We may be healthier at the end, but Lent is not a diet. We may raise money for those in need but it’s not a fundraising campaign either. So what does God want from you and me this Lent? The answer is simple, beautiful and profound.
Every year millions of people participate in the most amazing mystery story conceivable, yet ‘miss the forest for the tree’. Christmas wafts over our consciousness like a carol in a shopping mall or drowned in lunch-time beers wearing bright coloured party hats. But what a pity to miss the mysterious story underpinning this season…
“I continue to dream of a completely missionary Church, and a new era of missionary activity among Christian communities.” Pope Francis has been banging this drum for years now, but is it getting through? If the word apostle means ‘sent one’, then to recover our apostolic identity we need to see ourselves as a Sent Church - a ‘community of sent ones’.
How aptly named is the word ‘grog’? A popular relaxant and Australian social icon, I admit to availing myself of a few cool ales over the summer break in a good communal spirit. The only thing is, it tends to leave the headlights a bit ‘foggy’ and the antennae a bit less sharp, doesn’t it. To have a relaxed, joyful, wound-down heart is good thing: but a dulled and foggy headspace - not so much.