‘Use Lent to reflect, pray’

On Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian period of Lent, religious leaders urged Barbadians to use this time of lockdown wisely in Lenten reflection and prayer.

During Ash Wednesday Mass from the St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Bishop-elect Neil Scantlebury said Barbadians should use these times being spent indoors, to pray and meditate on the word of God.

He said: “In this shutdown, we stay home, and what can we do? We can easily get depressed, frustrated, yell and shout at whoever else is in the room.

“So often we are upset and annoyed that we can’t go here, there and do everything that we want to do. It calls for self-restraint yes, self-control – it calls for us to say no to the temptations of wanting to go out there. Now Lent offers that opportunity to grow in these virtues, because Lent indeed is a time where we must master the self, yes. Too often we want to do what we want to do when we want to do it… no, it can’t be like that.  Why, that is selfishness.”

Bishop-elect Scantlebury said that during this time, Barbadians should not only think about making the “almighty dollar” but instead place God first, and think about their fellow man.

The Ash Wednesday Liturgy at the Anglican Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels also followed a similar tone, with the Reverend Joseph King, Rector of St. Cyprian’s, saying that this time of Lent should be used to unburden panic and anxiety, and instead build faith.

Reverend King said: “Brothers and sisters, we can be weighed down by so many things in life, but we must not despair. We must not lose hope – you see Lent is not a time for us to allow ourselves to be weighed down. Lent is not a time to become depressed and wallow in our failures and agonize about what is happening in the world around us.

“Lent is a time for us to spring into action. Lent is a time for us to free ourselves from these burdens that we are carrying around on a daily basis. Lent is a time for us to confess, to admit our faults, and our weaknesses before God. Lent is a time for us to inwardly acknowledge our need to change. We can only be free of these burdens when we embrace change.”
(SB)