Holy Week

In this week we encounter a whole range of fascinating people

Jesus, whose total identification with humanity brings about a change in the way weare able to live in communion with God.

Peter, Thomas, John and the other disciples who show how difficult it is to be a good disciple

Mary, who must watch with horror as her son is threatened and dies.

Joseph of Arimathea who seeks the body of Jesus to ensure that despite the indignity our respect for him as a person is not glossed over.

And there is Judas and Pilate, perhaps too much to gather them together.

What do we make of all this? Where do we place ourselves in the story?

What is God trying to draw out of us in the mystery of Good Friday and Easter? How will I change, choose, grow, decide as I encounter God this week?

Place yourself in the Passsion

This struck me in my morning reading as a strong invitation to place ourselves within the mystery of the Passion
From the Second Easter Oration of Gregory of Nazianzus ..
Ch. XXIV.

If you are a Simon of Cyrene,take up the Cross and
follow.
If you are crucified with Him as a robber,acknowledge God as a
penitent robber. If even He was numbered among the transgressors for you and
your sin, do you become law-abiding for His sake. Worship Him Who was hanged for
you, even if you yourself are hanging; make some gain even from your wickedness;
purchase salvation by your death; enter with Jesus into Paradise, Luke xxiii. 43.
and if you be a Joseph of Arimathæa,Luke xxiii. 52.
beg the Body from him that
crucified Him, make thine own that which cleanses the world. 1 John i. 7.
If you be a Nicodemus, the worshipper of God by night, bury Him with
spices. John xix. 39.
If you be a Mary,
or another Mary, or a Salome, or a Joanna, weep in the early morning. Be
first to see the stone taken away,and perhaps you will see the Angels and Jesus
Himself. Say something; hear His Voice. If He say to you, Touch Me not, stand
afar off; reverence the Word, but grieve not; for He knoweth those to whom He
appeareth first. Keep the feast of the Resurrection; come to the aid of Eve who
was first to fall, of Her who first embraced the Christ, and made Him known to
the disciples.
Be a Peter or a John; hasten to
the Sepulchre, running together, running against one another, vying in the noble
race. And even if you be beaten in speed, win the victory of zeal; not Looking
into the tomb, but Going in.
And if, like a Thomas, you were left out when the disciples were assembled
to whom Christ shews Himself, when you do see Him be not faithless; and if you
do not believe, then believe those who tell you; and if you cannot believe them
either, then have confidence in the print of the nails.
If He descend into
Hell, descend with Him. Learn to know the mysteries of Christ there also, what
is the providential purpose of the twofold descent, to save all men absolutely
by His manifestation, or there too only them that believe.

Palm Sunday-The journey continues

Sixth Sunday in Lent _ commonly called Palm Sunday. March 16, 2008 Readings of the Eucharist are: Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 and the Passion according to Matthew 26:14-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54

Journeys require tenacity

they need planning

and they change us

As Holy Week begins we take something of a journey

it is undergirded by the story of Jesus last days before his death.

We have also been taking a journey through Lent,

in these weeks we have been thinking about what it means to be Christian

and how do we live faithfully in the spirit of the promises we made

or which were made for us at Baptism.

How do we continue the journey begun at our baptism

when we were asked :

Do you turn to Christ?
Do you repent of sin?

Do you reject selfishness?

Do you renounce evil?

These promises are reaffirmed on Easter Day

We have also reflected on the mystery of life and death
and hear that there is a great overshadowing promise of Jesus:
"I am the Resurrection and the Life!"
It is the promise which breathes life back into our deadness.
And which open the eyes of the blind heart.

The reading from the letter to the Phillipians addresses this journey, this transition, this growth,
in a more poetic and philisophical way

St Paul writes

Philippians 2:5-11

2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,

2:8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.

2:9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

2:11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The purpose of the journey is that we may become like Christ.
Not presuming on our Godly nature but acting out of it.
It is a journey of suffering
a journey of challenge
which will transform us that we may be like him

Such journeys require tenacity

they need planning

and they change us

Holy Week with the prophets

Some short reflections  from the prophets for Holy Week

Palm Sunday

Amos 5: ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;

   I will not listen to the melody of your harps. 
²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,

   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream 

It is not as if God's people do not know that justice is the preferred way.

Amos 9: ¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,

   and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,

   and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.  

