Weekly Reflection
February 8th to 14th
2nd Sunday before Lent
Readings: Psalm 136:23–26, Romans 8:18-25, Matthew 6:25-34
23 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures for ever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures for ever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures for ever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures for ever.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Between Epiphany and Lent we are into Ordinary Time; the word Ordinary here refers to Sundays that do not contain any special festivals such as Christmas or Easter, but are identified only by their ordinal number relative to another Sunday – for example this week is the 2nd before Lent. Another set of Ordinary Sundays is the lengthy period between Pentecost and Advent, at the end of the church’s year: we get 1st. 2nd, 3rd etc. after Pentecost.
I would therefore like us to focus this week on what Ordinary Time means in the context of our regular devotions.
Ordinary Time allows us to focus on spiritual growth, perhaps to set oneself to do more Bible study, to pray more, or other ways which bring us closer to God. In practice this may just be a case of doing some things differently to the way that we have done them for a long time. A few years ago my wife and I changed to a different series of Bible readings from those we had used for many years; this proved to be spiritually highly beneficial.
This is a time for us to focus on deepening our relationship with God. Taking stock and talking to God about it is always beneficial, even if at the end of the process God simply says, “You’re doing well, carry on as you are.”
At this point in the year we are looking towards the season of Lent, which is early this year and starts on February 18th; therefore perhaps over the next 10 days we could usefully review some of the things we might do during Lent. Lent is often thought of as a time to give things up: chocolate, sweets, alcohol, smoking, etc. but realistically it is more about taking on new things, perhaps like some of the activities mentioned above.
Let us seek first the Kingdom of God; it is always good under the guidance of God to review our lifestyle and see what suggestions He may have for refreshing our modus vivendi.
O Lord our God, we long to grow closer to you day by day; please show us dear Lord how we might serve you better within the environment in which you have placed us.
Peter Sebborn
Christian.Footsoldier@gmail.com