Sunday 31 March, Mothering Sunday - Covered in Prayer

1 Samuel1.20-28 & Luke 2.33  Psalm 34.11-20  2 Corinthians 1.3-7

1 Samuel 1.20-28 & Luc 2.33 Psaume 34.11-20 2 Corinthiens 1.3-7

Covered in Prayer

The readings for Mother’s Day tell the stories of two women—first Hannah, then Mary—bringing their sons to the sanctuary to dedicate them to God. In each case, their feelings must have been a mixture of gratitude, trepidation, and determination.

Hannah had promised, in her childless agony, that she would dedicate her son to God as a Nazirite for “all the days of his life” (1 Sam. 1.11). And so, in fulfilment of her vow, she brought that son, maybe three years old, to the tabernacle in Shiloh, into the care of Eli. Yet she had surely knew the rumours of Eli’s wicked sons, that they were greedy, sexual predators, preying on the young women who served at the sanctuary (1 Sam. 2.12–25). Yet, for the sake of her vow, she left him there with the priests.

Mary too brought her child to the Lord, to the temple in Jerusalem, to be dedicated to God and inscribed in the genealogies of Israel. Even then she faced opposition from those who had heard of this birth and opposed this child, who was certainly not Joseph’s, being registered in the genealogies. But Joseph made the confession, zeh b’ni—This is my son—and the child was inscribed in the genealogy of the house of David. Mary knew well enough the circumstances of his conception. She remembered when the Holy Spirit had overshadowed and covered her. And Joseph knew from an angel’s report. But what was to come of this baby was beyond their knowledge. Among the doubters in the temple, they found two who knew that this child was not what he was rumoured to be, but was the promised virgin-born Messiah. But the testimony came with a warning that her child would be continually “spoken against” and that a sword would pierce her heart.

Mary and Hannah loved their little boys, and, in faith, entrusted their unknown and dangerous  future to God. We too can no more control the outcome of our children’s lives than they could. But we can send them in the right direction by bringing them up in the fear and instruction of the Lord. And we can cover all the days of their lives in prayer, that they may live to fulfil God’s purpose for them.

David Mitchell

"Samuel Dedicated by Hannah at the Temple", by Frank William Warwick Topham (1838-1924) - https://christianitymalaysia.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Topham_Samuel_a-1.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62361672

Saturday 30 March - Redeeming Love

Jeremiah16.10–17.4  Psalm 31  Hebrews 8   John 9.1-17

Jérémie 16.10-17.4    Psaume 31 Hébreux 8  Jean 9.1-17

Jeremiah has a stark message for those who have abandoned God. The shortcomings of Jeremiah’s intended audience may seem enormous to us, but in many ways our collective and personal failures are similar. Our societies may not be literally idolatrous, but they have lost sight of God. Collectively, we have allowed extreme injustice and inequality to spread and the environment to be compromised. At the personal level, and in countless ways, we are not the people that God wants us to be. Jeremiah expresses vividly the consequences of these shortcomings. The calamities that befall the Israelites do not come about because of the actions of a supposedly vengeful God (which is how non-believers commonly imagine the God of the Old Testament), but as inevitable consequences of these serious shortcomings. The people whom God has called to follow Him have turned their backs on him, and as a result stand to lose not only their land and their freedom, but their very identity ‘in a land you do not know’.

However, as Christians, we know that the single glimmer of hope that Jeremiah alludes to in this passage, ‘Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress’, is true. We know that God always seeks to find his people again, and we know about his redeeming love for us. If we can turn our faces towards God and respond to this redeeming love, and if we allow our actions and our engagement with the world to be inspired by that love, we will surely find the abundance of life that God promises.

Nicholas Deliyanakis

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

By Kuehl, Gotthardt, 1850-1915. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55770 [retrieved March 1, 2019]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gotthardt_Kuehl_Ein_feste_Burg_ist_unser_Gott_crop balance.jpg.

Friday 29 March - A priest forever

Hebrews7.11–28  Psalm 22     Jeremiah 15.10-21   John 8.48-59

Hébreux 7.11-28   Psaume 22  Jérémie 15.10-21  Jean 8.48-59

A priest forever

Jesus, as a priest in the order of Melchizedek, is greater than the Hebrew priests, just as Melchizedek was greater than Abraham and the priests who descended from him. The priesthood of Jesus is very superior to any past priesthood because (1) Jesus’ perfection doesn’t need sacrificial atonement ( the Levitical priests needed to sacrifice for their own sin before they could come to God on behalf of the people—Lev 16 :6) ; (2) Jesus’ complete sacrifice negates the need for daily sacrifice for sin; and (3) although the Levitical priests eventually died and required a successor, Jesus will live forever, will intercede on our behalf with God forever, and will never require a successor.

