Dear friends,
Almost as soon as this magazine and letter come out, then Lent will be upon us. As usual we will be gathering at two different times each week to discuss the material of the latest Lent Course – this year entitled ‘Christ has no body but yours’. For the six weeks of preparation this course will concentrate on five different parts of the body: hands, eyes, feet, voice and ears; and then during the final week, Holy Week, we will be looking more specifically at Jesus’ body and what he experienced through it during those last harrowing few days of his life.
We are incarnate beings. Sometimes we might be tempted to relegate our bodies to a secondary place, prioritising the spiritual life as being more important… thinking of the body as temporal and the spirit being eternal. This may be true, but whilst on earth we operate, work, live within our body, constrained by its limitations but able to enjoy its possibilities and sensations. We know God values our bodies. We know this because God deliberately chose to inhabit a human body in the person and life of Jesus. And Jesus chose to practise obedience not only in his spirit, but also his body…. going to the cross and rising again in his risen form which showed the marks of his human suffering.
It is through our bodies that we serve and bless others… and follow Christ. We may struggle to love our own bodies… our bodies may become frail and infirm… but we are called to bring our bodies together to live in the local and worldwide community which is known as the Body of Christ.
St Teresa of Avila was an influential mystic of the 16th century, but she knew the importance of living our faith through our bodies as well as our minds and emotions. Her, now very famous, prayer, shown on the left here, makes clear Jesus’ invitation to use all of what we have been given to add to the glory of God.
Please feel encouraged to join in with this year’s Lent course. If you can’t make either of the weekly meetings (Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday evenings) but would like to follow the course by yourself at home, then please let me know and I shall make sure you receive a booklet. As usual there is a signing up sheet at the back of church – or you can send me an email showing your interest.
I wish you all a blessed and insightful Lent.
with love, Liz
