Fourth Station of the Resurrection:The Angel appears to the Women(Matthew 28: 5-8)It is well known that I have an overactive imagination. Whether it be dreaming about flying to a distant planet, or even unearthing an archaeological treasure house like Tutankhamun’s tomb, I have pictured myself doing lots of strange and wonderful things. And imagination is not a bad thing. Indeed, even St Ignatius of Loyola stressed the importance of dreaming as part of spiritual meditation and discipline. For example, to picture yourself walking along the shore of Galilee with your Lord can be a powerful and prayerful experience.Many years ago I paid a visit to the Holy Land. I did the usual things, you know, climb the mount of the Beatitudes (more like a small hill rather than a mountain!), bathe in the Dead Sea, and even visit the church at Cana. Alas, there was no free wine on offer. The ‘highlight’ of the tour, so to speak, was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where you can pray at the spot where the cross stood, and see the split in the rock which resulted from the subsequent earthquake. Fr Terry mentioned this on Sunday. If you ignore the cacophony of the various Christian denominations trying to ‘out sing’ each other in various parts of the church, you can see the stone on which the body of Christ lay in the tomb. (In fact, part of the stone that was rolled away can still be seen – a sad portion of its former self.) When I went to that slab of stone, you are not so much greeted by an angel, but normally by other pilgrims, or even a bearded priest trying to keep some sort of order, rearranging the crash-barrier to manage the que. Regardless of the reality, I could not but help imagine what the scene would have been like for those women who came to the tomb on that first Easter Day. When we read the few verses prior to today’s gospel reading, we learn there was an earthquake, and an angel came from above and rolled the stone away.If you have ever seen the film The Greatest Story ever Told, which stars Max von Sydow as Jesus Christ, you will remember that the famous singer Pat Boone played the angel, dressed in white from head to foot looking, well, angelic. I can’t say that a vision of Pat Boone appeared in my mind as I was standing in that church in Jerusalem, but I tried to imagine what those women were feeling when they saw what had happened and heard him speak. Perhaps fear? Possibly surprise?Who were these women? Matthew tells us that they were Mary Magdalene and ‘the other Mary’, presumably the mother of James, Joseph and sons of Zebedee, and Matthew tells us that these two had witnessed the crucifixion itself. And the angel connects the Jesus of the resurrection with the Jesus who suffered an awful death on the wooden cross, the death they had just witnessed. The angel says ‘I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified’. There was no getting away from that fact.But let us have a closer look at the words spoken by the angel. In this passage we see that the angel references both pain and joy. The angel is clearly aware of the pain that is being experienced by those women: they had seen his death, they now saw an empty tomb. Where was the body of the one they had followed faithfully? But there is the joy and comfort, too. As the angel tells them, ‘Do not be afraid . . . ‘ and later ‘ he is not here; for he has been raised . . . ‘Even on that first Easter day, people experienced both pain and joy. Just as Jesus came to know what it was like to be human, so the angel also addressed those concerns and feelings that humans have. In our earthly lives, and especially today, we all have an understanding of pain and joy. Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, when the statistics go ever upward and the discomfort of lockdown continues to bite, there is joy. There is the joy of communities coming together, albeit through strange and peculiar means, and greater co-operation between nations around the globe; there are wonderful feats of fund-raising and fund-giving. The women left the tomb in fear, no surprise there, but with great joy. It is a reminder that even in the midst of pain and fear, there is great joy, and for Christians the joy of resurrection hope. Don’t be afraid to run and share that news with others, keeping of course a respectful two metre gap.Nick Baker
I saw this image on Facebook a few days ago and I have been giving some thought to the message it contains. We have experienced lockdown since half way through Lent, an important 40-day period of time in the Christian Calendar. It is impossible to say at the moment how long our ‘Stay Home’ period will last, but I suspect that we need to prepare for at least 40 days! During that period some of us will have caught the virus and some of us will have weathered some difficult storms, but God stays with us through it all.40 is a significant number in Jewish-Christian scripture:· In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days and nights of rain.· The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land promised to them by God.· Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.· Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry.What can we learn from these Bible events?1. Noah walked with God and he did all that God commanded him. (Genesis 6:9,22) God had a special task for him: he was to stay safe with his family inside the ark and he was to look after the animals that were placed in his care. Our priority is to make sure we walk with God every day, regardless of how disconnected we feel in other ways and ask the Lord to write his Law on our hearts. Hebrews 8:10 says ‘This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ Take good care of your families at this time. Stay connected with the church family. Enjoy the wildlife that comes into your garden and take good care of the wonderful pets you have at home who are your constant companions.2. The Hebrews wandered around the wilderness, often complaining to their leaders and frequently ignoring or disobeying the voice of God. Not all of them reached the promised land.‘For the Israelites travelled for forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the warriors who came out of Egypt, perished, not having listened to the voice of the LORD. To them the LORD swore that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Joshua 5:6Perhaps you have been giving some thought as to whether the COVID-19 virus is a plague sent to test us. John and Bernie gave us food for thought in their ‘Thought for the Day’. Lent is a time for self-reflection, confession and repentance. God is faithful and will forgive us for the times we have strayed in the wilderness. Intercede for our nation at this time – the people of Great Britain need to return to God! We need a new generation of Christians who are able to enter the Promised Land!3. Moses’ fast was a time of special preparation before he received the Ten Commandments. During his time on Mount Sinai he talked with God and heard God speaking to Him.During Lent, some of us choose to fast or give up something. The purpose of this should be that it helps us to draw closer to God, rather than being an end in itself, or thinking that our self-denial makes us more holy. We have more time for reflection when we are staying at home. Let us prepare ourselves for a greater awareness of God’s presence with us.4. And Jesus Christ? What did his forty days in the wilderness signify? The imminent birth of a new Israel liberated from sin, reconciled to God, and governed by the law of the Spirit rather than a law chiselled in stone. The temptation of Christ shows us the tactics of Satan, the evil one. Bread, a symbol for all that sustains our physical life, is a great blessing. But Satan tries to make material things the ultimate, distracting us from a deeper hunger and a more enduring food. During our period of lock-down we are realising the precariousness of relying on material wealth and how it is not necessarily the highest paid workers who do the most valuable work in our society.Political power and all leadership are intended by God for the sake of serving the common good, but many leaders become self-seeking or even oppressive. Pray for our leaders and for all leaders throughout the world, that they will seek to serve the common good, especially during this time of crisis. Then there’s religious temptation, the trickiest of them all: using God’s gifts to make people look at us rather than at Him. In all we do, in lock-down and when we can be physically together again, let us worship God and serve only Him. This time of lock-down could be with us for a while yet, so just hang in there and remember that God keeps his promises. After your confinement, when the ‘rain’ stops and the ocean of virus subsides, watch for the Rainbow!Mary Tynan
Reflections for TodayFrom the real-world sublime and challenging….Jane and I arrived back on a ‘clean ship’ from our South American Exploration on Monday 16th March, and immediately went into a not so ‘glorious isolation’. We had had some preparation for this by being in our sixty square feet cabin for 70 nights.We would like to share some highlights and reflections on this extraordinary voyage. We hope you enjoy the journey!To set the scene I was asked by the Fred Olsen Cruise line, via Mission to Seafarers, to serve as Ship’s Chaplain on the Balmoral from 6th January – 16th March. Our voyage was via 25 ports and 15 countries. Three days out of Southampton our first port of call was Lisbon where we experienced all things Portugese not forgetting the tarte de nartas.We started our pilgrimage by visiting the monastic church of Saint Jerome where the tomb of Vasco de Gama the explorer was laid to rest. He opened up the routes to India where he died of Malaria in Cochin, Kerala in 1524. (We visited his original resting place there two years ago). So we paid respects to the explorer who gave us the first taste of the spices from India and joining the west to the orient.Lisbon is a city of bridges, parks and seven hills. The two main road bridges are the red ochre coloured 25th April Revolution bridge built in 1966 and the Vasco de Gama Bridge completed in 1998, a six lane 75 mph toll road seven and a half miles long.We caught the first sight of Christo Rei, Christ the King (photo) from the red bridge. The statue is 90 feet high with Christ looking out over the river Tagus and embracing the city of Lisbon. Christ the King is quite a sight up close with two chapels at its base dedicated to Peace and to the Blessed Sacrament.One of the nuns we met at the chapels gave us a children’s explanation of the monument to pass on to our grandchildren. The Catholic bishop of Portugal had vowed at Fatima in April 1940 that if Portugal was spared from the second world war a monument of Christ rising over Lisbon would be built. In 1959 300,000 people witnessed its dedication. A couple from Colombia took our photos there as we thought about what lay ahead at the glorious feet of Christ. It brought back memories of standing at His feet at the foot of the Christ in Glory tapestry in Coventry Cathedral. Dedication thoughts to offer up the adventures ahead…..And so on to Funchal…..Blessings! And keep safe…..Edward and Jane
