|
Viewpoint from Rev Liz Dawes 09/02/2024
 Rev Liz Dawes
Curate, Great Yarmouth Team Ministry
This February is one of quick transitions in the life of the church. We began with Candlemas on the 2nd February which signals the end of the Christmas season and heralds the beginning of spring. It’s also the day after St Brigid’s Day and the pagan festival of Imbolc, again celebrating the beginning of spring
After what has felt like a long winter the emergence of snowdrops, often known as Candlemas bells, will be a welcome sight. Tradition has it that ‘if Candlemas be fair and bright, winter will have another flight’, which can be a mixed blessing. This corresponds with the North American tradition of Groundhog Day where if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and can see its shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter but if it can’t then the weather will be mild and spring early
 No sooner are we out of Christmas season this year, because of an early Easter, in less than a fortnight we come to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. This year Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day which would usually mean that Easter Sunday falls on April Fools Day, the 1st of April. This year, however, is a leap year which means that Easter Sunday will fall on the day before. If you’ve ever wondered why the date of Easter changes so much every year it’s because Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox!
This coming Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday when we get to enjoy lots of pancakes and then on the following day, Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent which is forty days of preparation and waiting before Holy Week and Easter. There is a tradition in the church of marking our foreheads with ash as a reminder of our own mortality: remember you are but dust and to dust you shall return
Lent is a season of repentance which means saying sorry for the things which haven’t gone so well and it’s a useful time of personal reflection. The Greek word used in the Bible for repentance, metanoia, also means ‘a turning around’ - a transformative change of heart, so Lent is a good time to contemplate the way things are going in life which might lead you to some kind of transformation
The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Yarmouth, and are intended to stimulate constructive and good-natured debate between website users
These views are personal ones and are intended to stimulate constructive debate. We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted at the bottom of the relevant article. We would ask you to abide by our forum rules and may delete any comments which do not
We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here
Click here to read our forum and comment posting guidelines
|
|
|
|
