We know how each of the Gospels differs from the others, in often quite major ways. Each of the evangelists tells of salvation from their own perspective and for their anticipated audience, with their own particular preconceptions and expectations. It is perhaps striking that nowhere are these differences more apparent than at the end of […]
We are used to hearing about the gift of faith and the gift of new life, that are given to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This idea of “gift” is one of the many metaphors that Paul and others use to express how things are different following Jesus’ time on earth. It
Easter happened silently. There was no sound. No one realized anything was happening, no one at all, except for the One who had just united heaven and earth. There were no angels sounding trumpets around the skies, no thunderbolts, no earthquakes (in John’s Gospel. Matthew is more keen on the special effects). Later in the
Emptiness. The Good Friday service is always the strangest in the year. It’s the only day of the year when mass is not celebrated. The church is empty; empty of all decoration, empty of nearly all music except the most sorrowful, almost empty of people who are a little more like ghosts coming quietly and
Many centuries ago, about 3500 years, some families gathered together one evening. They were about to start a journey. They had only the vaguest idea where they were going. They were poor and oppressed where they lived, but at least they knew where that was. It had the familiarity of routine, even if it was
Here we stand at the entrance to Holy Week, on a Sunday which doesn’t even seem to know what it should be called! Palm Sunday? Passion Sunday? Officially it’s “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” – not sure that helps a lot really. There is a sense of waiting, of confusion, of fear, of hope,