"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them"

That sentence is often quoted at Memorial Services for those who gave their lives for their country.  It was written by Laurence Binyon in 1914 under the title "For the Fallen" and is now almost a household word as we pray for those who have died in our name.

Today, as a Liverpool fan, I would like to re-dedicate those memorable words to 96 young people who went out "singing battle songs" to watch their team play in the semi-final of the Cup against Nottingham Forest.  They never came back.  They died in the most horrifying circumstances imaginable, crushed to death, trampled on, fighting for a little space in which to breathe.  Sadly, it was not granted them.

That was 24 years ago tomorrow, April 15th 1989.  The date is burned on the hearts of everyone in the city of Liverpool and far beyond it.  We will never forget them.  They are at the heart of everything we do here. They are of course, in our mind's eye, always young, always eager, always brave and always showing the fighting spirit that has made this city great, even to those last, tragic moments of their lives.  They deserve to be called heroes and heroines.  They have earned it.

 

They were villified:  lied about, sneered at by those who should have known better.  This was the terrible burden their parents, grandparents, friends and fellow fans had to bear. That was the real tragedy - the victims couldn't deny the charges against them.  But others could and did.  The 24- year fight for justice by the relatives of the dead has given all of us hope that there is light at the end of this dark tunnel.  There is justice after all - they didn't die in vain, they didn't leave a memory of drunken louts urinating on the police, they didn't bring about their own destruction.  That is Resurrection.  We are so grateful to all those brave, dedicated people who fought for justice for their relatives in spite of all seeming evidence to the contrary.  They knew that the truth lay somewhere else, and they were right.  They put their trust in God, and he led them to those who could help them.  We owe those brave people a debt we will never be able to repay fully. May the God, who is never outdone in generosity, charge their tenacity with peace, hope and forgiveness.  To have known people like that, we are blessed.

In this time of Resurrection, we too give thanks, not only for the example of others whose inspiring leadership has uncovered truth and restored hope in our city, but also to those who hold on in spite of illness, pain, injustice and death.  They are the unrecognised saints, and they come from all ages, all nations, all religious beliefs and none, at least in their own eyes.  Thank you! God bless and reward you for showing the rest of us what true Resurrection really is.  It is holding on in the darkness and waiting until the light appears.  And it always does appear. 

 

Tomorrow, remember those who died with a prayer, and thank God for those who fought to clear the name of  those they lost.  This is the last part of that poem I mentioned.  Read it and be inspired by all those who have led us to the light of truth and the fullness of life.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young;

straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted.

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;

age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

we will remember them.

To serve us all our days....

 I have, of course, changed a well-known title of a book about a dedicated teacher after the First World War which was written by R.F. Delderfield and published in 1972. It was a lovely story  which was so inspiring. It was called  "To serve them all my days."   You may have read it, if you haven't, it is worth looking at.

But the inspiration of the teacher's dedication to his pupils no matter what they achieved or failed to achieve must, ultimately, have come from the one who told us that "he came, not to be served but to serve."
 

This special week, which we call Holy Week, shows us what being a servant really means when Christ talks about it.

Last Thursday we had the image of God in an apron, as one poem calls it.  Jesus took off his outer garments knelt down at the feet of his disciples, and washed their dirty feet! That was the work of a slave in those times.  No wonder Peter was horrified, and tried to stop Jesus from doing such a menial task.  But Jesus told Peter in no uncertain terms, that he could have no part in his mission if he didn't submit.  It was the living out of the mission statement he had offered to his own people in Nazareth, who rejected him.

"The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me", he cried out, "and he has anointed me to give good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to give the blind new sight, to take away the chains of oppression, to proclaim a year of the Lord's favour!"   (Isaiah 61: 1- 2)

That is the mission statement of a servant of the people.  He was to be the Good Shepherd, giving his life for us, stupid sheep that we are, going the wrong way most of the time, but always being called back to his love, his forgiveness, his care.

