Sunday, April 22, 2012

April 22nd 2012


In the collect for this third Sunday of Easter, are these words:

O God,
Your Son made himself known to his disciples
In the breaking of bread.
Open the eyes of our faith,
That we may see him in his redeeming work,
Who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and forever

Often although our eyes are open, we do not look hard or long enough to see everything that is there.

I was talking to a young teacher who told me she had never been able to understand mathematics, so understandably she had tried to avoid teaching it. The day came when she could no longer avoid the inevitable so she signed up to take part in a special math seminar. Her eyes were opened. She saw it all in a new way. Delightedly she kept saying “now it all makes sense”

Often our eyes of faith need to be opened to wider concepts or to little details we have not previously noticed. Even though we know better, have we been expecting from God the gift we want when he has far more wonderful things in mind for us? Do we fear his judgment when his arms are open wide to forgive us?


Sunday, April 15, 2012

April 15th 2012

The Easter season is with us – Christ is Risen and our hearts are uplifted. We have prayed together in the prayer after communion:

Strengthen our faith so that 
we may grow in love for each other. 

A few evenings ago in the TV Program Agenda, I listened to an atheist of Jewish background expanding on his beliefs. He was a warm attractive man and did not at all repel me as many such thinkers do. He had some very scholarly, even complimentary things to say about religious influence on the world.

But there was something missing. First of all, he did not mention any great religious leaders so of course not the name of Jesus. Supremely, he never mentioned love. Neither did he say anything about creation or the power behind our great universe. He did not even use the word God. In fact, he left us in complete limbo with
nothing to hang onto from above and no roots below. He ignored love and the fact that love is a power. Are we too glib when we talk about love? It is a power which can move us to great acts of bravery. It can give us the power of continuous endurance and the power of ever developing creativity.

Love involves relationship. Our God is a personal God who relates to each one of us; who cares for each one of us; who died for each one of us. I pray that each one of us can reach out and continue to grow closer to him and each other ever developing a strong loving relationship through the sacrificial gift of his son Jesus. Above all, let us continuously welcome the gift of the Holy Spirit that we may reach out to each other and may we be open to receive their love as they reach out to us.