Preferring Nothing to Christ

HEARTS

When Jesus speaks to the disciples and tells them that their ‘ hearts will be full of joy’, I wonder how they understood it. John sets this lengthy discourse around the table of their last meal together. They have already shared together the ‘bread of affliction’ and Jesus now asks them to imagine a time when their hearts will be full of joy. I imagine the disciples in a haze that night.

Often when people warn us that something it going to be really hard it can be difficult for us hear them. I have certainly imagined certain situations to be much worse than they actually were. It’s a lot more subtle when people talk to us about our hearts being filled with joy. Real joy is something very personal. Though I have chosen a picture today of a girl jumping, my own experience of joy is much quieter. It has something to do with integration, with all the parts of my life fitting together. It’s not the absence of suffering. It’s more a feeling that joy and suffering can stand side by side.

If Christ is our pattern for life, love and glory, then joy and sorrow will always be woven through this.

How do you hear Christ’s promise?

( John 16:2-23, Friday, Sixth Week of Eastertide)

GLORY

The opening of John’s Gospel weaves together in poetic prose the major theological themes that we will encounter in its pages: life, light, love and glory. It’s hard to explore one without exploring all three. Glory is perhaps the most difficult to quantify and understand.

For the Hebrew mind the word glory (kavod) has a range of meanings which include ‘importance’, ‘honour’ and ‘weight’. Related to kavod is another Hebrew word ‘shekinah’ which is a way of talking about the divine presence. Kavod and shekinah then are both ways of talking about the felt presence of a loving, saving and guiding God.

For the writer of John’s Gospel, God’s glory is seen very specifically when the Word becomes flesh. Every thought, word and action of Christ is a manifestation of God’s glory. This is why in John’s Gospel the moment of crucifixion is seen as a moment of triumph and glory.

In baptism we are sealed with Chrism and caught up in God’s glory too. What Christ prays to the Father in these words ‘so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘ can be our prayer too. Eastertide gives us the opportunity to stay with these words.

How is God calling you to manifest his glory?

(John 17:20-26, Thursday, Eastertide, Week 7)

FILLED

When our parents and godparents presented us for Baptism they did so in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. As the water was poured over of heads and the chrism anointed our foreheads the Holy Spirit made a home in us. Nothing than change that.

In Chapter Four of Acts, we are told that Peter and John are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’. This filling was not merely an emotional experience—it empowered them to proclaim the word of God boldly. Peter and John allowed the Spirit to guide them completely. When they spoke, it was in the Spirit that they spoke. When they healed it was in the Spirit that they were healed.

In our own lives, this verse challenges us to ask: Are we praying with expectation? Are we open to being filled and used by the Spirit? The early disciples faced persecution, yet they did not shrink back in fear. Instead, they prayed, received strength, and spoke boldly. Today, we are called to do the same—to stand firm in faith, seek the Spirit’s guidance, and share the gospel with confidence.

Where in your life do you most need the power of the Holy Spirit?

(Acts 7:51-8:1, Sunday, Eastertide, Week 3)

EMMAUS

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing the Emmaus story. I almost know the text by heart. I’m struck today as I sit to write this reflection just how healing a long walk with a friend can be. There is something about the rhythm of walking and being alongside another person that helps knots to unravel and allows a new perspective to open up.

As the disciples walk towards Emmaus, I imagine that they are experiencing a knot of grief and confusion as they try to hold together the events of the Upper Room, Gethsemane and Calvary. Scholars have speculated as to where Emmaus might be. In a sense it doesn’t really matter. The disciples set out on a physical journey and find through an encounter with a stranger that they have made a life-changing inner journey.

As the weeks of Eastertide unfold, we too are invited to be open to those moments when someone comes and walks alongside us. We are invited to be attentive to the times when by chance we are invited to share a meal with others. There will be times when our hearts too will burn.

How can you be open to encountering Christ this Eastertide?

(Luke 24:13-35, Easter Wednesday)

DORCAS

Peter went back with them immediately, and on his arrival they took him to the upper room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, showing him tunics and other clothes DORCAS had made when she was with them.

Acts records just a handful of details about Dorcas. We have become accustomed to listening to the silences in our biblical texts. That she is named already marks her out as someone significant. To be remembered as one who ‘never tired of doing good or giving in charity’ is a significant accolade in the language of the Early Church. She has spent her life embodying Christ’s self-less service.

The detail of the widows showing Peter the clothes she had made always strikes me. We live in an age where handmade clothes are a rarity. As a monastic I have the privilege of every part of my habit being handmade, including my leather belt. It’s not just handmade, it’s made to measure. It’s likely that my tunic and scapular would only fit me. When I hear this story I am reminded of the care and attention that is needed when you make a garment for someone else.

Where is Christ calling you to show care and attention this Eastertide?

