Giving in Lent

By Rosemary Berridge

Lent is a good time to stand back and reflect on our relationship with God, as did Jesus when he withdrew to the wilderness. Lent brings into sharp focus that God took human form and then sacrificed himself to save mankind. So how should we respond to these events? I find myself thinking, in the familiar words of Eucharistic prayer that it is our duty and our joy at all times and in all places to give you thanks. There an many ways to thank God through worship and private prayer. However the prayer of General Thanksgiving (in the Book of Common Prayer) reminds us that we should give thanks not only with our lips but in our lives by giving up ourselves to thy service. In other words, we should take action. Some actions are costly and time consuming and simply not possible in practical terms for many of us. Others cost very little. To smile, be welcoming and caring in our attitude is possible for all of us and should certainly be not only our duty but our joy.

For many who cannot, for perfectly valid reasons, undertake the courses of action we can see to be necessary of desirable, there is the chance of providing resources so that others in the community can act for us to fulfil our Christian Mission. It is necessary to recognise that both the parish and the wider Church community need money to be able to act on our behalf, and that this is an entirely appropriate way to give thanks for God’s goodness to us.

Stewardship Sunday will be on 13 April, and we shall all have a chance to reflect on our personal response in the intervening weeks.

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