Sharing some thoughts

Today in the Church calendar marks the start of the period known as Passiontide – it is the time when we move a little bit closer to the cross and to the pain and agony of Good Friday. Our gospel reading has the account of Jesus at the home of Lazarus in Bethany… there, as Martha served the food Mary took out some expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus. Judas Iscariot was horrified – and whilst he’s the one that is mentioned, maybe others were as well – this was expensive perfume which could have been sold and the money used to help the poor – but Jesus told Judas to leave Mary alone. In this action she was doing something incredibly special for Jesus. As Mary anointed the feet of Jesus she was certainly recognising his words that he would shortly leave them – he would go to Jerusalem and face the pain and humiliation of a mock trial and the cross – but she also recognised the fact that Jesus would never leave her. Maybe she didn’t understand fully at this point how Jesus wou...

On this Mothering Sunday we give thanks for mothers – for our own, for those of other people, and for all who care for people as a good mother cares for her children, and today in the reading from the Book of Exodus (2:1-10) we have some wonderful examples of motherhood. The story begins with the birth of the child who would become Moses – born to a Levite man and woman, he was born at a time when Pharaoh was getting rid of Hebrew children – there were too many Hebrews and they were rather problematical. Life at the time was a battle which could only be won by killing off the opposition, and in that way life was considered incredibly cheap. The Levite woman knowing that the life of her child was in danger took a risk, trusting him to God’s care, hoping that something would happen that would save the boy’s life. It must have been the hardest decision of her life as she placed her child by the river – like most mother’s she must surely have had hopes for her child – she must have anticip...

We’re now about half way through Lent and perhaps that’s a good time to think about what we’ve done, what we’re doing and what we’re hoping to do or achieve during this period leading up to Holy Week and Easter. Lent is a time to think about our relationship with God – and it’s a time to especially concentrate on what we can do to improve that relationship not just for a short time but for all time. The idea for Lent is of course to mirror the 40 day wilderness experience when Jesus went out to the desert to spend time alone to pray and to think about his work and his mission. As Jesus spent a time denying himself any of life’s luxuries out in the desert so many people will give things up as a form of denial – but, as Christians when we give something up or take something new up we must ask ourselves what it is doing for our relationship with God – and just as the 40 day period in the wilderness represented a turning point in the life of Jesus, so lent can represent a similar time for ...