Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13
by Rachel Denton
We begin our Lenten journey, with a retelling of our history. Moses, having escaped from slavery in Egypt, has led the Israelites around the desert for 40 years. Now, on the threshold of the land which God has prepared for them, he hands it over to his people. Moses will never achieve it for himself.
“My father was a wandering Aramean”. This retelling of our developing awareness and understanding of God’s relationship with us is celebrated each year by the Jewish community during Passover. A traditional song is “Dayenu” meaning “It is enough”. Thanking God for all the benefits they have received Each one is “enough” (link to video) Bing Videos.
I am reminded too of the words of Simeon on the recent Feast of Presentation “At last almighty Father, you give leave to your servant to go in peace …” Two old men having given their lives to service, relinquishing themselves to dying on the boundary of their great hope. Are these lives well lived?
The stories of the Hebrew Bible are full of strife, insecurity, arguments and chaos. There is success and there are failures. There are peaceful times, and times of war; times of separation and exile, and times of reuniting. Can we recognise ourselves in these accounts? Are we any closer to “finessing” our relationship with God than these Israelites were at the beginnings of our story? As the society of the whole world, are we making any progress on the road of virtue?
And if not? If history with all its infidelities and obsessions and betrayals is just going around and around in a circle rather than spiralling up into Godliness, then what hope is there?
In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us, “if you confess that Jesus is Lord then you will be saved”. What event is this? How do you manifest this in your priesthood of each day?
- What are the “first fruits” that you can offer? Thinking back over the last year, what fruits have you nurtured since Lent 2024 and are ready to present now.? What are you grateful for at the beginning of Lent 2025?What is the promised land that you are looking down on from the mountain side What story can you tell about your own wanderings? What has surprised you? What have you coped/not coped with? Which biblical stories resonate most with your experience of the current political/social/environmental climate? What guidance do they offer in times of turmoil or unrest? What is the role of the priest in the Deuteronomy reading? How does that compare to the role which Paul attributes to Jesus in the reading from Romans? In what ways do you enact your own priesthood in the name of the Church, or of Christ?