News and reflections

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Jesus, in John 14:6.

“There’s no need to do the Camino when the UK has trails to suit pilgrims of all spiritual persuasions and walking abilities.” Oliver Smith, in the Sunday Times 28.6.2026.

Yesterday was the feast of James the Great, the patron saint of Spain and the first of the disciples to be martyred although he was the second of them to die, after Judas Iscariot. King Herod Agrippa I had him put to the sword – probably beheaded – in AD 44, possibly due to James’ fiery temper which, along with his brother John, lead to them being called ‘the Sons of Thunder’. 

The apostle’s remains are now thought to be in the shrine at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela because James took the gospel to Spain where, exhausted and disheartened by a lack of converts, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary in AD 40. This was remarkable as it happened while Mary was still alive and is her first recorded appearance. She comforted James and asked him to build a small chapel which later evolved into the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza. James then returned to Judea but, following his martyrdom, his body was taken back to Spain where, in 1492, the Camino de Santiago was declared by Pope Alexander VI to be one of the three great Christian pilgrimages, the others being Jerusalem and Rome.

Today, hundreds of thousands of people follow the Camino, the Way which is a network of cycling and walking routes to the Cathedral. It’s an impressive building, noted for many things, one of which is the Botafumeiro – a thurible or incense burner, traditionally  used to indicate prayers rising to heaven. However, the overwhelming body odour of the many pilgrims crowding into the Cathedral at the end of a lengthy pilgrimage was unbearable and so the Botafumeiro had the practical purpose of also being an air freshener! At 1.6m or 5.2 feet high and weighing 80kg or 180 lb, it uses 40kg or 88lb of charcoal and incense, with eight tiraboleiros needed to pull the ropes to start it moving as it swings across the Cathedral at speeds of up to 80km or 50mph. When I was there, it was so near our heads that many people ducked, although there was no actual danger other than the smoke and fragrance pouring out, making some people cough.

What a contrast with St Melangell’s, the destination of Pererindod Melangell, one route for a pilgrimage to the Shrine Church. Rather than the grandeur of the Cathedral, the church here is simple and remote, housing the restoration of what is the earliest surviving Romanesque Shrine in Britain, dating from the 12th century. Many pilgrims from differing backgrounds and varying faith traditions have made their way here, which is today designated by Oliver Smith to be “one of the most beautiful British pilgrimage destinations” – further details from hello@britishpilgrimage.org

St James, so discouraged during his time In Spain before he had his vision of Mary, did as she requested and built a small chapel where this happened – the first to be dedicated to Mary. He could not have known of the Basilica which developed later, but tradition suggests that he did regain the courage to go to his death with bravery and hope. Perhaps there are times for all of us when we may feel disheartened for a variety of reasons or may find that what we thought was a holy experience turns out to have very down to earth with practical implications like the Botafumeiro. Wherever our Way through life leads us, and whether we may or may not profess faith, places like Compostela or Pennant Melangell and the many other holy places the world over may widen our horizons and enable a vision to become a reality. As Oliver Smith writes, “Even those who struggle to believe in the words of a book can, it seems, draw lessons from the physical path unfurling before them.” 

What is unfurling before us today?

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

“Let both of them grow together until the harvest.” Jesus, in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.

‘We ourselves are God’s own field… Wheat and tares together sown.’ From the hymn ’Come, ye thankful people, come.’

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks of wheat and tares  – bearded darnel that looks just like wheat when it first appears but is actually a weed that carries a poisonous fungus. If it’s harvested and ground in with the wheat, the flour would then be tainted and unusable but, if pulled up too early, it could result in wastage of some of the crop as the plants entwine and it’s hard to distinguish from real wheat until it matures. So, Jesus’ parable suggests that both will be left to grow together until the harvest, when each can more easily be recognised and separated so that the tares will be gathered first and then burned. 

