To Witness Daily Reflections from Ash Wednesday to Easter
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AWAKENING to WItNEss Daily Reflections from Ash Wednesday to Easter The Cathedral of St George the Martyr, Cape Town IntRoDuctIon Mary Oliver, the celebrated North American poet, in her eulogy to her life-long partner Molly Cook, reflects on “the notion of attention” such as in “the way the swallow plays in the golden air of summer.” The days of the Season of Lent can dispose us to alertness to the details of the neglected aspects of our lives. This can range from friends whom we have lost touch with over the years to that of our struggles to pray, to love. To forgive. This booklet is a collection of reflections from a diverse gathering of people: Those of deep faith, some who negotiate the borderlands of agnosticism or those who feast on the slight, infrequent slivers of the luminous. All share a desire which is that of longing to find a way to that place in life akin to bliss, peace of mind. To be accepted without qualification or demand and to arrive at that place in life which we will know as home. Each contributor has studied a text and their insights are grounded in their own experience and life struggle. By an understanding of how God is present, or absent, in their lives. A few are theologians skilled in the ways of garnering meaning from sacred texts. Many though are lay persons qualified by a simple commitment to live with an awareness of people and nature. The world co-lives with Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and those who claim no formal attachment to organised religion. May we bow the knee of our heart respectfully to the godliness of our neighbour and the strangers who challenge us to be the gospel to them. But in so doing may we Awaken to Witness to the one who asks of us, “and who do you say I am?” Michael Weeder Dean of The Cathedral of St George the Martyr Cape Town Ash WEDnEsDAy Lent is a time to retreat from daily pressures and recoup our strength in order to be reconciled to God, our neighbour and our environment. Today we climb the first rung of the ladder on our Lenten journey, focussed on the passion, death, resurrection and glorification of our Lord Jesus, marked with ashes made from the palms with which we welcomed Christ on Palm Sunday. We are called to embody acts of selflessness for others and for our planet, to wrestle with what is bad and brings death, and to embrace what is good and brings life. As you are marked with the sign of the Cross on your forehead and hear the words, "turn away from sin and believe the good news", may this act indelibly mark you as a true witness of Christ in both word and action. May your fear be turned to courage, your distrust to trust. May the outward signing of our foreheads transform our inner beings, renew our courage, our hope and our determination to know Jesus - what pains him and what pleases him. Let us be vigilant, let us learn to discern and Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Ps 51:1-17; 2 Cor 5:20b–6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 read about, and get to know the context in which we live. Let us use Lent to strengthen ourselves individually but also learn to work as a collective. Over and above the daily bible lessons for this Lent, I recommend an accessible book edited by Dean Stroud called Preaching in Hitler's Shadow. It's a compilation of sermons of resistance in the Third Reich. Use this book and Lent readings to be strengthened as individuals and as a collective, to root out from the world and from our country those structures and ways and beliefs which are not life-giving, especially religious extremism. Pledge this Lent to know Jesus in all of your life and act accordingly. What one pledge and act of witness for the common good will you pursue this Lent? Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. Thabo Makgoba is the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) thuRsDAy AftER Ash WEDnEsDAy Psalm 1 verses 1ff:“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.” Psalm 1 suggests that there exists a clear dichotomy between the “righteous” and the “ungodly” or, alternatively put, between the righteous and the unrighteous as if we are dealing with two distinct groups of people. As if people can be categorized clearly as either righteous or unrighteous. One is therefore either righteous or ungodly. What is clear is that there is a constant universal battle between righteousness and unrighteousness. It is the way in which the world and the inhabitants of the earth function – there is goodness and there is evil; there is compassion and there is exploitation; there is justice and there is injustice. The question is: where is the battle waged – is it really between two distinct groups of people (i.e. the righteous and the unrighteous)? Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:18-25 It is palpably clear that this battle exists in each one of us. The seeds of righteous behaviour and unrighteous behaviour both grow within our very being. Those of us who are righteous today may behave completely differently tomorrow. Herein lies the need for spiritual grace and constant prayerful engagement with ourselves. It is critical for each one of us who seek righteousness to be vigilant, prayerful, reflective and resolute in our attempts to live righteously. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. Courtney Sampson is Provincial Electoral Officer of the Western Cape and an Anglican priest born in Paarl. thuRsDAy AftER Ash WEDnEsDAy Luke 16 : 19 -31: “There was a rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day; And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores.” Rich and poor, the named and the unnamed, the seeing and the not seeing, actions and consequences, death and the after- life, reversal of hierarchies, the bearers of God’s message and truths on earth. These are all the ideas suggested by this passage which deals with one of the biggest issues in the world – socio-economic inequalities and dire poverty. Every day we are presented with a choice as to whether we see or not, whether we act or not. In the Hindu faith, what we have in this life (the goodness and the suffering) has been the consequence of previous lives – the soul is on a long journey and faces rebirth until it reaches its full potential and the cycle of rebirth ends. The goal of all human beings is thus to live good lives so that the soul can be set free. The rich man’s soul will be earth Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:18-25 bound by suffering until better choices are made. So what actions can we take? Gandhi suggested a way for daily guidance: ‘Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, try the following expedient. Recall the face of the poorest and most helpless man [woman ] you have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her].’ Begin to see. Listen. Act. Poverty has a name and a face. Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give them peace and Joy. Amen Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie is Professor of History, University of the Western Cape. fRIDAy AftER Ash WEDnEsDAy Matthew 25 verses 34 - 36: “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” The point of our scripture reading for today reminds me of an ancient legend about one of the early saints. St. Lawrence was one of seven deacons in the church at Rome, in the middle of the 2nd century. Rome, surrounded on every side by threatening enemies, and in a near state of financial collapse, desperately needed money to finance its armies. According to this legend, a high official in Rome demanded that Lawrence hand over the treasure of the church. In response, Lawrence assembled all the poor people, to whom he had already given away the possessions of the church, before the Roman official, and he stretched out his hand to them and said, "These are the Romans 6:8-11; Ps 27:4-8; Matt 25:31-40 treasures of the church." The Roman official was so infuriated that he slowly roasted Lawrence to death on a gridiron.