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First Friday Letter
from FFL - March 2023
by wmcouncil
The World Methodist Council
Greetings from the General Secretary
Dear friends,
March 2023
Warm Christian greetings from Colombo, Sri Lanka, where I had the honor and privilege to confer the 2022 World Methodist Council Peace Award on Reverend W.P. Ebenezer Joseph. This is the second time someone from South East Asia has been honored with the Peace Award (please see the story in this edition and on our website).
On Transfiguration Sunday, a small team of World Methodist Council representatives worshiped and preached at various churches in Colombo. While many people we met were optimistic about the future, others thought they were close to experiencing a dystopian nightmare.
I was fascinated by the preparation for Ash Wednesday and conscious that different contexts shape how we usher in the Lenten Season. Because of the harsh socio-economic situation, the memory of colonialism, and racial discrimination in Sub-Sarah Africa, greater emphasis has been placed on Lent, Good Friday, and Easter than on Advent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Mardi-Gras, Carnival starts on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent. Carnival basically means “farewell to meat.” In many European countries, Shrove Tuesday is referred to as “pancake Tuesday” because, in the Lenten Season, people refrain from pancake ingredients like sugar, flour, and eggs.
However you celebrate Lent, it is my prayer that this time calls us all to more than austerity or sacrifice from creature comforts but will lead us to a deeper spirituality and a renewed commitment to work for justice and peace as we journey towards Golgotha, the empty tomb and the joy of Easter.
At a time when there is an obsession with eternal beauty, the tradition of ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday reminds us of our fragility and mortality; “Remember that you are dust, and to dust, you will return.”
We live in a world pregnant with hope and possibility. Let us read and listen with new ears and see with fresh eyes, looking forward to the Easter Resurrection.
Grace and Peace, Ivan M Abrahams General Secretary of the World Methodist Council
