April 2012

Dear Friends

When the Editor asked me whether I wanted to write the letter this month, or whether she should ask one of the other ministers, I said that I would like to write it. The reason for this, especially as we approach Easter, is that I am aware that my letters have so often been telling people what is happening in the Benefice, rather than anything about Our Lord's love and care for us. While it is obviously important that I should keep people informed, it is even more important that, as a priest, I should speak and write of the Hope that Jesus gives us.

Currently we are in Lent, reflecting on the 40 days that Jesus spent praying and fasting in the desert, and being tempted by the Devil. Some people choose to give up something that they enjoy during Lent, in order to help them to identify with Jesus's resistance of temptation. This period of self-denial was, of course, not immediately before the events that we remember in the Easter story, but at the beginning of Jesus's ministry, and shows how important it is to prepare ourselves spiritually for the things that we do for God. The Church however, many centuries ago, saw the wisdom of linking the remembrance of the Temptations to our spiritual preparation for the great feast of Easter. In those far off days, and even until relatively recently, Easter was seen as a much more important festival than Christmas - Jesus's death and resurrection, rather than his birth, being what gives us eternal life.

By the time you read this, we will be in, or rapidly approaching, Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday. This is a day that we celebrate in Church, because it was when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and was proclaimed as King by rejoicing crowds. Yet, in less than a week, the mood of the crowd changed from adoration to hatred, as they shouted "Crucify Him" when the Roman Governor asked if he should release Jesus. The sudden change was brought about by the fact that Jesus had not lived up to their expectations - instead of leading a rebellion against the hated Romans, he has been more concerned with chasing corrupt Jewish traders out of the Temple.

As we know, crucifixion was one of the most horrible means of execution ever devised by humanity - a much slower and more agonising death even than the hanging, drawing and quartering used to dispatch traitors in Tudor England. The Son of God was prepared to submit himself to this in order to confront and wrestle with the evils of the world. We know what a struggle this was because even he cried out at one point "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". For Jesus himself to feel this, he must, as we say these days, have hit rock bottom. But his words "It is finished" were not a final cry of despair but one of triumph. He had done what he had come to do.

This was proven by his Resurrection on the Sunday morning. Ordinary human beings do not come back to life in this world but Jesus did, in order to assure us that we will come back to life in the next. Many people have suggested that all that happened was that Jesus was not actually dead, or his disciples removed the body and claimed a miracle. However, they nearly all went on to be persecuted and meet violent deaths themselves - who would be willing to suffer that for something that they knew not to be true?

Many people enjoy coming to church for the wonderful celebration of Easter, when the church is filled with flowers and the music is glorious. However, we cannot really feel the full joy of the Resurrection if we do not stand by Jesus as he suffers for us on the Cross. It puzzles me that people often say that they do not wish to think about the terrible events of Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, yet some of the most popular films and television programmes are about terrible and tragic events, both historical and fictional. I do not see how things like the First World War or the sinking of the Titanic can possibly be regarded as entertainment, yet both have featured in hugely successful films in recent times. If we want to reflect on something dreadful, surely nothing can be better than to focus on what happened to Our Lord and the life-giving benefits that we gained from it.

There are reflective church services during Holy Week, a remembrance of Jesus's Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, services on Good Friday, including an open air one in Upton, and a service in Upton Parish Church on Saturday evening. If you are able to get to one or more, I am sure that you will experience a wonderful surge of joy in church on Easter morning when we say to one another "Alleluia, Christ is risen!" "He is risen indeed, alleluia!".

Wishing you a truly joyful Easter,

Frances Wookey