Issue 33 February 2026

Lent

St John's Lent Challenge

Finding Christ in the Liturgy

As we begin the blessed season of Lent, we warmly invite our whole parish into a shared journey together. This year, our Lent focus is Finding Christ in the Liturgy.

Our prayer is that by the end of Lent, we may all experience God more deeply in the Divine Liturgy through greater attentiveness, reverence and holy stillness, together, as one church family.

Why teaching reverence in church matters

God has always set apart sacred space to meet Him. The church is not simply a gathering place, but a holy space where heaven and earth meet. When we practise stillness and attentiveness, we help our hearts, and the hearts of our children, recognise what is already taking place in the Liturgy, and open ourselves more fully to God's presence.

How we can walk this journey together

Throughout Lent, we'll be sharing simple and practical ways to help our families prepare for church, support one another, and gently teach our children that church is a sacred and special place where we meet Christ.

• Weekly tip: look out for our weekly short video, sharing practical tips from our Church fathers and from families on how they benefit from the Liturgy.
• Preparation: preparing our families before church, and reminding our children that church is holy and set apart.
• Participation: minimising talking to one another during the Liturgy, and encouraging prayer, hymns and responses together.
• Presence: children sitting with their parents during the Liturgy, not with friends. This encourages children to focus on prayer and time as a family, rather than play during the Liturgy.
• Respectful space: let us limit food, drinks and mobile phone use in the main church. If needed, parents are encouraged to briefly step outside or use the upstairs kids' room.
• Support: the upstairs kids' room will be set up with quiet activities, and ushers will be available to assist families as needed.
• Attendance: we encourage regular attendance, and arriving as early as possible on Sunday mornings. We also invite you to join our weekday Liturgies on Wednesday (5 to 7am) and Thursday (8 to 10am).

Our prayer this Lent is that we may truly abide in Christ during the Liturgy.

Let us try to experience this together.

From the pulpit

The power of the altar

Fr Luke · John 6:22–27

In our lives, we are constantly searching for strength: strength as a partner, strength as a parent, strength as a servant, strength to do the things that are asked of us. Sometimes we need strength to fight temptation. Sometimes we need strength to overcome our struggles. In today's Psalm (95:1–3), God teaches us the source of our strength. He says the sanctuary of God is where we find strength. The sanctuary represents the place where heaven meets earth: the place where we meet God. That is what the sanctuary is.

From the beginning of time, there was a meeting place for God and man. At the start of creation, that meeting place was Eden. The Garden of Eden was the very first sanctuary, where God met man and gave him strength. If you think about Adam and what gave him the strength to have authority over all the animals on the land, that strength came from God. He would meet God in the garden and then find the strength to do the work he had to do. After Adam left the garden, he left that place of contact, but God did not want to leave him alone, so He gave him a new meeting point: the sanctuary.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of the Israelites meeting God in the sanctuary. There, they encountered God and drew strength for their lives. When we reach the New Testament, God created a new place for us, the church, and the altar became the meeting place where heaven and earth connect and are felt.

This is the place where we can step out of the world to connect, recharge, and find strength for the next steps in our lives. In particular, He gave us the gift of the Eucharist: a mysterious gift that gives us new strength.

Handing over our struggles

There are many strengths we can draw from the altar. The first is that we can bring our earthly struggles and hand them to a force greater and more capable than we are to deal with them.

This was one of the guiding principles of Pope Kyrillos, who is known to have left all his cares at the altar. It is where he felt he always found answers. It is almost like when you have a problem at work and escalate it to your manager because it is beyond your scope. Once it is handed over, it is no longer your problem alone. For Pope Kyrillos, his escalation was to God, and the altar was the meeting place.

I am not very handy at home, so when I try to fix something, the kids always say, "Speak to Gedo." He is really good with this sort of thing, so I call my father-in-law and he comes and sorts it out. As soon as I invite him over, I am not worried anymore. We have the same opportunity each week at church. Scripture teaches us this when it says, "Cast your cares on Me, for I care for you." A lot of the time we try to fix our problems ourselves and do not have the strength to do it, so He invites us to deliver them to Him at the altar.

Inner peace

The second type of strength we get from the altar is inner peace. We are anxious about tomorrow: our children, our jobs, our finances. We worry about life at every level. When we come to the altar, we find peace. We no longer have to worry. We find inner strength. We accept that our great God is capable of carrying the burden.

Pope Kyrillos used to ask, "Have you ever met someone who counted on God and was let down? Heaven forbid." No one who truly counts on God and encounters Him at the altar is ever let down. The fathers of the Old Testament felt this constantly. King David wrote in the Psalms, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me."

We are invited to have that faith and peace in our trials if we meet Him at the altar. The question for us is: if this is available to us, are we using it? Do we feel this way when we step into church? Do we feel this way when we pray the Liturgy, that we walk out stronger? Do we trust that when we hand things over to God, He will take care of them?

Come with a jar to fill

There was a monk who asked St Anthony, "How is it that some fathers attend the Liturgy and take so much from it, but I attend and get nothing?" St Anthony said, "The problem is not with the Liturgy: the problem is in your approach." It is like a well with deep water. If you go without a jar to fill, your thirst will not be quenched.

The Liturgy feeds our souls, but we need to come with souls ready to be filled. We must approach the Liturgy with a desire to change. We have to ask to be filled. It is like driving to a service station and forgetting to fill the tank with petrol.

Sometimes we do things out of habit. Let us approach church throughout Lent with a goal to be filled. This Lent, we challenge you all to enter with a desire to be satisfied. We want to walk out different, changed, and stronger to tackle the struggles of this world.

This Lent, we will add Liturgies to encourage our congregation to attend more throughout the season. They are opportunities to come, meet God, and be filled with strength. Another initiative is a pause for reflection before entering the church. We encourage you to reflect on the place you are entering and consider how you will fill your cup there.

When we come to church, consider a physical act to prepare yourself for prayer at the altar. You might remove your shoes out of reverence. Create rituals that help you immerse yourself in the Mass.

Consider your burdens, woes and struggles, and hand them to God. The altar is the meeting place between heaven and earth. When I was in Egypt, I had the blessing of praying with Pope Tawadros. He was in deep prayer for several minutes. In that moment, I felt he stood at the altar and transferred the prayers of his congregation to the One who knows how to solve them. Let us do the same.

Parish life

Noticeboard

Great Lent begins on Monday 16 February.

St John's Church app update: an important update has been released for both Apple and Android. Please make sure your phone has the latest version, for bug fixes and to be able to order food and coffee. Food pre-orders open Saturday at 3pm.

The Lent Program, with every service during Lent, is in issue 34.