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‘Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”’ From today’s Gospel, John 20:19-23.

This is not the usual account of Pentecost, that given in Acts chapter 1 where Luke tells of the coming of the Holy Spirit as tongues of flame and a rushing, mighty wind. This is St John’s account of Jesus appearing to his bewildered followers who have betrayed and deserted him and now locked themselves in the Upper Room in Jerusalem out of fear of what may happen next. They’re also endeavouring to come to terms with his terrible death and rumours that he may be alive. Amidst this turmoil, rather than giving up on the disciples, Jesus comes to them and says, “Peace be with you” as he shows them the marks of the wounds he suffered. Seeing his scars, the disciples realise that this really is Jesus and not only does he bring them peace, Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This gentle breath, rather than the mighty wind of Acts, is what those frightened disciples needed as their lives begin to be transformed by the love of Jesus and, despite their failings, they are then commissioned by him to forgive sins, just as they have been forgiven. That same spirit and transformation is still at work today as, despite the turmoil and uncertainty of our world and lives now, we too can find the peace and hope that Jesus still brings to his followers, even if we struggle to understand or accept what is happening, like those first disciples. 

This compassion and gentleness was also shown in the life of Melangell as she came to terms with profound change here in the valley after rescuing a hare and refusing to hand it over to Brochwel, Prince of Powys. As her feast day is marked today, thanks are given for Melangell’s life, example and church in the following prayer, found in the archives here:

We thank you, Lord God, for the life and prayer of your servant, Melangell. May her care and compassion for all your creatures inspire us in our day with the same concern for all that you have made. May we, with her learn, to find your glory in the world around us and in all that you give us. We ask this in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

With my prayers,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

“I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had in your presence before the world began.” Jesus in today’s Gospel, John 17:1-11. 

‘The glory of God is a human being fully alive.’ BishopIrenaeus.

Today’s Gospel is taken from the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in St John’s Gospel, at the Last Supper he shares with the disciples before his crucifixion. In it, Jesus says that the hour has come and asks that God will glorify him so that God will be glorified. 

Giving glory to God is a fundamental part of worship, or worth-ship, as God is praised and honoured through the liturgy offered during services. The Gloria Patri, Glory be…is said at the end of every psalm, with the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, the ancient Christian hymn of praise, echoing the song of the angels at the  birth of Jesus: Glory be to God on high. Psalm 19 proclaims the glory of the Creator as seen in creation: The heavens are telling the glory of God and the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer is that Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.’ And yet, Jesus speaks of glory knowing that betrayal, arrest, injustice and agony lie ahead. At the crucifixion, he is glorified – but his throne is a cross and his crown is of thorns although the Book of Common Prayer refers to Jesus’ later mighty resurrection and glorious ascension.For the disciples, this must have been a time of wondering and waiting for the coming Jesus has promised amidst uncertainty about the future now their leader has left them. Luke writes in Acts 1:14 that they gather with others and Jesus’ family in Jerusalem, turning to prayer and now finding the courage to wait hopefully rather than despairingly in this familiar place. 

In the Bible, the glory of God is often seen in physical events such as the burning bush found by Moses, the pillar of cloud and fire leading the Israelites in Exodus or his glory filling the Temple in 2 Chronicles 5 and 7, amongst other examples. This was frightening as well as glorious, God’s presence being hidden until he chose to reveal it in astounding ways. By contrast, the life of Jesus reveals God’s glory in the world, as St John writes: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  That glory was manifest in John 2:1:11at Jesus’ first miracle in Cana when water was turned into wine and his glory was revealed, as when Jesus declared at the raising of Lazarus in chapter 11: This sickness does not lead to death, rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

These occasions all came at significant times: Moses was afraid and uncertain; the Israelites were wandering and grumbling; the Ark of the Covenant placed in the Temple in 2 Chronicles 5 signified the presence of God which led to glory filling it; the wine at the wedding in Cana is of the best quality, underlining this new beginning; Lazarus is raised after a time of great distress for his family when the power of Jesus is manifest as divine glory is revealed through divine power. Glory both reveals the grandeur and purposes of God and heartens his followers as they try to discern what is unfolding.

Jesus spoke of glory in the dark times before his crucifixion and, in testing times in our own lives, perhaps there have also been occasions when glory has been glimpsed. Even as Judas leaves to betray him, Jesus is able to say Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him –John 13:31. At Easter and the ascension, the victory of love over hatred and life over death is celebrated but it begins in the desolation of what is happening during and after the Last Supper. If we are also to experience the glory of God in our world today, darkness and devastation are part of it, as well as wonder and praise. 

