asadmin Nine years ago, on the second Sunday of 2017, we were about to start the 9.30am service at St Mary’s, when one of our welcomers came and found me urgently. ‘Come outside, you’ll want to see this,’ they said. So I hustled out and watched one of the more unusual sights I’ve seen in my … Read more
I wonder if any of you have ever had the experience of talking with someone you didn’t recognise, and then later discovering that they were famous? In 2015 Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s most famous footballer, disguised himself and went out to play football in one of Madrid’s central plazas for an hour. Almost no-one gave … Read more
Poor old Thomas. Imagine being the one character of history who gets the nickname ‘doubting’. Other famous people get tagged with ‘The Brave’ or ‘The Wise’ or ‘The Just’. And Thomas was at least two of those things: by reputation he later founded the church in India, which is quite a brave and wise thing … Read more
I can’t sit still for long. I’m better than I used to be, which isn’t saying a lot – and probably as much to do with being older as any great advance in my capacity for stillness. I like being busy, doing lots of different things, cramming my days full. Achieving. Or so I think. This … Read more
Today, take some time to read Matthew 26:57-27:56 and spend time at the foot of the cross.
‘I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me…. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand … Read more
The will – it’s a strange and slightly mysterious thing, isn’t it? We first start to see it when a child is just a few months old, newly weaned – turning their nose up at one mouthful of food only to embrace another. Wills famously start to assert themselves strongly as toddlers. The battles all … Read more
The journey of Jesus through Holy Week is, among many things, a journey from crowds to loneliness. The great throng of Palm Sunday becomes the large crowd in the temple; then the smaller gathering at Bethany, moving on to the Last Supper with his disciples; then just Peter, James and John in Gethsemane, until finally … Read more
In our church, we’re blessed to be able to worship in a beautiful, inspiring building. Despite being made with wooden scaffolds, rudimentary tools and makeshift mortar, it has stood for hundreds of years, and is likely to for hundreds more. Most of us sucked in our breath and felt a sense of thrill when we … Read more
Palm Sunday is tomorrow. We conclude our week with a reflection on that theme: There are lots of ways to describe Lent – but an important one is ‘journey’. It is a notable period of time – six and a half weeks – and each year we can get a real sense of that journey, … Read more