Take Eat This Is My Body

Last week my son asked me to make bread rolls. It reminded me of my childhood, when I’d watch the wife of a man who looked after my horse, make bread.

I would take the train up to their small town, telling my mother that I was going to check on my horse. I'm not really sure why I bothered telling her as she really wouldn't have noticed I was gone anyway. But the truth was that I really missed Mrs Fowler’s cooking and I enjoyed being around her grown children who were all involved in equine activities.

Mrs Fowler was a simple woman, resolutely Baptist, full of life and full of Christ. I was always fascinated by her dedication to her Bible. It seemed as if virtually every passage in it had been underscored and before I went to sleep at night I would peek at her in their sitting room, napping in her chair beside the fire, with the open Bible serving as a blanket over her chest and her glasses hanging half-way off her face.

From her small kitchen in their simple country house Mrs Fowler could make the most marvellous breads in what appeared to be taskless seconds. And all the while she’d be singing sweet songs about her relationship with Jesus. I'd rise at five in the morning just to watch her in action, preparing what in my eyes was a feast for her family, but to her simply a labour of love.

It was quite a different world for this young Anglican mind to experience, as she'd drag me off to one of her Autumn night church services. And if the word 'confession' is appropriate in this context, it was the end of the service I actually looked forward to, when the local farm women would unwrap their fresh baked goods for the faithful to share. In my small eyes I saw this to be the communion which didn't quite seem to figure into a Pentecostal country Baptist service.

Several months before Mrs Fowler passed away I went to visit her. It had been nearly 25 years since I last saw her. I wanted to tell her that I believed she was the one who had planted the seed in me to start my own spiritual journey. And she was the only person who had given me the confidence to at least 'try' making bread.

But no matter how hard I tried, as a young person, I could never recreate those magnificent rolls she made. It was her art and it was her gift. A gift she openly shared; her communion for those she cared about and loved.

That was long ago. Today whenever I make my bread, my mind is flooded with warm memories of Mrs Fowler. Typical guy; I’m probably much better at incinerating things on a grille than I am at baking, but I still enjoy the exercise.

It’s soothing on the soul and allows me time to make mental doodle marks in the air about things I want to write about. And kneading the bread - that tactile movement, can be quite comforting. Once done, I can set it aside and allow the yeast to do its stuff.

The function of yeast is fascinating. You mix it into a cup of warm water and stir a little: within minutes it begins to breathe, to swell, to soften, and come to life. Little plant spores - that's what yeast is: cocooned in their package until you come along with warmth and water and remind it that it's alive. Mixed with the flour, it begins to feed on it as well, growing and swelling. And in time it has evolved. It has risen to great heights, cresting over the top of the bowl.

Again you work with it, kneading it in your hands, forming it, moulding it, helping it to become what you want it to be. But before it can become bread something important must happen: The yeast must die.

In each place where the yeast spore has been, there will be a pocket of air-an acknowledgement of its death. And into the hot oven it will go. The yeast spores have given their life for the bread.

But their memory remains everywhere in the loaf. They shaped it. Their bodies gave it the power to rise. You even taste and smell them still, though they are gone: that flavour, unique to other breads, is what makes yeast bread so different.

Isn't that just like our relationship with Christ? "This is my body, which I have given for You." It cannot be at all unless I give my life for it. You are the body. You and I - and the bread; we are body together.

And I am in You and You in me. Amen

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Father in Heaven, I submit myself to You. Guide me, be with me, lead me in all I do and all whom I serve in Your name, and always Lord God, help me to grow and walk within Your light. I pray this in The Risen Christ's name. Amen



Krisztus feltámadt! Írásos Bill atya gyűjteményéből. Imádkozunk az egészsége. LR

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I Am With You Always Till The End of Time

Today is Ascension Day. It marks the fortieth day since His resurrection and commemorates Christ’s Ascension into Heaven. This also marks the end of Rogationtide, which is a time when people pray for blessings to occur. Ascension Day is one of the earliest Christian festivals dating back to the year 68 AD.

Our Paschal candle, which was lit from the new fire of the Easter Vigil, will be extinguished, symbolising Christ’s departure from this earth. But this act far from signifies Christ’s departure from us.

Today’s liturgies celebrate the completion of the work of our salvation, the bond we have made with Christ, and His Ascension into Heaven with our human nature glorified.

