Dear Friends

This week we marked Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The first, now marketed as Pancake Day, istraditionally a day of feasting when we use up the rich food in the larder prior to the start of Lent. Or, as Iconfess I did, you can just buy your pancakes ready made! Ash Wednesday is an altogether more sombre occasion, and even the supermarkets have yet tofind its money-making angle. Lent is a time for spiritual self-examination, as we ask ourselves questions - Howis my relationship with God going? What is prayer like at the moment? How am I(and others) seeing my character refined and changed by the Holy Spirit? Challenging questions for sure, but Lent is not a time to lose heart and throw in the towel, because we fear weare not making the grade. It is a time to acknowledge our need, and to trust even more in God’s love andpower, when our own efforts are so clearly insufficient. As we go through Lent, accompanying Jesus on his journey towards the cross, and all that came after, let’s fixour eyes on him, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who endured the cross for us. Let’s consider him andthen we will not grow weary and lose heart.Rev Fran