God will restore, and restore properly. Not without pain, but through the very gift of his holy Son

Holy Monday

Obadiah 1: ²I will surely make you least among the nations;

   you shall be utterly despised. 
³Your proud heart has deceived you,
   you that live in the clefts of the rock, ">
   whose dwelling is in the heights.
You say in your heart,
   ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ 
⁴Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
   though your nest is set among the stars,
   from there I will bring you down,

says the Lord.  

How easily we misplace our trust.

Jonah 2: ⁷As my life was ebbing away,

   I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you,
   into your holy temple. 
⁸Those who worship vain idols
   forsake their true loyalty. 
⁹But I with the voice of thanksgiving
   will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.

   Deliverance belongs to the Lord!’ 

I make a mistake when I think I am the source of justice and holiness.

Holy Tuesday

Micah 1: ³For lo, the Lord is coming out of his place,

   and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. 
⁴Then the mountains will melt under him
   and the valleys will burst open,
like wax near the fire,
   like waters poured down a steep place. 
⁵All this is for the transgression of Jacob

   and for the sins of the house of Israel.  

The Lord's will to deal with my sin is unremitting and determined. He will forgive me. He will have me, even if I am slow and unwilling to respond. 

Holy Wednesday

Micah 4

In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it, 
²   and many nations shall come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  

In hope, not desperation; in faith not in decline. I come to the Lord because he draws me to himself.

Maundy Thursday

Habbakuk 3

His glory covered the heavens,
   and the earth was full of his praise. 
⁴The brightness was like the sun;
   rays came forth from his hand,

   where his power lay hidden.  

There is no way to overlook the glory of the Lord

Good Friday

Zephaniah 2

¹¹The Lord will be terrible against them;
   he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
   each in its place,

   all the coasts and islands of the nations.  

Everything that would wrongly demand our attention and our worship will be destroyed before Jesus, that we his sisters and brothers may live with the freedom and dignity that God destined us to share.

Holy Saturday-Easter Eve

Zephaniah 3

¹⁵The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

   you shall fear disaster no more. .  

The Lord completes all that he sets out to complete

Easter Poems 2008

These poems written by Coromandel Valley Parishioner may be used with attribution please notify the blog owner (coro35@bigpond.net.au) if you do so.

Author's details are: Sue Cook. Hawthorndene, South Australia, 2008

Sue is a gifted poet and a retired teacher of English.

Easter Poems 2008

 

The Arrest 

Words, words, words.

How much depends upon words. 

People chattering, agitating, politicizing, 

gabble, gabble – traitor – gabble, gabble –pretender. 

With swords and clubs they press in 

to arrest Jesus, the teacher. 

Judas says, “ Peace be with you teacher,” 

betrays him with a kiss. 

The high priest accuses him of false promises 

but Jesus is silent. 

“Are you the Messiah, the son of God?” 

“You will see the Son of Man sitting 

at the right hand of the Almighty.” 

Blasphemous words seal Jesus’ fate. 

More words – Peter denies knowing Jesus – 

no, no, no – and the rooster crows. 

Pilate demands more words from Jesus and gets none. 

He asks the rabble what to do with the Messiah – 

gabble, gabble – crucify him – gabble, gabble. 

Words, words, words. 

                                                 Sue Cook 2008

Crucifixion

 A black day indeed 

the day they came to Golgotha, 

the place of the skull. 

Blackness inside people’s hearts 

as they watched the crucifixion unfold. 

Soon, shrouded in darkness 

Jesus was isolated, suffocating. 

There was no light, no enlightenment, 

the blackness was impenetrable. 

Abandoned by man and God, 

“My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” 

Jesus died on the cross. 

But the women looked on from a distance, 

illuminated by his life. 

 

              Sue Cook 2008

Resurrection

 

As Sunday morning dawns 

and rosy light dissipates darkness 

the women approach Jesus’ tomb, 

mourning their inconsolable loss. 

Suddenly, they are bedazzled 

for a bright angel irradiates the tomb 

where Jesus was, but is not now, entombed. 

He is risen, elevated, raised from death, 

and the women rejoice. 

Angel or hallucination? 

Mary Magdalene plucks a white feather 

from the ground and wonders. 

But Jesus appears to the women, 

preaching peace and lack of fear, 

and meets the disciples, too, in Galilee. 

 

Out of the darkness into the light 

so also are we illuminated 

by his death and resurrection. 

 

                          Sue Cook 2008

Come out!