Here, the harvest is happening during the heatwave – the fields nearby were done last week with red kites then circling for the pickings left by the tractor. In the garden, a lot of ground elder has been growing and I have always seen it as a prolific weed to be dug out with as much of the root removed as possible because it spreads so easily. It’s only recently that I’ve learned that it’s actually edible with a taste similar to spinach if the young leaves are used although the mature leaves are unpleasant to eat. The Romans brought it to Britain in around AD 150 as a culinary herb and it also has medicinal uses: the flowers can be used as a mild laxative, with the leaves reducing inflammation and helping to overcome arthritis, rheumatism and gout, so it also became known as goutweed. It’s also called Bishop’s Weed because its white flowers resemble the collars historically worn by bishops – though no longer! However, ground elder is part of the carrot family which includes Poison Hemlock and Giant Hogweed, so it needs to be identified and used with great care – as did bearded darnel which has a much slighter head than wheat when it’s mature. 

The wheat and tares have to grow together before they can easily be identified, as pulling up the weeds may also uproot the crop and sometimes a weed can have its uses, as with the ground elder. In the parable Jesus is telling, it’s the workers who realise what’s happening and alert the farmer although they didn’t notice when the crop was being polluted at night by an enemy who bothered to go to the effort of sowing weed seeds to ruin the crop later. The parable seems to intrigue his disciples – this story is told, amongst others, to the crowds following Jesus and the disciples later ask Jesus for an explanation whereas the crowds don’t. Jesus suggests that the field is the world and that the sower is the Son of Man with the good seed being the children of the Kingdom – but the weeds are sown amongst that good seed. It is the children of the Kingdom who are struggling with wrong doing amongst them – members of Christ’s own body are not perfect but are contending with what it means to grow the kingdom of God in a world where good and evil are so intermingled. That applies to the church, today, too – but there is hope when Jesus tells the disciples then and his followers today that this is how it will be – there is still time before the harvest will happen. Then, there was much to choke the yield in the face of Roman occupation and the attitudes of the time yet, today, as we consider what threatens to uproot our faith or choke good intentions, the Kingdom is still being grown. Are we enabling its development and accepting that the wheat and tares must grow together until the harvest is ready or are we being overwhelmed by the tares and cares of our own age and situations? There is still time for a good yield to grow – but for how long? 

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine.

Today is Sea Sunday and there is a lot of information about this online, much of which involves shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The voices and experiences of the seafarers involved have not had as much publicity as those of the politicians, so this reflection is from the authentic accounts of the Sailors’ Society which, with other charities, endeavours to give support to those caught up in these awful situations. 

 “Don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus calms the storm in Mark 4:35-41.

Those words, cried out by frightened disciples nearly two thousand years ago, still echo across the waters of our world today. The Gospel story begins with Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee. Several of the disciples were experienced fishermen. They knew boats. They knew weather. They knew the sea. Yet when a violent storm arose, even these seasoned sailors were terrified. The waves crashed over the boat. The wind howled. Their vessel filled with water. Death seemed close at hand. And where was Jesus? He was asleep.

The disciples woke Him with desperation in their voices: “Don’t you care if we drown?”

In answer, Jesus stood, rebuked the wind and the waves, saying simply, “Peace! Be still!” Immediately, the storm ceased and there was a great calm. Then Jesus asked them, “Why are you so afraid?” This miracle is not only about Jesus’ power over nature. It is also about His presence in the midst of fear. The disciples learned that even when the storm raged, they were not alone. Christ was with them in the storm. Today, many seafarers need that same reassurance and need to know they’re not alone in the storm.

Most of us rarely think about the people who bring us the goods we rely on every day. Yet around 90% of world trade travels by sea. The food on our shelves, the fuel that heats our homes, the products we use every day—all depend upon seafarers. These men and women spend months away from their families. They miss birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases, and the ordinary moments of life that most of us take for granted. They survived the isolation of Covid, they survive piracy attacks, abandonment and false imprisonment. But since February, many seafarers have faced extraordinary challenges in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Around 20,000 seafarers have been affected directly by the crisis, and the ripple effects spread out across the globe. Seafarers in other parts of the world found themselves unable to start new contracts with huge financial implications for their families. Others already onboard vessels found their time at sea extended way beyond what they had expected. Meanwhile, crews on vessels behind the Straits of Hormuz found themselves trapped, stranded, or working under the constant threat of attack. What was worse was that as the days became weeks, and weeks months, the ongoing conflict was peppered with weekly announcements of potential freedom. This brought a glimmer of hope that was just as regularly dashed.

