Ash Wednesday

Tsogong Cathedral Church (Anglican) is packed for the Ash Wednesday Eucharist; more than 800 people of all ages are present. The service sheet requests us to 'Kindly switch off your cell-phone during the service'. The new priest Father Edward Sithole, who met me from Jo'Burg airport the day before, preached with passion telling us that Lent is not about what we can do for God but what God has done for us, and that we are his treasure. Many familiar points in the service and how uplifting it becomes as the 50 strong choir leads us in worship that not only gives dynamism to some well known tunes but also takes us into a powerful experience of responding to God; I see for the first time bibles used as percussion instruments - people would beat them rhythmically and strongly. The sermon is translated from English into Setswana, some Xhosa and even a bit of Afrikaans. Bishop Steve was priest here for 16 years before he was made Bishop; how moving it is to sit alongside him in the congregation where he has come to receive and to worship. The liturgy for Ash Wednesday for the Province of South Africa includes the prayer to 'Free us from dependence on material goods and the worship of power, and from all that hinders our union with you'. Indeed.