If we are honest we cannot ‘make’ anybody into a disciple of Christ, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. All we can do is to live lives that are so transformed by the Gospel of Christ that people want something of what we have.
Telling other people our beliefs is not easy, and when we do we need to do so with love and care but it is a task that must be done or how else will people know who we are?
It is a common is conception to think that Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience are the calling of those who live a vowed life in a Religious Community. All of us, in our Baptism Promises, make similar vows and each of us needs to discern what their call on our life demands
We cannot become ourselves by ourself. We all need community to be a mirror for However, if we make it difficult for that community to be open to all sorts of people it become as an echo chamber which stunts our growth.
In popular culture to surrender involves giving up and failure. In the Christian journey to surrender is to place ourselves in the hands of our Beloved and find their purpose and meaning
In churches there are many differently shaped and decorated crosses. Some would make much of their ‘own’ as the ‘true’ cross and be tempted to belittle the devotion of others. We need to remember that it is the Cross of Christ and we cherish it not because of its shape but because our Beloved wore it
Answering God is not a task for Lent alone but an every day attitude of listening for God’s voice whispering ‘Where are you?’ and then running towards the One WHo has always called our name.
The light always, always shines brightest in the deepest darkness
40 Days ago the world was a very different place with very different plans. As we move from Lent to Easter the question God asks us is ‘What will you do now?’
‘Live simply that others may simply live’. Surely this is not that difficult a maxim to follow? However from the realm of fast fashion to the need for the latest version of just about everything we find ourselves faced with a world that is more interested in money than people.
Suffolk Vicar 