Because Jesus died once for all, he brought the sacrificial system to an end. He forgave sins – past, present and future. Christ the perfect sacrifice, completed the work of redemption and was the final sacrifice for us. His death served as  the perfect atonement for our  sins and brings us eternal life. God’s greatest gift to us.

*************************************************************************

Christ vit dans les cieux dans la présence de son Père ou il intercède pour nous selon la volonté du Père.

Grâce à l’intercession de Christ, celui qui s’approche de Dieu peut recevoir la grâce d’être sauvé parfaitement.

Christ est le seul sacrificateur parfait parce qu’il est entièrement juste ; il devait mourir une seule fois en sacrifice pour notre péchés, servir de sacrificateur éternel en notre faveur devant Dieu dans les cieux et vivre à jamais.

Grace West Adeneken


"Melchizedek and Abraham", attributed to Colin Nouailher, between 1560 and 1570 - Marie-Lan Nguyen (2009); cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 18:01, 10 November 2010 (UTC), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8461074

Thursday 28 March - God is for us

Psalm 56 & Jeremiah 14  Hebrews 7.1-10   John 8.31-47

Psaume 56 & Jérémie 14   Hébreux 7.1-10  Jean 8.31-47

Both Psalm 56 and Jeremiah 14 call us to reflect on how and by whom our needs are met. If we are struggling or threatened, who protects us? If we are in physical need, who provides us food, water, shelter?  It can be easy to forget that all these things ultimately come from God. It can also be easy to be led astray by false prophets or a false sense of self-sufficiency. Jeremiah tells us how the people of Judah are reassured by prophets who claim nothing bad will happen there, that peace will remain; yet this message is not coming from God. In fact, God is promising the opposite (for their sacrificial offerings without true repentance). But Jeremiah recalls the covenant God made with His delivered people and reminds us to look only to God for provision and reassurance. Not to look to others or trust that we can provide for ourselves. For not even the rains come without God’s provision...

The psalmist also exclaims that when we do look to God, when we trust in Him alone (not ourselves, not false prophets or idols), we can be confident that God is for us and we are delivered from death. We can walk in the light of life and not be afraid.

Let us walk through the wilderness of Lent, looking only to God for provision and security.

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?

~Our God by Chris Tomlin

Morgan Buckner

"Yerres, the Effect of Rain", by Caillebotte, Gustave, 1848-1894, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55760 [retrieved March 25, 2019]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G._Caillebotte_-_L%27Yerres,_pluie.jpg

Wednesday 27 March - Be not far from me, O my God

Psalm38   Jeremiah 13.1-11   Hebrews 6.13-20   John 8.12-30

Psaume 38  Jérémie 13.1-11    Hébreux 6.13-20  Jean 8.12-30

When reading this, I get a picture of a very miserable David. He’s clearly done things which he now regrets, and his guilt appears to have all but consumed him to a point where he’s in a very low place. He feels he’s helpless – it’s as if he cannot hear anything nor make his voice heard. He’s extremely lonely – his friends and neighbours are avoiding him.  Can we believe the extent to which his enemies want to harm him, or is he verging on paranoia?

I’m writing this from a somewhat better place. My cold is finally getting better, work is rather chaotic but interesting, family are OK despite me abandoning them for a trip to Singapore, and the 300km between London and Brussels takes the edge off Brexit.

But maybe I’ll come back to this psalm when I’m feeling less positive.  For when David is at rock bottom:

I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of the heart.

He still seeks God as a source of refuge and comfort:

O Lord, do not forsake me;

Be not far from me, O my God.

