Chapel Matters

In the Christian calendar, we are now in the season of Lent. This is the 40 day period leading up to Easter where we remember Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem for the annual Passover festival. It was here that he was arrested, crucified, buried and resurrected. Traditionally, there are three things that Christians do during this time of Lent – they fast, pray, and give.

Fasting tends to involve giving up some little luxury or guilty pleasure, like chocolate or sleeping in, spending time on social media or junk food. By denying ourselves this thing, we are reminding ourselves of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and also learning to appreciate all the good things we have in life (and being more grateful for them).

Praying is about developing our spiritual well-being and our relationship with God. We can say thank you to God for all the good things in our lives, ask forgiveness for when we have done wrong, including taking things for granted (like chocolate or a comfy bed!), and ask God for strength to do what we need to do in order to make the world a better place for those who do not even have the basics, let alone luxuries.

Giving is about caring for others, and living out the generous love that God has for us by showing that love to others in practical ways. Just as Jesus gave himself for us, so we can give of our time, resources, and energy to doing good in this world. We might be the answer to our own prayers above!

As part of our expression of this, whanaungatanga groups will be collecting items for he Dunedin Food Bank which will be presented at our Easter Eucharist service at the end of the term (Thursday April 15th).

So this Lent, you might like to show your solidarity with Jesus as he walked to Jerusalem by fasting, praying, and giving. If you would like to see a 3 minute video about Lent, click here!