Welcome

Welcome to the Mardyke Team of Churches Lent Course for 2021. Over the course of the next 5 weeks we will be exploring the life of Christ through the lens of the Gospel of St Mark, the Gospel set for this liturgical/ Church year. To aid us in our reflections I will be drawing on pieces of artwork old and new, some well known, others not which help to explore incidents in the life of Christ. 

 

The theme  for each week will be:
Week 1: The hidden Christ - Christ prior to his Baptism
Week 2: The fasting Christ - Jesus fasts in the Judean wilderness
Week 3: The Jesus who calls - Jesus who calls the disciples
Week 4: The Jesus who teaches - 'A sower went out to sow'
Week 5: The Jesus who heals - the compassionate Christ.

As with any reflection I suggest that we open and close in prayer. A closing prayer is provided for each week (a Collect taken either from Common Worship or the Roman Missal), and we open with the following prayer:

O Lord open our lips.
That our mouths may proclaim your praise.

O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.