Vicar's Voice!

Well at last after a very long interregnum of 19 months, I am now installed as your vicar and what an occasion we had to mark it at Candlemas. Out of the beauty of stillness and silence of the licensing at St Anne's we showed Moseley that the Light of Christ is alive and well with the fabulous procession down Alcester Road which culminated in the candle lit Eucharist at St Mary's climaxing with all that jazz. There was something for everyone and I would like to thank everyone who put some energy and time into such a moving and memorable service for us all to remember.

At Candlemas we shared Simeon's Vision of looking forward with hope to the coming of Christ's kingdom through his life, death and resurrection. In Lent, we are now being led with Christ into the desert to have space to renew our faith and vision of how we can proclaim God's Kingdom for the future. Traditionally forty days were set aside to prepare catechumens (candidates) for baptism at the Easter Vigil. During this time Christians would repent, pray, study the scriptures and learn the faith; it was a long and serious period of preparation. Today the demands of our busy lives mean that there is little time for any space to prepare for Easter; the alleged tradition that Lent means giving up something may also seem irrelevant.

Perhaps we need to look at Lent instead as a time when we can create time to discover the need and difference that it makes of having God in our lives. We can both get our life, values and priorities into a perspective; we can also stop and see where God is in our life and whether he at the centre of what we decide for ourselves, our church and our world. Lent gives us the challenge to refocus our minds on God's purposes and potential for us - to engage with the world in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Every Wednesday at 8pm in the next month at St Mary's there is a 60 minute Eucharist with reflection on how we can learn from our ancestors as to how to engage and know more about Christ for us today and for our future. Practically there's also the LOVE LiFE, LiVE LENT course produced by the Diocese here in Birmingham to help us live out our faith and share it with others.

So see Lent as the opportunity to realise Simeon's Vision, and see something of Christ for ourselves now and in the future. Allow the time that can be set aside to be one that helps us to see the need for God in our lives and use this period to make space to consider how we can create priorities for Easter; here we will be called to begin bringing new life and hope in the next chapter of our pilgrimage to serve our community with the light of the Good News which Christ is wanting to give us. We will soon again be taking torches of light onto the streets of Moseley in Holy Week - relight your faith and belief in Lent and be ready to share it with others!

Love and Blessing Galore
Jeremy