Jameswoodward’s Weblog

John 13:21-35

 ²¹When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

 ²²Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

 ²³Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 ²⁴Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

 ²⁵He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

 ²⁶Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

 ²⁷And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

 ²⁸Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

 ²⁹For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

 ³⁰He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

 ³¹Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

 ³²If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

 ³³Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

 ³⁴A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

 ³⁵By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

These are the words of God who has created us in freedom, preserved us in freedom, for freedom is the precondition of all true love. ‘’Do quickly what you are going to do’’ says the voice of love that loves so deeply and so dearly it will not impose its will, but empties itself, ready to receive whatever we choose to give. Judas turned and left. In every sense, it was night. Now it is we who sit at the favoured hand of Jesus, beloved guests at the table in whom his hopes now reside. The stewardship of God’s reign and realm, the life of God’s word reside in us. On countless occasions, in so many ways, we have received the bread from Jesus’s hand and walked away into darkness. For we, like Judas, will not trust in God. God will not force us. But with sad and troubled eyes watches in agony as we turn and walk away, clutching the bread of life. Accepting the gift and rejecting the giver.

John 12:37-50 

 ³⁷Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
   “Lord, who has believed our message
      and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

   ⁴²Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

 ⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

 ⁴⁷“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. ⁴⁹For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. ⁵⁰I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

The opposite of faith is not doubt: the opposite of faith is fear. And people of faith ought always to be mindful of this reality, mindful of fear. Fear is most evident, most painfully prominent when we engage the thornier questions of human community. Resistance to change is often couched in words of fear. While some pose very real and good questions, others fear that the opening of doors and the possibilities would look as though the Church were condoning improper behavior. The greatest power in our society said Mark Twain is public opinion. Some elevated, he maintained to a stature of that surpassing God.

Jesus looked at the religious authorities and saw faith, caught like a prehistoric insect perfectly preserved in amber. It looked like a living faith, so perfect in every detail, that it was dead, constricted, good only as a relic. To Jesus, who was desperately seeking some evidence that his ministry was bearing fruit, that his gospel was bringing life like water to a parched field, it was a baron desert.

John 12:1-11 

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

 ¹Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³Then Mary took about a pintof pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

 ⁴But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

 ⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

 ⁹Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

Love does not always express itself in ways that conform to our own sense of morality or propriety. Love is sometimes hidden, elusive. And when it is, our own response reveals our sin. Hatred of those different from ourselves, and distain of their gifts, only reveals our own lovelessness. Love is not always easy and it is never simple; we who would love as Jesus desired and as Jesus did must learn to discern its many faces and facets.

Palm Sunday is the epitome of Lent: a day of great celebration, and a day of deep mourning. On this day, Jesus entered Jerusalem as its king while thousands rejoiced. Within a week, he would be dead, and his followers would be confused and scattered. For everyone who witnessed the events of that week 2000 years ago, it was a roller coaster ride—they knew nothing of Easter. We, on the other hand, have the hope of the resurrection, but also the knowledge that we are the reason for the crucifixion. Bright sadness. …

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It is right to praise you, Almighty God, for the acts of love by which you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. On this day Jesus entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph, and was proclaimed as King of kings by those who spread their garments and branches of palm along his way.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 11.1-10

As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them, “and as soon as you enter it, you will see a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.'” The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside a house. As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it. Many in the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut leafy branches in the fields and spread them along the way. He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting, “Praise God! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!” 

Prayer
I worship you Lord! You did not enter your holy city Jerusalem on the back of a war horse, but humbly and on a donkey. You knew that you were surrounded by murderers, yet you came in peace, and by your sacrifice you would utterly conquer death before the week had passed. You, oh Lord, are blessed and worthy of my praise. You have saved your people. I say, “you are my king!” … I long to live in the city where you sit on the throne! Establish your Kingdom, so that your people can live in peace. Jesus, I bow before you, and I will sing your praises until your Kingdom comes and is established, and forever after.

happy are we who are free from attachment, 

feeders on rapture shall we be,

like the gods of brilliant light.

