5th Sunday After Epiphany B – 5th February 2012

I can’t believe that Christmas is over and Ash Wednesday is less than 3 weeks away! I have just returned from a brief holiday and already, as I look at my calendar, I am wondering how I am going to fit everything into the year! I turned to the worship, learning and serving materials for February 5 in a resource I use for service preparation (SeasonsFUSION), and found them connecting and intersecting with my own life… and, perhaps, with the shared life of our community at St Paul’s.

Here are a couple of the connecting points.

“2012 is gathering pace and many are once again falling into patterns of busyness, filling days and nights with relentless activity, and perhaps many are tired so early in  the year.” begins the Focus for Worship, Learning and Serving” on page 151. I read on, “God calls us to be active in God’s mission, but God also calls us to rest, to enter the stillness in which we can hear God’s voice, be ministered to, and be restored by God’s peace.”

In the gospel, “the woman described as Simon’s mother-in-law has been lifted up and her spirit renewed. Immediately she got up and ministered to Jesus. This is reciprocal ministry. In what ways might we as individual disciples and as the church be this woman for others? In what ways does the church provide opportunities for soul-care? How might it do better?” … is the wisdom shared and questions asked on Reflection on the Word (page 151)

It seems to me that these are matters to be considered as we gather for our Annual General Meeting, contemplating the way forward for the coming year, as we plan to fulfill our Mission within the local and wider community. How do we best serve Jesus? How do we provide Soul Care? And how can we do better?”

Love and blessings

Reverend Shan