News from the Diocese - 1
Bishop Frank writes
Vigils
keep us spiritually vigilant
Like many of us, I’d been through the routine many times, queuing at the airport to be scanned and searched to make sure I was safe to travel on the plane. I even mentioned as we queued how we had become so familiar with the complex culture of travelling. I placed the contents of my pockets in the tray, folded my jacket and placed it with my bag on the conveyor belt and walked through the X-ray scanner.
To my surprise I was taken to one side and asked to open
my bag. It was only then that I remembered that last minute purchase in
the market, the flurry of activity before setting off for the airport
and the hasty packing of my bag. The searching eye of the scanner had
detected what I had forgotten; no bottles of liquid are allowed in your
hand luggage! I was left with the embarrassing return to check-in, the
stowing of my bag in the hold and that queue to be searched once again.
I was taken back to a simple word that has become very important to me
but which my actions indicated I had forgotten; vigilance. I had spoken
about it as a theme in a church meeting only days before I’d travelled.
But my failure demonstrated the importance of the subject; vigilance is
something it is very easy to become lazy about.
The church has learned the wisdom of vigilance. We keep vigils before
significant moments in the life of faith.
Many of us will be familiar with the Easter Vigil as we wait in
anticipation on Holy Saturday night for the rising of the Lord Jesus.
But there are vigils before great feasts and saints days, and the
opportunity of a weekly vigil every Saturday night as we prepare for the
celebration of our shared faith on Sunday. By building-in vigils we are
reminded of the importance of vigilance, not simply to save us
embarrassment but to alert us to the significance of what it is we are
about to celebrate.
During Epiphany, Christian Unity Week and Candlemas there will be ample
scope to keep a vigil; to be the better prepared for the significance of
these events. And every Saturday evening we can make a personal act of
vigilance as we prepare for the worship of Almighty God in our parish
churches the next day. My embarrassment at the airport reminds me of the
importance of vigilance, especially in getting ready for the familiar.
Bishop of Brixworth
Diocese of Peterborough - Magazine Resource – January 2008
Produced by the Diocesan Office, The Palace, Peterborough PE1 1YB
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