Holy SaturdayEach day we will take a look at a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer.Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evilAs the body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw it carried into the tomb. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to embalm him; but by the time they were finished it was the Sabbath, so they rested all that day as required by the Jewish law. Luke 23:55-56.Although the women and the disciples appear to have kept to the letter of the law and observed the strict rules about travel and work, it seems probable that their minds took little rest that day. They may have been tempted to want to stay with Jesus’ body and continue with getting on with the burial rites of the time. But they retreat back to their homes and we are told they rested.There is great value in making Holy Saturday as quiet a day as possible. There is the temptation to over busy ourselves making the preparations for Easter Day. We need to take the example of the women and not be tempted, but rest.A projectThe early Christians renewed their Baptism vows on this day. Take a look at the Baptism Vows made today and decide whether they are questions you can answer as Easter dawns.Do you turn to Christ? I turn to Christ.Do you repent of your sins? I repent of my sinsDo you renounce evil? I renounce evilDo you believe and trust in God the Father, who made the world….In his Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed humankind….. In his Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God? I believe and trust in him.Place a small glass with water and place with the Palm Cross, photo/names, battery, keys, bread and candle, to remind you of the reaffirmation of baptismal promises.PrayLord, show me the things that tempt me away from you and help me to turn my back on them and focus only on you.
Holy SaturdayEach day we will take a look at a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer.Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evilAs the body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw it carried into the tomb. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to embalm him; but by the time they were finished it was the Sabbath, so they rested all that day as required by the Jewish law. Luke 23:55-56.Although the women and the disciples appear to have kept to the letter of the law and observed the strict rules about travel and work, it seems probable that their minds took little rest that day. They may have been tempted to want to stay with Jesus’ body and continue with getting on with the burial rites of the time. But they retreat back to their homes and we are told they rested.There is great value in making Holy Saturday as quiet a day as possible. There is the temptation to over busy ourselves making the preparations for Easter Day. We need to take the example of the women and not be tempted, but rest.A projectThe early Christians renewed their Baptism vows on this day. Take a look at the Baptism Vows made today and decide whether they are questions you can answer as Easter dawns.Do you turn to Christ? I turn to Christ.Do you repent of your sins? I repent of my sinsDo you renounce evil? I renounce evilDo you believe and trust in God the Father, who made the world….In his Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed humankind….. In his Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God? I believe and trust in him.Place a small glass with water and place with the Palm Cross, photo/names, battery, keys, bread and candle, to remind you of the reaffirmation of baptismal promises.PrayLord, show me the things that tempt me away from you and help me to turn my back on them and focus only on you.
Good FridayEach day we will take a look at a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer.Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son… Luke 15:18-19In Charles Dickens David Copperfield, there is a moving description of love for the lost. Emily has run away and Mr Peggotty announces that he is going ‘through all the wureld’ to search for her. But: ‘Every night as reg’lar as the night comes, the candle must be stood in its old pane of glass, that if ever she should see it, it may seem to say, ‘Come back, my child, come back.’The lost son in Jesus’ story did come back. He came back rehearsing his speech. But his speech did not begin with ‘Forgive’, it began with ‘Father’. The son knew that he had forfeited his right to the privilege of home and sonship. The father knew that he had every right to punish the son who had abused his love. But the father chose not to exercise his right. Instead, he stepped out of the realm of rights and into the realm of grace. Grace is a generous, free gift which the giver need not give but which often melts the heart of the receiver. This gesture proved that the father had already let go of any bitterness or hurt, anger or hatred he may have once felt. Even before his son could stammer out his confession, the father had already forgiven him. For ‘to forgive’ means ‘to let go’, ‘to drop’, ‘to release.’ In describing a father who expressed such forgiveness tangibly: ‘His father…embraced him and kissed him’ (Luke 15:20), Jesus seems to have been anxious to persuade us that God is not a God who extracts from his people remorse for their misdeeds. God is a God whose love is the candle in the window, who longs to let us off the hook, to release us from our past as hostages are set free from their captors, to liberate us from ourselves as prisoners are set free from prison, to pour into us the same kind of energy which adrenalin gives to athletes when they hear the starting pistol at the beginning of a race: the energy to come home.A projectThink about this claim: the only way we can come to God is just as we are. We must learn to accept who we are, because God accepts us as we are and loves us as we are. Place a candle with the Palm Cross, photo/names, battery, keys and bread, to remind you of God’s love.PrayAsk forgiveness for the things you have done wrong and pray for those who have hurt you.Just as I am… O Lamb of God I come.
Good FridayEach day we will take a look at a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer.Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son… Luke 15:18-19In Charles Dickens David Copperfield, there is a moving description of love for the lost. Emily has run away and Mr Peggotty announces that he is going ‘through all the wureld’ to search for her. But: ‘Every night as reg’lar as the night comes, the candle must be stood in its old pane of glass, that if ever she should see it, it may seem to say, ‘Come back, my child, come back.’The lost son in Jesus’ story did come back. He came back rehearsing his speech. But his speech did not begin with ‘Forgive’, it began with ‘Father’. The son knew that he had forfeited his right to the privilege of home and sonship. The father knew that he had every right to punish the son who had abused his love. But the father chose not to exercise his right. Instead, he stepped out of the realm of rights and into the realm of grace. Grace is a generous, free gift which the giver need not give but which often melts the heart of the receiver. This gesture proved that the father had already let go of any bitterness or hurt, anger or hatred he may have once felt. Even before his son could stammer out his confession, the father had already forgiven him. For ‘to forgive’ means ‘to let go’, ‘to drop’, ‘to release.’ In describing a father who expressed such forgiveness tangibly: ‘His father…embraced him and kissed him’ (Luke 15:20), Jesus seems to have been anxious to persuade us that God is not a God who extracts from his people remorse for their misdeeds. God is a God whose love is the candle in the window, who longs to let us off the hook, to release us from our past as hostages are set free from their captors, to liberate us from ourselves as prisoners are set free from prison, to pour into us the same kind of energy which adrenalin gives to athletes when they hear the starting pistol at the beginning of a race: the energy to come home.A projectThink about this claim: the only way we can come to God is just as we are. We must learn to accept who we are, because God accepts us as we are and loves us as we are. Place a candle with the Palm Cross, photo/names, battery, keys and bread, to remind you of God’s love.PrayAsk forgiveness for the things you have done wrong and pray for those who have hurt you.Just as I am… O Lamb of God I come.
