Message from Canon Kristian

Dear brothers and sisters

As always, we are approaching the conclusion of the liturgical season more quickly than we imagined! This Fifth Sunday in the Lenten Season is the last before the beginning of Holy Week next weekend. We have been blessed this year with the proclamation of the thought-provoking encounters of Jesus recounted in the Gospel of St John, which have traditionally accompanied the weeks culminating in the baptism of adults on Easter Night. They focus on the gradual and unique process of coming to faith in Christ for each individual who encounters the Lord in an intensely personal way. Whether it is the satisfying of the deep thirst of the woman at the well for the waters of eternal life or the giving of the light of Christ and new sight to the man blind from birth, these encounters were both life-changing and life-enhancing for that individual. This life-changing and life-enhancing nature of faith in Christ reaches a climax this weekend in the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus. Jesus came to give us life – abundant life (cf John 10:10) – and we can see this at work not only in the giving back of life to Lazarus himself but, also and more importantly, in confirming Martha and Mary’s faith in that totally different and fullness of life of the resurrection. The statement: “I am the resurrection and the life” is one of those seven fundamental statements made by Jesus in the Gospel of St John which begin with the words “I am…”, and which reveal to us his true nature. Each of these statements invite us into a deeper relationship with Christ and open out to us an ever-expanding horizon of faith. Taking these seven “I am” statements into our personal prayer is something we might fruitfully do as we approach Holy Week. They are:

Bread of Life: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35,48).
Light of the World: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).
Door/Gate: “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7).
Good Shepherd: “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14).
Resurrection and Life: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
Way, Truth, Life: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
True Vine: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1,5).

The life-changing and life-enhancing nature of faith is the focus of our Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These are well-tried and proven ways of aiding the repentance and conversion which leads to that necessary change and an enhancement of life, both spiritually and in practice. That said, this is something which not only happens on the personal level, but also at the level of the Church community, both local and universal, as well as forming the motivation for our mission to the human race and the creation as a whole. There is much in our world that is far from life-enhancing and that cries out for conversion to the life-giving ways of the Gospel. War, destruction and the politics of human power lead only to suffering and death. As we approach the holiest week of the Christian calendar, we pray the peace, justice and a respect for every human life will prevail over the forces of evil and that the power of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection will penetrate the hardest of human hearts to bring about conversion and engender new life. The proclamation we hear this weekend, that Jesus, the Christ, is the Resurrection and the Life, if nothing else, should take away our tendency to pessimism and despair and reaffirm us as a people of hope and as bringers of hope.

Very appropriately, given the present state of the world and the nearness of Holy Week, in the readings set for today for the Office of Readings – one of the seven prayer times throughout the day that clergy, religious and many laypeople across the world join in praying – are some excerpts taken from the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, found in the document, Gaudium et spes, on the Church in the Modern World, articles 37 and 38. Just to quote a few sentences:

“As a result, the world is no longer a place for true fellowship, and our increased power is now threatening to destroy the human race itself…If anyone asks how such a state of affairs is to be overcome, Christians proclaim that all human activity, which is daily jeopardised through pride and distorted self-love, needs to be purified and completed by the cross and resurrection of Christ. Redeemed by Christ and made a new creature in the Holy Spirit, humankind can and should love the things that God has created. We receive them from God and regard and respect them as flowing from the hand of God…It is he (Christ) who reveals to us the God is love and at the same time teaches us that the fundamental law of human perfection, and therefore of the world’s transformation, is the new command of love. He gives those who believe in divine love the conviction that the way of love is open to all people and that the attempt to establish worldwide fellowship is not a delusion. At the same time, he enjoins that this love is to be pursued not just in great matters but above all in the ordinary circumstances of life…Christ is now at work in human hearts through the strength of his Spirit, not only instilling a desire for the world to come but also thereby animating, purifying and reinforcing the noble aspirations which drive the human family to make its life one that is more human and to direct the whole earth to this end.” (taken from the Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Volume 2, edited by Norman P Tanner SJ)

May we keep this hope-filled vision before our eyes as we contemplate the present state of the world in the context of our life-giving and life-enhancing gift of faith and the approaching celebration of Holy Week.

Along with the Newsletter this week, I attach:

Monika Manser’s weekly guide to a prayerful and contemplative reading of the Sunday Gospel
No 167 of Inspire by Deacon Peter
A flyer for the Peace Vigil at St Andrew’s this coming Tuesday
The latest Newsletter from St John’s, our Parish School
The latest Newsletter from The Lighthouse Cafe and Bookshop in Tiverton

Please keep in prayer those who are in special need at the this time and those who have died recently, especially Tina Bassett who died last weekend. May she rest in peace.

God bless you all

Canon Kristian

Canon Kristian Paver
Parish Priest
Parish of St Boniface and St James Mid Devon
40 Old Road Tiverton EX16 4HJ