One of the most helpful books I’ve read is “Amazing Grace, a vocabulary of faith.” By Kathleen Norris. She describes it as “an exploration and record of some of the words in the Christian lexicon that most trouble and attract me.”
The book reminded me of an important Benedictine principle, that words matter. They shape us, form us, challenge us and help us grow.
Last year I made a Lent lexicon. This year I’m aiming to make an Eastertide one. I’ve chosen words that attract and sometimes scare me. They also both shape and challenge my experience of Eastertide.
I’m including words that are particularly connected to Eastertide, and words that, though they’re connected to other seasons might have a different resonance in this Eastertide.
Today’s Eastertide word is TEACH. In today’s gospel Jesus is teaching his disciple about the centrality of love in all relationships. He tells them that it is central to his relationship with the Father, to his relationship with the disciples and to the disciples’ relationships with one another.
He knows they will not understand everything. So, he has a backup. He promises them that when he goes to the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit to remind them of everything taught them and to show them how to put it into practice:
“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”
This his words, and his example, reminds me that teaching is a relational activity. It is only really effective when it’s based on a relationship of trust, openness and mutual respect. Jesus invites and challenges us to allow him to teach us everything he knows about love and relationship.
To truly learn from his teaching we have to come to him with open hearts. If his teaching is to do more than skim the surface of our lives we have to be vulnerable in his presence and to be open to change.
To allow him to teach us to love we need the humility to admit what we don’t know. Like the disciples we have to take the risk of bringing him our questions and uncertainties. Then, we have to be prepared to allow his responses to puzzle us and to change us.
What do you most need the risen Christ to teach you this Eastertide?
Throughout Eastertide we’ve seen the risen Christ appear to his disciple in moments of revelation and MYSTERY. We’ve also been listening to those parts of John’s Gospel where Jesus explains to the disciples who he really is.
He shares with them the nature of his relationship with his Father which is the foundation of who he truly is and of his ministry.
His explanations are moments of both revelation and of deepening MYSTERY. He repeatedly tells the disciples “I AM…” A phrase that both explains who he is, and recalls the God of the burning bush.
He explains to them the mysterious reality of his union with the Father, describing a deep union that we can only dimly grasp:
“I am in the Father and the Father is in me…”
Eastertide both reveals the risen Christ in the midst of our daily lives and shrouds him in mystery. It shows us his absolute humanness as he walks alongside his disciples, explaining the Scriptures, sharing food with them and even cooking and breakfast.
It also, as true revelation must, shows us the utter difference between our human experience and his divinity. In times like ours that want simple facts and easy truths it can be especially hard to hold those two truths in balance.
It’s tempting to tip over one way or the other, either focusing entirely on humanity of Jesus or on his divinity. Eastertide calls us to continually strive to acknowledge the tension and hold them in balance.
How is the mystery of the risen Christ touching your life this Eastertide?
TRUTH is essential for human flourishing and engagement. We need it in our personal relationships and in our societies. It helps us discern what is authentic and real. It enables us to decide who and what to trust. It alerts us to times when we need to be cautious and wary.
For centuries this has been fairly straightforward. Although there have been some differences it has been relatively easy to discover where TRUTH lies in most situations and circumstances. A broadly acceptable consensus has been maintained. This balance has required discernment, nuance and compromise.
In recent times that has changed. We have moved towards a completely individual interpretation of TRUTH which enables each of us to develop and identify with our own version of the truth, regardless of how others might perceive it.
This seems to give us a great deal of personal freedom and integrity. It also leaves us facing a multitude of TRUTHS, claiming equal validity. This is confusing covering up falsehood, increasing division and mistrust.
In today’s gospel Jesus gives us an answer:
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…”
His words remind me that if we give our attention to following him, he will lead us to the TRUTH. If we give this our full attention, he will guide us through the myriad uncertainties we face. He will show us the way to rediscover the TRUTH of his everlasting love that draws us into new life.
Where is the risen Christ offering to lead you into the truth this Eastertide?
