It is rare to have the Feast of Candlemas, February 2nd, so close to the start of Lent, Ash Wednesday 18th February. With Easter very early this year, it means that there are only fifteen days between the end of the Christmas cycle and the start of the season of reflection, abstinence and study. Not much time to change gear!
Or to use a liturgical description, only two Sundays of Ordinary Time. The name ‘ordinary Time’ comes not from the fact that some days are just plain ‘ordinary’ but that all time is ordered as part of the divine nature. Our telling and re-telling of the Christian Year is not merely a nostalgic rehearsal but the re-living of the truths that shape our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Seeing life, and in particular living a Christian life as an expression of sharing in the divine nature is therefore anything but ordinary. If we believe that we are all created in the image and likeness of God, then how we live our lives can only ever be extraordinary, regardless of what happens to us. If God sees us and our ‘ordinary’ lives as a gift of himself, how are we to respond? I often wonder what God thinks of us when he sees what we do with this unbelievable gift.
The Christ-child was cared for by Mary and Joseph at his Presentation in the Temple (2nd Feb) cared for and carried. In Lent, we seek to care more for ourselves with a sacred sense of self-care. How different might this be if we see ourselves as uniquely held by God, whatever the world thinks of us, and, even as we try to better ourselves, see ourselves as a gift, created in the image of God. Yes, this means you.
Psalm 139.13-14
You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother's womb. I give thanks to you that I was marvellously set apart. Your works are wonderful-I know that very well.
+Stephen, Bishop of Salisbury