Preparing for Lent

Can you spend 10 minutes each day of Lent with God? Rev'd Zoe King, Barry Ministry Area, shares her reflections on preparing for Lent and Holy Week.

Until Storm Eunice arrived I would have said I was well prepared for Lent. Then the wind came and down fell the roof tiles onto my car and embedding themselves in my lawn. It's been a worrying time of car insurance and organising repairs.

It has also been a time of colleagues being incredible gracious and supportive, parishioners sending kind messages and friends and family showing their love. In the scheme of things I have nothing to complain about. Scaffolding is already up, I have a car I can borrow and, most of all, no one at all was hurt when the tiles thundered down.

In fact I'm in a better place to begin Lent than the disciples. They had no real idea of what was coming, no matter how often Jesus prophesied about his oncoming death. He tried time and time again to focus their attention on what the prophets had said and explain what must happen. But like me on the night before the storm, they had no idea what was to come.

How can we approach Lent and prepare for Holy Week?

A number of years ago I took up Compline. It gave me space to work through the day and, more importantly, gave me time just to sit with God. If everyone spent 10 minutes with God every day in Lent how powerful would those 10 minutes become? In those 10 minutes, really listen to what God wants and not what we think he wants.

This year, as well as Compline and the Daily Offices, I have decided to spend 10 minutes in silence with God around lunchtime, as a way of just making sure I'm not getting too distracted with the all busyness of life. It is all too clear the world needs prayer.

May Lent remind us of how much we are loved by God.

As a clergy team we are reading Fr Dan’s choice ‘Embracing Justice’ By Rev’d Dr Isabelle Hamley. I also have Paula Gooder’s book Women of Holy Week and 40 Women by Ros Clarke. These are in addition to my daily reading from Richard Rohr’s A Spring Within Us.

Whether you’re a big reader or a podcast listener, Lent is about enriching your faith, listening to God and praying for the world. So whatever you choose or feel you are guided to do this Lent, enter it wholeheartedly. Offer all failures and successes to God knowing you are loved and share that love with all around you.

May Lent remind us of how much we are loved by God, and may we always endeavor to show that love to people who may feel they are beyond the love of God,

Paula Gooder - Let Me Go There

This book explores the theme of wilderness and allows the reader to delve deeper into events such as the temptation of Christ. Each chapter has reflections and questions for discussion. Well worth a read.

Abraham: A Journey Through Lent - Meg Warner

This book looks at the life and journeys of Abraham and Sarah and offers an opportunity to really engage with the Old Testament story of Abraham and how it relates to our own journey of faith. Each chapter has questions at the end - one for individual use and one for group use.

The Art of Lent - Sister Wendy Beckett

This is a lovely little book of a painting a day and a short reflection. It is a small book that can slip into a bag for a busy person. A different way to delve into Lent.

Jon M Sweeney - Jesus Wasn’t Killed by the Jews: Reflections for Christians in Lent Jon M Sweeney

A challenging book of reflections from Christians and Jews looking at how we often misunderstand and scapegoat Jews. An important read.