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Lectionary Reflections – Sunday 11th April 2021

Second Sunday of Easter                              Year B                                                 11th April 2021 Lectionary Readings:           Acts 4 v32-35;            1 John 1 1v1-2v2;      John 20 v19-31. Friends re-united. The reading from John’s gospel relates to events in the evening of what we now call Easter Day. Jesus appears to his disciples, his friends. The shock of his…

The Good Shepherd

After a hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, many people inside the building were trapped by a cloud of thick, blinding smoke. Police Officer Isaac Hoopi ran into the blackness, searching for survivors, and heard people calling for help. He began shouting back, over and over: “Head toward my voice! Head…

An Open Tomb

An open tombNo stone at the doorJust a clothLay on the floor The body had goneAn empty spaceWhere the son of godHad laid in this place Raised from the deadScars where he bledHis love still remainsIt always stays the same Jesus shows us the wayTo follow him every dayHowever long we liveOur sins he will…

Darkness turned to light

It was still dark.  Almost like a throw away line at the beginning of his account of the resurrection, John – the gospel writer – includes the phrase; ‘it was still dark’. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark.  With nightfall the Sabbath had come to a close and so,…

Holy Saturday

John 19: 38-42 (select verses) Joseph of Arimethea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. He was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who had visited Jesus at night. These two men were prominent members of the Jewish Council, who had both…

A Wooden Cross

A wooden crossOn a hillA man, a JewBetrayedHis pain lingers still The cross he draggedAs people staredHe is guiltyThey declared Outstretched armsNails cruellyDriven into palms A crown of thornsOn his headHe would sufferUntil he was dead. He died for usIn a worldOf unjustAnd mistrust He is our saviourA flame of lightForever and alwaysBurning bright Maureen…

Maundy Thursday – Tomorrow

Today, more than almost any other day for me, has always felt poignant and mixture of beginnings and endings. It is the start of the pain at the end of Holy Week, and almost the end of the preparation time of Lent. It is another Passover, a First Communion and a last Communion. It is…