Come quickly to help me,

O Lord my Saviour

Philippa Hayward

Francesco I d'Este, Suffering the Pain of his Injuries, Continues to Take Charge for the Successful Completion of the Military Campaign

By Bartolomeo Fenice (Fénis), 1549, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959, www.metmuseum.org

Tuesday 26 March - Quick to Love & Support

John 7.53–8.11  Psalm 9     Jeremiah 11.18-12.6    Hebrews 5.11-6.12

Jean 7.53-8.11   Psaume 9   Jérémie 11.18-12.6   Hébreux 5.11-6.12

For me this is one of the most inspiring stories of Jesus’ ministry. But we have to start with a downer! According to (the great) C. Kingsley Barrett ‘it is certain that this narrative is not an original part of the gospel’⁽¹⁾. Then Prof. Barrett takes 4 pages to analyse the story! Prof. Hunter agrees; also relegates the discussion to the back of his commentary on John; but then, rather more encouragingly, tells us that ‘This is a true story about Jesus’⁽²⁾.

So many enigmas. So many unanswered questions. So many social issues raised.

The woman was caught ‘in the very act of adultery’. Was, then, she dragged in front of Jesus still very much déshabillé? Did Jesus avert his eyes out of respect for the woman’s modesty?

What was Jesus writing in the sand? According to Hunter⁽²⁾ he was writing the words that he would subsequently speak in v. 7. He was following the protocol of Roman justice by first writing down the sentence and then reading it out loud.

Then in verse 9 we read that the eldest left first. As I approach my 8th decade this speaks to me, personally, rather strongly!

And why is it only the adulteress that is dragged in front of Jesus? Adultery cannot be committed by only one person. Where was the man? According to Leviticus 20.10 ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife – with the wife of his neighbour – both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death’. And even if we accept, as the commentaries imply, that stoning is only ordered ‘in the case of a betrothed virgin’⁽²⁾ isn’t it likely, maybe even probable, that coercion is involved and that the woman is a victim, not a sinner deserving to die?

And what about the idea of a stoning? The doctors of the law and the Pharisees seem very keen. Even today can’t we be stirred to potentially violent acts as part of crowd?

But overarching the whole incident is Jesus’ character. His example of how we should behave. How we should be slow to condemn and judge. And quick to love and support.

David Brown

(1)    The Gospel According to St John, An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text, Second Edition, by C. K. Barrett, SPCK, 1978.

(2)    The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible, The Gospel According to John, by A. M. Hunter, Cambridge University Press, 1965.

"Then He bent over again and wrote on the ground". From Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing, using a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, at http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/.

Monday 25 March, Principal Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary - I am the Lord’s Servant

Luke1.26-38   Psalm 40.5-11   Isaiah 7.10-14   Hebrews 10.4-10

 Luc 1.26-38    Psaume 40.5-11 Esaïe  7.10-14  Hébreux 10.4-10

I am the Lord’s Servant

I don’t often consider Mary in my Lenten preparations. I associate her more with Christmas, the virgin whose body brought God’s greatest gift into the world. And yet, reading this passage in light of the season of preparation, I’m struck by how well it fits.

Lent is a time when we have to learn and relearn to trust in God’s will. We give up crutches that we usually rely on to tell us who we are, to tell us why we’re important, to make us comfortable and relaxed and happy. Every year I experience anew my discomfort in relying on God alone to meet my needs. It feels like a sacrifice to give up the distractions that help to preserve my sanity - at the end of a long day or at times when I am discouraged, I would often rather turn to episodes of ‘Call the Midwife’ and a bar of chocolate than to God.

Mary is the believer that I would like to become more like in Lent. She wasn’t asked to give up her distractions or coping mechanisms or comfort blankets; she had to sacrifice her entire future to this promised Gift. A pregnancy would’ve thrown her engagement, her reputation, her entire life into question. And yet, her first response was not resistance, was not questioning the Lord’s provision for her, was not requesting another way. Her first response was ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.’ I fight harder than that when I feel God leading me to give up sugar for a couple of months.

What would life look like if we lived as though we could rely on the love and provision of the Lord? How would my choices, my hopes, my dreams change if I were absolutely sure that I could trust God’s will for my life and for those around me? How would I think about myself differently if I listened more carefully to who my Father in heaven says that I am?

This Lent may we learn from the mother of Jesus about what it means to trust in God. May we hear the whispers of his will and respond as she did: ‘I am the Lord’s servant.’