The glory and hope of the ascension is that the experience of humanity is taken into heaven by Jesus, just as he first commissions the disciples to be his spiritual body in the world, becoming witnesses to and continuing what he has begun. Rather than desert him, as in Gethsemane, or mourn his departure the disciples are now able to trust what Jesus tells them and at the end of his Gospel, St Luke writes that they were in the Temple praising God. Whereas they had previously often been afraid, they now await the spiritual power which will come to them and transform their hearts, minds and lives to enable them to find the courage to be witnesses in a sometimes hostile world. The same can be true for us, when we lift up our hearts in praise and trust as witnesses to the spiritual and earthly dimensions of divine love in our world today. In doing so, glory and glorious things can be experienced in familiar places, touching hearts with hope despite the uncertainty in life today and extending our vision to glimpse glory through even the every day things of life in simple as well as profound ways. As the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins puts it in his poem ‘Pied Beauty’: Glory be to God for dappled things….. Praise him.

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus in John 14:15 – 21

“We all live in this environment, we have the same struggles. We help each other in everything. It is very important, so that no one carries too much themselves.” Belinda in Dagoretti, Kenya, one of the communities supported by Christian Aid. 

In chapter 13 of John’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples ‘a new commandment’: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35.

This commandment comes just after Judas leaves the Last Supper to betray Jesus and it comes just before Jesus predicts that Simon Peter will deny knowing him. The commandment to love is surrounded by failure to show love in action. Yet love persists, even as the disciples fall short of what they are called to do.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, says of Peter’s denial: ‘Peter stands for all the human characters whom Jesus confronts – the apostles, the witnesses, the Church, ourselves.’ His failure is our failure. And yet like him we are continually called afresh to try again in our service of the God of love. In ‘Meeting God in Mark’, 2014.

You may have heard the saying: ‘Love conquers all’. What Jesus offers is not a conquering love that pushes past and ignores what we get wrong. Instead, he gives us a love that endures. This love will be offered to us precisely in those moments when we feel we least deserve it.

In the Gospel today, Jesus expresses this unfailing care. He tells the disciples that they will never be alone, or ‘orphaned’. The Spirit is coming and they can be assured of God’s faithful, constant presence forever. And Jesus tells the disciples too that the love he has given to them is theirs to share.

If we love Jesus, then we will keep his command to love one another. This love does not have neat boundaries. We are not asked to love only those whom we like or only those who have never wronged us, or only those who offer us something in return. If we are to love Jesus by loving as he does, we must love abundantly and radically. We must love in action. We must transform the world with our love. This is what marks out the followers of Jesus.

We will make mistakes. We will fall short. But we will be called again and again to the work of love. Love in action can change the world…. You might be surprised by just how much of a difference you can make!

Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” From today’s Gospel, John 14:1-14. 

‘The Way before we know your name… the Truth they cannot yet discern… the Life within the life they love.’ Malcolm Guite, from his sonnet for St Thomas the Apostle, in Parable and Paradox, published by Canterbury Press. 

Once again, the Gospel reading today involves Thomas, who doubted the other disciples when they said they had seen Jesus on the day of resurrection but came to believe when Jesus reappeared to them all a week later. Still known as Doubting Thomas by many, this disciple nevertheless found the courage openly to wrestle with what he was being told, resulting in responses of great significance from Jesus. 

That’s so in today’s reading, which takes place at the Last Supper, as Thomas asks Jesus what he’s talking about when he tells them that they know where he is going. This is a confusing time for the disciples: Jesus is preparing them for what is going to happen and they are all still in the upper room before Jesus is arrested in Gethsemane. In response to Thomas’ honest and direct question, Jesus replies with the sixth of the I Am sayings, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” This passage is often used at funerals today, including my mum’s.

The I Am sayings refer to the divine name given to Moses at the burning bush: I am who I am. In using this, Jesus is telling his followers who he is – but, understandably, they don’t realise although each term is rooted in the scriptures. Moses tells the Israelites to “Follow the path that the Lord your God has commanded you,” and St John reminds his readers that, ‘The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’  In John 19:37, Jesus himself tells  Pilate, “For this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” “What is truth?” Pilate then asks – a question that echoes down the ages. Jesus also tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” in John 11, and in chapter 5, says that, “As the Father has life in himself, so he has granted  the Son also to have life in himself.” 

