Thursday was Corpus Christi. It is a celebration of the Eucharist, which gets crowded out on Maundy Thursday, the natural time to celebrate the Eucharist. On Maundy Thursday we recall Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet, renewal of vows as priests, deacons, readers, bishops etc, then Jesus’ agony in the garden and his arrest. Thomas Aquinas, in 1264 after the Miracle of the Mass at Bolsena, suggested the celebration of the most sacred body and blood. It has always been a good occasion to go to church and thank God for the gift of Holy Communion, which lies at the centre of many of our lives as Christians. One of the things that I have missed over the lockdown has been going to church and taking the bread and the wine with my brothers and sisters in Christ. This Thursday was like having a birthday party without presents or a cake! Our Gospel reading today comes from Matthew 9 v35 -10 v8. As you will hear in the video it starts with Jesus overwhelmed by his ministry of healing and driving out demons. Time in again in our scriptures we read of Jesus being moved with the very deepest compassion for the suffering of the sick and possessed in his ministry to the sick. Sometimes it seems his compassion boils over with real anger, as here where he sees the people ‘like sheep without a shepherd with all the very dangers that implies, open to attack from every side with nobody to shield them. Jesus also speaks of the harvest being ready to be brought in but also of a shortage of labourers. He then sends out his disciples to heal and bring relief - ‘to gather in the harvest’, to shield and shepherd the needy and the sick. We also have a list of the Twelve, the close disciples of Our Lord. We are their successors. They are sent out to carry on the ministry. Clearly twelve can do more than one can. During our time of lockdown we find it doubly frustrating that we cannot carry on our calling to follow the disciples in ministering to the sick and needy. We are called on to be conduits of Christ’s compassion to the world. How can we be conduits if we are locked up in our homes? Well, we have found ways to reach out to others, even in lockdown, haven’t we? By shopping for our neighbours, by calling our neighbours on our mobiles or by sending them emails and silly cartoons from Facebook, by holding alfresco drinks parties and coffee mornings, by checking up on others -in all these and so many other ways we have found ways to reach out - and in doing so have found our lives enriched too. Now that we are able to move around more freely and meet more people - still observing the safe distance of two metres, of course - or to form ‘support bubbles’ where we can at last touch our nearest and dearest, many more ways will be found. We cannot let this situation defeat us. So many off us have responded to Christ’s words: “You received without payment, give without payment.” It is enough to know we are doing the Lord’s work and sharing his compassion with others. Another coincidence of dates - Friday was St Barnabas’ Day. He was a Jew from Cyprus who joined the early church and sold land to give to the community in Jerusalem. He later went on to help Paul in his missionary journeys. His Jewish name was Joseph, but he was known as Barnabas. Barnabas means ‘son of encouragement’. Let us all be brothers and sisters of encouragement to those around us. Let others say of us when this is all over - “they cared, they loved, they encouraged”! Let us pray - O Christ, door of the sheepfold, may we enter your gates with praise and go from your courts to serve you in the poor, the lost and the wandering, this day and all our days. Amen
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCanon John Green Archives
May 2021
Categories |