Natalie Jones

"Interrupted in her spiritual meditations, the Virgin Mary modestly recoils from the archangel Gabriel (now lost), whose message foretells the birth of the Christ Child. The statuette's sensitively carved features and slight smile, elongated proportions, and graceful draperies show stylistic analogies to courtly art in Paris", ca. 1300–1310, made in Paris, France, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917, www.metmuseum.org

Sunday 24 March, Third Sunday of Lent - Gasping for God

Isaiah 55.1-9 &1Corinthians 10.1-13 Psalm 63.1-9   Luke 13.1-9

 Esaïe 55.1-9 & 1Corinthiens 10.1-13  Psaume 63.1-9  Luc 13.1-9

In Isaiah it was verse 8 which caught my attention. Our lives don’t always evolve as we would like, but as God has planned for us. We often forget this in our daily busy lives that things happen for a reason. This can be both positive as well as negative things which all help us along our path closer to God. God is offering us in verse 3 a new sort of food, not food like we know it but food for our soul. We just need to pay attention to what is happening around us and cultivate it. We as Christians need to be trendsetters as to how we should live in the world and convince others of our ways.

But do we actually gasp enough for God in our lives or do we actually prefer it if He didn’t interfere? That’s where the passage in 1 Corinthians can help us. No matter how much we get tempted and attracted to go down the wrong path, God always has an escape route and makes sure that you’re not forced beyond your personal capacity. We’ve just got to remember that He’s there and take notice of Him.

Vergeet nooit dat God er is om je te bevrijden uit alle verleidingen en ervoor gaat zorgen dat je nooit te diep in de put zal geraken. Je moet er gewoon aan denken om Hem op te merken in je leven.

Jenny Freeman

Girl drinking water in Rwanda (from Partners in Health initiative) From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville,TN.  http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54308 [retrieved February 28, 2019]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jongos/2824416129/

Saturday 23 March - Divided over Jesus

John 7.25–36   Psalm 25   Jeremiah 10.17-24  Hebrews 4.1-13

Jean 7.25-36    Psaume 25  Jérémie 10.17-24   Hébreux 4.1-13

In this passage, everyone is divided over who Jesus is. They’re not sure what to make of Him. Some say one thing, some say another.

They’re no clearer when Jesus tells them He’s going to the one who sent Him and they won’t be able to find Him. Now they seem even more confused.

It continues further until it is summed up in verse 43:

“The people were divided because of Jesus.” (NIV)

« Le peuple se trouva de plus en plus divisé à cause de lui. » (BDS)

“Ze kregen er ruzie over.” (BB)

“The people did not agree with each other about Jesus.” (ICB)

What a contrast between this and the image impressed later on the Christian community:

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phil 2.1-4).

James Pitts

Jesus teaching in the temple courts

From Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing, using a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, at http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/

Friday 22 March - Trust in Him

Jeremiah10.1–16 Psalm 41   Hebrews 3.7-19   John 7.14-24

Jérémie 10.1-16   Psaume 41  Hébreux 3.7-19  Jean 7.14-24

This seems to me a very strong warning from Jeremiah to urge God's people to turn away from their sins and return to Him.

They look to the stars for answers about their lives which to me does not seem so very different from horoscopes today.  Life would be so much easier if we could see into the future but we are clearly urged not to become involved.  Anything that takes the place of God is a sin. He knows our future but will not reveal it to us; His promise is to walk with us as our future unfolds.

Again, it could be simple to feel remote from those people worshiping outwardly beautiful inanimate objects.  But what about the idols we create to give us advice and help in our lives?   How frustrated God must be when he sees us turning to self-help books, retirement funds, insurance.

Perhaps this passage speaks as much for us today as it did to the people of Israel.

It reminds us how powerless we are when we use our own resources rather than asking for God's help.   It calls us to keep steadfast in our dependence on, and trust in Him who is everything to those who just believe .

Susan Hudson

God as Architect/Builder/Geometer/Craftsman

From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55539 [retrieved March 1, 2019]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:God_the_Geometer.jpg.

Thursday 21 March, Christ, God and Love, Lesser Festival of Thomas Cranmer, archbishop, Reformation martyr, 1556

Psalm 11, Romans 8.35-39 & Matthew 10.28-39  Isaiah 43.1-11

Psaume 11, Romains 8.35-39   & Matthieu 10.28-39   Esaïe 43.1-11

Christ, God and Love

Some of the readings for today use very strong language -  the language of hate, of death, violence and wickedness.  We are told in Psalm 11 how much the Lord hates those who use violence, that He is a God who loves justice.  In Matthew, we are told to be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  This is not the stuff we are often taught in Sunday School!  But it is important that we know how much God hates violence and injustice as it can help us to understand how much it meant to Him to see Jesus, His son, as a victim of violence and injustice as he was beaten and whipped and taken up onto the cross.  God hates wickedness and violence so much because it is the complete opposite of what he is really about - Love.  In Romans we are reminded that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  We know that it is in love that God sent Christ to the world and it is because of God’s love for His people that Christ was crucified and resurrected.  We have a choice.  Choose that which can destroy the soul - violence, hate - or choose the way that makes the soul sing - Christ, God, love.