There are many more scriptures in which Christians see Jesus as the fulfilment of the scriptures and he becomes not the way, the truth and the life but ‘… our Life, our Truth, our Way.’ (Guite, above.) For those first disciples don’t seem to realise, until Jesus responds to Thomas’ question, that this is not just for the future. Jesus doesn’t say that he will be but that he IS the way – the way of faith is already being followed, bewildering as this may seem to them. Jesus IS the truth, hard as it may be for the disciples to understand this, and Jesus IS the life now as well as at the resurrection, overwhelming though this is. For these are not just principles or values on which to base life, but embodied in Jesus himself who declared to his followers that he IS these things – and this is still being declared today. 

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian. 

“I am the good shepherd.” Jesus, in today’s Gospel John 10: 1-11a.

“The Lord IS my shepherd. Not was, not may be, nor will be… IS my shepherd.” 

Hudson Taylor, Christian missionary to China. 

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, a time when prayers are said particularly for those exercising and considering ministry in the church as a pastor, the Latin word for a shepherd. Here at St Melangell’s, the crockets or ornamental parts at the front of the shrine have often been likened to the ears of sheep, which is so appropriate in this valley which is full of sheep and their lambs. 

Amongst them is the small flock of my neighbour, Mary, who owns a cade (bottle fed) sheep called Lambie. She was the second of twins, rejected by her mother after a painful birth, and had to be raised in the house with Mary’s dogs to survive. To this day, Lambie loves dog biscuits as well as sheep food!

This year, Mary thought there would be no lambs as she hadn’t put the sheep to the ram. However, to her very great surprise, her flock has grown from 10 sheep to 23 as 13 lambs have now been born with more still to come. Somehow, rams must have got in – although none were seen. 

So it is in the Gospel for today, where Jesus likens himself to being a gate protecting the sheep from furtive intruders and he goes on to call himself the Good Shepherd. In those days, the shepherd himself would lie down across the sheepfold to keep his flock safe from wild animals, bandits and thieves as sheep rustling was common – as it still is today with entire flocks sometimes being stolen or even killed and fleeced in the field for their meat. Then, the shepherd would know and name his sheep as they were usually kept for wool and milk rather than meat and so would be with him for a long time. The sheep would learn to trust the voice of their shepherd who tended his flock and kept them safe whereas hired hands would probably flee for their own safety if thieves came. 

The image of the shepherd is used throughout the Bible: Moses was tending sheep when he saw the burning bush; today’s psalm, the 23rd, was written by David, a shepherd boy before he became king; the prophet Ezekiel writes of the shepherds of Israel and their destructive leadership; and Isaiah 53:6 says that All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way. That’s reflected in the words of Cranmer’s General Confession in the Book of Common Prayer of 1552: We have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. 

Jesusdescribed the Temple as a den of thieves when he drove out the moneychangers  and one of his disciples, Judas, was also a thief who stole money from the common purse. Barabbas is described by John as a bandit and so the crowd has to choose between Jesus and a bandit at the crucifixion when the Good Shepherd becomes the sacrificial lamb as he lays down his life for the sake of the flock. 

This is at the heart of the Easter message of his resurrection, proclaimed by the church down the centuries. Recently, it’s become clear that some pastors have harmed their flocks through safeguarding issues that were not applied whereas churches are meant to be places of safety. But although shelter may be necessary, so is good, fresh food. That’s the point of the sheepfold: it’s a temporary overnight structure made by the shepherd from stones, branches and briars for the flock to shelter safely within. The sheep then have to leave it to find and share the good pasture they need. That’s true for congregations too, who are also sent out to share the good news of the resurrection and to follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd as they listen for his voice in a world so filled with confusing and distracting messages. Who and where are the thieves, bandits and shepherds  – good or otherwise – of our own day?

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian. 

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Easter

“But we had hoped…” From today’s Gospel, Luke 24:13-35. 

‘Emmaus is whatever we do or wherever we go to make ourselves forget…We can escape our troubles, at least for a while.  We can escape the job we did not get or the friend we hurt… But the one thing we cannot escape is life itself…’ Frederick Buechner, Presbyterian pastor and author. 

