Word in the Hand

Gospel  Luke 24:13-35 Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole ...

Gospel Matthew 22:1-14  Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could f...

Lindisfarne I haven't had a project for a while; although thoughts have been going through my head - I love the idea of a prayer book, a Book of Days, a dedication to the Celtic saints and spirit that I feel very much a part of and inspired by. Somewhere the blessings and writings that I do and those I have been fed by. For whatever reason, today, St Cuthbert's feast day, seems the day to stop procrastinating and start doing- maybe it's a part of the Lenten transformation - maybe it is just time. To concentrate my mind - there is a new blog  Brigid's Mantle  that I would like to invite you to. No doubt I will be linking from one to the other as they develop. Like Brigid, I hope that the words, images and videos will offer hospitality and blessing to all who pass by. wordinthehand2012

A moment of reflection for the desert journey of Lent

Gospel Matthew 4:12-23  Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled: ‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.’ From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’   As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Z...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Mark 6:8 ‘take nothing for the journey’ Reflection On the road again Christianity is made up of journeys. There is very little opportunity to ever sit still (which is why we need some meditation and reflection time now and again). If we are not journeying in our hearts and minds, then it is a physical , practical journey that calls us to go out and make a difference. Jesus has been preparing the apostles hearts and minds, he has been showing them the other Way, the alternative to the life they understand. And they have been living it, gathered from the outskirts, seeing others welcomed from even further away; outcasts and foreigners. Jesus’ Way is open house – all are welcome. But Jesus has the restrictions of his humanity to deal with – he cannot be everywhere. So he sends the apostles and does spend time preparing them. But how is this preparing them? Palestine is not a safe place to live...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. John 16:27 the Father himself loves you for loving me Reflection You often hear of strained relationships between fathers and sons. I don’t mean ‘bad’ relationships, just sometimes it is hard for both sides to show their feelings as, perhaps, you imagine women do; and I know that this is quoting stereotypes but we all know stereotypes. Jesus and his Father obviously do not fall into this stereotype. Jesus lives his life swathed in the Father’s love for him, which is why he cries out in bereavement at the end ‘Why have you forsaken me’. Jesus’ childlike adoration for his Father is never questioned, not once, no matter what his Father asked of him and that is astonishing because Jesus, the human man, was asked to make some awful sacrifices. Sacrifices where, as a human man, it would have been more than acceptable to say ‘No’. That we could all have that relationship with God the Father; but He ...

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 20:19-31 In the evening of that same day, 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.’ Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was wit...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Matthew 26:40 ‘Could you not watch with Me?’ Reflection Here we are, those that are left, at the foothills; the boundary between the desert and civilisation. Behind us miles of nothingness, scarifying winds and sand rubbing our bodies raw; emptying our minds of colour; the need to survive has taken away the desire for the world’s enticements. We are content that we simply live. Ahead of us, the next part of the journey; what seemed to be the goal but now I am not so sure; the well travelled road to the city gates then on to what lies beyond. What lies beyond? It’s not been that long, only a couple of weeks, but it seems a lifetime since he made the invitation ‘Come and See’. That’s what worries me now. His words always seem so simple, so obvious; ‘Love your neighbour’, ‘forgive’, ‘be as children’. Quiet words, tattooed onto your heart, impossible to ignore, impossible sometimes to obey. Sadn...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. John 1:36 ‘Come and See.’ Reflection I suppose I could have just answered the question but this is much more interesting. It’s a teaching method I picked up. My Father does it too. You are such curious children, so demanding, so full of questions. But there’s no point in giving you the answers because, lets be honest, most of the time you only want the answer that suits you. And I am not here just to suit you; to give you the higher ground; to make you feel superior. But I am here for you; to be your guide; your companion; your brother on the road. This invitation to come and see - it’s not like a travel programme on the television; filmed through a soft focus lens; a filtered blue sky; full of gorgeous images with a veneer of luxury to entice the eye. It’s not like a holiday brochure, photographed from the perfect angle; colour tinted to perfection. It’s not about image or imagery – pretendi...