Wednesday 23 April 2008 at 12:56 pm
John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
Christ’s appearances to his disciples after his
resurrection are never simple or straightforward. He is mistaken for a Gardener, Not recognised on the road to Emmaus, and in this case mysteriously enters a locked room. To the first Christians the Resurrection was as much as a
mystery as it is to us to day. But it was a mystery that they had experienced, and taken part in, which is what the Gospel of John testifies to in this passage.
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Wednesday 23 April 2008 at 12:42 pm
Sometimes it seems God uses the most unlikely persons. Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Jacob was a liar, Moses had a speech problem, Rahab was a prostitute, Sampson was a ladies man with long hair, Jonah ran from God, Job went bankrupt, John the Baptist ate bugs, Peter denied Christ, Paul was a persecutor, and
Lazarus, well Lazarus was dead!
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Wednesday 23 April 2008 at 12:33 pm
In God we live and move and have our Being.
The Spirit of Wisdom is in all creation.
Where can we go from God’s presence?
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Wednesday 23 April 2008 at 12:22 pm
My name is
Joseph and I am a carpenter.
Maybe you have heard of me. I was married to
Mary. Mother of
Jesus. You certainly don’t hear much about me in the bible, or in
Christmas Carols for that matter. St Nicholas seems to get better press than me at Christmas time. But this is part of my story.
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Wednesday 13 June 2007 at 1:05 pm
This liturgyis an invocation of Wisdom, taken from scripture based on
the Wisdom of Solomon. The text is loosely based on the NRSV. Wisdom is
understood by many to be a feminine aspect of God, much neglected and
supressed within the tradition. She is frequently identified with the Holy Spirit.
Also on Worship Cafe.
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Sunday 27 May 2007 at 7:58 pm
Acts 2 NRSV
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
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Thursday 17 May 2007 at 01:00 am
Acts 1:8-11 NRSV
'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
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Monday 14 May 2007 at 3:18 pm
Acts 16:9-15 NRSV
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
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Friday 11 May 2007 at 4:01 pm
John 20:15-16 NRSV
Jesus said to Mary, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ 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).
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Friday 11 May 2007 at 1:02 pm
A Strange Smell
As I write this, my house has a rather strange odour pervading it. Earlier this afternoon I took four Palm crosses from last year placed them in a saucepan and reduced them to ashes.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of
Lent, a time of prayer, fasting and preparation leading up to the central festival of the Christian year, Easter where we celebrate the resurrected Christ. The Palm Crosses have come full circle, having been made to celebrate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem the year before, brought into our houses as a reminder that Christ is welcome in our lives and homes over the following eleven months, and then finally returning to dust. A reminder that even the best things will naturally come to an end.
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