It was lovely to notice Morris dancers in the town on May Day: dancing in the Market Place and also outside Blackfriars Tavern. The joyful noise they make brings a smile to peoples’ faces as they find themselves caught up in the glee whilst they pass by on their daily chores. Joy is found in the ordinary.This Sunday’s Gospel draws us to the lakeshore. It’s a familiar place where the disciples, still dazed by reports of a risen Jesus, return to what they know: fishing. Here in the ordinary Jesus meets them. The miraculous catch of fish reminds them who He is. The fire on the shore, the shared breakfast, and the quiet moment with Peter — all tell us that the risen Christ is not distant or aloof. He is deeply personal. He is with us.Easter is not a one-day event but is a season, a journey, a deepening revelation. This is why the season of Easter lasts many weeks; so we can take time to fathom the mystery first witnessed by the disciples and claim that in the ordinariness of our own lives today.Father Simon
Thomas answered Jesus, ‘My Lord and My God!’” (v.28) Uniquely, it is Thomas who, of all the disciples and all the characters in John’s Gospel, finally identifies Jesus as divine. None of the other disciples has yet made this declaration, despite being visited by the risen Jesus. It’s as if Thomas had been on the cusp of this point of conviction just before Jesus was arrested and killed. Those terrible events plunged him into a greater doubt than the others. But once he meets the risen Jesus, it is from his extreme position of doubt that he is the first to reach the conviction that Jesus is Lord and God. It seems then that doubt can be constructive in matters of faith. It can create space for Jesus to enter, where we can suddenly become aware of his power to change our lives and to declare him as our Lord and our God, just as Thomas did.Revd Richard
I’m a fan of Victorian novels and Dickens is undoubtedly by favourite Victorian novelist, but my favourite novel of all time is ‘Les Miserables’ by Victor Hugo. Many people know the story from the songs of the popular musical. It is the story of a man who has reached upmost wretchedness and despair who is saved and gradually restored to fullness of life by the kind actions of a priest. Similarly, in Dickens' ‘A tale of two Cities’, there is a phrase – indeed a password - by which people are ‘recalled to life’. That is precisely what has happened and will happen again this Sunday as we remember the Easter story, whereby Jesus recalls us to life by his resurrection.Whatever despair or wretchedness we may be going through, his act of sacrifice on the cross and his rising from the tomb gives us hope, a fresh start and life in abundance.Revd Liz
The first Palm Sunday must have been a celebration of chaos, noise, colour and anticipation as Jesus enters Jerusalem to the adulation of a cheering crowd. I always think our ordered gatherings and attempts at exuberant celebration of this event must fall significantly short of the unfettered original, but try we must! The importance of the entry is that all too soon the cheering fades until we are left with the loneliness of Maundy Thursday’s watch and the reflective desolation of Good Friday before the joy arrives.Please come and join in. Mark out the services you plan to come to as together we keep this week. Think and pray about those you will invite to share in our devotions and prepare for the joy of Easter.Fr Simon