Sunday 9th March (formerly known as Passion Sunday) you could read from the selection of readings which includes Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45 - The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Perhaps one of the hardest stories for modern Christians to come to grips with

because this story of the resurrection of Lazarus confronts us with a dead person

who is brought back to life

But when I think about it

I have had a number of resurrection experiences where a dead person has been revived.

We live, for example,  in an era where the miracle of modern medicine 

means life for any number of people

who a generation ago would have died prematurely.

I don't want to belittle what Jesus did for Lazarus;

that we don't fully understand it 

is obvious.

Most of us would find that as our lives go on 

our encounter with 

the 'death event'

is a curious and mixed-bag

and is not easily described

either physically, spiritually or emotionally.

If we try to get straight just what happened

and to focus solely on the mechanics of the event

This is, I suspect, rather to miss the point of this narrative

that we read  today.

Change of focus

The commentators on John's Gospel

often make the point

that this chapter 11 marks a point of transition

in the Gospel

it moves away from the miraculous signs 

to the engagement with the resurrection

...what one writer says is 'the end of the Book of Signs

and the beginning of the Book of Glory'...

the two are connected of course

But we are reminded that the greatest sign of Christ's glory

is his death and resurrection.

Death is  at least one of, and probably,  the most important things

that happen to us

This almost seems trite to say.

Yet we can be in danger of not getting it right

and missing what is important.

We do this because we are fearful, sad, angry, guilty....and any other range of things

The Christian mystery  is that

Death is the gate to eternal life.

This doesn't just happen

even for Martha and Mary

it has to be carefully teased out.

And the key insight that this passage reveals 

is that death is transformed

when Jesus is brought to bear.

If we do nothing else 

when confronted 

with death

we need to be with Jesus.

I do not pretend this is easy.

It does not make the pain go away.

This is not what is on offer.

What is on offer is the transfromation of death

into resurrection and life.

We all have sneaking glimmers of what this might be like.

Not always someone standing outside a tomb

and shouting "Come Out!"

but the transformation is as profound.

We are to come to faith in Jesus

and hear Jesus says what he says to Martha

11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. 

Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live"

This is not, I suggest, a formula

but rather an experience

How does Jesus speak LIFE

into your experience of DEATH?

If we do not listen

if we do not ask 

if we do not allow Jesus to breathe life into the dry bones

then we are missing out 

on the key transformation.

Death is, I suggest, 

the most wonderful experience of life.

In it we encounter the fulness of Jesus.

It is, as we enter into it,

not without pain.

But also with the possibility of great hope.

Jesus stands at the door of our life

and shouts "Come Out"

We do not, and will not

fully understand what is going on.

There is not the promise of no pain

or no sadness

rather that the gate of death will become 

the way to a new way of living.

This only happens 

when we allow Jesus to transform it.

 in the related story in Ezekiel 37 that we read today

the prophet speaks God's word

over a valley of dead bones

(It is almost a bizarre experience...but we are dealing in highly imaginal language here)

The idea is the same 

God transforms what is dead

to a new way of living.

This week

Where am I beseiged by death? My own, someone else's or...?

Can I give a little time to allow Jesus to speak to this...what does he say?

Can I believe this.....pray for belief (Lord I believe...but help my unbelief?)

Can we prophesy over the death that surrounds us on every side..."I am the Resurrection and the Life says the Lord"

In the valley of darkness
surrounded by bones
speak the words I need to hear
I am the resurrection and the life.
Lord I want to believe
let my unbelief crumble in the face of your Word

This season's drought

One parched leaf upon the tree

Is all that breathes

The remaining life

That has been 

Drawn, sapped, racked

From the being

It flickers, faint,

Fearless and flagrant.

Crackling as the wind

Threatens its very stand .

Defiant in the face of summer

Defiant, yes!

And doomed

By the onset 

of the season’s march

Ineffable, inevitable

As summer turns to autumn,

The life already drained

Will stand no more.

And then, one night,

Or day

Or afternoon

Will tumble and will fall

Faultless, breathless

To land, who knows where,

Or when will rise.

Silence is consent!

This Fourth Sunday in Lent March 2, 2008; 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 often called Refreshment, Laetare or Mothering Sunday

The demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, often had as their catch-cry
"Silence is consent!"
In the face of injustice, dishonesty, illegality
when confronted with evil
to remain silent is to consent to the evil.
We hear penetrating critique about acting morally such as
English philosopher Edmund Burke who said,

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Pastor Martin Niemöller wrote a reflection on the inevitable decline into the Holocaust

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time 

there was no one left to speak up for me.

