Looking Forward Through Lent, and Some Links

My Motto!

Having concluded my three Lenten sonnets on the three temptations of Christ in the Wilderness, I would like to tell you in advance what is coming up for the rest of Lent, Holy week and Easter in my sonnet series, and also introduce, and give you access to the other Lenten series I am doing, a series of talks called Christ Across Five Frontiers, a Poetic Journey.

The Sonnets

First to the sonnets. There are two festivals or feast days which might be considered little oases, or resting places in the the wilderness journey of Lent, occasions for wonder and gratitude in the midst of the ardour. These are Mothering Sunday, on the 18th of March and the Feast of the Annunciation, which falls on the 25th of March but will be celebrated this year on the 26th, as the 25th is also Passion Sunday. I shall post sonnets for both of these feasts, on their day, but if anyone would like the text of either sonnet in advance for use in their church, just let me know by email and I’ll send you an advanced copy.

I will be resuming a more intense and sequenced pattern of sonnets on Palm Sunday and throughout Holy Week. The events of Holy Week and Easter are at the very heart of the Christian Faith, and reflection on them forms the essential core of ‘Sounding the Seasons’ the sequence of sonnets for the whole Church Year, which I have been ‘live blogging’ on these pages. Starting on Palm Sunday, and finishing on Easter Sunday I will be posting an integrated sequence of 20 sonnets; including 14 ‘Stations of the Cross’ on Good Friday, and a 15th ‘Resurrection’ station on Easter Sunday. Again anyone who wishes to use these in church or have copies in advance just let me know and I’ll send them. You may like to know that my fellow poet and Christian blogger Dr. Holly Ordway has been podcasting a series of talks based on the Stations sonnets and you can find a link to those here.

Lent Talks and Podcasts

Finally in this roundup, you may like to know that the series of Lent talks I have been giving for St. Edwards church are also available as podcasts. I have given the first two and they are available here: Faith-Doubt, and here: Matter-Spirit. All my podcasts are available via itunes you can see them on my itunes podcast page and you can sign on to recieve them by searcing for my name in your iplayer, or by going to my podomatic home page here. From this page you can explore a number of other sermons and talks on poetry and poets.

In my next blog post I will be bringing you news about the paperback version of my book Faith Hope and Poetry, which has at last been published and giving you a little taste of what’s in it and what the critics have said about it.

The 'Temple of Peace' where many of my sonnets were composed.