Sacred spaces in Lent to connect with the Lord
Dear Friends,
Greetings in Jesus' name.
Some of us from LTCC were blessed to walk in the footsteps of Jesus in the Holy Land from 16th Feb to 23rd Feb for 8 days: 38 pilgrims with mixed ages from 10 to 84 years old joined from different denominations, religions and nationalities. Every day we prayed together, ate together and reflected together on our visit to the various holy sites in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth and many parts of the Galilean region, a strenuous journey that God gave us strength for.
As we are journeying in the Lent 2020 may we reflect on Jesus’ different feelings as a Son of Man and Son of God during our Lenten Pilgrimage. Jesus created some spaces for Him to be alone with God the Father in the midst of His busy life and ministry. Amazingly Jesus prayed regularly at the Garden of Gethsemane to understand the will of His Father in His life. His time with God prepared him for all aspects of his ministry. Examples are His agony at the Garden of Gethsemane; His loneliness in the dungeon at the dungeon below Caiaphas’s house. His confident teaching at Jerusalem temple; His shared time together with His disciples in the upper room. We know that he also wept over Jerusalem (Luke19:4); He read and shared the word of God with authority in the synagogue at Nazareth and Capernaum; He made regular visits to the synagogue as per His Jewish custom (Luke 4). He wept with those who mourn in Bethany ( John 11); He loved the people who followed Him, He showed His concern to feed them. He healed and resurrected them with compassion; He looked up to pray to feed them; He motivated his disciples to gather the food in 12 baskets (He didn’t teach them to waste food). He rebuked the wind and encouraged the disciples who were in a panic.
In the end, He expressed His concern and He cursed the cities like Bethsaida, Capernaum and Chorazin because of their lack of faith even though they have experienced healing and miracles from Him. (Matt. 11:21; Luke. 10:13)
More and more reflections we can have from His life during this Lent. But He did everything with the help of His Father and he also focused His mind to fulfill His Father’s will in His life. The God of Trinity, whom we worship, is all about Unity, love, friendship and relationship.
May we focus our minds on Jesus’ journey in the wilderness and try to build up our faith and Hope on Christ to enrich our spiritual journey. This will help us to have His love by learning about His life and ministry in our journey.
I do hope and pray this year’s five studies during Lent on ‘Mystery of God’ on Saturdays from 7th March in our prayer group areas, will transform us with Christ’s nature.
This month we will have our second family service on 22nd March during Mothering Sunday. May I remind you to bring your families regardless of their age to worship the Lord as LTCC family!
With Lenten blessings
Revd Jessie Anand, Minister, LTCC March 2020