St John the Evangelist, Burgess Hill

Someone said to me this week that they never looked forward to Lent, and always viewed it as something to be endured. By contrast, I am always rather glad to see Lent come round, partly because of its associations with Spring and all the rest, but mainly because it brings us closer to Easter. (Though I have to say, I would much prefer it not to come so early as it has this year!)

As I write we are approaching the 3^rd Sunday of Lent, and by the time you are reading this, we will have passed the half-way mark in our Lenten journey. I notice that the collection of envelopes pinned to the Cross - although still rather thin for a congregation the size of ours - seems to grow now and again. I do still commend it to you - even at this late date - as a way of “doing” something which will express your solidarity and identification with Jesus as he walks the Way of Sorrows for us.

I make no apology for this. I am utterly unswayed by the suggestion that such practices are too emotive and therefore may be dismissed as “un-English”. And I am totally unconvinced by arguments that it is not necessary for us to associate ourselves with Jesus in so explicit a way by outward acts, when we are perfectly able just to “believe” it and to “think” about it.

I would venture that this is precisely what we do not need to do, if what it means is that we seek to make our religion a purely intellectual exercise, something abstract, which goes on almost entirely inside our heads. But at the same time, I am very far from suggesting that our religion should become a kind of exhibitionism, like “showing off” how holy we are. Remember how Jesus condemned that sort of thing.

Look at it this way. When God began his saving work, he did not just think about it. He acted. He did something: he sent Jesus. And when Jesus came on the scene, he did not just talk about how much God loved us. He showed us. He did not just talk about saving us from our sins and from death. He did something: he gave up his life on the Cross to make it happen.

There are many ways in which we do likewise. For example, we don’t just think about worshipping God, we do something about it. We come to Church for a start. We express our worship not only by speaking and singing, but also by our posture - standing, sitting, kneeling at different points in the service. Then there are the gestures we make - bowing our heads, closing our eyes perhaps, making the sign of the cross, shaking hands as we exchange the peace - and even smiling as we do so.

These are very far from “showing off”, but they are terribly important. Actions are expressive, they serve to communicate our inward and invisible thoughts and feelings in ways which are outward and visible. They serve to underscore, to reinforce, what is going on in our mind and heart, and so they ensure that we are wholly engaged, with our entire being, in what we are celebrating. And what we are celebrating is simply the most wonderful, the most astounding, the most beautiful, the most important thing, in the world: the fact that God loves us so much, he sent his only Son to bring us to everlasting life with God.

There are other acts of devotion, both public and private, which serve the same end and purpose. Among these are bible study, making prayers for others, doing special acts of kindness, making donations to charities, fasting and/or abstaining from some foods and drinks, doing the Stations of the Cross, visiting the Blessed Sacrament and just basking in the reality of Jesus’ love and presence among us, and so on. Any of these would find an appropriate place in a special Lent Rule of Life.

Now, I have been talking of God loving “us” and acting to save “the world”, and of what “we” do together as his people, to express our collective response to it. But really, what I am driving at is saying that God loves “you” and prompting you to consider what “you” might do to express “your” response to it. This is about making God’s love and your response to it, something which is uniquely personal, intimate, familiar, and real. It is about you, realising that Jesus died for YOU, and making a personal, intimate, familiar and genuine response to HIM!

So please, if you have not done so, do consider making an explicit Lenten Promise. Pinning your Lent Promise to the Cross (sealed in an envelope, of course!), is just taking that extra step, to join yourself to Jesus Christ in his suffering, death and resurrection.

By this time, of course, it will probably mean simply writing down something of the discipline which you have already been keeping. But if you’ve been putting it off, you can still take on a rule for the rest of Lent, and believe me, it will be far better than doing nothing at all. It will make the purpose of Lent more real for you, and will make your Easter that much more of a celebration about the reality of what Jesus has done for us.

And that is my prayer: that Easter, when it comes, may bring you the fullest joy in the salvation which Christ has won for us.

With love and prayers,

With Easter coming so early this year, several people have asked about why this is so, and in what follows I will try to shed a little light on what is an extraordinarily complex issue.

If you are interested in the mathematics of it, try “doing a Google” with the phrase “calculating the date of Easter”. I’m sure you’ll be as astonished as I was. (Articles on the “Julian Calendar” and the “Gregorian Calendar” will throw up more technical detail than you can imagine or even wish to cope with!)

The Council of Nicaea (AD 325) tried to bring some order to the business. The original intention seems to have been that all Christians the world over, should celebrate Easter on the same Sunday. It was decided that it should be the Sunday following the fourteenth day of the paschal full moon, i.e., the moon whose fourteenth day followed the vernal (Spring) equinox. The Council left it to the Patriarchate of Alexandria to make the calculation and set the date each year. Evidently they were better at maths, but even so, its efforts met with only partial success. The only general agreement appears to have been that Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday!