This week we move on in thinking about the Christian life and living out our baptismal promises

Do you renounce evil?

The first of the  two promises: Do you repent of sin?

invites us to step away from the wrong that we have done.

The second: Do you reject selfishness?

invites us to craft our lives

by a spirit of openness and self-giving

unselfishnes, which is counter-cultural

and stands against much of what our greedy world promotes.

The renunciation of evil invites a stronger stand again

not only will we craft our own lives selflessly

but we will stand against evil.

The image Paul uses is to step out of the darkness

and live in the light.

Jesus, in the story of the man born blind,

reminds us that true blindness

is not a disease

but a choice

we choose not to see

we choose not to act

we choose darkness over light.

This choice may be the passive one

of choosing to do nothing

or to remain silent

--Silence is consent--

 it is still a choice.

• You might reflect where you have chosen to be silent
  in the face of injustice, is there some way you can be courageous, more
  honest more open?
• Where does God call us to speak out against
  injustice? Why do we choose to ignore obvious evil? What is the
  consequence of this?
• Pray for yourself and your friends that you may
  keep your baptismal promise to renounce evil.

Rejecting selfishness

Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent, February 24, 2008. Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42. As part of your prepararation for Sunday take one of the reading for each day

We live in a selfish world...this much is self-evident

Some would say that selfishness is a necessary human characteristic

others would say that it is a destructive attribute.

The "necessary human characteristic" argument

says we need to be able to survive

and so we should be able to feel free to assert our own need

and to look after our own interests.

This bland sort of statement is rather deceptive

because what is the problem

with selfishness

is not, so much, the looking after one's own interests

but rather the fact that most selfishness

looks after one's own interests at the expense of other people.

When, at baptism, people are invited to reject selfishness

we are moving beyond the repentance of things we have done wrong

saying sorry, making restitution and so on....

to actually taking positive steps to live our lives in a way

that is counter cultural.

We are being asked to move beyond

the idea that we need to be able to look after our own self-interests in order to survive

to saying that we also choose a way of life

that is more than just pursuit of self-interest.

How, we might ask, are we to do this?

The Baptismal Liturgy for Children addresses this several times

the sponsors/godparents are asked if they are prepared to show those they are sponsoring how to live the unselfish life.

This is an important point to grasp

unselfishness can be taught....or perhaps caught.

We catch it from others who set us the example

of what might be possible if we choose to live our lives differently.

This is clearly demonstrated for Christians on the Cross.

Apart from what ever mystical and theological process may be taking place

there is something being lived out.

It is that we are unselfish when we give, not only of our stuff

but also of our life.

Jesus says, greater love has no one than this

that they lay down their lives for their friend

This is most unusual in our self-oriented world.

A couple of points

The readings point us to a number of interesting points

1. In the confusion that is the time in the wilderness after the flight from Egypt, the people of Israel constantly miss the point of their call.

Why? Because, as in today's reading, they find it very difficult to get beyond their own very narrow selfish interests.

God responds to their needs time and time again

but the more they get the more they want

and the more they seem unresponsive and ungrateful for what has already been done for them.

The writers of the the Torah are setting before us a picture of wayward selfishness

which is at odds with the will fo God.

2. Paul in writing to the Roman Church urges these people on to do better than mere selfish desires.

Look to greater goals and the bigger picture. Understand at the very least that there is a challenge which will improve us as people: Paul outlines (perhaps a little too strictly) a growth process...

we also boast in our sufferings, knowing
that suffering produces endurance,
5:4 and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope,

suffering-endurance-character-hope.

His argument suggests that unselfishness opens up

a whole new range of possibility.

3. And what of this woman who meets Jesus. This is a most fascinating story.

She wants more out of life...Lord satisfy my deepest thirst

Jesus immediately points her to the area of her life where her own inward looking orientation

has betrayed her deepest integrity.

Your human relationships are up the creek

Who knows quite what a mess this woman who had had five husbands had made of her life, and why?

There is at least the suggestion that unless we are prepared to plummet the darkness of our true desires and not avoid what our lives are saying to us,

in their messiness, selfishness and deep desire

then our deep thirst will not be satisfied.

THIS WEEK

Where does God invite you to be unselfish?

is there something immediately that you can do to challenge your selfishness, what stops you?

What do you really want? What would satisfy your deepest desires?

What is the mess of your life saying to you about what you really want?

