Preferring Nothing to Christ

John 20:1-9*

I’ve always loved the early morning. I was usually the first up at home and loved to be in school extra early. There is something about the quiet and the dark that prepares me for the day. Often in the morning I find that my heart and my mind have found a solution to a problem or that a difficulty from the day before doesn’t look quite so bad. Neuroscientists tell us that our cortisol levels are raised in the morning, so things really do look and feel much better.

I can easily picture myself with Mary Magdalene, having awoken from a light sleep and wanting to be at the place where Jesus was laid. I can picture myself standing by the entrance to the tomb and waiting a while before I can look right in. I imagine the dark as a kind of protection for the confusion that Mary feels.

What begins in darkness for Mary ends in dawn and recognition as Jesus speaks her name. This moment of encounter always makes my heart beat faster. At Turvey the Gospel is sung at our Easter Vigil and the music reaches a beautiful crescendo at this point. ‘Rabbuni’ resonates through the whole chapel. I am struck by the need in all of us to have someone say our name and to know us as we truly are. Mary’s exclamation of ‘Rabbuni’ is our cry of recognition too.

Where do you recognise the face of the Risen Christ?

* At Turvey we use this Gospel every year at our Easter Vigil.

Read John 20:1-18

As you listened to Mary Magdalene’s story were there words and images which struck you?

Mary and her companions beg, borrow and buy all the spices that they can. What lengths might you go to in showing honour to someone?

Jesus says Mary’s name and in that moment she knows her Lord. How have you recognised your Lord during this Triduum?

Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used by permission 

Listen to Salome’s story.

Read Mark 15:1-41 and John 19:17-37

Salome speaks about the teaching of Jesus ‘making sense of the world’ and making ‘sense of me’. What are the parts of Jesus’ teaching that help you to make sense of the world and sense of yourself?

Salome and her companions draw together when they hear that Jesus has been arrested. They follow close by. Do you have a friend, or a group of friends who have been there in difficult times? Have you stayed close by someone as difficult situations have unfolded?

Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used by permission. 

Listen to Joanna’s Story

Read Mark 14:12-25

Joanna pays a fisherman to take her to the place where Jesus was preaching.
What lengths have you gone to in your own life to find Jesus?

How does Joanna’s telling of the meal in the Upper Room speak to you?

Joanna speaks of Jesus allowing you to ‘grow into the truth that he brought in your own time.’ How have you grown into the truth this Lent?

Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used by permission. 

Listen to Susannah’s Story

Read Matthew 26:6-13
Mark 14:3-9
Luke 7:36-50
John 12:1-8

When Susannah’s father gives her an alabaster jar he says: ‘Something precious for the most precious person I know. Open it on a special occasion, dear one.’
Have you ever been given something precious? Have you ever kept something for a special occasion?

When you picture the scene of a woman anointing Jesus, where is your attention drawn? What do you notice and feel?

Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used by permission. 

Listen to Anna’s Story

Read Luke 2:22-38 and Mark 12:38-44

Anna talks of visiting her great aunt and listening to old stories of her faith.
Who are the storytellers in your own life?

Her great aunt tells her ‘It’s your story, too- never let them paint you out.’
Which Biblical women have inspired you?

Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used by permission. 

Listen to Sarah’s Story

Read Mark 11:27-12:34

What do you hear in Sarah’s description of being in Jerusalem for Passover?
Have you ever made a pilgrimage? What did you learn about yourself.?

When Sarah listens to Jacob’s experience in the Temple she shares his love of the Law and the debates that are had. What the questions that you would like to raise about your own faith? Do you have places where you can do this?

Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used by permission. 

Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 22:14-23:56

Each morning he wakes me to hear,
to listen like a disciple.
The Lord has opened my ear.

As we begin Holy Week the Church invites us on a journey. This week is like no other in the year. The Church tells her story in words and images, in ritual and drama, and in silence and song. We are invited to find ourselves in the scriptural stories.

The First Reading for today from Isaiah 50 can be a helpful starting place for the week. The servant knows himself as a disciple. Each day his task is to hear what God is saying. God has already created in him an openness and a readiness. God has opened the servant’s ear. I hear this as promise that God will speak to us.

Make a conscious effort this week to listen to God in the scriptures and those around you.

What do you most want to hear?

Ezekiel 37:21-28
John 11:45-56

I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shall resettle them and increase them; I shall settle my sanctuary among them for ever.  

We have met the prophet Ezekiel already during Lent. Woven together with warnings and reminders of just how much Israel has strayed are some of the most memorable prophecies of hope in all of the prophetic literature. Today we hear a promise of gathering together and of unity. Israel has suffered the hardship of being scattered physically in Exile. It had also suffered a kind of fracturing of the heart as it left behind all that it held dear in life and worship. God’s promise is far-reaching and will heal their inner and outer fragmentation. God offers them a covenant of peace.

Covenants are two-way. Israel has her part to play in this new stage of her relationship with God. What is asked is faithfulness in every area of their lives. Nothing is outside God’s remit.

How do you hear Ezekiel’s prophecy of hope?

Jeremiah 20:10-13
John 10:31-42

As we get closer to Holy Week there is a sense of growing tension in every encounter that Jesus has. He is challenged on every level and his responses only add to the confusion of his hearers. Today he makes a very simple appeal: if you don’t believe in me, at least believe in what I am doing.

If I am not doing my Father’s work,
there is no need to believe me;
but if I am doing it,
then even if you refuse to believe in me,
at least believe in the work I do;
then you will know for sure
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’

The complexity of so many situations in the world today has focused our attention on governments and their leaders. I think there are many who serve us in public office who would want us to believe in them. We’ve grown weary of some styles of leadership and are less than impressed with what they do. In short, we don’t believe in them or what they do.

The words of Jesus challenge us to live in such a way that others can see God at work in us. Sometimes this will be through the practical things that we do. Sometimes it will be through the subtlety of inner work. One can help the other.

How can you live so that others can see God’s work in you?