The other day my friend Katrina made pancakes. They were just like my mother used to make; soft and delicate with a little bit of lemon and sugar. Katrina’s pancakes were rolled up and cut in bitesize pieces to share for Shrove Tuesday. Another friend, Geoff Ivers, mentioned to me that he also was going to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. A church he was to attend had perfected the recipe for creating rainbow pancakes!
Shrove Tuesday isn’t something we’ve traditionally celebrated in Australia in Community of Christ, but I remember it being a big deal at school in the UK. As a child, I never fully grasped its significance in the lead-up to Easter. Traditionally, it was a day to use up rich ingredients before the fasting of Lent began. But beyond the pancakes, Shrove Tuesday signals a deeper spiritual preparation.
Author Anne Lamott reflects on Lent as a time when “we get to remember all that stuff that we think makes us of such value, all the time we spend burnishing our surfaces, is really not what God sees. God… loves us absolutely unconditionally.” It’s a season of letting go—of distractions, of the need to prove our worth—and remembering what truly matters.
After the pancakes are eaten, Lent invites us into a sacred journey. It’s a time to pause, to reflect, and to walk symbolically with Christ and others toward the cross. You may want to explore Lent further using this Resource created by Community of Christ. This wonderful 2025 Lenten resource intertwines the spiritual path of Lent with the physical journeys of refugees, offering a unique perspective on sacrifice, hope, and renewal. Click here to download
A blessing for all of us in this unstable time.
Stability of Heart – by Joan Chittister
The will of God in life
does not come in straight lines
or clear signs,
or certain choices.
Life is not a set of constants
to which we cling for security
or seek for affirmation.
On the contrary,
life is often confusing
and blurred,
unsure under foot,
tentative and shaky to the touch.
Our relationships do not feel
as firmly fixed as they once did.
The world is no longer invulnerable
to change.
The world around has tilted and tipped
without our permission.
Nothing is what it once had been,
nothing is what it promised to be.
But one thing is inescapable:
the way we deal with whatever happens to us
on the outside
will depend entirely
on what we have become
on the inside.
Wherever we have fixed our hearts,
whatever it is to which we have given them,
will determine the way we experience
all that is happening to us now.
Indeed, it is stability of heart,
not stability of place,
that is the real monastic gift.
Stability of heart—
commitment to the life of the soul,
faithfulness to the community,
perseverance in the search for God—
is the mooring
that holds us fast
when the night of the soul
is at its deepest dark,
and the noontime sun sears
the spirit.
May your heart find stability once again, and may you live assured of Christ’s peace.
Warmly,
Anne Bonnefin
Communications Co-ordinator
Australia Mission Centre