Jesus said “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” John 13:34Jesus meant a “selfless love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.” (C. S Lewis The Four Loves). We don’t have to be Christian, or even people of faith to believe that loving one another in this way is a good thing and if there was more love the world would be a better place. One of the great things about this selfless love is that it doesn’t get used up, it is not a zero-sum game. In fact, the more you love, the more love you have to give.As staff of Ark St Alban’s Academy, and indeed all people involved in education, we are called to be passionately committed to the well-being of our students. As humans we are called to be passionately committed to the well-being of every member of staff and every human as well. Our inspiration from this might some from Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism or from a non-religious philosophy, but we can all strive for the well-being of everyone around us.
The first week of the Easter holiday is one of the busiest in the Church’s year and so I am trying to get time to rest and recover after Easter. I need to remind myself that this was not an indulgence: taking time to look after my mental health is important.During the Easter season we have the option of singing the Vidi Aquam which is based on Ezekiel 47. The Vidi Aquam is a picture of water from God’s temple bring healing (or salvation). Vidi áquam egrediéntem de témplo, a látere déxtro, allelúia: I saw water coming forth from the temple on the right side, alleluia: et ómnes, ad quos pervénit áqua ísta, sálvi fácti sunt, and all those to whom this water came were healed, et dícent, allelúia, allelúia.and shall say: alleluia, alleluia. Confitémini Dómino quóniam bónus: Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: quoniam in saeculum misericórdia éjus. For his mercy endureth forever. The Vidi Aquam and the healing miracles in the bible speak to us of God desire for each one of us to find mental and physical wellbeing. If God is concerned about our mental and physical health, we don’t need excuses to take care to look after our own health.Exams will make this term very stressful for both students and staff: we would be wise to look after our own (and others) wellbeing.
This is Fr Gerry's 15th station. It is not about suffering and death. This is about the Resurrection of Jesus. Christians see the resurrection of Jesus as victory over all that is wrong in the world. That doesn’t mean that the bad things have gone away. There are still wars in Yemen, Tigray, Ukraine and many palces. Christians belive that we can overcome these things because Jesus rose from the dead.For Christians Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus, victory over death and hope for the future. In this picture you can see victory, celebration and hope.
The Stations of the Cross also help us to reflect on human suffering in the world today. Let’s look at station 1 so I can explain what I mean.You might notice that the picture has an Ancient Egyptian theme. That’s deliberate, in the bible Moses helped the Jewish people escape slavery in Egypt. There are other ways people can be slaves, they can be slaves by being addicted, for example addicted to drugs, gambling or the internet.In this Station of the Cross, the Roman governor, whose name was Pontius Pilate, is sentencing Jesus to be death by being mailed to a cross and left there till he died: we call that crucifixion. Jesus did not deserve to die, he had done nothing wrong, his death sentence was unjust. When we look at this picture, we can think of all the people who are sentenced unjustly and all the injustice in the world. An example would be Nazanin Zagari Ratcliffe who was imprisoned in Iran.You will also see that Jesus is in chains. Christians believe that Jesus allowed himself to be captured, chained, and executed. He sacrificed himself for the good of the world. When I reflect the picture of Jesus being captured and chained, I remember sometimes we all need to sacrifice the things we want for the good of everyone.