THE STATIONS OF THE RESURRECTIONNo.3 - JOHN 20 3-8Reading: A reading from the Gospel according to John (20.3-8)Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed.Here we are a week after Easter, and we should be enjoying the joy of knowing the resurrection has changed our lives and we should be enjoying the beautiful Spring. Well, as much as we try, the shadow of the coronavirus is not far from our minds, which has taken the shine off our “normal” thanksgivings and celebrations. But perhaps our normal celebrations now are a bit different from what happened at the time of the resurrection. The resurrection was a time of shock, disbelief, insecurity, and incomprehension. There is no mention of chocolate, flowers, or Easter bunnies in the Bible.As we progress through the Stations of the Resurrection we will journey with the disciples through this amazing but challenging time as they witnessed it, from when the power of God the Father releasing His Son, Jesus Christ from the tomb, to Jesus's ascension. We then remain with the disciples as they receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and finally, we witness Jesus coming to Saul, an enemy of the first Christians, to use him as the great evangelist Paul to build up the Church.On Easter Sunday we heard the story of Mary Magdalene finding the empty tomb and in panic running to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved (thought to be the writer, John). They then run to the tomb and the other disciple outruns Simon Peter, but he was hesitant to enter the tomb, but just looked and saw the linen body wrappings. Simon Peter then arrives and enters the tomb and sees the wrappings and finally the other disciple enters. What was going through their minds at that time is hard to imagine. After the arrest, trial and crucifixion of the man who they had followed through his ministry, they must have been in quite a state of confusion, and for Simon Peter, guilt for having denied he knew Jesus. Yet the final verse of this passage states firmly the other disciple saw and believed.The two disciples were very different, Simon Peter, was I believe, an extrovert man who threw himself into whatever he was doing, sometimes being headstrong and sometimes showing more confidence than he actually owned. This confidence was to dramatically change when it was empowered by Jesus's later charge to Simon Peter “to feed my sheep” and by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In my opinion, the other disciple, let us call him John was a quieter introvert man, a man just entrusted to care for Mary, Jesus's mother. He was obviously a great thinker who in his later writings gave us the most important theological oversight of the life of Christ. So, we have two very contrasting men witnessing the most extraordinary event, two men who then through their faith in the Resurrected Lord were to change the world.So here we are a week after Easter, wondering why all this coronavirus business has happened, and why it has upset our “normal” Easter celebrations. The first Station of the resurrection from St. Matthew's Gospel tells of an earthquake rolling the stone away from the tomb. I wonder if any of you have ever been present during an earthquake of any significance. When we see terrible destruction in different parts of the world, we feel sorry for people and then generally get on with our lives. In this country a small earthquake that rattles a few chimney pots usually gets headlines in the media, but even a small earthquake can be frightening. I remember when I was a curate in Wood End in Coventry there was an earthquake in Shropshire on the 2nd April 1990, measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale and it is the only time I can remember really feeling the earth move under my feet. It was most disconcerting for a few seconds as we usually think that the ground under us is our sure foundation. St. Matthew is keen in his Gospel to dramatise the death and resurrection of Jesus with darkness, earthquakes, and the tearing of the temple curtain. Matthew was emphasising that signs from God signifying his power were always greater than anything mankind could do, even when mankind was trying to kill his beloved Son. We must remember that although we think that we are very clever in our modern world, our lives are very vulnerable in so many ways. For that reason, for Christians every day must be an Easter Day. Though the earth shakes under our feet we are still saved by God's power and love, brought about by the resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ. Christ is our sure foundation, lets run the race of life with him as our goal.THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – and smile for the day.Before you criticize someone, you should run a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.Fr Terry