That, however, was very far from the end of the matter. The Romans and the Alexandrians used differing methods of making the calculation. The Celtic Churches of Britain had their own method of doing it, and it wasn’t until St Wilfrid argued the case convincingly at the Synod of Whitby in 664 that the Roman method was accepted for what we would today call “the Northern Province”. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, imposed this method on the whole of the English Church in 669. And its been that way ever since. It became even more confusing when the change from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar was adopted by some, but not by others, in October 1582.

So, now you know! I have to confess, it remains a puzzle to me, but it is deeply embedded in the unfolding history of the Christian Church and has, not surprisingly, been the source of many a controversy. Even down to the present day, differences remain between the Western and Eastern Churches. This year, for example, when we will be celebrate Easter on 23^rd March, the Orthodox Churches will be celebrating it on 27^th April! In 2009, we will be keeping it on 12^th April, and the Orthodox will keep it on 19^th April. And in 2010, Easter falls on 4^th April for all of us!

And that’s an interesting date to keep in mind. There has been increasing talk in recent years about the desirability of having a universal date for Easter, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica plumps for the second Sunday in April (i.e., the Sunday falling between 8^th and 14^th April). Pope John XXIII could see nothing wrong in fixing the date, and the World Council of Churches also gives support to the idea, though to date, no individual church grouping has come to a conclusion about it.

I cannot help but feel that to work towards a consensus about the date of Easter sometime around the year 2010, would send a powerful message to the unbelieving world at large, and would provide further impetus to the ecumenical work of reconciling differences, and overcoming other obstacles to the unity of the whole People of God.

“What a glorious spectacle we witness each year as nature awakens from her winter slumbers!….

“….The natural sense of the seasons should be a source of constant delight. Every tiny flower, every little animal, the rays of the sun, the chirp of birds, everything that spring brings back to us should inspire sentiments of joy and gratitude over our good fortune.

“However, we must not remain on the plane of nature; for u s nature is a holy symbol. It is a picture-book given by God to his children in which they may see his beauty and his love; a picture-book which tells of another world which now at Easter is likewise celebrating resurrection, the world of supernatural life within us.

“Spring with its transformation of hill and meadow is, accordingly, a great symbol of an event in sacred history and of an event now taking place within the church. Springtime is nature executing her Easter liturgy. Neither poetry nor art can even approximate her grand display. In every corner of her vast cathedral a thousand voices are shouting Alleluia, the voices of creatures that have comet o life. Yes, nature holy, sinless, eternal, is holding her Easter rites. Oh, that we had eyes to see this mystery! “