Today’s account of two bewildered people walking on the road to Emmaus is only found in the Gospel of Luke. The site of Emmaus itself is unknown although Luke says it was seven miles away from Jerusalem, which was much smaller then. One of the travellers has also never been identified, although the other is Cleopas – the only time he is named in the Bible. They tell the stranger who joins them everything that has happened and are astounded that he appears not to know of this. They don’t realise that it’s Jesus – how ironic it must have seemed to him to hear them talk of his own ministry, death and resurrection! 

Jesus doesn’t interrupt as they pour out their grief and disappointment that their leader had not been the liberator they anticipated but had died a criminal’s death. However, he challenges them for not believing what the scriptures had prophesied, calling them foolish and slow of heart. He then explains this to them, beginning with Moses who was himself called slow of speech and of tongue in Exodus 4:10. When invited to share a meal with them, Jesus is instantly recognised in the way he breaks bread as he had done at the Last Supper and which has become the basis of Holy Communion, through which his followers are still fed today. When he then leaves them, it seems that both travellers may have been part of a wider circle of Jesus’ followers as, despite it getting late, they decide to return to Jerusalem to tell ‘the eleven and their companions’ what has happened. Their hope is restored, they speak of their hearts burning and, instead of walking away from what had happened, they return, ready to share the overwhelming news that Jesus is alive. 

This is a story that some dispute – the site of Emmaus is not known, Jesus is not recognised, he vanishes from their sight – but it’s also an account familiar to anyone who has themselves been in the depths of despair and confusion. Those followers had known of the terrible death of Jesus and it’s understandable that they would find it hard to believe that he could be alive. In just the same way, people who have been through great suffering or witnessed this in others can also begin to despair or lose hope. Jesus’ teachings of love and compassion may be hard to practise when it seems that all is lost and this applies today, too, when such huge changes are happening the world over and so many people are suffering in so many places now. If there is doubt that this can be overcome or life has become too challenging, then we, too, are on a similar road to those two travellers. 

However, those followers did not meet Jesus because they didn’t recognise him – he met them. Love, crucified and resurrected, met those who grieved or despaired and transformed fearful, bewildered people into the messengers who took the Gospel to a doubting world. That can still happen today: just as those two travellers had hopes that had been dashed, so an initially unrecognised encounter with Jesus transformed their lives and sent them back to Jerusalem to return to what they were walking away from renewed and overwhelmed as hope was restored. What if they had ignored him?

“We had hoped,” said those two travellers then. Into hopelessness and broken lives or dreams, Jesus can still bring love and compassion – though that may not always be recognised or experienced. Perhaps, like Cleopas and his companion, hope has been lost or we can’t see the reality in those we meet – sometimes, it may seem easier to ignore the unexpected encounter or simply continue walking away. But, by having an honest conversation, those companions found that fresh understanding grew, failings were overcome and hearts burned with fresh hope – so it can be today as stories are shared and situations where we may also have been foolish or slow of heart are transformed by an encounter with Love itself through prayer, the scriptures and the breaking of bread: 

The pit of disappointment, the despair

The jolts and shudders of my letting go…

Now you reveal the meaning of my story

That I, who burn with shame, might blaze with glory.

From The first sonnet for the road to Emmaus in Parable to Paradox by Malcolm Guite, published by Canterbury Press.  

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian. 

“He is going ahead of you….” From today’s Gospel, Matthew 28:1-10.

 “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of.” Jeremy Hanson, Canadian astronaut aboard Artemis II.

In the Gospels of Mark, Luke and John, the stone sealing Jesus’ tomb has already been moved when the two Marys arrive to anoint his dead body. But in today’s Gospel, Matthew gives some details that the others don’t and at first it must have seemed to the women that nothing had changed as the tomb is as they left it. But then there is a great earthquake; an angel arrives, rolls back the stone and sits on it; the guards are petrified with fear. After this, the women are told not to be afraid and invited to come and see for themselves that Jesus is not there and has been raised from the dead. 

Although the stone is still in place, when it’s then moved there is no body inside – the resurrection has happened and Jesus has already left his tomb. New life has overcome death although the Marys don’t realise this and the stone is now rolled away, not to let him out but to show the women that Jesus isn’t there. Everything had changed – and the two Marys change, too. Matthew writes that the women then left the tomb with fear and great joy – their fear is still present but is now transformed by what has happened and, as they run to tell the disciples, suddenly and astoundingly they meet Jesus himself. At first, they hold on to his feet and it’s clear that the Marys think they must be seeing a ghost as ghosts were then thought not to have feet. His feet prove to them it really is Jesus and despite all he has told them in preparation for what will happen to him, their difficulty in accepting his resurrection is understandable after so terrible a death and all he and they have been through.

