Sunday services are at 10.00 am and 7 pm

 Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
 forgive our foolish ways:
 reclothe us in our rightful mind;
 in purer lives your service find,
     in deeper reverence praise.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
 your coolness and your balm;
 let sense be dumb, let flesh retire,
 speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
     O still small voice of calm.
         
J G Whittier (1807 - 1892)

February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, from the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old Roman calendar.

For the church February is part of the period of Epiphany, between Advent and Lent, and for 2010 also includes the first two Sundays in Lent. The church year is really hurrying along this year.

Lent is the period of preparation for Easter, and indeed it is a period of forty days of fasting or denying in some churches, all to make the preparation more real. Appropriately, it is a time for the Februa purification and (stretching the concept) of taking stock and reflection.

At Iona, in our southern summer, we have been taking stock and are having the church windows re-sealed and painted, ready for the wet winter months. When we as Christians take stock and reflect, as suggested earlier, we are also preparing for the times ahead. This is what Jesus also did, going up on the mountain to pray.

As we enter the period of Lent, we are guided by ministers each week helping us to reflect on the events leading up to that supreme sacrifice, But more than that, it is also a time of stripping down to essentials, of purification, as each Christian focuses on his or her individual relationship with God. Let us take time to reflect on the good things we have and seek God's help to do better this year at the things we do less well.