Today’s Eastertide word is: SHADOW. It doesn’t comfortably sit with Eastertide, the season of light and new life. Yet, there are plenty of shadowy moments in the Easter gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and our own Eastertide experiences. The light of the risen Christ can make as even more aware of our shadows.
Today is the feast of St Joseph the worker. In many ways it’s hard to imagine a more shadowy figure. He is always in the background, supporting Mary and the child Jesus, bringing stability and respectability to difficult situation.
Yet, if we look beyond that image we find a different story. I’m reflecting on these words from a hymn for his feast:
“His love was humble, flame of God’s own fire, A light to guide the path he trod alone; Like Abraham, like Moses he believed, And went in faith to find a land unknown.”
They speak of a man of great faith who is not afraid of the shadows. He allows them to guide him into God’s light following in the footsteps of his ancestors, leaving everything to follow God into the unknown. It can’t have been an easy choice, it will have required both humility and courage.
It’s impossible to think of this without reflecting on the ever-darkening shadows that overwhelm our world today. In such shadowy times St Joseph can be a valuable role model for us.
In this challenging Eastertide St Joseph reminds us that however dark shadows seem the risen will be with us, leading us into new life by the light of his love.
What are the shadows that you need the risen Christ to dispel in your life this Eastertide?
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Today’s Eastertide word is WELCOME. Hospitality is central to Christianity. It’s especially important to me as a Benedictine. St Benedict tells us that we should welcome guests to our monasteries we would welcome Christ.
Today’s gospel speaks to the form of hospitality that underpins that instruction. Before we can begin to think about welcoming others, we have to welcome Christ into our own hearts Jesus says to his disciples:
“I tell you most solemnly, whoever welcomes the one I send welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
His words call us to open our hearts to him, to welcome him into the very centre of our lives. That sounds like a fine idea, the reality can be more challenging. Jesus isn’t asking us to open the “good” part of our lives to him.
He isn’t asking to be invited into the parts of our lives that are going well or that we are proud of. He isn’t asking us to put our lives in order and then welcome him in.
Instead, he wants to be invited into the heart of our messy, broken, imperfect and failed lives exactly as they are now. For that to become a reality we have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable.
We have to acknowledge and accept our brokenness and allow the risen Christ to see it. In a world that values certainty and perfection that can be a real challenge.
What enables you to welcome the risen Christ into your heart this Eastertide?
LOVE is at the heart of the gospel and the source of our Eastertide joy. I’m reflecting on it today as we celebrate the feast of St Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church.
A third order Dominican she was called to make the love of Christ reality in her life and for her challenging and dangerous times.
This led her to a public role in the life of the church, speaking out against schism, promoting unity and advocating for clerical reform. These words from her dialogue on Divine Revelation touched me:
“By your light you enlighten our minds… In this light I know you and I picture you to myself as the supreme good, the good beyond all good… Beauty beyond all beauty, wisdom beyond all wisdom. You are the food of angels, who gave yourself to us in the fire of your love.”
She speaks to me especially powerfully in these times when our world seems so consumed by war and suffering. In such times it can be hard to see and witness to the love of the risen Christ in our lives.
It’s easy to get discouraged, to feel swamped by sufferings we can’t alleviate and situations we can’t fix. It becomes too risky to reach out to others in love so we withdraw into ourselves becoming protectionist and isolationist.
St Catherine’s example suggests an alternative. She calls us to seek to become so connected to the risen Christ we are consumed by the fire of God’s love. Then, following his example we can reach out and share that love with all those we encounter in our challenged and war-torn world.
How does the fire of God’s love enable you to love those you encounter this Eastertide?
There’s nothing comfortable about DISRUPTION, yet, it’s a word that we can’t avoid in Eastertide. The very fact of the resurrection is a disruption of everything we know about the nature of life.
All of the resurrection appearances carry an element of disruption for the disciples. In different ways everyone who meets the risen Christ has their lives disrupted in lifechanging and unimaginable ways.
