by Vincent | Feb 11, 2016 | Reflections, Lent 2016
“You’ve great heart”, I said to him.
Truth told, I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. He’s in his early twenties and has been in hospital since the summer of 2015 with a serious illness. His eyes were so bright as we spoke, he looked at me in a way that was, at once, humbling and frightening. Humbling because I knew I’d find it very difficult to be in his position and frightening because I feared he’d be angry and vent that anger.
“And faith”, he replied!
And faith! I wasn’t quite ready for that. “Did you ever lose it?”, I asked. “Never”, came the instant and deeply lived reply. “It’s just that I was talking to a parent yesterday and we were talking about teenagers maybe losing their faith for a while. Just wondered if that ever happened you or have you always had faith?” “Always”, again his reply was from a place within.
“And”, he continued, “I don’t know why people would blame God for this. It’s not God’s fault. Just one of those things that happens.”
Silence followed. It was needed – perhaps more for me than him.
“Is there anything you’d like – anything I could get for you?”, I heard myself say.
“Pears”, he replied. “I like pears”.
On this day of World Prayer for the Sick, I pray for him and for all who are sick – pears and prayers- reward and healing.
Miracles do happen.
by Vincent | Feb 10, 2016 | Reflections, Lent 2016
Last night was very cold and miserable. I went down to the church around 9pm for a few minutes and passed the astroturf pitch beside my house. There was a game in progress. Oblivious to the unpleasant weather, young men from the locality played a game of football as intense as any. Oblivious too, to their sole observer, I was in awe of their dedication and enthusiasm. Far from the corporate box, I stood alone on the road, rain falling around me and watched and listened as they urged each other to victory, rejoiced in the scored goal, lamented the one that just went wide of the post or questioned the one that went over the side line “our ball”! I left them to it.
A few months ago, shortly after the pitch came into use, I met a man from the parish. I’d say he’s well into his thirties now. He asked me what I thought of the pitch and I said I liked it very much and that I was happy to see it being used so much. I knew he was one of the ones that used it. Indeed he was one of the “stars” last night. “There’s only one thing wrong with it”, he said. I couldn’t imagine what that might be so I asked. “I wish I was fifteen again”, he smiled! I knew what he meant. He’d love to have had that facility in the parish during his teenage years.
That’s where I think we start Lent 2016. Is there a place or time we need to go back to? A time we might wish for when things were different, perhaps even better? That’s where we go today, in the quietness of heart and with Spirit renewed to reclaim what we might have lost and live again the fullness of our Faith potential.
The ashes will fade but the mark and promise of the Cross remains.