Throughout the year we will be reminded of His promise; ‘to be with us, always, till the end of time,' each time the Paschal candle is lit for a Baptism or when placed by a coffin in preparation for burial, reminding us that we are baptised and buried into Christ.

Of Jesus’ last words before leaving His disciples, perhaps the most profound was His instruction "Go out to the whole world, and proclaim the good news to all creation." But He also foretold His departure.

In the Sermon of the Bread of Life, Jesus was aware that his disciples expressed concerns about the fact that they had to eat His flesh and drink His own blood. Jesus said to them: ‘Does this offend you? Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?' (John.6:61-62).

And to Mary Magdalene, Jesus said: "Do not touch me, for I have not ascended to My Father yet, but go to my brethren, and say to them: I am ascending to My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your God" (John.20:17). And further in Ephesians (4:8-10) and First Timothy (3:16), the Ascension of Jesus is spoken of as fact.

Each of us is a steward of His creation. Each of us holds the responsibility and honour to care for our fellow man. This is why St Paul urges us to live our lives now as if we had already died, had risen, and had ascended with Christ.

Isn't this a time for us to reach out to a stranger, or someone who is suffering from loneliness and give of ourselves? Who knows, you may save a life as a result of your effort. 

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Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to accept that, according to His promise, He abides with His Church on earth, even to the end of the ages. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with us, and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when He was taken up to Heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. After His suffering He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This,’ He said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

So when they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, is this the time when You will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When He had said this, as they were watching, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going and they were gazing up toward Heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward Heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven.’ Acts 1:1-11

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Take, Eat, This is My Body

Why is Easter Celebrated at Different Times?

Explain the Holy Trinity Please!

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Explain The Holy Trinity...Someone! Please?

Explaining the Holy Trinity to children? Now there's a knee knocker!

From my children’s earliest school days, I still vividly recall some of the church school assemblies I would conduct on Wednesdays. Every inch of every pew would overflow with children –some of them as young as four, all the way up to teenagers. Each with wide-opened hearts and minds, eager not only to participate, but to absorb knowledge. And I was determined to create a homily that not only involved the children, but hopefully inspired them to think and talk about their experience afterwards. It’s a tall task, as any minister will attest.

One of the most challenging days was when Holy Trinity came around. Even for adults the Trinitarian concept is almost humanly incomprehensible. So how do you thoughtfully and effectively convey one of the cornerstones of our faith to a church full of children? I was always pleased to see my own children, sitting ever-so politely, trying to absorb what I would say, knowing full-well that there would be a barage of questions at home later that evening. But I wasn't so certain that other children would be as prone to 'chat' with their parents about what they had heard during the day.

The first Sunday after Pentecost is the Festival of the Holy Trinity. It is when the Church celebrates the impenetrable mystery that God is triune or three-in-one; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And although we don't see scientific proof of the triune, we accept this as a fundamental article of our faith.

One year I recall lugging into church an electrical lead, long enough to stretch from the organ loft to the transept, where I set up my small table containing an electric whistling kettle, a sizeable block of ice, and a carafe of water. It is a concept often used by clergy to help us understand the concept of three-in-one. But the truth is that this isn’t a perfect parallel to offer, whether for children or adults.

The following year I scoured London in search of a giant prism. White light consists of three primary colours: Blue, Green, and Red. By capturing the white light, you can project the primary colours onto a white board. But again, in sharing an understanding of the Holy Trinity, it isn’t perfect.

There are other parallels, but because our natural inclination is to limit ourselves only to what we can see, we either instinctively reject or foment doubt about the Trinity. In fact, the word ‘Trinity’ doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible. It didn’t come into use as a religious term until after the Council of Nicaea in AD325 – long after the last books of the Bible were completed. Clearly, even the great scholars found it difficult to put to words.

There are, however, many references to the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. Zechariah 4:6, Micah 3:8, 2Timothy 1:7, all make reference to the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:14 records that Jesus began His ministry ‘in the power of the Spirit.’ And Acts 1:8 profoundly refers to life after death: ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.’

Astronomers and scientists continue to reach further and further beyond the realms of our abilities and comprehension to explore the heavens. The truth is, however, that we haven’t yet the intellectual capacity to fully understand what is beyond our reach.

Perhaps now is when we must rely upon our faith.

Holy Father, we long to fill our hearts with the knowledge of Your truth. We pray that you draw us closer that we may better understand, that we may always, and faithfully, serve Your will. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen

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