Holy Week brings that forgiveness, that care, that love so close to us.  We see it each time with new eyes.  Didn't Jesus promise to give us new sight?  Well he does, all the time.  We are drawn inexorably into the horror, the wonder and the exultation of the Passion and the Resurrection.  The Servant God leading us once more into a realisation that we have to follow the same path - the path of love, the path of caring for others.  That is being Christ-like.  We are invited to do what he did, take the heavy burdens from the shoulders of others, give them hope and light in their darkness.  That sounds very noble, but in practice, in small ways we can all do it.  Smile at someone who looks downcast, say a little prayer for that person as we pass by - offer our friendeship and support to those suffering, put love at the heart of our Church and our world.  Love often comes in very small parcels, but without it, the world would be a grim place indeed.

Jesus, who is love, saw that.  He showed us the way of fidelity, the way of a servant. He served us all his days, and continues to do so now he is risen.  But he has no human hands, no human feet to walk among us now, he expects us to use ours. He has passed on his mission to us, and, for the time we are here, we have the obligation to bring the light of Christ which was dimmed temporarily on that first Good Friday, and obscured during Holy Saurday to that brightness which came with the first Easter Sunday morning.  How can we refuse to do that when he suffered so much for us?  Ours is really such a small return of love for such a total giving on the part of the Servant King.  We say, in faith, re-echoing the words of The Servant Song (click for music):

Will you let me be your servant,

let me be as Christ to you:

pray that I may have the grace

to let you be my servant too.

I will hold the Christ light for you

 in the night-time of your fear,

 I will hold my hand out to you

speak the peace you long to hear.

That is what we are called to do. If we fail to do this, then Christ's sacrifice on the Cross and his Resurrection from the dead will be, as far as we ae concerned, in vain.  And that would be terrible.

Let's pray that the Servant King may reach out, during this year of Faith to all those who need his love most. 

Have a lovely Easter.  We will pray for one another,  so that, like the first disciples, we may hear him say to us gently: "Peace be with you. Do not be afraid!"

THE LORD HAS RISEN , ALLELUIA!   HE HAS RISEN INDEED, ALLELUIA!

 

 

All photos and images owned by SMG. Drawings by P.Macauley. Copyright 2013. 

A great cloud of witnesses

That is what Scripture calls those who have gone before us into that world of light and life that we call eternity.  During the month of November we pray for the souls of those who died and we also thank God for the things that we remember about them, little things maybe that make us smile and remember with love. 

 

 

We think of the journey  through life that these people have travelled, much of it with us and we reach out to them in gratitude for the witness of their earthly lives.  People who die, we believe, do not go from us, but are part of the communion of saints, part of us still.  That is very consoling isn't it?  Our faith teaches us that they pray for us still and we certainly ought to pray for and with them.  If they do not need our prayers to be released from Purgatory because they are already with God in Heaven, then we are taught that those prayers or Masses will be used for someone else who needs them. 

Sometimes people say to us:  "What a dreary month November is!"  We don't like the short days and dark evenings which we get in this part of the world at that time.  But November is a lovely month - a month of hopefulness in the promises of our God.  Jesus promised us life - life in all its fullness both in this world and certainly in the life to come. 

 

The Resurrection event is not a one-off happening - one day, Jesus promised us, we will all be part of that wonderfully changed life. "I am the Resurrection and the Life" Jesus assured us, "those who believe in me will not die but will live - they shall not hunger nor thirst, for the Lamb standing in front of the throne will feed them and be their shepherd." So says the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse as it was called. 

Read Chapter 19 or Chapter 21 of this last Book of the New Testament.  These Chapters are about the vision of Heaven that St. John was given.  They are so wonderful and give us a glimpse of what it must be like, although our words are inadequate to describe the happiness of those who have won through and are part of the "great cloud of witnesses" around us.

 John describes the sight and sound of Heaven.

He heard:

 

"the great sound of a huge crowd in Heaven singing: 'Alleluia, victory and glory and power to our God."  Then a voice came from the throne, it said 'Praise our God all you his servants, and all those, great and small who revere him'. And I seemed to hear the voices of a huge crowd like the sound of the ocean, or the great roar of thunder answering: 'Alleluia, the reign of our God, the almighty has begun!  Let us be glad and joyful and give praise to God, for this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb". John was told to write down this: 'Happy are those who are invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!" Revelation Chapater 19.

Then he saw with his mortal eyes a vision of Heaven where 'God lives with mankind. He will make his home among us, they shall be his people, and he shall be their God., and he will wipe away all tears from their eyes, there shall be no more death no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.'