Those crews need to know they weren’t alone in the storm. Imagine being hundreds of miles from home. Imagine hearing reports of missiles, drones, attacks on ships, and uncertainty about whether you will get home safely. Imagine trying to reassure your family while you yourself are frightened. For many of those seafarers, this is not imagination. It was reality.

“Your brain starts to shut off when you see bombings and missiles every day,” one seafarer explained. “I speak to my family every day, but I don’t tell them how bad the situation is. There is nothing they can do.” Others are now rationing drinking water, cut off from help and sending desperate messages. Seafarer Dalip Singh was just 25 and had been at sea only two years when his life was cut short on the first night of the conflict in the Gulf. He was on watch in the engine room when a missile struck his ship. Dalip and his Captain perished when the ship burst into flames. His body has never been recovered. The shock of his loss led to the death of his father just weeks later.

Sailors’ Society’s trained Crisis Response Network is now supporting his mother and the rest of his family, who are utterly devastated by this tragedy.

More recently a Captain suffered a heart attack while keeping a watch out for missiles and drones. But in a war zone no medical team can reach you. No one can save you. His crew could do nothing but watch their Captain die at sea. Crew on another ship also watched helplessly as their fellow seafarer suffered devastating burns when a missile was intercepted above and burning debris fell onto the deck. These are not isolated stories of suffering. “The situation is getting more dire every day,” one Captain told us.

After finally receiving permission to cross the Strait, his crew believed they were at last going to safety. Then armed men in speedboats surrounded their vessel and opened fire. A bullet smashed through the bridge window. “We all ducked down,” said the Chief Engineer. “Glass shattered across the bridge and we were all really shaken up.”

Like the disciples in Mark’s Gospel, those sailors face storms beyond their control. Like the disciples, they know fear. Like the disciples, they wonder what tomorrow may bring.

And just as Jesus cared for those frightened sailors in the storm on Lake Galilee, so Sailors’ Society and other charities care for the seafarers of today. Often, God’s answer to a cry for help comes through the hands of His people. When Jesus fed the five thousand, He used the disciples to distribute the bread. When the early Church cared for those in need, God worked through the generosity of believers. Today, when seafarers need support, God calls His Church to respond.

We may never stand on the bridge of a tanker in the Gulf. We may never sail through the Strait of Hormuz. We may never meet the seafarers in need of help. But, as Jesus made sure the disciples weren’t alone in the storm, today we have an opportunity to make sure today’s seafarers know they aren’t alone. For further information, or to donate to their work, please research Sea Sunday 2026 and please pray the prayer for seafarers caught up in the conflict in the Gulf:

Lord, We lift before You all seafarers trapped by the conflict in the Gulf, far from home and surrounded by uncertainty. Be their refuge in fear, their strength in weakness, and their hope in times of despair. Watch over those who stand vigil on ships and in ports, separated from their loved ones. Grant them safety from harm, wisdom in difficult decisions, and courage to face each day. Calm troubled waters, soften hardened hearts, and open pathways toward peace and freedom. Comfort their families who wait anxiously for news. Sustain them with patience, faith, and the assurance of Your loving presence. Amen.

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.” Jesus, in Matthew 10:40-42.

‘The greatest natural broadcaster of them all.’ The Daily Telegraph’s tribute to radio commentator Brian Johnstone on his death in 1994. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus is giving his disciples their final instructions and encouraging them before they are sent out to take his message of God’s love to those who have not yet heard it. He says that those who welcome them are also welcoming God because they come in his name and Jesus also tells his disciples that even simple gestures such as giving water to those who need it will be rewarded. Then, entire communities were represented by the individual who arrived and so hospitality was much more widely significant. A mixed reception would await Jesus’ followers due to their controversial message but many would receive them well just as others would ignore them and, in doing so, block God too. 