Heather Roy

Collect

Father of all mercies,

who through the work of your servant Thomas Cranmer renewed the worship of your Church

and through his death revealed your strength in human weakness:

by your grace strengthen us to worship you

in spirit and in truth

and so to come to the joys of your everlasting kingdom;

through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Advocate,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Thomas Cranmer by an unidentified painter. From a portrait belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury which hangs in Lambeth Palace. From en. Originally uploaded 14:45, 13 August 2002 by en:User:Isis, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=530569

Wednesday 20 March, Lesser Festival of Cuthbert, bishop, missionary, 687

Matthew 18.12-14    Psalm 34.1-8   Ezekiel 34.11-16    Acts 4.32-35

Matthieu 18.12-14    Psaume 34.1-8   Ezéchiel 34.11-16   Actes 4.32-35

A hundred sheep and one goes missing.  But leaving the ninety-nine without a shepherd while you go looking leaves them all open to danger.  What would you do?   We live in a risk-averse society which places value on protecting our assets. Trying to get beyond our familiarity with the story, what do we really think of the course of action which the shepherd takes?

Jesus came to turn our view of the world upside down.  The way he puts the question  - will he not leave the ninety-nine? – presupposes the perhaps reckless action of the shepherd in pursuit of the one sheep who ‘wandered off’.

  

And Jesus offers us the startling explanation, overturning our safe and logical approaches  -  it is not the will of the Father that any of these little ones should be lost.

Love, faithfulness and searching beyond all common sense.    Thank God that His love is so great that – even if we wander off again and again and again - He will not let us be lost.

Laisser nonante- neuf moutons pour partir à la recherche d'un qui s’est égaré n'est pas très logique, mais Jésus nous montre par cette histoire que c’est la volonté du Père « qu’aucun ne soit perdu ».

Amour, fidélité et chercher au-delà de tout sens commun celui qui s’est perdu.   Remercions Dieu que son amour soit si grand que même si nous nous égarons encore et encore, il ne nous laissera pas nous perdre.

Mags Bird

Collect

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

Crop of miniature in the British Library Yates Thomson MS 26, Bede's Prose Life of St Cuthbert, depicting the miracle where Cuthbert's body is discovered incorrupt, by Anonymous (12th century), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76808034

Tuesday 19 March, Festival of Joseph of Nazareth - Faithful

Romans4.13-18 & Matthew 1.18-25 Psalm 89.26-36 2 Samuel 7.4-16 

Romains 4.13-18 & Matthieu 1.18-25   Psaume 89.26-36   2 Samuel 7.4-16

Mogen we trouw zijn zoals Jozef, en zo dicht tot Gods hart gebracht worden.

If one word had to be chosen to describe Joseph of Nazareth, the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus, it would be the word faithful. There is actually very little else to describe him. He doesn’t have any lines of dialogue in the Bible; he doesn’t appear outside the birth narratives, except in the story of the boy Jesus being left at the Temple; and he doesn’t ever act against the direction of God, and often responds with immediacy (fleeing in the middle of the night to Egypt). Joseph is faithful and responsive to the call of God.

In this season of Lent, we would do well to emulate this characteristic of Joseph. As we journey with Jesus through the preparation for his Passion, through Holy Week, through Good Friday and into Easter, faithfulness and responsiveness is what makes this journey possible and fruitful. We may just discover more of God’s own faithfulness and care for us (as Joseph and Abraham did), as God is always inviting us deeper into the Holy Family of God. At the close of this short meditation, let this blessing prayed today throughout churches around the world, bless you:

May the love of the Holy Family surround you.

May the joy that was Mary’s refresh you.

May the faithfulness that was Joseph’s encourage you.

May the peace of the Christ-child fill your lives

And the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

Jeremy Heuslein

"Carpenter Joseph Returning from Work", 2013, freestanding, metal sculpture at Dominican Priory, Charlottesville, VA. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56769[retrieved March 18, 2019]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/17329661475 - Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P.