Dear Parishioner,

     For this third Sunday in Lent the Church has given us for the first reading the story of Moses and the burning bush. This might lead us to consider one of the ways in which we can make the most of Lent. This is to take time to appreciate the reality of our life and its relation to God.

     In the reading from the Book of Exodus we see Moses on the far side of the wilderness looking at a bush apparently ablaze but not being destroyed by the fire. Moses approaches to investigate. God calls to him from the middle of the bush to take of his shoes because he treading on holy ground.

     One of the things we might notice is that Moses is not in a place where he expects to encounter anything special. He is looking after the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. Moses is an exile from the rage of the Pharaoh, having killed an Egyptian. But God is everywhere and the fact that he is appearing in an ordinary bush on the side of a wilderness illustrates this starkly, as a rabbinical commentary has noted. We are always treading on holy ground, God is always speaking to us, he everywhere and in all things, he is reality itself.

     Moses has his attention caught by an unusual manifestation in the shape of fire. We should always be attentive like Moses. We should not imagine that God will speak to us at some future time in some other place. He is speaking to us now. Furthermore we must be holy as our Father is holy, because He is in us and by us at all times. Once we realize this we can begin to really live.

 Yours in Christ,

               Fr Timothy

    

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‘Leave the fig tree one more year and let me dig round it,’ said the man who looked after the vineyard. ‘It may bear fruit next year.’