Word in the Hand

Gospel John 20:19-23 In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ The feast of Pentecost is most clearly recognised by the reading from Acts - the 'Gospel' of the Holy Spirit - it almost feels that that reading would have been enough; more than enough given the drama of the Holy Spirit's entrance. It could feel that the Holy Spirit has ushered in a new era of faith - Jesus was always a little too human. Now here is a little of the Old Testament myst...

Sunday Gospel John 20:19-23  In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ For people who have frequented the cinema recently, an image would be in their minds of Jesus beaming into the room a la James T Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew. Rearranging the atoms and molecules that created his resurrected body would have seemed no problem at all. If you are intending to see the film - maybe skip the next bit. Although, I don't thi...

Gospel John 20:19-23  Feast of Pentecost In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ The feast of Pentecost is most clearly recognised by the  reading from Acts - the 'Gospel' of the Holy Spirit -  it almost feels that that reading would have been enough;  more than enough given the drama of the  Holy Spirit's entrance.  By itself, it could be imagined that this is a whole new shift in God's pla...

Gospel John 20:19-23  In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ Tradition Two; For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.  Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.  We live in a world that accepts hierarchy as a fact of life; a life that we often buy into. From the earliest of times we are encouraged to be aspirational; leaders are ...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Acts 2:14 ‘Then Peter stood up’ Reflection The crowd thought we had been drinking - it was an easy mistake to make- in fact it wouldn’t have been totally out of the question. It was festival after all. We had been cooped up in hiding for so long a drink would have been welcome; and we did have a reputation for drinking and enjoying ourselves even when the Lord was with us. And Peter was always in the thick of that. And that’s it really – that’s what gives it away – Peter was thick. Not stupid, just one of those practical men who talks with his hands – wants to do stuff not talk about it - puts his foot in it when he does. Fishermen don’t do too much talking, don’t go to Temple, don’t know scripture - don’t like crowds or people much. And Peter was still like that, never liked the Lord being surrounded by the crowds, couldn’t cope with miracles and had barely forgiven himself for what had hap...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians 2:14 ‘in Christ, God leads us from place to place’ Reflection You have to ask yourself; what would you do if you had just risen from the dead? After all you had gone through and suffered –then to return to those people you thought were friends; who had said that they would stand by you and didn’t. Who had seemed to understand and didn’t. Would you be walking in the dust and dirt of a country road; would you be eating fish; would you be cooking fish? Almost the absurdity of this proves that Jesus is not just human – our pride, our ego would not have allowed us to do this; our feeling of superiority would have got the better of us. At the very least, we would have floated gracefully above the ground, a banquet would have been magicked out of thin air. We would have looked like the god we though we were. But if Jesus had done this; if the Christ that he became ha...

Gospel John 3:1-8 There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.’ Jesus answered: ‘I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said, ‘How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?’ Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’ And here is a Before the Resurrection, Resurrection story. The Lord telling us what happens w...