MAY RAMBLINGS
If you belong to the same generation as mine you may recall that the Sundays under the old Church calendar at this time of year were called “Sundays after Easter”. In our new liturgy we now refer to them as “Sundays of Easter”. Why does this matter? Because our celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus is not just for one day – Easter Sunday – but for the entire period between his rising from the dead, his Ascension to heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples’ experience of the Resurrection was not a sudden one; they needed time to understand what had happened and what it meant, time to overcome their scepticism, time to see that the Old Testament prophesies had been fulfilled. The human need to take time to understand the story of our salvation is a theme of the Gospel. Even Mary and Joseph needed time to see who the child in their family really was – it may not have become fully clear to them until Simeon held Jesus in his arms and blessed them. The disciples never quite grasped the nature of Jesus’s ministry until very late. Scholars like Nicodemus (who came to Jesus by night) were at first baffled by what they heard. Although many of us have grown up learning about Jesus, we are not really any different. We need time to reflect upon the Gospel story so that we can understand more clearly how we are saved by the life, death and Resurrection of our Lord. His Ascension did not follow immediately upon his Resurrection because he had to show his disciples – and through them, us – that the Crucifixion turned into triumph, not defeat. All around them these first followers of Jesus saw a society in crisis, politics in turmoil, humanity under pressure. And of course, so it is today. But during this Easter season we are invited to see again that all of this is not our destiny, that the Jesus defeated death, and that humankind is loved by God and not condemned. May we all feel the power of this blessing. Alleluia! Ferdinand
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AuthorRev Mike Blake Archives
May 2024
CategoriesScottish Charity Number:
SC011957 |