I stayed home from church today--probably the very first time in more than forty years--because I had a cold and a tremendously runny nose, but closely followed the gospel reading for today. It is the familiar Parable of the Prodigal Son, a parable that I have read, studied, commented upon and preached upon on countless occasions. But what struck me this time is how easily and often we put people down or write them off, and consider them unworthy of God's attention, much less His saving grace. Right now I can think of no more 'worthy' a person for this 'honour, this dismissal, than a certain Russian president, namely Vladimir Putin. But is that not exactly what the Pharisees and teachers of the Law did with those they considered 'sinners', those that they considered unworthy of God's love? This then put me in mind of two things? Firstly, whether we do not do the same, not just with Putin, but with other people? And then secondly, just who is really worthy of God's love? Actually, none of us is. We all need God's grace and mercy. So, it is incumbent that we show it, extend it, to ourselves, and to everyone else. It is quite a task, but nothing less should be our response to the wonderful and gracious love we have known in Christ Jesus.

It is sometimes rather sad that certain hymns, and sometimes even certain Scriptures, can become 'old hat' to us, overused perhaps, and even 'tired.' I know that for some choir members the hymn 'Amazing Grace' had become like that. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that they did NOT want it used at their funerals. For me, Psalm 90 had become a bit like that, so I tried something different this time. I tried taking it as poetry, which it is, and then trying to summarize each couplet, rather than be caught up in the specifics of the language. Today's meditation is a result of that exercise. I hope you find it helpful.

One of the surest and most effective strategies that our demonic enemy has in his arsenal is to try to convince us ordinary Christians that we have no power or ability, and cannot make meaningful contribution or have any effective impact on our world. It is quite possible that Mary, the mother of our Lord, felt this way. After all, she was just a young, inconsequential peasant girl from the backwater of Palestine. And yet she was used of God in the most incredible and earth-changing ways. So, who knows about us, about you and I? Could not God be wanting to call us and use us as well? I think so.

How often we forget the lessons of Matthew 6:25-44 and consume ourselves in worrying about the necessities of life rather than simply doing

God's work and trusting God to take care of things. We forget that God knows our every need and is concerned and committed to helping supply them. (Note: this is our needs, not necessarily our wants. There is a big difference!)

Furthermore, as today's lesson from Mark illustrates, often the answers to our needs are immediately at hand, right within our reach. So easily we forget or overlook the skills, abilities and resources that we already possess or that we have close at hand.

So, maybe at this time of Lent, when we examine our own lives, we might also look to the lives and needs of others, and see whether God might want to use us, or our our talents, resources etc., to meet those needs. Anyway, something to think and pray about.

Paul's two letters to the Christians in Corinthians are particularly troublesome and bewildering. Part of the problem is that their immediate cultural and historical situation is quite different from ours. The other part of the problem is that these letters are only part of the conversation. For the most part, especially in his first letter, Paul is addressing a series of issues or questions that have been put to him. Our problem is that we don't hear the question, at least, not in its entirety. We get a shorthand version and so are left guessing to quite a degree. It is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation.

However, there is one thing that is certain throughout these letters, namely that our behaviour invariably impacts our relationships both with God and with each other. So, what we think about food offered to idols (today's topic) or conduct at community Communion services or our take on 'spiritual gifts' or our behaviour at worship invariably impacts our life within the church. In other words, all these things matter!

Today's meditation deals with the question of food offered to idols, but I think you'll find (as I do) that this seemingly irrelevant and ancient question actually has quite a bit of application to today. I hope you find it meaningful and helpful.

This meditation talks about 'welcome', finding space in our hearts and lives for God and for others.

This meditation reminds that God is still there and still active, even when it doesn't look like it, and how we need to trust Him anyway.

This meditation reflects on our callings from God and the gifts we have been given in order to live up to those callings.

But, how often, we are reluctant, just like Moses was.

