Henri Nouwen, reflecting on the death of his mother and the profound grief he experienced said this: “Eternity is born in time, and every time someone dies whom we have loved dearly, eternity can break into our mortal existence a little bit more.” (A letter of Consolation) It is because God has experienced death in […]
Sermon Topic: Holy Week
A Dazzling Darkness
Henry Vaughan said “There is in God, some say, a deep, but dazzling darkness.” (Poem, ‘The Night’) I am always moved by that poignant passage towards the end of Luke’s Gospel when, after the arrest of Jesus, Peter stands in the courtyard of the High Priest warming himself by the fire. After twice denying him, […]
Caring for the Wounds of Jesus
As Christians we believe that Jesus is fully God and fully human. Holy Week gives us many, many glimpses into the humanity of Jesus as he journeys towards his passion and death. A belief in the humanity of Jesus demands that we accept that Jesus is in need of human love, warmth and affection. In […]
The Cross is not a Problem to be Understood
Ken Leech once said, “The Cross is not a problem to be understood but a mystery into which we enter.” Jesus chose to be involved in the lives of ordinary people; he chose to experience all that it is to be human; he “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of […]
Preparing the Altar
Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in order to die. When our gospel reading starts today, Jesus has just arrived in that most holy of cities. His entry was both grand and humble: riding on a donkey, on the one hand, but with people shouting his praises and waving palm branches, on the other. In […]
