Preferring Nothing to Christ

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?

Listen to Mary’s Story

Read: 24:13-35

Mary and Cleopas are heavy hearted as they begin their journey. Have you known times on your own faith journey when what you hoped for hasn’t materialised?

Mary and Clopas find themselves sharing their hopes and fears with Jesus. Imagine yourself doing this too.

That simple act of breaking bread is the moment of recognition for Mary and Cleopas. Where have you recognised Jesus during this past week?

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

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.