The Buddha, from the Dhammapada

Out of the turbulence of the little tribal kingdoms of Celtic Wales and Brittany where life was precarious and short, where violence reigned, there comes the story of serenity and peace, speaking to us un poetic language of the possibility that here in this world of flesh and blood men can realize, if only for an instant, the presence of the kingdom of eternity which is ever at hand, can recapture the innocence of the beginning and anticipate the fulfillment of the end. Heaven and earth are linked in a single bond, and the world is a wedding; the angels of God ascend and descend upon the sons of men. Such a moment cannot last. The two spheres may even come too close together. It is not possible to maintain the original vision in all its brilliance. We have to return to the limitations of our lot. But in such an instant of vision, arising like the icons of Rublev from the cruelty and strife of human history, we glimpse something of the unmeasured possibilities of human life and its unfathomable mystery when it is lived in the growing realization of the presence and power of God.

The World is a Wedding :Exploration of Christian Spirituality

A. M. Allchin  Darton, Longman & Todd (page 21)

Perhaps statistics are not important but today my blog reached the 100 000 visitor mark…..

Here are some other figures

Total views: 100,285

Busiest day: 620 — Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Views today: 171

Totals

Posts: 577

Categories: 30

So thanks to all my readers whoever and wherever you are!

It has been quite a week! On the way back from friends in Oxfordshire on Thursday I had a tyre explode …. quite an unpleasant shock! I managed to move the car over into the emergency lane without hitting anything else! I had a close shave with danger but was glad to come out of the accident in one piece! I will not bore you with the story of getting the wheel fixed, though I suspect my wallet will be 300 pounds lighter…

I depend less on the car here in Windsor. I can walk into town and find all that I need there. There are two train stations in the town and London is about half an hour away. For other journeys the car seems always to be the easy way out … this wasnt an option yesterday when I needed to travel to Sarum College for some teaching. So the train – and quite a journey….. from Windsor to Slough and Slough to Reading and Reading to Basingstoke and Basingstoke to Salisbury. All in two hours and I arrived feeling very relaxed ! Time to people watch. Time to stare out of the window. Time to think.

I just might try that option again.

And just in case you are wondering – the car gets fixed on Friday.

The tourist season has certainly started here and its worth pausing to consider the lure of these buildings:

Painting and sculpture, music and drama, architecture and liturgy: all these involve arranging the physical world in ways that lead beyond the visible. This explains why abbey churches, like cathedrals, have always been places of artistic beauty, unashamedly using material and financial resources to create places that offer people access to the hidden dimensions of heart and soul. While numbers attending church services have dwindled, the numbers visiting great churches continues to rise.

The Christian story is that God is at work in the physical realities not just in the hearts and souls. This is expressed most vividly in the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The risen Christ is the first example of a body remade in a new way, and this is the destiny of all those who share his spirit. We persevere in trying to align our bodies with our hearts and souls because in so doing we are aligning them with God’s work.  The book of the Bible, and the most misunderstood, is the Book of Revelation, where the author presents an apocalyptic vision of this world transformed by Christ. ‘Behold I make all things new’, says the Lord. In the end, literally, God will make all things new.

Finding Happiness

Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life

Abbot Christopher Jamison

Page 120

Today the Church commemorates Cuthbert.

Although tradition says that Cuthbert was the son of an Irish king, it is most likely that he was born in the vicinity of Melrose, in present day Scotland, of poor parents. Certainly we know that he tended sheep on the hills above the abbey when he was older.

The young Cuthbert may have been influenced by the nearby monks of Melrose Abbey in his choice of vocation; when he was sixteen he received a vision of the soul of St. Aidan being carried to heaven by angels. This vision may have convinced him to enter holy orders at Melrose, but he did not rush to fulfill his calling.

Instead, Cuthbert spent several years as a soldier, probably in the service of the Kingdom of Northumbria against the attacks of King Penda of Mercia. After that conflict had ended, Cuthbert entered the monastery at Melrose, where his devotion earned him high praise. When the monastery at Ripon was founded, it was Cuthbert who acted as master.

These were years of conflict between the traditions of the Celtic Rite and the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. In 661 Ripon adopted the Roman approach, and Cuthbert and his followers returned to Melrose. In 664 Cuthbert became Prior of Melrose after the death of Biosil.

His reign as prior did not last long; in that same year of 664 the Synod of Whitby settled the ongoing dispute between Roman and Celtic Christianity in favour of the former. Cuthbert acquiesced with the Synod’s decision, and adopted Roman rule. He was sent to the Priory of Lindisfarne to ease the transition to Roman tradition in that house.

