This coming week is Hedgehog Awareness Week, and I'm looking at ways to make our churchyard more hedgehog friendly (I may well be after some volunteer helpers sometime soon!) If you want to know more about how to welcome hedgehogs into your own garden please follow this link -
Meanwhile, in church, we're preparing for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on the 23rd May, where we vote for our churchwardens and PCC members for the coming year. The electoral roll is now open, and forms are available in both churches for anyone who wishes to join.
We're also preparing for our parish confirmation service in July, and Confirmation Classes will start on Thursday 6th May via Zoom. If you are interested in taking this next step on your Christian journey please message this page and someone will get in touch with you.
And finally, this week our Scout Group Leader from St Thomas' celebrated his 50th birthday, and also 42 years since his first cub scout meeting. Since then, Kingsley has run all 3 sections, been the Group Scout Leader, District Beaver Leader, and been the general all round go to for scouting enquiries in the village.
Here are a couple of photos - Happy Birthday, Kingsley!
Welcome to our Worship on the fourth Sunday of Easter. Our Parish Eucharist is at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, and Revd Lyn Woodall will be preaching and presiding. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn this morning is "The King Of Love My Shepherd Is"
The Gospel
John 10:11-18 [NIV]
"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me - just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father - and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason my Father loves Me is that I lay down My life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father”.
Prayer:
Father God, we pray that as we reflect on this; Your living Word, that You will speak to our inner-man and make Yourself known to us in a very real way. Help us to understand Your Word, according to Your will.
Holy Spirit, please interpret these things and bind them to our hearts.
We want to know more about Jesus and we want to do the Father’s will; even as Jesus did the Father’s will.
We ask this, in the mighty Name of Jesus our Saviour and Teacher.
Amen.
Reflection
We are fortunate to live in an area of exceptional beauty and where sheep are commonplace. Some of us might even see shepherds as they tend their flocks. Similarly, in Judea and Galilee, sheep were also commonplace. It is therefore natural that, as Jesus taught His Disciples and His followers, He would use familiar imagery, the better to make His point.
About Himself, He could not be clearer:
“I am the Good Shepherd.” [v11]
Not any old shepherd!
Nor even ‘a’ shepherd…. but THE Good One!
It is abundantly clear, too, that He knows He is heading towards His death as the Sacrificial Lamb. [vv11,15,17,18]
Jesus is both clear and difficult to understand. We have the benefit of the New Testament and hindsight when we read His Teachings…and it can still be confusing at times. But His followers, in the year 33AD, had no such help. As Jews, they certainly understood the concept of the Sacrificial Lamb. It being an important part of the Jewish Faith. The Blood Sacrifice an established ritual in their understanding.
Remember, though, that they were a captive race. They had been invaded by and were ruled by the Romans. They were second-class citizens in their own land and they were definitely hoping for a conquering hero who would lead them out of bondage. They were expectant for a political or military leader. NOT a Shepherd!
And Not only a Shepherd but also the Sacrificial Lamb.
A few weeks ago we read of Jesus’ Baptism where his Cousin, John the Baptist declared, “Behold!, the Lamb of God “, [John1:29] as Jesus approached him in the River Jordan.
To add to the Sheep and Lamb imagery, in the preceding verses of John 10; Jesus refers to Himself as The Sheep GATE! [vv7,9] Commenting that NO-ONE can be saved from Hell and damnation UNLESS THEY COME THROUGH JESUS the SHEEP-GATE.
In John 10:11-18, Jesus warns us about two things:
i)That we should be aware that the hired hand is NOT the same as the Shepherd NOR is he the Owner of the Sheep. He is just someone paid to do a job. This does not mean he cares for his sheep either. (Of course, this can most definitely be Satan.)
ii)That the hired hand cannot protect the sheep from the wolf (You can decide if the wolf symbolises, Satan, life, sin, self or something else).
