Message of Abbot Paul - Shrove Tuesday - 13th February 2024
Abbot Paul • February 12, 2024
Today is Shrove Tuesday, the day when people traditionally let their hair down and celebrate before the rigours of Lent begin. Unfortunately, most of our ancient traditions were cast aside at the Reformation, especially under Puritan rule, when ordinary folk’s sources of fun were lost and life became monotonous and dreary. Other countries have retained their pre-Lent national customs, such as carnival, a word that literally means farewell to meat, alluding to the fact that Lent was a period of fasting and abstinence when people abstained from meat and all animal products, even milk, eggs and butter. In French speaking countries, it’s referred to as Mardi Gras, again an allusion to the last eating of meat and rich food before the beginning of Lent. This accounts for the pancakes eaten today and all the cakes made throughout Lent to be eaten at Easter and on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare or Mothering Sunday, when the Lenten fast was partially relaxed for a day.
But, of course, the word Shrove comes from the old English word shrive, which means to go to confession and be absolved of our sins. Part of the absolution would involve the giving of a heavy penance, which was to be carried out every day between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. It was also the day on which the ashes for Ash Wednesday were made from the previous year’s palm branches. Only the shadow of its former self remains, whether it’s the holiday, relaxation factor, or the more serious factor of confession and absolution.
Our Gospel passage from Mark, (Mk 8: 14-21), recounts the conversation between Jesus and his disciples on board the boat crossing from one side to the other of Lake Tiberius. “The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’” We often forget in our opulent society how difficult it was to produce and obtain food in New Testament times and how people lived close to starvation most of the time. Even today, that’s true in many parts of the world. I remember so well that when I lived in Peru, during the torrential rains of 1983 we had nothing but watermelon to eat for three weeks! Jesus has just fed the four thousand and the disciples have alluded to the fact that they only have one loaf in the boat with them. In the process of bread making, it only takes a small amount of yeast added to the dough to make it rise. Likewise, only the smallest amount of the teaching and attitude of the Pharisees and of Herod are enough to ruin someone’s life. Jesus warns his disciples that unbelief in Christ is the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, unbelief motivated in part by fear of Roman reprisal against the Jews if Jesus were acclaimed as Messiah. But their unbelief was ultimately due to their hard hearts. Let us be on guard against hardness of heart; we might fall into spiritual ruin if we harden ourselves against God’s Word.
Jesus then reminds them of the two miracles we have witnessed in Mark, “Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’” Jesus is more than leaven in the dough, he is the Bread of Life and he has the ability to feed our bodies as well as our hearts and souls. He has grace and power that far surpass the Pharisees’ and Herod’s lack of faith in him. Nevertheless, they are dangerous and can wreak havoc among those innocently searching for the truth and searching for God. Let us pray today that we might never turn aside from Jesus and his saving power, following instead those who might lead us into unbelief, especially as we prepare to begin the Lenten season tomorrow. Amen.
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