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Dear Friends, as we adjust to the circumstances of these difficult days of bad news about the coronavirus, I would like to offer you afresh the good news message of hope, peace and love that is found in God, through Jesus Christ. And at this time, when our Churches would normally be looking ahead to the joy of Easter Sunday, we find that our buildings have to remain closed for public worship due to the coronavirus threat. Christians are still looking forward to the joy of Easter Sunday, but it will be a different experience this year. We will be worshipping in our homes and in our hearts instead of together in person. But this is already the experience of many Christians who through illness or immobility find that they can no longer attend Church on Sunday regardless of coronavirus. However, this should not deter any of us from coming to God to find the help we need. God is not self-isolating, God is not social distancing, God is with us here and now. We are having to find creative ways to do things. On Maundy Thursday morning I would normally be in the Cathedral at Peterborough along with all the Priests in the diocese to present ourselves to the Bishop and to reaffirm our Ordination vows, this is something that all Priests do every year. This year I will be doing this via Zoom conference from my dining room! These are challenging times. But the important thing to remember in this Holy week is very simple, it is Jesus. We recall Jesus’s last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday. He didn’t just have a great meal with them, that last supper was a lesson in learning how to keep the faith and how to be Christian. Jesus washed his disciples feet, this was an act of pure humility and service, he gave them a new commandment, that they were to love one another as he had loved them, he told them that whenever they took bread and wine they were to do it in remembrance of him and what he was about to endure on the cross. And this we do every Sunday when we share the Eucharist meal. After his last supper Jesus and the disciples went out and entered the garden of Gethsemane, this was the place of Jesus’s darkest hour, it is where he was arrested, and then the events of Good Friday took place. Jesus was beaten, tortured and hung on a lonely cross to die. Christians believe that, as he hung on that cross dying, he took with him, every sin, every evil thing the world would concoct, every failure of mankind, and everything that put a barrier between human beings and a Holy God. Christians believe that Jesus took it all to death with him. He put an end to it. And he died on that cross, and was buried in a tomb. And then nothing!?!?!? However, Jesus said he would rise again, and on that 1st Easter Sunday he did, and the miracle of all miracles was birthed. This miracle is that there is new life after we die, which is found in Jesus Christ because he died and rose again, and he said all those who put their trust in him would also rise again to new life after death. Does this sound too good to be true? We are celebrating Easter Sunday this week, and usually our Churches would be alive with joy and great celebration, because we believe that Jesus is God’s son and that he really did rise from the dead. On that 1st Easter Sunday, Jesus’s friends met him again after they knew him to be dead and buried. Jesus appeared to them again as he said he would, but still they were very surprised, but full of joy. I know that for many people the thought that Jesus rose from the dead sounds impossible. But none the less his followers met him again, and today over 2000 years later his followers still encounter him in ways that seem impossible. Christians worldwide celebrate Jesus Christ on Easter Day and every day because they have experienced the presence of Jesus in a way that surprised them and filled them with joy. No matter how impossible it may seem, or if you have doubt, I ask you to open your heart and mind to God afresh, and ask him to make you aware of his presence, and as you become aware of him in your daily life thank him that Jesus, his son, really did come to this earth to show us the way back to God the Father, and that Jesus really is who he says he is, The Resurrection and The Life (John 11: 25). God bless you all this Easter, With love Rev Sue. x A Prayer for Easter Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for the joy of Easter Sunday. We thank you Jesus that we can follow after the pattern of your life and we can come to you, and put our trust in you as our Saviour and Lord. Dear Lord Jesus forgive us for our sins, and all the things that you bore with you to death on that cross, so that we could be one with you and the Father. Thank you God for the hope, peace and love that is found in you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Have a very blessed and joyful Easter Day, and please do contact me if you need help or prayer. With love and blessings Revd Sue. x 01869 810903 |