(Acts 9: 31-42, Saturday, Third Week of Eastertide)

COMMON

‘The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in COMMON.‘

This is a touchstone text for anyone who wants to explore living in community. Living in a way which expresses unity is something to which we can all aspire. There are of course many ways to do this. No one way perfectly embodies this text.

This vision of the early church is something which inspired St Benedict in the Sixth Century. Chapter 34 of his Rule is entitled ‘Distribution of Goods According to Need’. He quotes Acts 4 and makes the very important qualifier:

‘Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed, whoever needs more should feel humble because of his weakness, not self important because of the kindness shown him.’

Benedict understands human weakness and knows that ‘one size fits all’ will not work in monastic living. I take heart from this. Accepting where you fall on this spectrum is an important part of the inner journey in monastic life.

How does Luke’s vision inspire you today?

( Acts 4:32-37, Tuesday, Second Week of Eastertide)

BAPTISED

We see here the full fervour of the Early Church as, filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles proclaim an urgent message:

You must repent and everyone of you must be BAPTISED in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It’s easy for us to lose that sense of urgency in our own faith journeys. Listening to the Acts of the Apostles throughout Eastertide gives me the chance to reconnect with my ancestors in the faith. The choice to be baptised in the Early Church opened up a whole new world view. Jesus is Lord (kyrios) and not the emperor. Loyalty now is to the values of the Kingdom and not the Empire.

The majority of us will have been baptised as babies and so didn’t make that life changing choice ourselves. But what we do have now is the invitation to live that baptismal calling to the full. The life of faith is never static and what is means for each of us to share in Christ’s anointing as Priest, Prophet and King will grow and develop through our lives.

How does your baptism shape your life today? Are you living in the fullness of the Spirit’s power?

(Acts 2:36-41, Easter Tuesday)

AWE

‘Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.’

I am struck today at how this text conveys a mix of emotions as it couples ‘awe and great joy’. Throughout the story of our salvation we meet those who have come close to the holiness of God and have experienced awe. There are dramatic moments on mountain tops, but also quiet moments when prayer has been answered.

The women have been reassured by an angel that that there is no need for them to be afraid. Jesus has risen as he said he would. I imagine this news filling every fibre of their being. This a powerful moment of transformation—from sorrow to joy, from doubt to belief. The women, who had come to the tomb expecting to mourn, instead encountered the miraculous: an empty grave, a risen Saviour.

Moments of awe are part of our own faith journey’s too. The work of the Alistair Hardy Trust has shown that 75% of people claim to have had some form of spiritual experience, often in childhood and often related to nature. There’s something about the nature of childhood that makes us open to these moments of awe, these touches of God.

Has anything over the past few months filled you with awe and great joy ?

(Matt 28:8-15, Easter Monday)

John 20:19-31

There’s nothing worse than being with a group of people who are talking about an experience that you haven’t had. There’s only so far that you can go in trying to understand what they are saying and feeling. It’s easy for me to understand how Thomas might be feeling when the disciples say that Jesus has risen and that they have seen him.

I feel I have a lot in common with Thomas. I am more at home with things that are enfleshed and concrete than theories and abstractions. It has always struck me that when Jesus says to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ this is as much a challenge as it is a comfort. Thomas now has the choice to live in the light of the resurrected Christ or to walk away and find a different path.

I love these lines from Godhead Here in Hiding and they always come to mind when I hear today’s Gospel.

I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But I plainly call thee Lord and God as he:
This faith each day deeper be my holding of,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

Whether we need concrete assurance or are happy to take things on trust, the invitation is the same: live in the light of the resurrection. The events of the past weeks in the liturgy and with Pope Francis’ illness, death and burial certainly have focused my mind on the mystery of life and death. I saw many things in Pope Francis. He certainly embodied for me one who could earnestly pray ‘daily make me harder hope and dearer love.‘

Look back over your week, has anything deepened your faith and invited you to dearer love?

Matthew 28: 8-15

Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.

When I opened the Gospel text for today it was the word ‘ran’ which leapt out at me. We heard it several times at our Easter Vigil in John’s account of the resurrection. There we have the rather charming details of who ran faster and got to the tomb first.

I can’t remember the last time I had to run anywhere. Much of my life takes place at a fairly sedate pace. The pattern of the monastic day means that you are more or less sure of what is coming next and you organise yourself accordingly.

I probably most associate running with being a child and being eager to get somewhere or just running for the sheer pleasure of it. As a child there’s energy, freedom and excitement all mixed together as you run.

The women, we are told, are ‘filled with awe and joy’. Their reaction is immediate and heartfelt: they run to share the news, only to encounter Jesus himself along the way. It’s love which powers their running. When Jesus says “Do not be afraid,” he is offering both comfort and a call to action, reminding us that encountering the risen Christ is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of a mission—to go, to tell, to witness.

Can you picture yourself running to tell the news of the resurrection?
Can you imagine the love that powers you?