’s everlasting and all encompassing love.
War brings much death and trauma. There are those who cannot speak of the horrors they experienced. The silence we hold today also honours them.
As we struggle to find words to speak into the silence and horror of loss and trauma, we make Christ known. In the depths, we discover, He gives us words to speak of healing, forgiveness, and the knowledge that in Christ death is not the end and that love not violence is the final word.
God takes from us all our raging and bitterness, if we just let Him, and in the resurrection He shows us the way to peace.
The hard won, costly peace of the sacrifice of His son, who faced war yet did not respond with retribution and retaliation but with mercy, forgiveness and love.
We hold silence and remember, not so we can forget for the rest of the year, but so we can be reminded of a call to speak and recommit to live as peacemakers, as people who through the love and passion of the self-offering and sacrifice of Christ, God has come near.
And we live into the hope of a world where war will be no more.
… time for change. As we enter October change is all around us. Changing leaves falling off trees, darkness approaches earlier each day, changing times, people come and people go. It will be tough but God will see us through.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
When change comes, whether it is planned and expected or whether it has been thrust upon us, whether it is wanted or unwanted, it is an opportunity to take a good look at ourselves. What do we need to change about ourselves and how we react and respond to the changes that must take place. What we need to change to be the best we can be – to have open hearts and minds and ears for God. To actually listen to His voice and His plan for us. To take the next steps on our journey.
To open ourselves to changes that will have to be made to enable us to make it through difficult situations. To be open to and make the changes that are required for us to flourish in the future.
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Change can be challenging and many are resistant to it but change is a normal and necessary part of life. And, of course, change can be exciting, stimulating or rejuvenating but it can also be disorientating, uncomfortable and stressful. However, change will happen whether we want it to or not, so we need to accept and embrace it, as much as possible.
But the Lord, our God, is our strength and shield. We do not need to fear what tomorrow may hold. God is with us and will never leave us. He protects us and His plans for us are good.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him. (Psalm 28:7)
Mark*, in just a few short verses, has summarised for us two key elements from Jesus’s life which took place just before the start of His ministry.
The first is Jesus’s baptism of water by His cousin John. John’s baptism was one of repentance, one of cleansing and forgiveness. God cleansed the earth by flood in Genesis – in a sense starting again. Baptism gives us a chance to start again; to say sorry for our wrongdoings, receive forgiveness and to start a new life in Christ striving to follow in His footsteps.
So why did Jesus, God’s Son, the only truly perfect human, need to be baptised by John.
John was the forerunner to prepare the way. This was also an indication for Jesus that it was time for His ministry to commence. By being baptised by John, Jesus was affirming that He was ready and willing to take the next step on His journey for our salvation. He was saying “yes” to what God wanted Him to do. And God confirmed His approval as He says to Jesus “You are my beloved Son”. He was also showing us what we needed to do.
At that time the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, equipping Him for what was to come. It descended in the form of a dove, just like the dove that carried the olive branch back to Noah, symbolising gentleness, peace and love.
Straight away the Spirit took Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was being prepared and tested. He was not being set up to fail but instead to strengthen His mind, heart and soul.
The wilderness is mentioned many times in the Bible. It is a place of preparation – like Lent which we can use to say goodbye to our old selves and find Christ.
It is a place where God communes with His people – God spoke to Abraham, Moses, Elijah and John the Baptist in the wilderness. It is not a place of hopelessness. Jesus, John, Elijah, Isaiah, Moses, Abraham etc were not in the desert by accident but by God’s design. God wanted to speak to them somewhere there would not be distractions. Jesus often went into the wilderness for rest, prayer and to teach His disciples. It provided peace away from the crowds and other distractions.
We often want to escape what we perceive as the discomfort of the desert – hardships and difficult times. But these are the times when God’s presence is greatest. It is an invitation from God for us to encounter Him and listen to Him – He wants to speak to us.
Likewise, Lent is about cutting out the distractions, about preparing and making ourselves ready for the work Jesus has for us and for Him to be in our hearts.
It is not about a show of giving up something that we don’t intend to stick to – for example, chocolate or wine or Facebook – when we know full well that we intend to indulge in what we have cut out as soon as Lent is over.
It is about preparation. In Advent we wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus as a tiny baby. In Lent we prepare for Holy Week and Easter – awaiting the sacrifice of Jesus and His resurrection. In both we should be preparing our hearts and minds, getting them ready for our Lord and the work He has for us.
Lent is about meeting God in the wilderness, listening to Him, strengthening ourselves for the work He has for us. It is about prayer. Praying more, communing with God more, conversing and listening to God. Setting aside that time for Him. So let us ask God to use this time of Lent to prepare and strengthen us for whatever lies ahead.
Just because 