The mark of the GOOD SHEPHERD is that He knows His sheep by name. Not only that but the sheep KNOW the Good Shepherd.
He likens our relationship with the Good Shepherd (Himself) to His relationship with His Father, God. That short phrase, ‘I know My sheep and My sheep know Me - just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father – and I lay down My life for the sheep’. [vv14b, 15] is so rich and valuable and unfathomable! That we might know God in the same way as the Son of God knows His Father! How amazing is that information?!
Then, almost out of left-field, He tell His listeners that He has OTHER SHEEP. Sheep that are not from the same sheep-pen as us. So, from going from the information that the only way to God is through the Sheep-Gate (Jesus), He tells us that there are some other sheep who belong to Him wo have not come through the same way as us! And He tells us that He MUST bring them! He is COMPELLED! He is clear. They will listen to Him and that though they are a different type of sheep to ourselves, nevertheless, ‘THERE SHALL BE ONE FLOCK AND ONE SHEPHERD’, [v16b]
I leave you to ponder who and what this might mean.
One thing He makes clear, the reason His Father loves Him is because He lays down His life: freely and of his Own volition. Not just that….He lays down His life only to take it up again. He says, ‘No one takes it from Me but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.’ [v18] He acknowledges that this is a command from God and yet He is also saying He is free to choose His path.
Jesus is both God and Man.
He is both perfectly divine and perfectly human.
At this juncture He had walked and talked on this Earth as man and boy for 33 years.
Let me throw this out there…. into the mix….
Can this point be the beginning of His embodying His transition from Mary’s Son to God’s Son? Of course, He is both. But His followers do not know this. As He approaches His Crucifixion He grows more and more obviously divine and God-like. He does this, in part, to gain the superhuman strength He will need for His death on the Cross. In stating that He has the authority to lay His life down and to take it up: He is already publicly making Himself on a par with God. This was MASSIVE. This was so shocking to suggest from a Scriptural (Old Testament) point of view to a Jewish audience.
It could appear that the more we know about Jesus: the more there is to know about Him!
May God and the Holy Spirit help us to open our eyes and heart to find out and know as much as we can about our Jesus.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross, that has given us eternal life.
We thank You for Your Holy Spirit Who reveals Your love and Your Word to us.
Welcome to our Worship on the third Sunday of Easter. Our Parish Eucharist is at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, and Revd Richard Hawkins will be preaching and presiding. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn this morning is "Jesus Stand Among Us & Here Is Bread"
Today's Gospel
Luke 24:36-48
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
Reflection
"While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?'" (Luke 24:41)
Everyone has gestures special to them, those distinctive little things that they alone do: the raising of an eyebrow when sceptical; holding a coffee cup in a particular way; beginning a question with a certain tilt of the head. These things can be the stuff of both love and irritation, but actually most of them are the kinds of things that you don't really notice on a day-to-day basis.
It’s often only when you haven't seen a person for some time that you suddenly become aware of the little things that they do. Or they catch you by stealth when you're thinking about something else; maybe you are sitting quietly somewhere and you can hear someone approach; they suddenly cough in a certain way, and you know instantly who it is. Everyone has these gestures: the seasoning - the salt and pepper - of the way we express ourselves in the world, but it takes someone else really close to us to know and see them.
Perhaps, with their senses overworked after their post-crucifixion trauma, it was just such a gesture that woke the disciples up finally to the presence of Jesus in their midst. These bedraggled and devastated disciples had been through emotional hell, after all. Their beloved friend, the one who had filled their heads and hearts with such love, such hope of a new world and a new way of life, had been tortured and killed. We can only imagine their helplessness and grief, not to mention regret, failure and fear.
And then there had been these strange incidents. In the verses just preceding the ones we read today, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James, along with a few others, had reported finding an angel in the empty tomb, who announced that Jesus was alive - and more than that, they received a celestial lecture that this was entirely what they should have expected all along.
