Peter weeps Holy Week: Wednesday Reading Matthew 26.69-75 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus the Galilean.’ But he denied it before all of them, saying, ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’ When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, ‘This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ Again he denied it with an oath, ‘I do not know the man.’ After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.’ Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, ‘I do not know the man!’ At that moment the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: ‘Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly. Reflection Peter is a coward! Jesus has predicted Peter’s denial of him when called to account. Peter now sees it come true and runs away weeping bitterly. Unlike Judas, he weeps openly. And, also unlike Judas, he has a chance to be redeemed later, as described in John Chapter 21. Peter becomes the leading disciple in the Acts of the Apostles, and particularly the one preaching the first sermon at Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2. Nonetheless, like Judas, his tears also come from love. They both loved their teacher, their friend, and their Lord. Both their hearts were broken during Jesus’ passion. Tears suggest the intensity and depth of the relationship. Black Spirituality does not shy away from tears. Tears, whether bitter or joyful, are signs of love and devotion. Weeping together knits us closer to each other and into the heart of the God who wept and suffered for our sake. Watch Notice your relationship with your emotions, especially your own tears. ...and pray for the strength to accept and express difficult emotions in healthy ways. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
#WatchAndPray reflections - Holy Week: Tuesday Judas weeps Holy Week: Tuesday Reading Matthew 27.3-10 When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.’ After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.’ Reflection Judas takes his own life. This is a vivid and uncomfortable part of Scripture that isn’t often really expounded on. There is no explicit mention of him weeping but only an explanation of his deep guilt and remorse over betraying Jesus. But this is in keeping with such shattering experiences. Often the tears are silent. The despair is penetrating, and the sorrow is inexpressible. Suicide is taboo in most societies. Often it is discussed in ways that blame the victim. Little understanding and compassion are given for the situations that precede it, especially the deep feelings of guilt and shame. This is also something taboo in Black communities, but in reflecting honestly on the traumas of Black history, there can be some understanding here. What is also clear is that Jesus does not condemn or refuse to forgive Judas. There was space for Judas, too, even after his betrayal. Watch Take note of the ways in which suicide is talked about in our world. ...and pray for deeper compassion for victims and families in such situations. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
#WatchAndPray reflections - Holy Week: Monday Holy Week: Weeping Tears – whether silent or aloud – flow from the deepest of human experiences. Many of these are tears of heartbreak and despair, tears of the abandoned or forsaken. But tears also convey deep love. We will pay attention to the tears shed by Jesus and those around him during this Holy Week. Prayer for the Week We come to you, the One who weeps with us. Through your sorrows, soothe our deepest despair; through your sufferings, draw us into the comfort of your divine embrace. Amen. Jesus weeps Holy Week: Monday Reading Luke 19.41-44 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’ Reflection Chapter 19 is pivotal in Luke’s Gospel narrative. It records Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He rides through the crowds on a donkey, a sign of humility and servanthood. He goes to the temple and turns over the tables of the money changers, declaring that God’s house should be a house of prayer, not a den for thieves and robbers. However, between these two dramatic scenes is a moment where Jesus weeps over the city. He weeps for the judgement and pain which will follow the people’s rejection of him. Luke’s Jesus is quite the weeper – deeply empathic, and in touch with the pain of those around him. He is the embodiment of a God who is not distant, but deeply weeps for his children. This is perhaps the most powerful image of the Jesus within Black Spirituality: the God who weeps with the forsaken, the broken and the crucified. Watch Notice what reactions you have to the idea that Jesus weeps. ...and pray for a faith that is filled with empathy and concern for our neighbour. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
#WatchAndPray Lent reflections - Week 5: Weekend Reaching for healing Week 5: Weekend Reading Mark 5.21-34 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’ Reflection We saw Jesus’ healing power rejected by the people of Gerasa yesterday. But the miracle that immediately follows it – Jesus’ healing of the woman suffering from haemorrhages – shows us someone determined to receive it. Selina Stone writes in Tarry Awhile, “this story is as much about this woman’s determination as it is about the power of Jesus. Healing does not fall into her lap; it is passing by, and she has to literally be ready to grab it … “Was God working in her, to get her to this point, where she was willing to venture beyond the limits of tradition to fight for her own life? Did her healing begin as she began to recognise that her life mattered, and that she deserved to be well? … Her mind and spirit are healed enough, so that her body might also be.” Watch Reflect on moments when you missed opportunities for healing and transformation. ...and pray for the courage to "grab" future moments and opportunities for healing. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
