Newsletter, April 2008

Welcome, one and all, to Holy Comforter's website, and our newsletter page.  Sometimes this space will be filled with the Pastor's ramblings,
sometimes those of the Associate Pastor (Mike Shouldice), sometimes others.  Hopefully you will find in this space encouragement, some humour
to lighten the day or at the very least, some news about the Parish.  Come back often to this page for the current newsletter.
        
In the readings for this past Sunday (Luke 24 – the Emmaus Road affair – and 1 Peter 1:17ff) I believe we have a real link to the last two Sundays.  It seems to be another, and perhaps the culmination in the series of “how does the world recognize the Risen Christ, and how are we to be the Body of the Risen Christ?”.

After hearing Mary of Magdala's news, and the news that Peter and the beloved disciple had gone to the tomb but found nothing, Cleopas and his travelling companion head out to Emmaus, a community 7 miles distant from Jerusalem.  Perhaps they leave out of fear, or perhaps just to allow themselves to grieve.  But as they travel, they encounter this stranger who "warms their hearts" with teaching.  Their hearts had been leaden and, dare I say, dead since their friend and master had been executed; as the Stranger talked with them, their hearts were rekindled and enlivened.

Then, at day's end, they, having learned what will later come to be called Christian hospitality, invite the Stranger to stay with them.  At table, He is revealed to be the Risen Lord, their Friend and Master.  They race back to Jerusalem to share the news that they have seen the Lord, only to find that the others have had a similar experience.

The end result, for me, as I was preaching, was the sense that all the readings for the past three weeks can be tied together such that in the face of tragedy and suffering here on earth, we as the Body are called to

·       Meet people in their tragedies: Jesus called Mary by name;
·       Share the woundedness of Christ, and our wounds (not pretending that we’re above all that), and show people the grace, compassion and strength that comes from God and from the Body (how have we been ministered to?: Jesus showed Thomas and the other ten disciples his wounds;
·       Speak to them from the Word of God, not just from our own thoughts: Jesus reminded Cleopas and his companion of how the Word of God spoke into their situation, beginning with Moses and through the Prophets;
·       Minister to their needs: Jesus ministered to them in the breaking of the bread, we minister to each other in service as well.

That is our calling; its not an optional extra that "the other guy" can do.  We are all called to help the people around us "see the Risen Lord".

'Til next time,
                                Blessings               Gutiup Saimaktilitiit                   Bendith
        
        God's peace rest with you all, and don't be afraid to share His peace
with all you meet.  We all need encouraging.

                                        Paul Williams+  (Vicar)