Peter had been to see for himself, but couldn't understand what had happened. And then there was this strange appearance to Cleopas and his compatriot on the road to Emmaus. There again they receive a lecture about their failure to understand that all these horrible events had to happen.
But the funny thing is - or perhaps it is not so funny, just normal human behaviour - none of these things seemed to really convince them. In the end it was not the appearances of angels that brought it home, nor the lectures, nor even the presence of Jesus himself. This all seemed to terrify and confuse them.
It was very simple gestures that really identified Jesus for them, that made the Messiah real. In our reading today, it was when he asked for and ate a bit of fish. On the road to Emmaus it was the breaking of bread. Perhaps it was because ghosts don't eat food, but perhaps it was because they were so close to Jesus that they instantly saw that the way he took food was quintessentially him. Suddenly, after all the drama, this simple gesture seems to open the disciples' understanding, and the mission of the Church can begin.
And this mission, of course, is one that we continue. It is a huge task and a daunting one and we spend a lot of time and energy talking ourselves into it. But perhaps we're barking up the wrong tree. The disciples were motivated to carry on their task not by lectures and angelic appearances but by a moment of true recognition brought about by the simplest of gestures. So perhaps we should be looking for the simplest, most commonplace things that will identify God to us. What they will be we don't know, but it's a good reason be attentive, because you don't know when this might happen and we are often so busy.
One of the messages of Easter is the opening of the eyes: the moment of true recognition that enables the beginning of the rest of the story. It is this we are looking for - the gesture that opens our eyes and allows us to claim Christ for our own. That makes us say, "This is the one!" "This is Christ to me!" Whatever it is that brings that moment, it is this that will pave the way forward to a new life and the beginning of the rest of our own story. It's a message of good news that beats the abundance of egg-shaped chocolate any day.
Our Prayers
Loving Father,
we thank you for the sacrifice your son made for us
to redeem the sins of us all.
Open our eyes to your presence in our lives,
Help us to recognise you in the day-to-day activities we experience
And the everyday wonders of the world.
From a simple blade of grass and the song of the birds,
For the love of our friends and family
And the successes in our lives, be them great or small.
Let us be thankful and proclaim the good news
That, "This is Christ to me!"
Amen
Our final hymn this morning is "The Strife Is O'er"
Welcome to our Worship on the second Sunday of Easter. Our Parish Eucharist is at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, and Revd John Faraday will be preaching and presiding. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn this morning is "Now the Green Blade Riseth"
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 4, verses 32-35
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Reflection
Imagine a large construction site. The whole future of half a city depended on the work being done because in a few short years there would be many acres of extra housing and factories. The purpose of the work was to provide extra sewers to cope with the extra demand on the system. It is the kind of work which does not make headlines in the long term. (People do not demonstrate when drainage work is proposed). It may cause slow traffic and seem to spoil the view while the work is being done. People may not always appreciate this work but when it is done they are happy. Then they forget that the work ever happened, but they will benefit for the rest of the time they live in the area.
The work, which took several years from drawing-board to completion, started well. The design team, the supervisors, the contractors engineers and construction team all cooperated and accepted each other. There were occasional disagreements but they were sorted out well and the work continued, until one day when distrust crept in. Nothing seemed any different to the people who passed by, but the site itself was not a happy place to work. The quality and quantity of the work suffered too.
That is the kind of situation that nobody likes but all too often happens in the ‘real world.’ We all have our own personal likes and dislikes. We all have our own abilities, strengths and weaknesses. We have people we can get along with and those we find it hard to work with. It is the kind of problem which should never happen but all-too-often it does, and is the nightmare of anyone who tries to make things work and get things done.
You would think that the Early Church would have the same kind of problem, but in fact we read of a very different situation. That Church grew from nothing! Jesus had a group of twelve disciples and some other followers who liked what He said. Most had fled when Jesus was crucified and thought that their dream was over.