I find it remarkable--and rather informative and noteworthy--that though I am sure that Jesus felt an incredible bond with His heavenly Father right from His earliest years, He still felt the need to be with God's people, especially the wise and learned among them, in order to learn from them and grow in His knowledge of God's word. Even though He was probably precocious in this regard and even had 'a head start', He still felt the need to be diligent and disciplined in this. And yes, even to the point of 'ruffling some feathers', as it were, causing some distress in the case of His parents. I happen to think that Jesus was an astute reader of human emotions and reactions, and yet here He was willing to let them be, even in one sense, to disregard them, in order to devote Himself to study. All I can think of is how very easily we, you and I, allow seemingly minor things, even incidental comments or activities, to distract ourselves from this most important 'work.' Let us, I pray, be more like Jesus in this regard.

Today, perhaps surprisingly, is a call to action, specifically a call to earnest and persevering prayer. In yesterday's meditation and psalm (Psalm 71) our psalmist reflected on how consistently God had been with him over the years and how noteworthy God had been in answering his prayers. That brought to mind a question, a question about our prayer life and how consistent, and specific, we are in our prayers.

Today's meditation, from Mark 4 and the story of the storm at sea, also touched on our prayers to God and how they 'make things work', and not just for us but for many others as well.

So, what I am calling for today is sustained, consistent, specific prayer. You might want to pray for Ukraine and the terrible destruction, horror and impasse effecting that country and region. This prayer might be the lever to change things as nothing else seems to be making much of a difference.

For me, and for St. John's, I'm praying for a quick and effective resolution to a problem that we are having with the Canada Revenue Agency. We have had a dispute with them for well over a year, and even still, our file is reportedly at 'the bottom of the pile' and probably won't be resolved for an estimated five months! Our parish treasurer and people's warden, and the Synod Office as well, have all tried to intervene and get it resolved more quickly, but nothing has worked. Maybe our prayers will make the difference.

Anyway, these are just two 'prayer topics' out of many. I invite you to choose whatever topic is most on your mind, and then to use this time of Lent to intentionally prayer for it.

A few days ago, February 27 in a fact, a distinguished Anglican (Canadian, no less) evangelist by the name of Marney Patterson died. Over the years I have been privileged to work on the teams of a number of evangelists, Franklin Graham and Walter DeSousa as well as Marney, but I was especially impressed by Marney, with just how down to earth and 'ordinary' he was. Of course, that he was Anglican and Canadian may have helped. Thinking about this put me in mind of the various other evangelists that I have had the privilege of meeting, David Mainse, Michael Green and John Bowen, for instance, and had me thinking about how we 'do' or don't do evangelism. My suspicion is that often don't 'do' it--and this includes me!

Today's Scripture passage--and meditation--give us a bit more food for thought--and hopefully, action--on this count. I wonder whether we are sometimes too 'careful', too worried about whether the time is right or our words are crafted sensitively enough. I wonder whether we should worry more about simply listening to God and then speaking (or living) the Good News as He directs.

Lent is a great time to re-examine our lives and make sure that things are set aright. Today's Scripture passage picks up on two important things in this regard. The first is to make sure that we are open to the work of the Holy Spirit. That is an important consideration as the Scriptures tell us that we can resist or grieve the Holy Spirit, with effects that would not be good at all! And the second truth is that while the church and its fellowship, friendships and relationships are great, and vital, our relationship with Jesus Christ is even more central. In fact, it is our relationship with Him, and our common obedience to Him, that makes us into a family in the first place. After all, He IS the head of the body, the one person who directs it, enables it and holds it all together.

If there is anything that can be most assuredly said about life is that we will invariably face troubles and issues of various sorts. While this is certainly true of us, it was no less true of our Biblical forebears.

If there is anything that can be most assuredly said about life is that we will invariably face troubles and issues of various sorts. While this is certainly true of us, it was no less true of our Biblical forebears.

During Lent, we are invited to join together in an intentional and disciplined time of prayer, meditation and self-examination. However, for us humans, it is far too easy, during this process, to see ourselves and to examine our lives only by the standards of church or society, or by our own standards. In today's reading, the apostle Paul discourages this and challenges us instead to examine our lives, and judge our lives and our performance, only by God's standards. That's where prayer and the study and meditation on the Holy Scriptures come in. They help us to see what God wants, rather than what we, or any other human, might want and assess ourselves accordingly.