ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHURCH Lent Course @ St Francis of Assisi Lententide: The purpose of Lent is to get our lives back in order, get ourselves headed in the right direction again. Lent is our annual shape-up time. We all tend to stray from the straight and narrow, don’t we? In many ways. Maybe it’s our prayer life. Maybe we’re not forgiving or apologizing as we should. Maybe we just need to lose some weight. (That’s not the chief purpose of Lent, but we are responsible to God to care for the bodies he gave us.) Many possibilities. Lent is the time to catch ourselves before we go too far and lose control. The favourite prayer of Orthodox Christians to this day is based on the prayer of the Publican: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God… have mercy on me a sinner.”
Lent invites us to make our minds and hearts ready for remembering Jesus’ life, death and body resurrection. Because Lent follows the liturgical calendar, the exact date that Lent falls each year changes. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is always held 46 days (40 days, not counting Sundays) before Easter Sunday. It’s six weeks of self-discipline. Sundays during Lent are very important to Christians around the world. Where the Monday to Saturday of each of the six weeks are concerned with fasting and abstinence, the Sunday is a celebration symbolic of Christ’s resurrection. Instead of fasting, Christians hold feasts in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice. The fourth and sixth Sundays are particularly important – the fourth because it is Mothering Sunday and the sixth because it is Palm Sunday. These days, Christians around the world observe Lent in many ways. Many from more orthodox and traditional denominations will still observe the fast strictly, beginning with the wearing of ashes on Ash Wednesday and acts of abstinence until Easter Sunday. Others will choose to give up just one item for Lent, more commonly a ‘luxury’ such as chocolate, meat or alcohol. It is also becoming increasingly common for people to give up other things in order to refocus their faith during this time; such as watching TV, going to the gym, even social media. Many Christians also use Lent to study their Bibles and pray more intensively, making use of the many devotional books and Lent courses available. ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI ANGLICAN CHURCH 381 Corner Long Street & Albert Street Waterkloof Pretoria
Phone: +27 12-346-1106/7 Fax: + 27 12 -346-4226 Email: mail@st-francis.co.za
Let us pray for one another
ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHURCH Lent Course @ St Francis of Assisi The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming Join Us… tion, jealousy or anger will respond to the persistent themes of homecoming, affirmation and reconciliation. During the Lenten season, we will be hearing about this parable, about the mercy of God, about the gifts of God given to us, about our wasting of those gifts, about our going off into a far country, of being out there among the swine and coming to ourselves and getting up and returning back to God and knowing that God accepts us. As we meditate on all those things, we have to envision, or envisage, the Church itself as the house of the Father, the household of God.
This Lent course, which has been adapted from the book, helps us to reflect on the meaning of the parable for our own lives.
The author Fr Henri Nouwen reflects deeply on the younger son, the elder son, and the father (at different times, we are all of these characters). Divided into five sessions, the course moves through the parable exploring our reaction to the story: the younger son’s leaving and return, the father’s restoration of sonship, the elder son’s resentment and father’s restoration of sonship, the elder son’s resentment and the father’s compassion.
All of us who have experienced loneliness, dejecST FRANCIS OF ASSISI ANGLICAN CHURCH 381 Corner Long Street & Albert Street Waterkloof Pretoria
The parable of the Prodigal is a beautiful, powerful tool that we can use in our evangelism, first in our own lives and then to those around us. There is forgiveness here. There is restoration here. There is celebration here. Here is your home, even if it is a home you have never been to before. Come home. You will be received. You will be loved. This is our Gospel! Join Us… Venue: Anglican Parish Church of St Francis of Assisi 378 Albert Street, (Corner Albert & Long) Waterkloof Tuesdays @ 09H00 during a service of Holy Communion Wednesdays @ 18H00 during a service of Evening Prayer
Phone: +27 12-346-1106/7 Fax: + 27 12 -346-4226 Email: mail@st-francis.co.za
Let us pray for one another