When He rose again it was the most joyful situation they could imagine. They revelled in the fact that even death, the greatest enemy of mankind, couldn’t hold Jesus. When Jesus ascended they still felt unable to found the Church as He had directed them. Jesus, the Son of God was completely Holy and God-like while they were faltering humans. However, the gift of the Holy Spirit, ten days after Jesus ascended, changed the whole situation! Those fearful disciples immediately became bold and able to speak clearly about their Saviour Jesus.
The Church started to grow rapidly. Even the disciples had a range of abilities and personalities, but add that to the literally thousands of people who were becoming Christians and you would expect immediate clashes. It was full of human beings and so you would expect them to clash over all sorts of issues, but something very special happened. Our Bible Reading from The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4 verses 32-35 sums up the situation.
It tells us that ‘The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul.’ They remained individual people with their own personalities and abilities (I believe that individuality is one of God’s most special gifts!) yet they realised that God had called them not just to be forgiven but also called each of them to be a part of something much greater – His Church.
When they considered the amazing way God dealt with themselves and each other they were able to show Christian Love in a way that gave them great joy and stunned the world! This meant so much to them that ‘No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.’ With the size of today’s Church this may be impractical, but how many problems would be eased if we didn’t hold too tightly on to our possessions. How much are we prepared to share?
We read that ‘With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.’ This was largely what fired that great movement of the Church in those early days. The apostles had an advantage over us! They could speak of Jesus from first-hand. They were talking about all that they had seen and heard. They had seen the work of Jesus. They had seen Him crucified and they had seen Him risen. The Holy Spirit gave them the courage and the words to make their message plain to their hearers.
However, we still have an important part in this work!
This was a huge message that was to change the world. People of every continent and language would eventually hear this message and be changed by it for the better. Christians everywhere would seek to be honest, reliable people who would try to help others to be close to God and each other. Through the power of the Holy Spirit they would seek to conquer the world, not with weapons and worldly power but by the love of God. We should ask God to help us to play our part of this great work.
This sounds a very big aim! There are Christians who have high positions in the Church, in education, science, commerce, politics and so on. (Please pray for these people). But most of us are ‘ordinary’ people in ordinary situations. Yet God can do great things through ordinary people like you and me! Yes, we may do our best in the things we think and say and do, but we know of our mistakes and failures all too well. But the God who worked with power-mad James and John, and with blunderer Peter (and so many others down the ages) can and will do great things with us! I am sure that most Christians will achieve so much more than we could ever imagine or realise.
May God bless you as you serve Him today and each day.
The Collect Prayer
Lord of all life and power,
Who through the mighty resurrection of Your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in Him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
& alive to You in Christ Jesus,
may reign with Him in glory;
to whom with You and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
Amen.
Today's final hymn is "Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord"
Welcome to our Worship on Easter Sunday. Our Easter Sunday Eucharist is at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, and Revd David Halford will be preaching and presiding. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn this morning is "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today"
Today's Gospel
John 20: 1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward 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; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Reflection
Halleluiah - The Lord is risen!!
At first, I thought, how great to be writing a reflection for Holy Sunday. It’s a Good News Story – it’s the best news ever! But then I had so many thoughts circling around in my head. Oh my gosh, where to start? There’s so much in this Gospel passage. After all, it’s the very foundation and heart of our faith.
Maybe, I should make reference to the 1965 film, “The Greatest Story Ever Told” which starred amongst others Max von Sydow as Jesus, and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist. But that’s a little twee. Whilst it was an entertaining epic film, it significantly underplays the whole Gospel message which is much more than a ‘story’ - it’s the Word of God. Maybe it should have been called The Greatest Event Ever.
Or maybe, something about great comebacks would hit the mark. Maybe a reference to Ali and Foreman in the famous Rumble in the Jungle when a middle-aged Ali showed he was far from at the end of the line. Or perhaps a reference to Frank Sinatra who has had more comebacks than a ball on an elastic string.