I heard this Bible passage with very mixed feelings as BBC Radio Four can no longer be received on Long Wave now and the sometimes crackly programmes heard for so long are no longer being transmitted on this frequency. Here, 198 LW has always had much better reception than the alternative 92-95 FM, which is locally unobtainable for some unknown reason. Fortunately, my IPad will now provide the programmes of this network but I remember as a teenager listening to them on my little transistor radio under the bedclothes late at night when I was supposed to be asleep. The music before the shipping forecast, Sailing By composed by Ronald Binge, was better than any lullaby and the names of the sea areas it was being transmitted to with the thought of the sailors depending on it for their safety made the broadcasts a vivid experience. So did Test Match Special when the TV was turned down in favour of the radio commentary by Brian Johnston and others whose knowledge, fondness for cake and sometimes uncontrollable laughter was wonderful to hear. 

BBC radio long wave began in 1934 when the Droitwich, Burghead and Westerglen transmitter masts made it a national service. These powerful transmitters meant that the signal could be received far out to sea, hence the importance of the shipping forecast, and also the role played by the BBC in European communications during World War. However, the technology is now becoming obsolete and, after 92 years, the masts are showing their age so their operator Arqiva has closed them down – my radio is crackly no longer but its silence is worse! The digital service is much clearer and the range of programmes still available so, although this is the end of an era, a new one begins as the memories and connection created for people in remote places continues in this different way. 

In the remote location here at St Melangell’s, the floor in front of the altar is made of recycled slate slabs, some of which have the stonemason’s engravings on them. The central slab carries the initials E T and, as this work was done when the film about this Extra Terrestrial alien was popular, it may be that it was those relaying the slabs here who added them rather than the original masons! The slogan from the film was E T phone home and so it seems appropriate to have these initials in the chancel as prayer could be said to be, in a sense, calling home to God’s house and tuning in to the prayerful messages sent and received. 

The term ‘broadcasting’ originated in seed being cast widely as it was scattered by hand in the fields, which would have been a familiar sight for Jesus’ first disciples. With their face to face method of broadcasting their news, what would they have thought of today’s astounding technology where so many people can be reached anonymously? Ironically, there are now so many forms of media providing such a wide range of services that information can easily be drowned out and it can be hard to tune in to God’s call in life today. What messages are we transmitting and receiving today that will enable the Good News still to be heard?

With my prayers; pob bendith, 

Christine, Priest Guardian. 

‘When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless…’ From today’s Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:8.

“Pain is the first proper step to real compassion; it can be a foundation for understanding all those who struggle with their existence.” David Whyte, poet.

In the Gospel today, Jesus is continuing his ministry of teaching, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing those who come to him. Matthew writes that he healed every disease and every sickness – this is a comprehensive and sustained outreach to all he meets. As he does this, Jesus realises how harassed and helpless the crowds are and he asks his disciples to pray for more workers as “the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.” He then sends out twelve of them to begin to supply this need – in other words, they are to answer their own prayer through their own actions and responses to what he commands. They are not to seek payment and are to go first to those with whom they are familiar, Jews rather than Gentiles or Samaritans who were the traditional enemy of the Jews. However, by the end of Matthew’s gospel, women, Gentiles and Samaritans will have been included – a sign of Jesus’ widening understanding of what is being asked of him. As Jesus instructs his disciples, he again uses the imperative – this is another command, not an option. They are to do this and be part of the answer to what is needed in the face of so much need.

So many years later, there is still much need and so many people who feel harassed and helpless about what is happening in life today with others being disaffected or unable to discover how to overcome this. Amongst them are NEETs, those not in education, employment or training: in the UK, 1,012,000 young people aged 16 to 24 years were NEET in March 2026. That’s a shocking 13.5% of that whole age group and there are many suggestions why this is happening, yet being labelled as Not anything is unlikely to help. What Is the potential for change and healing? 

