Dear All,
Some more Easter reflections which I hope you will enjoy. The post- resurrection stories tell us so much about Jesus & about his disciples. Although ‘risen’ the Jesus we meet here is so very human – walking along a road & getting into conversation, meals, breakfast by the sea, and wonderfully forgiving & accepting of all the limitations of his friends – but a gentle nudging of those friends in the direction of a greater truth.
One attachment that at first sight might not seem to belong is the John O’Donaghue verse – the love of a mother for a son that remains intact regardless of his crimes and incarceration. There is a loose connection with the other attachments in that, regardless of Jesus’s apostles having run off, denied him, lost faith in him, he was still there for them. And there was no hint of accusation – his love & welcome for them remained.
Our blessing today is the Repose Blessing from New Dawn CD. Let’s pray it for ourselves but extend it to all those whose love for their children is put to the test.
With love from us both, Moira & Margaret
Advance notice for those who come to Evening Prayer (zoomed or live):
From Thursday 25 May until Sunday 4th June inclusive there will be no zoomed EP. Also, for those who join us in the Blessed Sacrament church, we won’t be there for EP on Tuesday 30 or Wed 31 May.
Easter Stories
(From a Tablet editorial)
The accounts of Christ’s appearances after the Resurrection, including that on the road to Emmaus, reveal much of what Christianity is. These are intimate encounters but they are shared encounters. Discipleship is a calling, but it is a shared calling, not a solitary relationship with God. It is a calling lived out in community, and the story of Emmaus, where the disciples finally recognise Christ as he breaks bread, is a reminder that Christianity is lived out in a Eucharistic community. And that Eucharistic community requires not only love & worship of God, but recognition of, and love of, one’s neighbour. Part of being in community, and encountering one’s neighbour, as the story of Emmaus shows, involves conversation. Hopes, fears and troubles are part of that conversation.
On the Seashore
John 21. 1-14
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Some Reflections:
A night of futile fishing leaves empty nets & empty hearts. Jesus takes the initiative & meet them in the early morning light. He invites them to eat: ‘Come & have breakfast’. There is an abundant table ready – of fish, food, love, warmth & great joy. Here fractured relationships are healed.
‘Come & have breakfast’; How simply and sensitively Jesus deals with us! He knows our needs and our hunger. He knows too that we can only manage the revelations of the divine is small portions.
Peter is lost, floundering. He feels that he is a failure at what he usually does well. Can I identify with him sometimes? But Peter is open to another voice which he dimly recognises, but not quite. He does what is suggested to him & wonderful results follow. Surely now his heart breaks open in repentant love when he is treated so kindly by the person he has betrayed? Peter was not the first to recognise Jesus, but was the first to respond.
When we stand gazing upwards, bring us down to earth:
with the love of a friend
through the songs of the sorrowing
in the faces of the hungry.
When we look to you for action, demand some work from us:
by your touch of fire
your glance of reproof
your fearful longing.
As ruler over all:
love us into action;
fire us with your zeal;
enrich us with your grace
to make us willing subjects of your rule. Amen.
Janet Nightingale
No-one else can see beauty in his darkened life now.
His image has closed
Like a shadow.
But he is yours;
And you have different eyes
That hold his yesterdays
In pictures no-one else remembers.
He is yours in a way no words could ever tell;
And you can see through the stranger this deed has made him
And still find the countenance of your son.
John O’Donaghue – speaking to the mother of a young imprisoned criminal