O woman, great is your faith: be it done for you as you desire! Two weeks ago St Paul reminded us that we can have all the right thinking on matters of the Church’s teaching, but if we don’t have love it is worth nothing. I spoke about how our hearts are changed not primarily by having right thinking but by acting on that thinking. That is why in the Epistle this morning (1 Thessalonians. 4:1-8), St…
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. We are following Jesus up to Jerusalem this Lent. In our Gospel we return to the very beginnings of Jesus’ ministry to us on earth. John the Baptist had proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and Jesus comes to him to be baptized by him – we hear the words of the Father, “This is…
It is very unusual these days in the Church to have a service on Holy Saturday, unless it is after sunset – when in many churches, including our own, the celebration of Easter begins (since in Jewish understanding, followed by Anglicans, the new day begins not at sunrise, but at sunset.) But it is a good thing, I think, for us not to jump over or to forget that first Holy Saturday – and to…
God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. A major portion of each of the four Gospels is taken up with a description of the passion and death of Jesus Christ. And all of the teachings of the Gospels leads to this same place – Christ was born into this world that he might offer himself up on the Cross. The passion and death of Jesus is at…
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end… He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it round his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel…
“Let this mind be in you, which is yours in Christ Jesus: who…humbled himself; by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross. “ The created world around us in this season of Lent is poised to explode in colour – on this wet Spring day the blossoms on trees are just beginning to open – there is the expectation of Easter joy and glory ready to burst forth after months…
How much more shall the blood of Christ… purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. We are journeying with Jesus during Lent towards Jerusalem. This morning there is a kind of sharpening of our focus on the results of that journey. We desire the Paschal feast – the celebration of Easter…but we must first go with him to the Cross. ———— This past week, if you’ve been following the daily readings,…
Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. This is Mothering Sunday, it has been a tradition to remember our mothers this day who gave life to us from their very flesh and who have and continue to nurture us in our earthly life (even if they have passed on to the next – by example, by their wise counsel, and behind the veil, with love and prayers). In England Mothering Sunday has also been…
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. This Lent we are going up to Jerusalem with Jesus – to the Cross on Calvary and beyond. And in this journey, we are confronted by battles with demons. This is what is being reflected in our readings for the past two Sundays and this morning. To speak about demons and their attacks may sound…
This is the will of God, even your sanctification. So, how are your gardens growing? The snow drops and crocuses are blooming everywhere. Are you seeing some new shoots springing up in your souls as the fruit of your Lenten fasting? This morning we are continuing with our Spring gardening, our Lenten project of attending to the garden that is our soul. Last week I spoke about the giving up of some good, of something…