There are lots of reflections to have about "comfort zones", about whether or not we want to change. Spend some time with God talkign about this.

No condemnation

Readings for The Second Sunday in Lent, 17th February 2008 can be taken from Genesis 12:1-4a Psalm 121 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-17. [ Matthew 17:1-9..(if not used two weeks ago) features in the older lectionary]
NOTE: Non Australian readers may like to follow up on the Apology to Indigenous Australians offered this week by the Australian Prime Minister and Parliament (here) which is referred to in this week's homily


During this early part of Lent we focus on the need to REPENT.
Christians talk about this a lot.
Turning away from sin,
asking forgiveness
saying sorry: to God and to those we have sinned against.
It is an important idea.
More than an idea, it is something that needs to happen,
we all know this
and we have seen it played out in very public view for us this week.


We could make many observations
and no doubt will.
I want today, however,
to just put together this idea
with what the Bible readings offer us,
because today the Scriptures are filled with hope
and we have the most famous bible verse
for Anglicans, and indeed all Christians, which reminds us of this

God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish but have eternal life
John 3:16

These words that we know so well
contain in a nutshell
all that is good, true, hopeful and profound
about what God is doing in our lives and the world.
At the heart of it
we are reminded that our God is the God who LOVES
that everything is done out of love, because of love
in order that we might be loved and that we might love better.

Jesus invites Nicodemus to be 'born again from above'.

This process of being "born again"
is difficult for Nicodemus (and us) to understand.
What is interesting about it
is that although we often see ourselves
as passive receivers of God's grace
of this 'being born again'
[that is, we sit back and God does it to us]
there is more force in it than that
"You must be born again", says Jesus.
We have to submit to it, to desire it, to want it!
Repentance is like that
it requires that we invite its cooperation
that we want to repent
we want to be born again.

It will not just happen.


Now we have observed the events of this week,
clear in our own minds
are like that too.
They will not just happen
we need to invite cooperation
we need to decide that we are going to make this happen.

This is not neat and tidy,
and maybe we would like it to be more so
but that is what sin, repentance, prejudice and reconciliation
are like.
They are not black and white
but grey and less grey,
grey and greyer.

And the mystery of reconciliation, being born again,
repentance
is not so much bought and sold
as entered into
and lived out.
It is this that Abram is invited into
when God says:
Set out from your country. to a new land that I will show you
I will bless you , and in you all the earth will be blessed
This great message of hope and promise
is the journey of faith
which we are called to as individuals
but now also as a nation.
But it does not
and will not
just happen.
We have to set out and invite it.
We have to be born again
We have to repent.

This week

• Where does God call you to make a new beginning
• -----by rejecting what you have done wrong in the past (repentance)
• -----by opening yourself to the Spirit of God (being born again)
• -----by embracing the new national spirit of apology (reconciliation)
• Is there one thing I can do this week to make somethign happen to unfold God's working in my life?

Good quote on prayer

A good quote from the orthodox Saint John Chrysostom (the whole of the homily can be found here) I was struck by its positive strength and invitation to take prayer seriously

To set about this prayer, paint the house of your soul with modesty and lowliness and make it splendid with the light of justice.

Adorn it with the beaten gold of good works and, for walls and stones, embellish it assiduously with faith and generosity. Above all, place prayer on top of this house as its roof so that the complete building may be ready for the Lord. Thus he will be received in a splendid royal house and by grace his image will already be settled in your soul.

Drawing close

Readings for the First Sunday in LentFebruary 10, 2008 may be taken from; Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32 ; Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11

It is a great treat to have three highly focussed seasons
one after the other
Advent...leading us to Christmas
Christmas-Epiphany...exploring the mystery of the Word made flesh
and now Lent, causing us to reflect on our lives in a spirit of penitence
as we look to Holy Week and Easter.
Maybe you don'tquite think of it this way.
But let me try and convince you
that what is on offer here is a chance to draw closer to God,
and that drawing close to God
is the best thing for us.
It is not an easy thing, but it is the best!

The readings today are (in a way) introductory to Lent
they set the scene for us.
The Genesis reading is part of the way we talk about
the separation of humanity from God.
Adam and Eve get kicked out of the Garden of Eden!

It is a powerful story which uses legend/myth/poetry/theology
to explore the human condition.
And (for Genesis) the human condition is this:

We find ourselves separated fromGod.
because having been created by God
we chose not to be what God created us to be
rather than being ourselves
we wanted to be God.

