Holy Monday and Tuesday are highly significant. On the Monday Jesus entered the Temple and drove out the traders. This was Jesus’ way of symbolising the coming of a completely new order. The arthritic Temple sacrifice system (which was the context of the buying, selling and money-changing) was about to collapse. It is the equivalent of the tearing of the separation-curtain in the Temple at the death of Jesus, recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. God and humans are no longer apart. Christ has brought them together. Holy Monday is our ‘Unification Day’.

Holy Tuesday is the day of some of Jesus’ most radical teaching. He will not tell his opponents the source of his teaching authority, for he realises they are unable to recognise real authority (rather than their own). According to John’s Gospel, Jesus had already said: “Before ever Abraham was, I AM” (a clear statement of his divinity). On the Tuesday, a fig tree which he cursed for not bearing figs out of season (!) withers away. This seemingly spiteful incident is a way of showing that Jesus does not follow expectations. He is not a tree; his results come at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. Also on the Tuesday he seems to commend a widow for putting all her savings in the Temple treasury, but in fact he is primarily condemning a heartless system which callously ‘swallowed the property of widows’. Religion must bear fruit in love, in season or out of season. Holy Tuesday is ‘Fruitfulness Day’.

It is true that the Mass Gospels on these days focus on other things – on Monday, the anointing of Jesus’ feet in the evening meal with Martha, Mary and Lazarus at Bethany.

However, we can see from these significant days how Judas Iscariot, who had presumed that Jesus would fulfil certain pre-conceptions about him, found a different – and for him disappointing and dangerous – Jesus. Preferring certainties to provocation, Judas decided in his exasperation to help rid the world of the Christ. Thus the story can proceed as we know it…

We now come to those days which contain the heart of the ‘Paschal Mystery’. In many other languages, the word for the festival we call ‘Easter’ comes from the word for ‘Passover’ (or in Slavic languages ‘Great Night’, referring to the climax of the Passover event). Unfortunately our word ‘Easter’ comes from Anglo-Saxon ‘eostre’, the name of a pagan goddess, which doesn’t help at all, and gives no idea of ‘passing over’.

For Christians, the Jewish feast of Passover, celebrating the Jews’ liberation from Egypt in a ritual meal centred on the lamb, has been transformed into the celebration of Christ, the Lamb of God, who offered himself, dying and being raised to life, to liberate us from the effects of sin – the frustration of incompleteness, of ‘non-being’ – and lead us not to a geographical but to a spiritual Promised Land.

At the heart of the ‘Mystery’ is the three-day period known as the Holy Triduum, This forms one religious action separated into three days:-

• Holy Thursday Christ invites his disciples to his Passover Last Supper, teaches them the new commandment of his love, serves them by washing their feet, and lays the ground for the Holy Eucharist, which will be ratified by his death and resurrection; he then prays at Gethsemane on the eve of his Passion.
• Good Friday Christ freely surrenders himself in death in his love for the world.
• Holy Saturday Christ lies in the tomb but is raised by the Holy Spirit from his Father. Death cannot defeat the totality of his loving obedience. The EASTER VIGIL, the crux of the whole Christian year, brings Christ’s renewal home to us through the elements: light and water. This is the fulfilment of all the prophecies.

It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the feast of the Epiphany and the revealing of Christ to the wise men from the east. They followed the star and it brought them to kneel before the infant Christ to whom they offered their exotic gifts. But, unknown to them, at that time they were being gifted by the Lord in a way far richer than anything that they had been able to offer him.

St Matthew sums it up when he writes at the end of the story that they returned to their own country by a different way. That phrase means much more to me than just something about geography or map reading or the fear of Herod. It says something profoundly spiritual about conversion and the journey of faith, and it’s entirely appropriate for us to revisit it today, as we stand on the threshold of Lent.

We too have followed a star; we too have journeyed in faith to bring our gifts – not least the gift of ourselves – to the Lord. In return, he has gifted us with so much and he has called us to be stewards of those gifts. As we recognise this, our lives, like those of the wise men, will begin to take a different direction. Our journey of faith continues, but in a different way.

The season of Lent marks yet again an opportunity for that change of direction, for conversion and for the deepening of our faith. It is a time for generous giving and for a renewed trust in the goodness and love of the Lord who calls us to be his disciples.

The context of today’s Gospel is Luke’s account of the call of the first disciples. Last Sunday, we heard Jesus inviting Peter to put out into the deep with total trust in him, so that he could become a “fisher of men”. In the passage from Luke that immediately precedes today’s passage, we read of Jesus spending the night in prayer before he chooses those who were to be his special companions. Today’s Gospel tells of Jesus coming down from the mountain and introducing his newly chosen apostles to a sea of humanity into which they, as “fishers of men”, must enter without fear, casting their nets for a catch and becoming, in their turn, the star that will lead men and women to Jesus.

This is the beginning of the Church which we know and love and within which we find the Lord. This is the Church in which, through baptism, we begin to share in the work and the loving of Christ. This is the world of the poor, the needy,
those who are troubled and distressed, and Jesus calls us to be his presence among all people, to bring joy, satisfaction and comfort – but, not without cost.

