The Fourth Sunday of Lent - Reflection by Canon Leslie
Join us for worship online and read Canon Leslie's blog post for Sunday, 14 March 2021.
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent, the season in the Church’s year when we prepare for the events of Holy Week and Good Friday. It is a season of reflection and penitence. Today’s Gospel reading from John invites us to call to mind Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus. At the beginning of chapter 3 of John’s Gospel, Nicodemus is introduced as a Pharisee and as a leader of the Jews who came to Jesus by night. Chapter 2 has closed by saying that many of those in Jerusalem for the Passover believed in Jesus because they saw the signs. Nicodemus may have been among them. He has come by night and may be walking from the darkness to meet the light that has now come into the world. For John’s Gospel darkness and light, night and day, are important themes.
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to reflect on the image of darkness. In today’s picture from his book Night Time, Teddy Horsley is looking through his bedroom window at the dark night sky, and sees there the light of the moon and the stars breaking through the darkness.
To learn more about Night Time and more books by Teddy Horsley, you are invited to visit his page on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html, as well as his own: https://teddyhorsley.org/.
Next Sunday, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, focuses our attention on Jesus teaching about a grain of wheat needing to die before it brings fourth much fruit. The image to help prepare for next Sunday is seeds. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to Nelson.Pike@liverpoolcathedral.org.uk.
You are warmly invited to join us in worship streamed live from the Cathedral Facebook page. The service will go live just before 10:30 on Sunday morning, so tune in then to watch the service live: https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolCathedral.
Teddy sends his Sunday greetings to all.
Canon Leslie