The events of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion show humanity at its worst as well as at its best. Not only was Jesus judged but humanity, too, as corrupt state and religious leadership, betrayal, hatred, denial, and brutality mingled with love, sacrifice, trust, faith and hope. So many centuries later, it seems little has changed in our world today.

And yet, as for the two Marys, everything has changed. Just as the women were told that Jesus was going ahead of them, so the launch of Artemis II this week enables four human beings courageously to go ahead and rise above the rest of us, travelling where humanity has not been before: the dark side of the moon. As Jeremy Hanson said, it’s a reminder of humanity at its best, with bravery, co-operation and skill (as well as huge expense!) contrasting with the ongoing warfare, destruction and scarcity showing humanity at its worst. The astronauts have also taken with them the names of 5.5 million people who wanted to be included on a memory card in the weightlessness indicator on Artemis II. In that way, those people travel ahead with the crew just as, in the stunning image Hello, World, we are all represented as earth and its inhabitants are depicted from their space craft.

Jesus and the two Marys courageously faced the unknown and through it transformed the future for humanity. May that be so today at this time of new beginnings and profound change as the Easter message is proclaimed once more in and beyond a world so much needing fresh hope: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

I have recently had iritis, for which I’m still receiving outpatient hospital treatment. It began with a sore, red eye which I thought at first was conjunctivitis but, when I had to close my eyes to get the milk out of the fridge because its internal light was too bright to bear, I realised it was something more serious. An urgent appointment at the eye clinic established what medication was needed but the drops made matters worse initially as my eyesight became blurred. It was a confusing time as I adapted to the limits of what I could see clearly and I wasn’t certain where the path was or what I was looking at. All this is temporary – hopefully! – and normal-for-me vision should resume in due course. 

Not being able to see clearly what’s in front of you was part of the Easter story for Mary Magdalene who went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body but could not see it. Being distraught when it seemed it had been stolen, she thought at first that the figure before her was the gardener, until one word was spoken: her name. Mary realised then that it was Jesus, alive after his terrible death, and so began a different way of life and hope, as Mary overcame her bewilderment and saw him in a new light and way of being.

Hope and love could not be killed off, despite Mary being unable to recognise at first who was in front of her and what had actually happened. Perhaps the same is true for us, too, for all sorts of reasons. So, may the Easter message inspire us to look more carefully and to see more clearly than is sometimes the case – and may its blessings last more than just the Day itself!

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

The following services will be held this month:
Maundy Thursday 2nd April, noon: Holy Eucharist and liturgy for Maundy Thursday.  
8pm: The Watch, in the Churchyard.

Good Friday 3rd, 10am: Stations of the Cross.       2pm: At the Cross.

Easter Eve 4th, 10am onwards: church cleaning and decoration. 

8.30pm: Easter Vigil and service of light.

Easter Day, 5th: Everyone at St. Melangell’s wishes you a joyful Eastertide.
6.30 am: All in an Easter garden – meet outside by the compost heap at the back of the church, Jesus having been crucified at Gehenna, a rubbish tip. Bacon butties will be available at the Centre afterwards. 
10am: Holy Eucharist. Due to this, there will be no service at 3 pm.
Thursday 9th, noon: Holy Eucharist and service of healing.

Low Sunday 12th, 3pm: Service of reflection. 
Thurs 16th, noon: Service of the word.

Third Sunday of Easter, 19th, 3pm: Service of reflection.
Thursday 23rd, noon: Holy Eucharist and service of healing.

Fourth Sunday of Easter, 26th, 3pm: Service of reflection.
Monday 27th, 10.30am at the Centre: Julian Group.

Thursday 30th, noon: Holy Eucharist. 

For further details or to book the Shepherd’s Hut and the Centre, please ring 01691 860408 or contact admin@stmelangell.org 

Power and status seem to go hand in hand. Striking robes and expensive clothing, big cars and private jets. And there are lots of subtle rituals that are designed to emphasise the importance of those of high rank. The church is not immune to this, with elaborate ceremonies and practices which enhance the status of its leaders, robes, seats of honour, and titles.

But Jesus is a radical. He turns these structures and systems of power upside down. By replacing a horse with a donkey, he makes a point. Even so, the people around him go out of their way to make a fuss with a carpet of cloaks and palm branches cut to wave as flags and triumphant banners. Yet, within a week, they will desert him as quickly as their shouts fade away. The events of Palm Sunday are an exercise in the flaky ephemera of status.