This is not a debate about equality/inequality
But rather a statement about the fact that we find oursleves to be fundamentally separated from God.
At the conclusion of the Eden story
we discover that rather than remain in Paradise
we are destined to leave the place God has put us
because we chose to not be what God intended.
This is an important dimension to grasp
while in a sense we are "exiled" from Eden (the place God intends us to be)
we also exiled ourselves
because we wanted to be God
and of course could not live up to this.

The human story from this point onwards
is about how we return to Eden.

The Inner Struggle
The temptations of Jesus point us to the fact
that part of this return to God
is confronting our own inner selves
and turning away from the seductions of untruth
---we will not live by material support (bread) alone
---the magic of the supernatural holds no way forward
---even having all power possible is a dead end

In a way, these tempations

• materialism
  supernaturalism
  megalomania
  

are fundamental human temptations
which every human being will need to confront
in their spiritual journey.

In what ways have I:

• put my trust in the wrong place, and think that possessions, wealth and material goods are the sole purpose of what life is about
• surrendered my autonomy to the supernatural, or to a view of God and the universe which is corrupt and untrue. Have I tried to cause God to fit into my narrow conception rather than open myself to the possibilities of what God is offering me?
• used my power to manipulate others, to abuse and force my will on others

This week

Take time to be quiet with God and to reflect on where you have moved away from God's desire for you to share in abundant life

Look for one thing to do this week which might restore a sense of faithfulness to your call and desire to be God's person in a difficult world

Review this from time to time during the week and have the courage to implement it

Cleverly devised myths

This is the Last Sunday after the Epiphany this year and a selection of readings are :Exodus 24:12-18;Psalm 2orPsalm 99;II Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9

On this last Sunday before Lent we are directed to the story of the Transfiguration (here)
St Peter in his wonderful exposition of this event (which we also read today)
reminds us that this is not 'a cleverly devised myth'
Now this bears thinking about
because it has a lot of mythical qualities...flashing lights, supernatural figures, voices booming from heaven, mystery clouds ..and so on
What Peter says is that this is his experience of who Jesus is.
And this is a reflection that we might be invited to make today
as we come to the end of this Epiphany season
Who is Jesus for me?
This, on one level, is a straight forward question
on another it takes us into this realm of uncertainty and the supernatural.
At the very least
this story of the Transfiguration
helps us to realise
that God transcends the natural world and the supernatural.
Indeed this is really the whole point of understanding who Jesus is...

The Word made flesh

The reality of God in human form.
So we might usefully cast our eyes around our day to daylife
and ask where we encounter Jesus
where are we aware of the dynamic presence of God acting in our life
in the ordinariness of our life.

Who is Jesus for me? - Some reflections

• Take time to be aware of God's sustaining presence
• Where have I been aware of God with me today?
• What does God could cause me to do, be and think today?
• Is there an invitation to live my life in a way different from that which I often choose?
• Give thanks to God for insight and pray for grace to be faithful
• GLORY TO GOD: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; as in the beginning so now and for ever. AMEN

Signs of the covenant

Readings for Sunday 27th January 2008 the Third Sunday after Epiphany (Year A) can be taken from Isaiah 9:1-4, Psalm 27, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, & Matthew 4:12-25

The early disciples got a curious glimpse of something different:
what it might be like to follow Jesus.
For two thousand years people have got a glimpse of the same thing.
For some it has been very clear
for some it has been a gradual realisation

The question we ask ourselves today is
what makes me a disciple of Jesus?
Why do I follow, what do I seek to be and do?
You may remember that last week's question was:
What are you looking for?
This is what Jesus asks those who pursue him.
The two questions are not unrelated


But the mature realisation of the disciple is that it is not a job description
rather it is an invitation to a relationship
This is not unlike a marriage
I could be tempted when preparing a couple
to say "This what a husband does"
and "This is what a wife does"
as if it were some sort of job description
(this is, incidentally, why some people get Paul's teaching about marriage all skew-whiff,
they mistake his comments about the nature of mutual relationship as  a role descriptor for spouses!)
in reality what is important is not the job that we do
as a spouse
or as a disciple
but the sort of relationship we have.
With each other, and with God

This week

• You might reflect whether the idea of having a relationship with Jesus is one that works for you
  
• How might you deepen that relationship, or (perhaps) discover what it means?
• Pray for yourself and your friends that you may have beeter relationships.

What are you looking for?