Nowadays, the work of healing is mainly undertaken by the NHS and health care professionals although the costs are huge, more resources are needed and waiting lists are lengthy. Here in Powys, the largest county in Wales, there is no major hospital and some patients have to travel to either Gobowen, near Oswestry, or Shrewsbury – both in England – to receive treatment, for which a wait of 104 weeks is sometimes imposed by the Welsh government. As the latest resident doctors’ strike has now been cancelled with hopes rising that a settlement may have been reached in the long-running dispute, waiting times may begin to improve. 

What prayers are we praying for those who are in need of healing or are harassed and helpless – and, like  those first disciples, how could we be part of a compassionate and active response to our own prayers?

With my prayers; pob bendith,

Christine, Priest Guardian.

“Go and learn what this means, ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Jesus, quoting the prophet Hosea, in today’s Gospel Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26.

“What would you stop to bless and caress/ if you believed that blessing could address/ our painful illusions of brokenness?” Bernadette Millers, poet. 

In the Gospel today, Jesus calls a tax collector to follow him – and what if he had not? For that man, loathed as he was for working for the occupying power to implement taxation and doubtless creaming off some of the profits for himself, went on to become the saint whose Gospel bears his name, dying for the faith he proclaimed as one of the Apostles. Jesus must have seen something in Matthew that he didn’t yet discern in himself and when he calls him, it’s an imperative Jesus to uses: an order. Matthew had a choice, however, to follow him or to remain with his money and his familiar way of life, but it seems that he got up and left all this. Matthew didn’t choose Jesus – Jesus chose him. And so, in the ordinariness of working life, as for Peter and Andrew whilst casting nets at sea, or James and John whilst repairing their nets with their father, a new way of life and faith intervenes so unexpectedly. 

It’s the same for the other tax collectors and those ‘sinners’ who meet with Jesus as he eats at Matthew’s house where many shunned by the law gathered with him. The Pharisees see this and complain about it but Jesus tells them that it is the sick who need a doctor and gives them another imperative: “Go and learn…” Yet it is a leader of the synagogue, one abiding by the religious laws of the day, who allows his need of healing for his daughter to overcome all this as he asked for Jesus’ help. At this, now it’s Jesus who gets up and follows him just as a woman with gynaecological problems also comes to Jesus wanting to touch his cloak. Under the rules of the time, Jesus would be expected to avoid both a woman and the bleeding from which she had been suffering for twelve years but he responds immediately to her and tells her that her faith has made her well. The faith of the synagogue leader also makes his daughter well, although the professional mourners at her house laugh when Jesus says she is not dead. As with Matthew, there is no questioning or checking from Jesus about their status – both find healing because of their faith in him. It is the religious people of the day who doubt him.

What Jesus does reminds his followers that faith is not found in the regulations and rules drawn up by religious people but in the need, dirt and mess of human beings encountering Jesus’ healing and ministry as lives are changed and hope is answered. Just as he told the Pharisees to learn to show mercy rather than sacrifice, so the same is true today. Jesus isn’t saying that ritual and worship don’t matter but that love and mercy are more important as he reaches across boundaries and conditional treatment that isolates those in most need. In responding to the included and excluded alike, the outsider and those within, Jesus mixes up the traditional thinking of his day as the distressed and suffering people around him find a welcome and response that the synagogue – and some churches today? – would have withheld due to them being thought to be unclean. The leader and the woman are both unnamed – but they find the healing they seek through God’s love and care for all humanity, not just a religious few.

It’s clear from much happening nationally as well as internationally today that the rules and traditions of our time are being reinterpreted in ways that often bring isolation or sacrifice rather than healing and mercy. Who are those who have been merciful to us and are there perhaps ongoing situations in our own lives, families and communities where, like the Pharisees challenged by Jesus, we also need to go and learn the greater importance of showing mercy to others rather than sacrifice? 

With my prayers; pob bendith,

‘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.