Cuthbert was a perfect choice for such a sensitive role; his reputation for devotion and sanctity, and the fact that he himself had been raised in the Celtic tradition and now supported Roman rule made his gentle leadership ideal for the job at hand. He spent a great deal of his time at Lindisfarne evangelizing among the people of the area, and exercising the tact and patience for which he was renown to lead the conversion to Roman Christianity.

Cuthbert’s time at Lindisfarne was short, however. He desired the peace of a life of contemplation, and in 676 the abbot granted him leave to retire to take up the simple life of a hermit. Just where Cuthbert chose for his retreat is uncertain. Some traditions say that the rocky islet of St. Cuthbert’s Island, near Lindisfarne, was the spot. Other traditions place him in St. Cuthbert’s Cave, near Howburn. In any case, he did not stay long, and soon moved to Farne Island, opposite Bamburgh.

After several years of austere life on Farne, Cuthbert was reluctantly persuaded to return to a more active role in the church, and became Bishop of Lindisfarne. His consecration was held at York on Easter, 685. He returned to Lindisfarne, but his time was short. By Christmas, 686 he felt his death approach, and Cuthbert resigned his see and returned to Farne Island. He died on March 20, 687.

But the story of Cuthbert does not end there. He was buried at Lindisfarne Priory, where his tomb quickly became a magnet for pilgrims. Miracles were reported at his grave; in fact, so numerous were the reported miracles that Cuthbert was called the “Wonder-worker of England”.

In 875 the monks of Lindisfarne became alarmed by the threat of Danish invasion. They fled the island, taking with them their most precious possessions, including the relics of Saint Cuthbert. The monks of Lindisfarne wandered for a full seven years, lugging the saint’s bones about with them, until in 883 they were given a church at Chester-le-Street, near Durham. Ironically, their benefactor was a Danish king who had converted to Christianity.

In the late 10th century a fresh Danish invasion threatened, so Cuthbert’s bones were moved again, this time to Ripon, over 300 years after he had first come to the great Abbey as a master. After only a few months at Ripon, Cuthbert was once more carted off. The intention was to return the saint to Chester-le-Street, but on the way the bones lay at Durham, where apparently signs were shown indicating that this was the place the saint wished to be buried.

A series of churches were built to house the relics. The first stone church was built on the site of the present cathedral, and was consecrated in about 999. During William the Conqueror’s “Harrying of the North (1069) the bones were moved to Lindisfarne for safety, but soon returned to Durham.

In 1104 they were finally moved to the new cathedral of Durham, where a suitable shrine had been prepared. During this final move the body was found to be incorrupt (i.e. perfectly preserved) as was the head of St. Oswald, which had been placed with Cuthbert’s body for safety. It is from this point that the head of St. Oswald was adopted as the symbol of St. Cuthbert.

Throughout the Middle Ages the shrine of Cuthbert remained one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in the North of England. During the English Reformation the tomb of Cuthbert was plundered, but it seems that the monks had warning, and had hidden Cuthbert’s body. In 1827 a secret tomb was found in the Cathedral. Was the body contained therein the body of St. Cuthbert. The question has never been adequately settled, though the bones are now displayed as authentic within the cathedral.

Saint Cuthbert is also associated with the Lindisfarne Gospels. This illuminated manuscript was produced by Eadfrid, Bishop of Lindisfarne, in the 8th century. It is without question one of the best surviving examples of traditional Celtic calligraphy and illustration. The gospel was placed by Eadfrid on the shrine of Cuthbert where it stayed until the monks fled the priory.

In a delightful tale, which ought to be true even if it is not, the gospel was lost overboard as the monks crossed the Irish Sea. As the monks despaired, a vision of Cuthbert appeared before them and told them where to find the book. It was found on the shore three days later, in the spot foretold by Cuthbert, intact save for some minor staining from the seawater. When the gospel (now in the British Museum) was later analyzed, it was found marked with stains that seem likely to be from salt water. So the romantic tale contains more than a bit of truth.

Almighty God,
who called your servant Cuthbert from following the flock
to follow your Son and to be a shepherd of your people:
in your mercy, grant that we, following his example,
may bring those who are lost home to your fold;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.