Dear Friends Someone said to me this week that they never looked forward to Lent, and always viewed it as something to be endured. By contrast, I am always rather glad to see Lent come round, partly because of its associations with Spring and all the rest, but mainly because it brings us closer to Easter. (Though I have to say, I would much prefer it not to come so early as it has this year!) As I write we are approaching the 3^rd Sunday of Lent, and by the time you are reading this, we will have passed the half-way mark in our Lenten journey. I notice that the collection of envelopes pinned to the Cross - although still rather thin for a congregation the size of ours - seems to grow now and again. I do still commend it to you - even at this late date - as a way of “doing” something which will express your solidarity and identification with Jesus as he walks the Way of Sorrows for us. I make no apology for this. I am utterly unswayed by the suggestion that such practices are too emotive and therefore may be dismissed as “un-English”. And I am totally unconvinced by arguments that it is not necessary for us to associate ourselves with Jesus in so explicit a way by outward acts, when we are perfectly able just to “believe” it and to “think” about it. I would venture that this is precisely what we do *not* need to do, if what it means is that we seek to make our religion a purely intellectual exercise, something abstract, which goes on almost entirely inside our heads. But at the same time, I am very far from suggesting that our religion should become a kind of exhibitionism, like “showing off” how holy we are. Remember how Jesus condemned that sort of thing. Look at it this way. When God began his saving work, he did not just think about it. He acted. He did something: he sent Jesus. And when Jesus came on the scene, he did not just talk about how much God loved us. He showed us. He did not just talk about saving us from our sins and from death. He did something: he gave up his life on the Cross to make it happen. There are many ways in which we do likewise. For example, we don’t just think about worshipping God, we do something about it. We come to Church for a start. We express our worship not only by speaking and singing, but also by our posture - standing, sitting, kneeling at different points in the service. Then there are the gestures we make - bowing our heads, closing our eyes perhaps, making the sign of the cross, shaking hands as we exchange the peace - and even smiling as we do so. These are very far from “showing off”, but they are terribly important. Actions are expressive, they serve to communicate our inward and invisible thoughts and feelings in ways which are outward and visible. They serve to underscore, to reinforce, what is going on in our mind and heart, and so they ensure that we are wholly engaged, with our entire being, in what we are celebrating. And what we are celebrating is simply the most wonderful, the most astounding, the most beautiful, the most important thing, in the world: the fact that God loves us so much, he sent his only Son to bring us to everlasting life with God. There are other acts of devotion, both public and private, which serve the same end and purpose. Among these are bible study, making prayers for others, doing special acts of kindness, making donations to charities, fasting and/or abstaining from some foods and drinks, doing the Stations of the Cross, visiting the Blessed Sacrament and just basking in the reality of Jesus’ love and presence among us, and so on. Any of these would find an appropriate place in a special Lent Rule of Life. Now, I have been talking of God loving “us” and acting to save “the world”, and of what “we” do together as his people, to express our collective response to it. But really, what I am driving at is saying that God loves “you” and prompting you to consider what “you” might do to express “your” response to it. This is about making God’s love and your response to it, something which is uniquely personal, intimate, familiar, and real. It is about you, realising that Jesus died for YOU, and making a personal, intimate, familiar and genuine response to HIM! So please, if you have not done so, do consider making an explicit Lenten Promise. Pinning your Lent Promise to the Cross (sealed in an envelope, of course!), is just taking that extra step, to join yourself to Jesus Christ in his suffering, death and resurrection. By this time, of course, it will probably mean simply writing down something of the discipline which you have already been keeping. But if you’ve been putting it off, you can still take on a rule for the rest of Lent, and believe me, it will be far better than doing nothing at all. It will make the purpose of Lent more real for you, and will make your Easter that much more of a celebration about the reality of what Jesus has done for us. And that is my prayer: that Easter, when it comes, may bring you the fullest joy in the salvation which Christ has won for us. With love and prayers, THE DATE OF EASTER: Why does it change? With Easter coming so early this year, several people have asked about why this is so, and in what follows I will try to shed a little light on what is an extraordinarily complex issue. If you are interested in the mathematics of it, try “doing a Google” with the phrase “calculating the date of Easter”. I’m sure you’ll be as astonished as I was. (Articles on the “Julian Calendar” and the “Gregorian Calendar” will throw up more technical detail than you can imagine or even wish to cope with!) The Council of Nicaea (AD 325) tried to bring some order to the business. The original intention seems to have been that all Christians the world over, should celebrate Easter on the same Sunday. It was decided that it should be the Sunday following the fourteenth day of the paschal full moon, i.e., the moon whose fourteenth day followed the vernal (Spring) equinox. The Council left it to the Patriarchate of Alexandria to make the calculation and set the date each year. Evidently they were better at maths, but even so, its efforts met with only partial success. The only general agreement appears to have been that Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday! That, however, was very far from the end of the matter. The Romans and the Alexandrians used differing methods of making the calculation. The Celtic Churches of Britain had their own method of doing it, and it wasn’t until St Wilfrid argued the case convincingly at the Synod of Whitby in 664 that the Roman method was accepted for what we would today call “the Northern Province”. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, imposed this method on the whole of the English Church in 669. And its been that way ever since. It became even more confusing when the change from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar was adopted by some, but not by others, in October 1582. So, now you know! I have to confess, it remains a puzzle to me, but it is deeply embedded in the unfolding history of the Christian Church and has, not surprisingly, been the source of many a controversy. Even down to the present day, differences remain between the Western and Eastern Churches. This year, for example, when we will be celebrate Easter on 23^rd March, the Orthodox Churches will be celebrating it on 27^th April! In 2009, we will be keeping it on 12^th April, and the Orthodox will keep it on 19^th April. And in 2010, Easter falls on 4^th April for all of us! And that’s an interesting date to keep in mind. There has been increasing talk in recent years about the desirability of having a universal date for Easter, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica plumps for the second Sunday in April (i.e., the Sunday falling between 8^th and 14^th April). Pope John XXIII could see nothing wrong in fixing the date, and the World Council of Churches also gives support to the idea, though to date, no individual church grouping has come to a conclusion about it. I cannot help but feel that to work towards a consensus about the date of Easter sometime around the year 2010, would send a powerful message to the unbelieving world at large, and would provide further impetus to the ecumenical work of reconciling differences, and overcoming other obstacles to the unity of the whole People of God. Fr Clay EASTER & SPRINGTIME “What a glorious spectacle we witness each year as nature awakens from her winter slumbers!…. “….The natural sense of the seasons should be a source of constant delight. Every tiny flower, every little animal, the rays of the sun, the chirp of birds, everything that spring brings back to us should inspire sentiments of joy and gratitude over our good fortune. “However, we must not remain on the plane of nature; for u s nature is a holy symbol. It is a picture-book given by God to his children in which they may see his beauty and his love; a picture-book which tells of another world which now at Easter is likewise celebrating resurrection, the world of supernatural life within us. “Spring with its transformation of hill and meadow is, accordingly, a great symbol of an event in sacred history and of an event now taking place within the church. Springtime is nature executing her Easter liturgy. Neither poetry nor art can even approximate her grand display. In every corner of her vast cathedral a thousand voices are shouting Alleluia, the voices of creatures that have comet o life. Yes, nature holy, sinless, eternal, is holding her Easter rites. Oh, that we had eyes to see this mystery! “ Pius Parsch “An Easter Sourcebook: The Fifty Days”