And what was Heaven like?  Well, full of light and beauty.

"The gates are never shut, and there is no night there, the city did not need the sun or moon to light it, sincer it was lit by the radiant glory of the Lamb of God."

How wonderful - no sadness, no darkness, no fear, no pain.  Only joy and singing and dancing for ever!!

By the way,  Chapter 21 also says that the walls are made up of diamonds and precious stones, and inlaid with pure gold 'transparent like glass' -  This is what God has prepared for those who love him. 

So, to remember that, and to re-read it in the Bible, fills us with joy.  November, then is a month when we get glimpses of Heaven, beside mists, cold, rain and dark nights this side of eternity. 

We all remember those who have left us for this eternal home.  We thank God for them and ask them to look after us.  We light candles to remind us of their lives which are now flames of love and life, and we say "Alleluia!" with them.  Praise God.

 

Have a good November for what is left of it, and then look forward to how it all began here on earth - the lovely feast of the Incarnation.  Take care.

 

 

 

 

There is a Place - Liam Lawton

 

 

The Resurrection

A happy Easter to all of you!  We have journeyed through Lent, and experienced the loneliness and the fear of the Passion, as well as the heart-warming act of Jesus as Servant, washing the feet of his disciples, and then giving us the wonderful gift of the Eucharist.  I suppose many of you celebrated the Seder meal, and became part of the first New Testament Seder, picturing Jesus going out into the darkness towards Gethsemane with the beautiful sound of the Hallel psalms ringing in his ears, yet knowing he was betrayed and soon would be captured and disowned.  But now we are warming ourselves, not at the brazier of Peter which just took away for a time the cold winds of fear and guilt, but the great sun of the Resurrected world.  Alleluia!

May I share with you another Resurrection?  I’m sure you have many of your own, which I would love to hear, but I’ve always been captivated by this one. Please send in your own stories of hope after despair.  Jesus offers us the fruits of his rising from the dead all the time. 

Here is my contribution:

An old man shuffled painfully along the cobbled streets of London.  He was stooped, awkward and obviously in pain. His face was pale and there were lines of pain etched deeply on his cheeks.  People passed him by, avoiding his eyes which seemed bitter and hard.  His name was George Frederic Handel.  The great musician of the 18^th century.  He had suffered a stroke some months before, and doctors held out little hope of his survival. “I am finished!” he said to himself. “I can no longer compose music.  I cannot hear those wonderful melodies in my head.  Point and counterpoint harmony no longer have any meaning for me.  I might as well die!”  Despondently he shuffled back to his lodgings.

When he got there he found a thick wad of paper rolled in a parcel standing on the hall table.  “Not another MS”, he muttered. “Will they never realise that I am no longer a musician?”  Listlessly he picked it up.  It was from his friend who had always supported him, so, listlessly he tore open the paper.  It was the story of the life of Christ.   He read on, without much interest, until he saw this:

“.. the crowds were appalled at seeing him, so disfigured did he look, that he seemed no longer human,… “   “Like a sapling he grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground. Without beauty, without majesty we saw him no looks to attract our eyes, a thing despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. A man to make people screen their faces. He was despised, and we took no account of him.”   Fourth Servant Song:  Isaiah 52: 11 – 15.

“Why, that’s me!” he cried, “I am despised and of no account too!”  So, fascinated, he read on.

Afterwards he was to say:  “I saw the heavens open and I heard the most beautiful music.  Words poured into my mind.  “He was despised and rejected yet by his wounds we are healed.  I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH” he cried exultingly at the four walls of his hallway.  ALLELUIA!  For ten days he never came out of his room, refusing to eat or drink.  But he gave us The Messiah.  His greatest work.  The most famous oratorio in the world. 

London refused to put it on, as they thought he was finished.  So he went to Dublin, and they gave us “Oh thou who bringest good tidings to Sion”  “He was despised”  “I know that my redeemer liveth”  and of course the famous Alleluia chorus.  And so many more.... Handel lived on for some years after this, and became the most feted musician of the time.  Everywhere he went, he brought the portfolio of The Messiah.  It was his Resurrection. 

What are your experiences of Resurrection?  Thank God for them today, and go about humming “Alleluia, alleluia, alle- luia!"  Enjoy this wonderful time - the Springtime of the Church and ours too.