When the new disciples heard Jesus’ words, they must have wondered, as perhaps we do ourselves, “how can this be?” The answer to that question lies in the angel’s words to Mary at the start of Luke’s Gospel: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” These things will come about because the power of God’s Spirit is poured out on the disciples. Through the Spirit, they will discover the courage, the wisdom and the understanding to proclaim and live the Gospel. We, today’s disciples, like those first followers, are called to witness to the truth that real joy and happiness and fulfilment come because we trust in the Lord, rather than in those aspects of modern living which are so neglectful of God and seemingly so transient. This understanding of the call to discipleship, and our response to it, has been central to all my recent teaching and forms the lynchpin of our Pastoral Plan.

We come today to the threshold of Lent; it’s another opportunity to continue and deepen our journey in faith, bringing us to the Lord in new and exciting ways.

For some – I am thinking particularly of our catechumens seeking baptism and of those seeking to come into full communion with the Church – their journey is quite specific and has a very sharp focus. Easter for them will be a wonderful culmination and fulfilment of deepest hopes. It will bring joy to them and to all us who have journeyed with them.

For those of us who have been longer on the journey, Lent is a time of renewal and ongoing conversion with a greater and more generous concentration on the gifts the Lord has given us. Whatever Lenten penance we undertake, it should aim at making us more aware of the extraordinary love and care the Lord has for us.

For all of us, wherever we are in our journey of faith, Lent is a time for renewed prayer and for giving more time and space to God and to all those who, together with us, make up the human family, the brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s time to seek again the face of Christ. There we will find the compassion and healing love that renews our spirits. Look on that face in the silence of your prayer and give thanks to the Lord who has such love for us. Coming to the heart and
face of Christ, we discover anew what it means to be truly one of his disciples, sent out to proclaim and be the Good News of the Kingdom.

May God bless you all,
Crispian

Passover

For Christians, the Jewish feast of Passover, celebrating the Jews’ liberation from Egypt in a ritual meal centred on the lamb, has been transformed into the celebration of Christ, the Lamb of God, who offered himself, dying and being raised to life, to liberate us from sin, from the frustration of incompleteness, of ‘non-being’, leading us not to a geographical Promised Land, but to the spiritual Promised Land of eternity.

In many other languages, the word for the festival we call ‘Easter’ comes from the word for ‘Passover’ (or in Slavic languages ‘Great Night’, referring to the climax of the Passover event). Unfortunately our word ‘Easter’ comes from Anglo-Saxon ‘eostre’, the name of a pagan goddess, which doesn’t help at all, and gives no idea of ‘passing over’.

We now come to those days which contain the heart of the ‘Paschal Mystery’. At the heart of the ‘Mystery’ is the three-day period known as the Holy Triduum. This forms one religious action separated into three days.

Holy Thursday

We celebrate the Lord’s Supper, when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, a Passover with a difference: this was to be his last until the eternal banquet. At supper he not only gave them an example of service (washing of feet), he taught them the new commandment of his love and he gave them Bread and Wine, his Body and Blood: “Do this in memory of me”. Then, after Judas left to betray him – night fell – and Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. We are invited to ‘watch’ with Jesus into the night.

Good Friday

After his arrest, trial and sentence we continue this service on Good Friday at 3pm with Jesus being led up to Calvary to be crucified and die. Christ freely surrenders himself to death in his love for the world.

Holy Saturday

Christ lies in the tomb but is raised by the Holy Spirit from his Father. Death cannot defeat the totality of his loving obedience.

Easter Vigil

The crux of the whole Christian year, the Vigil brings Christ’s renewal home to us through the elements: light and water. This is the fulfilment of all the prophecies. After burial and on the ‘first day of the week’ the tomb is empty. Jesus has risen. New life has broken the bonds of sin and death.

On the Tuesday of Holy Week, the Bishop with clergy of the diocese celebrates the Chrism Mass in the Cathedral, renewing promises and blessing the oils (for catechumens, of Chrism for baptism and confirmation, for the sick). These oils are received into our church at Mass on Wednesday, for use until the following Easter. The Sacraments are only celebrated in an emergency on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, so please note confession times.

Sun 5 April – Palm Sunday

6.30pm Saturday Vigil Mass
8.30am Mass
10.30am Mass

Mon 6 Apr

10.00am Mass, followed by confessions

Tue 7 Apr

10.00am Mass
6.00pm Confessions
6.30pm Mass
The diocesan Mass of the Oils (Chrism Mass) takes place at St John’s Cathedral, Portmsouth at 11.00am

Wed 8 Apr

10.00am Mass with Reception of the Oils, followed by confessions
8.00pm Service of Tenebrae

Thu 9 Apr – Holy Thursday

10.00am Sung Lauds, followed by confessions
8.00pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper
followed by Watching at the Altar of Repose until 11.00pm
10.45pm Compline

Fri 10 Apr – Good Friday

10.00am Sung Lauds
11.15am Service of Witness in Shirley Precinct
3.00pm Liturgy of the Passion
6.30pm Stations of the Cross
7.10pm Meditation on the Passion in words and music

Sat 11 Apr

10.00am Sung Lauds
9.00pm The Easter Vigil
Note: No 6.30pm Mass today

Sun 12 Apr – Easter Sunday

8.30am Mass
10.30am Mass