Archdeacon Mark writes about making the world a better place in this article for March editions of parish magazines.
March sees the beginning of Lent and Ash Wednesday, when millions of Christians will gather in churches around the world to get on their knees and have their forehead marked with an ashy cross as they hear either the words, “Repent, and believe the gospel!” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
It’s somehow wonderful to look around and see a bunch of other people with smudgy black crosses on their foreheads. As you make your way home, you often get a lot of second-takes from people without crosses, and a sense of silent solidarity with people who are also choosing to display their repentance. Those ashy crosses dotting faces are beautiful, and they are powerful symbols of faith and discipleship.
Lent is a time for believing, for reviewing and renewing our discipleship, for welcoming God into our lives and allowing Him to ‘make his dwelling’ among us. It is a time to reconsider the path we are taking, to find the route that leads us home and to rediscover our profound relationship with God.
These 40 days are not just about the little sacrifices we make, but about discerning where our hearts are directed. As Christians, part of our calling is to make a difference in the world in which we are placed. We are challenged to imagine a world as God would have it be; “your kingdom come, your will be done”
In the Gospels, we see Jesus telling his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom not by words but in deeds! He tells his followers that this is their vocation to bring about the kingdom of God in acts of love and compassion.
Every time we show that love in acts of charity, by standing alongside the lonely, the unloved, the world’s oppressed and marginalised, we not only proclaim God’s Kingdom, but build that Kingdom here and now.
I Pray that our Lenten journey will move our hearts to make the world a better place. And, that we might be, as Jesus taught, in the world in a new way; to be present to the people and problems around us as Kingdom People, proclaiming by word and deed, love compassion, justice and freedom.
Mark Badger, Archdeacon of Worcester