God bless.

ALLELUIA

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE. LET US BE GLAD, AND REJOICE IN IT.

Why look among the dead for someone who is alive?  (Luke 25:5)

When you think of Easter what image do you see?
The hint of longer, lighter days to come...
the hills bursting with new-born lambs...
the scramble for the hidden, coloured eggs in garden, house or field...
the Easter bunnies, or the dark-coated ribboned eggs decorating the sideboard?

All these perhaps, yet each is but a faint, far-off image of what it is to us as Easter people.

Our song is ever and always the alleluia of the angels as they look on him whom sin has pierced and love has healed... now risen and glorious, standing triumphant against all that would demean or limit us and offering without price the promise of a life that holds eternal joy.

Praise him!

"I wish you all a Happy Easter, full of graces; graces of renewal of spirit, of fresh strength and energy in our Lord's service."
(Mother Magdalen)

After the Easter Vigil, we should be full of joy and hope. 
So we pray:

Come, Risen Lord Jesus
Easter in us,
Be a day-spring to the dimness of us today,
and always that we may bring glory to you. (Joyce Huggett)

If you have the energy, get up at dawn to see the sunrise and pray... If not, just enjoy the day and sing "alleluia" in your heart.

Happy Easter!

Holy Week

We are at the threshold of Holy Week, the most important week of the whole calender.  This week reminds us of how much we are loved.  It is the week of our salvation.  This is the time when, as Luke puts it, Jesus "set his face like a flint" as he journeyed to Jerusalem where, in the tradition of all the prophets, he would be slain.

There is one difference, however, between the death of the Old Testament prophets and that of Jesus.  This is the story of the unfolding of salvation history. The tragic events of which lead us through betrayal, injustice, envy, hatred, and indescribable torture to a humiliating and lonely death on a gibbet with a howling mob spitting, snarling and cursing below him.

Yet this death was to lead to the explosion of joy we know today as Resurrection.  It was to open up for us the possibility of living for all eternity in that same joy and blessedness. It was the gift of forgiveness for past sins, the breaking of the stranglehold of Satan over us, the forging of a chain of love that was to unite Heaven and earth, reaching out through time and space to all peoples throughout the world until the end of time.

 Calvary is the place of the skull, the place of death, but it is also the refuge of sinners, an inexhaustible well of healing, a centre of reconciliation and of love.  Every drop of blood that Jesus shed on that first Friday we call good, was redemptive.  Each pain-filled gasp of sound that issued from his parched and cracked lips was an appeal to our heart.  "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing!" he cried out on seeing the upraised fists, hearing the imprecations of hatred and envy below him, feeling the agony of pain as he tried to lift himself up on the nails in order to get breath in his lungs to speak because his whole body was contorted and out of sync. What a God! When the chips were down, and Jesus was dying in unspeakable pain as he writhed in agony on the Cross as the sky darkened around him and his eyes were blinded by blood and spittle, then his whole being shone out with love - a love that resounds today in us as we reflect on what he did for us. 

Let's remember to spend some time this week on staying close to him and to his Mother Mary, standing so bravely at the foot of the Cross as her lovely, innocent Son gasped out  his life for us.  Let's think of that poor man dying beside him who only asked for Jesus to remember him. Think of it - what a God!  No saying, "well, you've been a very naughty boy, so you'll have to suffer a lot in the next world!"  He saw that man's sorrow.  "This day you will be with me in Paradise!"  That is love, that is total forgiveness.  Two men dying together, one innocent, the Son of the Eternal God, the other a thief, who had led what we call a bad life, who, in his own words, deserved to die.  Play the Taize chant "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom" (click on title) and think of that scene.  Thank him for all the times you have received forgiveness and a chance to start again.  He is so close to us in Holy Week. Hold hands with Mary, and ask her to give you courage.  What a woman!  She knows what sorrow is, she will listen and heal and make you feel better.  She is, after all a mother, and that's what good mothers do.

Have a lovely Holy Week starting with the joy of Palm Sunday, and ending, or should we say beginning with Easter Sunday.  We shall be praying for you too. 

Tomorrow we will talk a little about the Eucharist and the Seder meal, the meal Jesus ate with his disciples before he went to Gethsemane. We call it the Last Supper.

God bless.