Happy Easter!

This year we searched in vain for packs of Easter cards with an icon depicting the Resurrection. There were plenty of cards to choose from with fluffy bunnies, flowers and eggs, even a few floral crosses but not what we wanted. After our initial disappointment I found myself reflecting on the part that flowers and eggs have played in our Easter celebrations. In particular I recalled the powerful fragrance of freesias and lilies which adorned the Altar of Repose, the result of many hours of work when help was taken for granted. Much has changed in the passing years. Divided congregations have become increasingly elderly. There are fewer, if any, children in many churches compared with the days when the Sunday School children, later re-named the more trendy 'Junior Church', would join the main congregation to await the vicar's usual question, "Why Easter eggs?" Back would come the eager replies of "New life!" earning the reward of a Cadbury's cream egg - and not just for the children :)

Happy Easter!

The egg also symbolises the tomb from which sprang new life. Following the installation of Pope Francis heralding a new pontificate of simplicity, the Anglican Church too witnessed a change in emphasis in the installation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury: “I am Justin, A servant of Jesus Christ, and I come seeking the grace of God, to travel with you in his service together.” - Together as one, a new beginning?

Rachmaninoff - All-Night Vigil

The way of the cross

Jerusalem then and now

Maundy Thursday

Last week I added details of work on a mosaic by iconographer, Aidan Hart. This led me to some equally amazing singing by a relatively small church choir sampled in the video above. I find their singing all the more poignant as the noise of the altar and sanctuary being striped is accompanied by noise of every day life going on outside the church. Passers by will be ignorant of the drama taking place inside, much as it must have been when Jesus prayed, but now they will see this "All-powerful" image of Christ drawing them to Himself:

Take up thy cross

Palm Sunday sees the start of Christ's journey to the cross. He was not alone in being crucified then and He is not alone now. A few days ago we witnessed the inaugurations of two of the most significant church leaders, Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby, both of whom have taken up the cross in their own distinctive styles. Also in an 'historic first' after nearly 1,000 years, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople attended the inauguration of Pope Francis. Few are called to be priest and bishop, fewer still to be Patriarch or Pope but all Christ's disciples are called to take up their cross.

With humility and reconciliation giving each other the space we need to live and worship according to conscience we may yet all be one.

'Take up your cross', the Saviour said,

      'If you would my disciple be;

      Deny yourself, forsake the world,

      And humbly follow after me.'

World Water Day 2013

Down in the dumps with rain, rain, rain and flood alerts or, as friends in New Zealand tell me, no rain and water restrictions? Caught between these extremes are hundreds of millions of people without access to clean water and proper sanitation, a problem for Everyone, everywhere.

Today, 22 March 2013 is World Water Day. WaterAid's goals are set out in this short film

As WaterAid says, "this is our best chance in 15 years to put water and sanitation at the heart of global efforts to tackle poverty — so please email your MP today and ask them to urge David Cameron to read WaterAid's Everyone, everywhere report". 

Our support can make a difference.

Hope and despair

Following his pilgrimage of prayer there is an interesting BBC interview with Justin Welby here as he prepares to be placed in the Anglican hot seat. As ever the headline indicates that sex is the main focus of media attention but this obsession masks a broader understanding of what it means to Abp Welby to be a Christian and an Anglican in particular. 

Less encouraging is the Archbishop's fatalistic 'conviction' that the role of Archbishop of Canterbury will eventually be held by a woman, something that his predecessor alluded to. The BBC's coverage of the inaugural Mass of Pope Francis conveyed a similar approach to religion from a secular perspective with emphasis on the role of women in the church in an age of so-called equality. This conveys a lemming-like inevitability that must be resisted if we are to avoid the example of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church in the United States.

Postscript

I was on the school run today so I missed what was described afterwards by Jane ('Um') Hill in the BBC News headlines as the first Archbishop of Canterbury to be enthroned by a woman.  I managed to catch the beginning and the end of the service. True to form 'Auntie's' guests were, in order of introduction, the retired Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch KCVO, Christina Rees - introduced as a member of the Archbishops' Council - and the Rev Dr Giles Fraser, parish priest, 'Loose Canon' and former Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, all of which was enough to make Mrs Briton retire from the room in despair. As readers will know Ms Rees is the ex-WITCH WATCH spokesmanperson who is determined to see Christianity adapt to her way of thinking. Asked for her thoughts she trotted out the usual feminist approach to Christianity, women first, Jesus Christ second as she continues to press for women bishops regardless of the occasion and Abp Welby's constant stress on reconciliation. 

Unlike the inaugural Mass of Pope Francis commentators could not complain of the absence of women. First, looking very pleased with herself, was the new Archbishop's Chaplain, the Rev Dr Jo Bailey Wells, as was the Archdeacon of Canterbury who, in the Mail Online picture caption is described as "Presiding: Sheila Watson, Archdeacon of Canterbury, enthroned Mr Welby as a bishop". I didn't see the Presiding Bishop in the throng but I glimpsed her disciple the Archbishop of Wales behind the throne, a position no doubt he regards as his being one of the CNC selectors.