Lent 2025 Reflections
Dear friends,
Our theme for this Lent’s reflections is Betrayal. It’s a somewhat sombre theme, but there is no better time to look at this than over the days of Lent.
You may have enjoyed The Traitors series on TV, with its twists and turns as people attempted to figure out who could or could not be trusted. There are moments of joy and of heartache, of trust and betrayal. In the end, though, it’s a game, and the players are out to win or share a prize of up to £120000. That amount is far greater than the thirty pieces of silver someone else was paid for his work as a traitor.
YouTube videos – Bach!
This year I have planned something different. Our reflection texts span the Old and New Testaments. The passion story of Jesus covers just a few days. The words of the passion story have been set to music by many composers. I have chosen Bach’s St Matthew Passion. This is celebrated by many as one of Bach’s greatest masterpieces.
Bach set Matthew’s text for choir, soloists and orchestra (he also set St John’s words, and St Luke’s, though this setting has been lost). The main text of the Gospel account is rendered as simple narration in a style described as recitative, and is padded with reflective verse in solos, choir items and hymn-like chorales (the tunes to which you may find familiar).
There is a longish introductory overture, but the rest of the work can be broken into sections that take up around four minutes on average over our Lent period. Although it lasts in total around 2 and a half hours, we will attempt it in bite-size chunks.
The recording I have chosen uses musical instruments as Bach would have known them, thus creating an authentic performance. The text is, as you’d expect, in German, but English subtitles are available in the videos by enabling subtitles – press on or tap the rectangular screen icon that represents subtitles to add a red underline. I have also included a translation with each day’s link.
Not everyone will warm immediately to JSB, so if you’re not used to his music, remember that each excerpt is quite short, and approach it in a devotional way, concentrating on the words.
Contributors
Simon is a co-contributor to this reflection series.
With Blessings,
Paul and Simon
Paul