Readings for Sunday 20th January 2008 the Second Sunday after Epiphany (Year A) can be taken from Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, & John 1:29-42


In these weeks after Christmas and Epiphany we are invited to explore how Jesus is understood and made known to people.
This is what the word "epiphany" means.
So we have seen Jesus, as the baby born in Bethlehem who is not just a fairy tale for the Jews, but also the fulfilment of the hopes for the world.
The Wise Men who initiate the season are the signs of the wider world, and that this revelation of God is for all people.
Last week as we thought of Jesus's baptism, we were introduced to the idea that Jesus is the Beloved of God, here for a purpose. A purpose that is full of hope and expectation.
Today we hear not only about who Jesus is, but about who we are.
And we are invited to understand that who we are is, of course, tied up with who Jesus is
and who God says we are and he wants us to be.
So picking up (not quite at random) we are told

You are my servant in whom I will be glorified
and that
the Lord formed us in the womb, to bring the faithful back to him

and we hear Paul speaking to the Church in Corinth and also to us
we are made holy in Jesus
we are called to be saints
we are not lacking in any spiritual gift
and the Lord will strengthen you to the end

This is powerful and hopeful language and we should take a while to breathe it in.
But it as we look to what John says about Jesus that we are given an insight into how to explore this in our own life.

John tells them that Jesus is "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world", and also that he is the one who will baptise people not just with water but also with the Holy Spirit.
We can't imagine that the early disciples
were able to put all this together
like some elaborate spiritual jigsaw
which as long as they found the pieces and had enough time
would ultimately become clear.
It is enough however for people to be entranced
and so they go looking for Jesus and try to see what he is going to do.

Now this is a pattern of our life
and indeed of most people
they are captivated by Jesus.
They do indeed see
in the stable, under the light of the star
on Palm Sunday, in the miracles, on the Cross
and at the Garden of Gethsemane
something which they do not quite understand
but which, nevertheless,
captivates them.
It grabs our attention.
and for a brief moment
we run after.

Jesus says to us
what he said to those first searchers
.....What are you looking for?
This is a telling little remark
it says apart from anything else
that we have to do some digging for ourselves, even though we are often content to do nothing and then wonder why the holy God seems silent or distant.

What are you looking for?
Take some time to think about this question.
It may be that you need to think about the question behind the question
I just want a quiet life...but what does a quiet life mean...a quiet life means a life without worry...but what worries are of concern to you....I want my children to be happy...what would their happiness look like

So you see what one such chain might look like.

The initial attraction that we (or anyone else) might feel towards Jesus
invites us to dig!
What are you looking for?

It is worth spending the time
to identify what we really want
and asking Jesus to speak into that situation.

Jesus is baptised-If today you hear his voice

Sunday 13th January ...The Baptism of Jesus see Matthew's account in 3:13-17 below

Matthew 3:13-17 ...

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptised by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptised, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Much (too much often...it seems to me) is made of Jesus's Baptism by John the Baptist.
The point that is usually made is that

• Jesus did not need to be baptised but he obediently responded and expressed a certain humility in so doing
  
• It initiated the start of his ministry and the public recognition of who he is begins to unfold

These points are reasonable , but maybe too subtle and/or theological
Baptisms are rich occasions, they mean a lot to people
and they are often multi-complex in meaning.
They do not just have to be one thing or the other.
At the very least we see here Jesus making a deliberate act of openness to God
and act which we are invited to share in.
There is a recognition that however he conducts himself
he needs to do it in accordance with the way the Father wants things done
and so we rejoice when we see this happening.

As we watch Jesus being baptised
however this story impacts upon us
the same journey/opportunity
is set before you and me.

• To allow our lives to be deliberately open to God
• and to commit ourselves to walking in the way of God

In these last few weeks I have been particularly drawn to the verses of the daily invitatory Psalm, often called Venite after its Latin title. In the latter part of that psalm where God speaks to the singer/pray-er

If today you hear God's voice
do not harden your heart
as in the Provocation and the day of Temptation in the wilderness
when your ancestors tempted me, put me to the test
even though they had seen everything I did.
Forty years long I was grieved with generation and said
"It is a people who err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways"
Unto whom I swear, in my anger
They shall not enter into into my rest.

This is not a threat, it is the way things are.
We are tempted to ignore God, and even though we see what God is doing.
Yet we still go our own way.
The call to Baptism
is the call to do what God wants
and to commit our lives to that cause

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