But that’s to miss the point. Jesus wasn’t about fanfares and fuss. If he was around today, he wouldn’t have had Ant & Dec at the tomb side with a huge array of lights and cameras. It’s also a fairly safe bet that he wouldn’t have been sitting down for an interview with Oprah on Easter Monday.
Jesus comes to us quietly: almost unobtrusively. He doesn’t want or need the bright lights. He didn’t choose to appear in front of Herod or the Chief Priests and Pharisees amidst a great flash of lightning with bolts of thunder and fire as if to say – ‘told you I’d be back’ or ’Who’s got the last word now then?’
Rather, this unparalleled, supreme, world changing event - The Resurrection of our Lord - is ushered in with an intimate encounter with Mary Magdalene by a quiet tomb and on dark morning just before dawn. We see the loving caring Jesus coming to Mary at a time when she is overcome by grief. Mary hadn’t gone to the tomb expecting to see if the prophesy would come true and that Jesus was alive. Indeed, it was probably unlikely that the disciples had even discussed with her any of what Jesus had said in the time leading up to his death. It was also equally unlikely that the disciples really understood the meaning of what Jesus had told them – that would be far too ‘unbelievable’ wouldn’t it?
Mary has gone to tomb to tend to the body of her dear Lord and make preparations for his final burial rites. She is distraught and grief stricken at the loss of Jesus and just when things can’t get any worse, it looks like someone has stolen his body. It is in this moment of despair that Jesus comes to her with total compassion and love, and he asks, “Woman, why are you weeping?” We can’t know why Mary did not recognise him. Maybe her eyes were swollen and full of tears, or maybe that’s just the way Jesus wanted it at that moment. Perhaps he didn’t want to shock her and was giving her some time to calm down a little.
In this moment of stillness and calm with Mary’s emotions raw, it is Jesus who has found Mary and calls her. Importantly, he has called her by her name and it is at this moment that her eyes are opened and she realises that it is her Lord, her Jesus standing with her. How fantastic must that moment have been for Mary? Who needs the fanfares and trumpets? This simple act of calling her by her name changes everything for all of us forever, He knows Mary will spread the gospel news. Mary, the first witness to the resurrection, will do as Jesus has bid her and go and tell his disciples that she has seen the risen Lord.
Whilst we can only reflect in envy on the Mary’s awesome experience there is something in this for us to think about. If we are expecting to hear Jesus coming to us in a Blaze of Glory then it’s probably unlikely to happen. But we know we can always expect him to be there for us in our time of need, when we are mourning, lonely, stressed, or just feeling down. If we listen carefully, we will hear him calling us by our name. And it’s not just the bad times when he calls us - think about those times when you’ve marvelled at the world, the lovely scenery around us, the animals and plants you see as you go on a walk, or maybe just in a quiet moment of thought. Jesus will be there with us, calling us by our name and asking us, like Mary, to share the Good News.
Jesus is Risen – Halleluiah!
A Reflection by Archdeacon David Sharples
Our Prayers
God of Promise and God of Hope,
who through your great mercy
have granted us new birth
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Our Good Friday Eucharist is at St Thomas' Church at 10 am, and Revd Mother Amy-Elizabeth Sheridan will be leading the service.
If you're unable to join us in person, we will be sharing services and reflections on our facebook page throughout the day - just click on this link - Leesfield Parish
A favourite hymn for Good Friday is "My Song Is Love Unknown"
Representatives of the member churches of Churches Together in Lees and District have come together to record a special service for Good Friday, which can be found on their facebook page from 7 pm.The link to their facebook page is - https://www.facebook.com/churchestoginlees
Holy Saturday
Our Holy Saturday Easter Vigil is at 7pm at St Agnes Church.
Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a liturgy held in Church as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this liturgy that people are baptized but for obvious reasons that won’t be happening in 2021. It is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Day – most commonly in the evening of Holy Saturday or midnight – and is the first celebration of Easter.
