Sunday before Lent 2025 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we celebrated the Sunday before Lent accompanied by Abigail.
This Week
Monday 3pm – Vestry Garden Room
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion For Ash Wednesday with Imposition of Ashes followed by coffee in Friendship House.
Lent Study
The Lent Study Group will begin on Tuesday 11th March in the small hall at All Saints. We are reading Wild Bright Hope – all welcome
There is also an opportunity as in previous years to join the online Ignatius Spirituality Centre Lent Course. Steve Parratt has kindly given us copies in book form to accompany the online course. Please let me know if you would like one.
Church Walk
The Church walk is on Saturday 15th March. We will meet at church 1.30pm, walk around Douglaston and back for tea. Everyone is very welcome.
Readings for next Sunday – First Sunday of Lent – Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8-13 Luke 4:1-13
Today’s readings – Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Corinthians 3:12:-4:2, Luke 9:28-36
This week the world has watched in anticipation as high level meetings take place in Washinton between various leaders of the world. The intention is to find a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion three years ago. It is not entirely clear how this might play out; we thought we may get a glimpse of the unveiling of plans and intentions on Friday but that particular meeting clearly did not go as we had hoped.
And so, the veil of uncertainly prevails. Veils, visions and revelation are the theme of today’s readings.
Traditionally, in days gone by, in the marriage service a bride would remove her veil before the couple made their vows. This Symbolically expressed the belief that now the couple will begin to see each other as they really are!
In the epistle today St Paul believed that when anyone turned to face the Lord, “the veil is removed”.
When Moses spoke to the Lord on Mount Sinai, he too removes his veil, his face shining from his conversation with our Lord.
In the gospel in the story of the transfiguration Jesus symbolically removes his veil and his face is transfigured.
In the most extraordinary dramatic way, he reveals his identity, his divinity to the three of the disciples.
The story comes at a vital turning point in the gospel. Jesus has ended his relatively popular ministry in Galilee and is about to start a journey to Jerusalem and death.
Peter has declared that he believes that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus has begun to explain to his disciples, much to their horror, that Messiahship means not glory and fame but death and betrayal.
It is at this crucial point in Jesus’ ministry that he and three of his disciples go up a mountain to pray. While he is praying, Luke says, his appearance is altered, and his clothes become a dazzling white. An extraordinary sight! No wonder the disciples don’t seem to know if they are awake or asleep and they keep quiet about it afterwards. It’s almost too strange to believe.
Its purpose though is to clarify Jesus’ divinity and to cement his credentials for the task ahead, the passion. The presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain – Moses as the greatest lawgiver in the history of the people of God and Elijah – the greatest of the prophets – shows that Jesus is much more than a Galilean carpenter with a way with words and a healing touch. He is the fulfilment of all the Law and the prophets – the long-awaited Messiah.
And as if to seal this point a strange cloud descends upon the assembled group. In the Bible clouds such as this mean one thing – the terrifying presence of God.
It is meant to remind us of the giving of the commandments in the OT when just such a cloud descended on the mountain and the glory of the Lord was like “a consuming fire”.
Jesus represents a new Law, a new commandment, anointed by God himself for the task.
But all too soon the drama is over, and the disciples leave the mountain. The transfigured Jesus, their vision of affirmation, is replaced by the veil of reality and uncertainty.
We also can have deep moments of spiritual engagement. Moments when we feel near to the Lord, confident in our faith – suffused with the spirit. But they too can be short lived, only to be preplaced by the veil of uncertainty, doubt and stumbling prayer.
I suspect that is how many of us feel now.
As we look towards Lent, Holy week and Easter, the crucifixion and the resurrection we are about to be confronted with some of the most extraordinary and demanding parts of the Christian story. We will stand at the foot of the cross and in front of the empty tomb and reflect deeply on what they mean. Faith is seldom a question of lining up the facts and making a cold-hearted decision. Christianity asks us to believe the most unbelievable things.
But that is why we need imagination and trust. Not the kind of imagination which makes the untrue believable but that which make the unbelievable true.
All we must do is remove our veil of uncertainty and face our Lord with hope, wonder and love.
A lot has happened in the last few years. As we face our world today, we may be fearful of what we see.
But if we can turn our face away from the news, away from our pain and angst, away from ourselves even and turn our face to God then we have no need for a mask, a veil of any sort for it is the face of God, mysterious at it is, that through the Holy spirit will transform and transfigure our souls and bring hope and salvation to our fractured world and lives.