Lent is a good time to try to deepen one’s prayer life. One ancient way of doing that is what monastic tradition called lectio divina (‘divine reading’). We choose a very short passage from the Bible – just a few words of Jesus or a verse or two of a psalm – and slowly recite them aloud, then silently. By repeating them gently, mulling over them, we ask God to enlighten us as to their meaning. At the end we gather up our thoughts and feelings and address them to God with as

• Lent is the journey to Easter when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ – God’s gift of his only Son to free us from sin and death. • Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is the proof of how much God loves us. Like a living sponge Christ absorbed all the evil and hatred of the world. • He plunged it into the heart of God and transformed it in the fire of God’s love. Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death o

Forty days ago we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we recall the day on which he was presented in the Temple, offered to God his Father by Mary and Joseph and shown to his people. In their old age Simeon and Anna recognized him as their Messiah. Today we celebrate his coming but also look forward to the days of his passion. Simeon prophesied that this child would be a sign that would be rejected and that a sword would pierce his mother’s soul; Anna spoke lou

One of the advantages of our parish being dedicated to St John the Baptist is that we encounter our patron not only on his feast day in June but in Advent as well. On this 2nd Sunday, his mission is recalled: to prepare the way for Christ who is about to begin his ministry in Galilee. For that reason he is known in the Orthodox Church as “St John the Forerunner ( prodromos in Greek).” John is often depicted pointing at Christ because his entire life and ministry was a witness