From the Curate

Dear friends,
I cannot believe how fast time is passing. This month Nathaniel turns 20 – I do not feel old enough to have a child out of his teens. There have been reflections on the radio and television with it being 5 years since we entered lock down. In my Curate`s musings in April 2020 I described how I felt that my heart was breaking with the church being closed, my school being closed and being unable to hug and be with family and friends. Again, that seems like a lifetime ago, another time.

Whilst writing this, the world again seems to be changing, and I am unsure if it is in a good way. I have been reading “Old Rage” by Sheila Hancock which is a fascinating read – she is very to the point. She writes, “I find I am contemplating religion and especially the life of Christ quite often lately. At a time when our moral compass seems to have gone out of kilter, I yearn for Christianity to get its act together. That anarchic, wise, gentle, angry, utterly honest man is such an example of how we could make the world work for everyone. We need someone like Jesus to come and rescue us. Put us straight. Instead, we`ve got….”

We need to keep hopeful.  As Christians, we have moved from the devastation of Good Friday and become Easter People – People of Hope.

I love the Easter Story, the women in the garden first thing, Peter`s encounter with Jesus following his denial and the two men walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. One of my favourite exchanges is between Jesus and Mary Magdalene on Easter morning. You all know how much I love Mary Magdalene. She was with the last people at the cross and she is first there on Easter morning. Whilst the disciples had fled and hidden away, she had shown up. She does not know where the body has gone from the tomb and sees Jesus but thinks he is the gardener. He then says “Mary” and she immediately knows its Jesus. She reaches to him. What a heart stopping moment after the horror of Good Friday. Jesus calls Mary by name. It echoes the words in Isaiah, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name and you are mine.”

That applies to each of us. We are called by name, and we are God`s. We are loved with an everlasting and unconditional love. God, in Jesus loves his church but he loves each of us as individuals. He calls us each by name.

Mary then ran to the disciples “I have seen the Lord.” Mary Magdalene – the apostle to the apostles. The early apostles turned the world upside down – I pray that we will have the desire to do likewise. Perhaps be more like Jesus and break the rules.

I pray that heading towards Holy Week and Easter, that you will continue to reflect on how incredibly loved you are and to continue to live in the hope of the resurrection – remembering as Christians we are people of the resurrection in a Good Friday world.

Wishing you a blessed Easter.

Love Christina