Power exists for a reason: it holds within itself the ability to make things happen. After all, everyone has some power to an extent. How it is used, though, speaks volumes about the aspirations and true ambitions of those who hold it. To have ambition to make a difference can be a noble desire, and many politicians will speak of that being their motivation. The true leaders, though, are the ones who are the willing servants of those they seek to lead. The first word in the rule of St Benedict is ‘listen’. We listen to God, to one another, to aim to discern the path that will lead to flourishing and true peace.

One of the treasures of St Asaph Cathedral is the William Morgan translation of the Bible into Welsh, printed in 1588. This enabled people at the time to read and hear the words of life and peace in their own tongue. It was an act of service that opened the scriptures, rather than just expecting people to do as they were told. Faith and understanding went hand in hand.

As we journey with Jesus through what we call Holy Week, we recall that during the meal on Maundy Thursday, Jesus gave a dramatic example of servant leadership. He took a bowl and a towel and proceeded to wash the feet of his disciples. No leader would stoop to do this, but he did to show that this leader cares for them, will humble himself for them and, if they are to be leaders like him, they must do the same. Many churches re-enact this, with feet washing as they recall the Last Supper.

This Holy Week, how tempting is it in our own lives to want to be in a position of power and high status rather than humility?

‘Jesus wept.’ From today’s Gospel, John 11:1-45.

“The Lord who weeps is also the Lord who resurrects.” Debi Thomas, columnist.

There is so much that could be said about today’s Gospel, not least that Jesus’ words in verse 25 are traditionally used at funeral services as a message of hope and trust. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” That profound question is one each of us must answer for ourselves as it challenges us across the centuries now as well as Martha and Mary then.

Also striking is the faith of the two sisters as Martha says that she knows that God will give Jesus whatever he asks without telling him what it is that she wants him to do. It’s also Martha who, in the midst of the loss of her brother, makes the powerful declaration “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God…”paralleling the confessions of Peter and Thomas. That’s followed by Mary, who weeps for Lazarus as she falls at Jesus’ feet. In prostrating herself as she comes to Jesus in this way, her trust and grief draws an astonishing response from Jesus in the shortest verse in the whole Bible: ‘Jesus wept.’ These remarkable sisters and the death of their brother cause Jesus not only to experience the pain of humanity but also to share in it. This is not some remote deity, but one who weeps with us, who experiences loss and grief yet brings also the means of hope within that devastation.

However, Jesus didn’t come to Bethany until two days after hearing that Lazarus was ill, by which time he had died. John suggests that this was so that God could be glorified through what was to happen, and Martha and Mary could have been deeply challenged by Jesus’ delay as they both tell him, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” In waiting so long for him to arrive, their faith may have been tested and yet what happens in the raising of Lazarus after his death is probably far more than they could have imagined. As we hear this story anew, it may be that perhaps we have also had a delay with prayers that have not been quickly answered and perhaps our faith or hopes have been dashed accordingly. If so, we can take heart from Mary, Martha and Lazarus: perhaps the delay may mean God has something far more than we can anticipate in store when the time is right. God answers prayer – just not always in the way or time we expect, as Martha and Mary discovered.

However, it’s Lazarus who experiences the greatest change, having been dead for four days and there being a stench in the tomb. Jesus issues two imperatives: “Take away the stone” and “Lazarus, come out!” That is then followed by a third: “Unbind him and let him go.” Jesus could perhaps have done this himself but, in telling those around him to do so, Martha, Mary and those present participate in enabling the miracle to happen as Lazarus is restored to life. Jesus could work alone, but chooses to involve them – and us, too, in the mission that still continues today. 

Perhaps we know someone who has had painful experiences of loss and grief that deaden their response to Jesus’ call in their lives? Perhaps we ourselves have known this, too, or wept at the state of the world today with so much warfare and suffering evident in so many ways? Through our prayers, our words and our actions, we  too can be involved with others in our communities in unbinding those caught up in so many deadening worries, issues and habits, discovering as we do that this is life giving not only for them but for us, too. 

In the words of Debi Thomas, “We serve a God who calls us to life. Our journey is not to the grave but through it. The Lord who weeps is also the Lord who resurrects. So we mourn in hope.” 

Amidst the weeping and mourning, where might the hope be?  

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.