We have just two Sundays this year between the end of Epiphany and the start of Lent, and these help us to set the scene for Lent.

Today, the Sunday immediately before Lent, we hear the gospel story of the Transfiguration, a bizarre religious experience for Saints Peter, James & John, who, at the top of a mountain, see Jesus standing alongside Moses and Elijah. And yet when they come down, excited and exhausted and full of faith, they set about healing a sick boy, and they fail and the whole thing falls apart.

Sometimes we look back on distant religious, or just very touching, moments and we wonder if it was, in fact, real...or was it just that I was very sensitive that day, or I was particularly tired, or maybe I simply over-egged the whole thing....or dreamt it. I am sure that is how Peter, James and John must have felt. The vision is gone and life was back to its untidy and unspectacular normal. An amazing experience on one hand, and on the other all the mess, the ambiguity and perhaps disappointments of every day.

But when you hold these two things in your hand…, you are staring at the very heart of our faith, the very core of what it means to be a Christian. Because in Jesus Christ the Word was made flesh, God spoke directly to human beings, he walked among us, ….and the world was changed as a result. Religious experiences did break through into human daily life, and they were made real and meaningful and incarnate, and people's lives were changed.

Every Tuesday morning at 10am

Simply tune in on Zoom and enjoy a few moments of quiet, prayerful reflection as the week unfolds. It will last no longer than 10 minutes.

Meeting ID: 892 2955 4820 Passcode: 836488
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86523047387?pwd=cZ8g29z3nUYTbXh1VlxdGedrf7Pvid.1

A time to pause, pray, reflect and reconnect.

No preparation needed.

Time for conversation for those who can stay.

“….Waiting on God, learning to be passive in a way creative for your inner life, is not a question of thinking about God, but of growing in stillness. It has to do with prayer, and with music or from the simple contemplation of the world about you.” (Michael Mayne, ‘A Year Lost and Found’)

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter.

It is celebrated with a special service, at which churchgoers receive ash on their foreheads, prepared by burning palm crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday. As the priest places the ashes on each person´s forehead, s/he says the words, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

So what´s behind this? In preparation for Easter, Lent is a time to be honest with ourselves and with our God. So on Ash Wednesday we think about where we have failed, where we have been hypocritical - saying one thing and doing another. The ashes are there as a kind of public statement, that those who receive them are prepared to make a commitment to try to live their lives more honestly and truthfully.

And it´s not easy: it is often so much easier to pretend, to go along with the crowd, to play act. It is, after all, from the language of the Greek theatre that the word "hypocrisy" was derived.

See our full programme for Lent, here: https://stgeorgesmalaga.com/lent/

There is a Holy Eucharist with hymns every Sunday at 11.30am. After the service there is a time of fellowship when refreshments are served outside the church.

Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday. It is time to prepare ourselves for Easter, but that requires of us to go deeper into God, and relive the passion and death of Christ in Holy Week.

The great thing about Lent is that it has a start, a middle and an end. In other words, if you want to try out a new devotion, discipline or act of personal generosity, you can have a go in Lent, and if it doesn´t work out there is no shame in walking away at the end. So why not give it a go?

The things that people do in Lent tend to fall into one of four categories:

🙏Prayer – it is good to spend some quality time with our God in Lent. For some of us, that might mean setting some time aside each day for prayer or meditation, for others perhaps to go for a regular walk and contemplate God´s creation, for others maybe joining a prayer group, or taking on a new discipline about going to church? But try it. And try to find how God`s mercy and love can flow through you into his world.

📚Study - Many Christians use Lent as an opportunity to engage in more intensive personal development related to their faith, perhaps reading a book of the Bible all through, perhaps joining a group to study a theological or devotional book, maybe following a course of study on the web, or reading a book quietly by oneself. It is a chance to deepen who we are and better understand the religious beliefs and practices that we sometimes take for granted.

🥣Fasting - or giving something up, is a very common practice during Lent. The idea is that giving up a regular part of life, such as chocolate, meat, or alcohol, can be a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice and take away something that we may use to distract ourselves from the needs of others. Some people go a bit further and give up other activities during Lent to reorient their faith, like watching television, going to the gym, or social media.

💰Giving or Charity - Giving money or doing something good for others is a very good way to respond to God’s grace, generosity and love. Some people, for example, will spend time in Lent volunteering in a particular social project, or doing something practical in their church. Others might donate money – perhaps something like the couple of euros they spend each day to buy their morning coffee.

But try it. Lent is great for those who want to give it a go and see if it works!

See our full programme for Lent, here: https://stgeorgesmalaga.com/lent/