A Retreat for Lent
The weekly reflection e-mailed to the congregation by Andrea for the first Sunday in Lent was authored by Fraser, our Reader Emeritus, who recalled the settled Spring days last year as he read this week’s scripture passage from Genesis, with the symbol of the rainbow following the flood and God’s covenant to the whole of humanity and all living creatures, connecting this to the ongoing challenges of our responsibility to the environment.
On the evening of Wednesday 24th February there was a Lent Zoom discussion to share our experiences of the first week of our different Lenten study resources, including the Glasgow Ignatian Spirituality Centre online Lent retreat. It’s entitled ‘Knowing Jesus’, is easily accessible www.onlineprayer.net and open to all who are interested in getting to know Christ through his words and actions as shown in the Gospels, and seeing how startlingly relevant he is to living a truly human life in the 21st Century. Every day there is one passage from Scripture, a ‘Thought for Today’, a piece of music and a picture to ponder, from a selection of photographs, Old Masters and living artists’ images.
This was one of a number of recommendations for Lent study materials shared amongst the congregation, which included a book by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as well as a five part online discussion series on ‘Acting like a Christian’, facilitated by the Scottish Episcopal Institute. This week’s Zoom Discussion was very encouraging and helpful in enabling us to share our Lenten journey with each other. We look forward to our next meeting in a fortnight’s time at 7pm on Wednesday 10th March.
The Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway’s Lent Appeal this year is for the children’s charity Aberlour, which has a strong historical link with the SEC. Aberlour supports children, young people and families to give them the best chance to flourish, and has been doing so for over 140 years.