The Vicar Writes
February 2010
Turning towards suffering, and victory over suffering
Dear Friends,
There is a sense in which the beginning of February sees us turning a corner as we progress from our celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany to journey towards the discipline of Lent, the suffering of Good Friday and then, at last, to the triumphant glories of Easter.
This turning of a corner is symbolised very powerfully in our keeping of the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, known also as Candlemas.
Candlemas
The actual date of the Feast of Candlemas is 2 February but we shall be celebrating it early on Sunday 31 January. We remember how, according to St. Luke 2:22-38, Jesus' parents took him to the temple to offer the prescribed sacrifice and receive purification.
The Levitical law laid down that after the birth of a son a woman would be unclean for seven days leading up to the circumcision, and that for a further thirty-three days she should keep away from all holy things. Then she should offer a lamb and a dove or pigeon. If she was too poor for a lamb, a second dove or pigeon sufficed instead. Luke indicates that Jesus' parents made the offering of the poor.
While at the temple Mary and Joseph encountered two old people. Simeon had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Anna was a prophetess aged eighty-four who never left the temple. She worshipped with fasting and prayer night and day.
Now, at what should have been a totally joyful occasion we find that Simeon warned Mary that her child would have a significance which would lead to great suffering, not just for him, but for her also.
"This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed - and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
So the corner on the road from Bethlehem to Calvary is turned. This juncture in the Church's year reminds us of the need in the way of discipleship for holy discipline and the courage to face suffering square on when it comes our way and to trust God through it, even when that seems to go against all common sense and rational thought.
Suffering
As we journey though Lent and towards the cross, we are reminded that in Christ God experienced what extreme human suffering actually feels like. There is no doubt that over the centuries this has helped many sufferers to keep faith and hold on to God through the darkest of days with sustaining hope.
At the same time, of course, suffering is an aspect of human existence that has led many to question and doubt God. The reality of human suffering has been the thing that has led some to believe that God does not exist, or at least that a good and loving God does not exist.
Following the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti, various programmes and commentators have reminded us that it was an earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 that led many influential thinkers to conclude that faith in a good and benevolent God was folly. It certainly elicited criticism of those who, earlier that century, had attempted to justify God in the face of the worlds ills and human suffering. The earthquake struck on All Saints' Day, 1 November: how could a good God, it was thought, inflict such suffering when the faithful were celebrating the holiness of the saints? Where was the justice in that?
Responding to the suffering in Haiti
It is Christ, we believe, who reveals to us most clearly the ways and nature of God. Christ not only shows us that God knows what human suffering is like, but he also gives us grounds for hope in the face of pain. On the cross, Christ famously lamented that God had forsaken him; but on the third day he was raised to new life. The suffering, which God shared, was real, but so was God's power to redeem a seemingly hopeless situation.
When human suffering is acute, as it has been in Haiti, the first response is not to try and justify God but to respond in love to the need and the pain. Many people and nations have rightly responded to the appeal to help. But this in itself can give us a glimpse of where meaning and hope - and therefore God - are to be found in all of this confusion.
The God who is love can only create, and recreate and redeem by his love. The harsh truth that can be difficult to accept is that God's love allows a freedom that allows things in his world can go wrong. But the resurrection of Christ also shows that ultimately, the love of God will triumph over all that works against it.
The suffering of Haiti is real and God would never choose it, as he would never have chosen for his Son to die on a cross. But the charity shown in the wake of the recent earth quake gives a glimpse of God's unconquerable love that was so evident on the first Easter Day.
St. Valentine's Day
Talking about love, there is no doubt that in our culture St. Valentine's Day is one of those occasions that captures the popular imagination. There is a feel-good factor about it for many, not least those who are in the business of selling cards, flowers or chocolates. And who would want to discourage it?
Valentine was actually a third-century martyr, but then, aren't all we men when it comes to caring for our loved ones? Actually, in ancient documents, there are two martyrs by the name of Valentine who are recorded as having died on 14 February. One was a Roman priest, martyred on the Flaminian Way, supposedly in the time of Emperor Claudius. The other was a bishop of Terni. He was martyred in Rome and at a later date his relics were returned to Terni. I can't help being grateful for the fact that I am a priest here, now and not there, then!
Considering Valentine and our traditions for the 14 February, neither of the men with that name who were recorded in the ancient lists of martyrs seems to have had anything to do with lovers or courting couples. One suggestion for Valentine becoming the patron saint of lovers is that birds are supposed to pair on 14th February. This is a belief that goes back in this country at least as far as Chaucer.
On the other hand, some people have thought that the association might go back to Roman times when people chose their partners at a festival in the middle of February.
Well, whatever the reason, the tradition is well established and I guess that few of us would want to change it. After all, it is all about love and that can't be a bad thing, surely.
The origins of Lent
As we move into Lent in the middle of this month, remember that it began in the early Church as the period when the bishop would prepare his candidates for baptism on Easter Day. It was therefore a time of learning and discipline for those wishing to join the Church.
In time, however, the Church realised that such an annual period of learning and discipline could be of benefit to all, not just the new-comers. The spiritual journey of faith is not complete for any of us in this life.
So, this is why we in this parish are encouraging each other to take seriously the second of the priority areas from our parish vision: Growing as Disciples. Please, take advantage of all the opportunities for Lent that are listed in the centre pages of this Parish Magazine.
With every blessing for a good Lent
John