Today I’m reflecting on the conversion of St Paul. It’s hard to imagine a more disruptive encounter with the Risen Christ than Saul’s. As he dashes around the country persecuting Christians, his world is literally upended as he is thrown off his horse. The disruption continues after his fall when, Jesus tells him:
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
He is led into Damascus, blinded and shaken to wait until Ananias arrives to restore his sight and baptise him. Luke tells us he then begins to proclaim that Jesus is the son of God:
“Immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.“
Saul moves from persecuting Christians to proclaiming the gospel. It may be that such a transformation is only possible after such a great disruption. It’s not surprising that the new creation we become in the risen Christ requires a certain amount of disruption.
To welcome him into our hearts our whole understanding and experience have to shift. We have to surrender control and allow our lives to be thoroughly disrupted.
Where is the risen Christ challenging you to allow him to disrupt your life this Eastertide?
UNITY is central to the message of Eastertide. The resurrection gospel show as the disciples drawing into a new community that supports and protects one another. This means they have to learn to let their barriers down, and risk to others.
Our challenging times incline us to build barriers that we can hide behind. They draw towards protectionism, keeping ourselves safe at the expenses of others. The example of St George, whose face we celebrate today, shows us this is not the call of the risen Christ.
As a Syrian in the Roman army who is patron saint of at least England, Russia, Ethiopia and Georgia St George offers us the opportunity to expand our horizons. He reminds us that our common humanity extends beyond borders and nationalities. He shows us that our hope lies in breaking down barriers, reaching out to the stranger, not in building them higher and excluding people.
He had the courage to stand up to the evil of his day, slaying the “dragons” of his times wherever he could. This offers us courage and hope. In our own times we face plenty of “dragons” unleashed the wars, migration, economic, social and political challenges.
It’s not call without risks. In his second letter to Timothy St Paul writes:
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
As we celebrate the feast of St George it seems to me that we are called risk persecution to reach out others, seeking unity and reconciliation wherever we can.
Where is the risen Christ calling you to risk seeking unity today?
Eastertide is a time for JOY. Today’s psalm calls the whole of creation to cry out with joy to the Lord:
“Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.”
This feels like a real challenge today When our world order faces so many threats and challenges the thought of being joyful can simply seem beyond us.. So much conspires to sap the joy out of life.
It’s drained away by the constant stream of bad news on our screens. It’s dissipated by the impossibly perfect lives presented on social media. That makes it very easy to dismiss JOY as only applying when life is good.
The Acts of the Apostles shows us that we can rejoice in the power of the risen Christ even when our lives are challenged and threatened. Facing a new wave of persecution, the young church is forced to flee even as it mourns the death of Stephen. It’s hard to imagine a situation less made for joy than that.
Yet, as they spread through the countryside they carry with them the Good News of the gospel, sharing it with all who are willing to listen. Philip’s preaching in the Samaritan town reminds us that even in the hardest situations the gospel can touch hearts and bring joy to people’s lives:
“There was great rejoicing in that town.”
This reminds however challenging our times are we can still share the joy of the risen Christ with one another
Where is Christ calling you to rejoice this Eastertide?
Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles calls us to TRUST. It tells the story of Stephen, of the earliest Christian converts, and the first Christian martyr.
He is a man of faith filled with the Holy Spirit. Living in an occupied country in dangerous times he would have been aware there would have been risks involved in joining this new group. Yet, he stepped out into the unknown, trusting that the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit would lead him.
Trust is fairly straightforward when life is steady and secure. When we live in stable times, reasonably certain that we can meet our own basic needs trust seems so easy that it’s barely an issue. It becomes much harder when life is uncertain, challenging or even dangerous.
Stephen was able to trust God even when he was challenged and his life was threatened. He carried on trusting in God until the very end of his life when he hands himself over body and soul to the risen Christ. As he dies he says:
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Such trust requires an open heart. It’s hard to be openhearted when life is frightening and unstable. In such times all our instincts tell us to close ourselves away, to become less trusting and more suspicious of others.
Stephen’s example reminds us that our call to follow Christ compels us to trust even when life is hard, and trust is a costly choice.
Where is the risen Christ asking you to trust yourself to this Eastertide?