This year will be a little different to previous years as it will be ‘A Service of the Word’, rather than a ‘Eucharistic Service’ and led by our Authorised Lay Minister, Neil Crook. The service will include the lighting of the Paschal Candle which Neil will then carry into church and part way through the service we will all ‘Renew our Baptismal Vows’. There will be Prayers, Readings, a Talk and even some Hymns to listen to but not sing, unfortunately and no communion.
Our Maundy Thursday Eucharist is at St Thomas' Church at 7.30 pm, and we're pleased to welcome Revd Richard Hawkins to lead our service. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn is "An Upper Room Did Our Lord Prepare"
A reading from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 11: verses 23-26
The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Reflection
A bright young woman named Kate was at the height of her brilliant career, which had started in her mid-twenties when she was already in Downing Street working for Tony Blair. By thirty she was CEO of a charity working in Africa and married to the “best-looking man she’d ever kissed”, and the mother of twin boys.
But tragedy struck Kate at the age of thirty-four, with a sudden diagnosis of stage-four cancer, and only a six per cent chance of surviving the next five years. Indeed, Kate died on Christmas Day 2014, just a few weeks before her captivating memoir, which she wrote for her sons, was published — written so they would remember her, and also so they could capture something of her vision for how she had hoped to raise them.
“Even as I’m on the way out,” she wrote, “something new is being spawned. I die, but in doing so I leave myself in words on a page waiting to be brought alive by the two readers I care most about.” A compulsive list-maker, Kate spent her final months writing “how-tos”, to help the family navigate the practicalities: “My poor boys are the subject of the worst control-freak tendencies. Not only am I writing this book — a wordy me me me treasure map to follow when they want to - I am, according to my mum, doing some serious ‘advance mothering’.”
The apostle Paul’s description of the events at the Last Supper, which we heard in our first reading, is the earliest known account of what happened that night, written only approximately ten or fifteen years after Jesus died.
What he describes Jesus as doing with the bread and wine are known as the “four dominical acts”; namely that he took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to those gathered. This was entirely typical for a meal in first-century Palestine, but Jesus’ relating these acts was a conversation turning-point.
Jesus knew his future was inevitable, perhaps even as he prayed to his Father that it might not be so. But he knew that his conflict with the authorities would lead in one direction only, and he tells the disciples this explicitly: “I am with you only a little longer”. And so he prepares his disciples for a lifetime without him, which is to be characterised by humility, service and love. He lowers himself from the status of teacher and Lord to that of servant - he washes their feet — surely the filthiest part of them — and commands them to do the same and to love one another.
This Last Supper is often referred to as the Institution of the Eucharist, when Jesus gave us the sacrament of Holy Communion. Expressing it in these terms can seem anachronistic, as if he were writing out the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer while he ate. But the act of celebrating the Eucharist certainly claims its authority directly from Jesus’ words. It is something he wanted us to do, and all Christians agree it is a moment of communion with the Lord and of spiritual strength and sustenance. “Do this in memory of me” was part-of Jesus’ advance parenting.
And when we share the Eucharist we are not just reminiscing, as we might about a birthday meal enjoyed in years gone by. We are putting something back together again. You’ll notice in the Eucharistic Prayer a lot of language about memory and memorial. These words stem from a Greek word, anamnesis, which doesn’t have a direct equivalent in English, but means not only memory but also “making present again”. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist we are re-membering.
The Eucharist is a gift to strengthen us for our mission, modelled for us in the person of Jesus, and characterised by submission and service. We are sent out as “living sacrifices”. This is Jesus’ will for our lives and our calling as apostles and as a Church, which we proclaim in the creed, before we re-member Jesus’ sacrifice together and remember that through the Body of Christ, God’s children on earth, he lives.
A Maundy Thursday Reflection by Bishop David -
Our final hymn before we watch in silence with Jesus for a while is "Stay With Me (Taize)"
