repentance – stfrancischurchtairuanz

A Lenten Reflection

David sinned big, repented big, and the Bible remembers him … as “a man after God’s own heart”.
Our mistakes may not be as public as David’s, but we all fall short of living well, in the steadfast love and mercy of God … [To read more, click on title]

The Joys of Lent

I get it that Easter is coming but I have difficulty with prolonged periods of sombreness … As Christians we know the joy of a risen Christ. Resurrection Sunday is a most joyous occasion. Scripture and our reflective Good Friday services bring home starkly the harsh reality of the crucifixion of Jesus, making that resurrection joy even more joyous! So much joy! … [To read more, click on title]

The ‘Why’ of Repentance

We find ourselves once again on the banks of the River Jordan with John the Baptist. We should be used to it by now, but that wild prophet John still jars as a a party-pooper as we look toward Christmas … [to read more, click on title]

Prepare the way for the Lord

Advent is a good time to remember that the Bible we read is not a peaceful read. It is a text borne of trauma, displacement, and loss. The ancient writers who penned sacred scripture — and the vast majority of characters who populate its pages — were not, by and large, history’s winners. They were the persecuted. The dislocated. The enslaved. The desperate. They lived through periods of famine, war, plague, and natural disaster. They suffered starvation, violence, barrenness, captivity, exile, colonization, and genocide. They were, in countless ways, the wretched of the earth. Brave, lonely voices, crying in the desert.