Theme “Easter”
Easter 2020
This reading first appeared in The Inquirer, Issue 7984, Easter 2020
https://www.inquirer.org.uk/pages/
“From midday a darkness fell over the whole land…” – Matthew 27: 45
“The angel spoke to the women: ‘You have nothing to fear. He has been raised.’ They hurried away in awe and great joy.” – Matthew 28: 5-6, 8
“There
Not of this world
This reflection first appeared in The Inquirer, 8033, April 2022
My kingdom is not of this world – John 18: 36
As we remember Jesus on this commemoration of his death we recognise that he stood for all of us and especially for those who have been unjustly killed, all who have died as martyrs for
The day after Good Friday
What was it like? After the death?
For those who had followed?
For those who had cared?
For those who had been so close?
For his mother, who had pondered the meaning of his life for so long, was it what she expected?
For Mary, his sister, who had followed him and loved him.
For
Blood of Christ: For Good Friday
“Our illuminator, Jesus, came down…
And he bore a crown of thorns. And
he put on a purple garment. And he
was crucified on a tree…”
– ‘The Letter of Peter to Philip’, 2nd/3rd century.
Blood of Christ,
shed for everyone.
Blood of Christ,
blood like ours, blood like everyone’s.
Blood of Christ,
blood of the
Chalice lighting for Easter
Joy to the World
Life calls to life
Arise! Awake!
Fear no more the silence of the tomb
For the lives of humanity
are strung like pearls on the thread of the spirit
and the pearl shines in the darkness of the deep.
Life arises,
Life unending,
Life triumphant!
Spirit like a flame catching on
Chalice lighting for Tenebrae (the night before the Crucifixion)
The night seemed endless:
drawn like a veil over the suffering land
that cried out in its sleep,
“The Anointed One is betrayed.”
The Sun was eclipsed, the veil of the temple rent in two But a single star of hope
Illuminated the uncanny dark:
the resilience of the human spirit.
And so we light
Chalice lighting for Palm Sunday
The cries of welcome for the anointed one
rang in the streets.
Each saw the fulfilment of their hopes and dreams.
May we know the fulfilment that is to be found
in our own spark of the Divine
in our own hearts
and as we light this chalice flame
let us remember all those who
The path to easter
A responsive Lenten meditation
We kindle our flame of fellowship.
May it be to us a symbol of springtime’s
returning warmth and the Divine Light
that shines in every loving heart.
The Lenten Fast is with us.
We remember the wilderness days of Jesus:
his lonely struggle with the inner tempter,
with wild beasts for company
and