Daily Devotions

 

Liturgy by Rev’d Norman Wallwork

Verse and Artwork by 

Rev’d Paul Collings

Glory to you, O Christ:
by your death you have destroyed death

and by your resurrection you have brought life and immortality to light.

Jesus appears to Mary of Magdala in the garden 

The one who loved Jesus most  

Risen Lord, though we are separated from those we love and our hearts are weighed with grief, speak to us by name and let us feel the joy of your presence.

 

Alleluia. Christ is risen He is risen indeed. Alleluia

This tear-laden, poignant recognition scene deserves to be contemplated slowly, from within the heart of Mary Magdalene. Peter and John have looked at the empty tomb and returned to the upper room. But Mary is distraught, thinking only of the Jesus whose death she has witnessed, longing at least to see his body. Is it her tears that keep her from recognising Jesus? Suddenly she hears a familiar voice call her name. Her world is transformed: I have seen the Lord. She looks across the boundary between life and death, which has met its master in Jesus.

1 They’ve taken him, 

I know not where,

His battered body

Laid with care.

I came today,

His form to ‘noint

To dress the scars-

Cruel nail points.

2 “O Gardner, friend

Where has he gone?

Please tell me now

What you have done

With my dear Lord, 

His sacred form,

That lived to bless

Our lives adorn.”

3 “Mary, my child.”

“Rabboni Lord

How can it be

I saw - you died”

I stretched my hand

To reach his own.

“Not yet my child”

His voice intoned.

4 “Go to my friends,

My bothers tell

What you have seen

And all is well.

I must Ascend,

My father see;

Go now sweet friend

Go now I plea.”

5 With heart ablaze,

And tears now dried 

I ran and ran

So overjoyed.

I told them all

Of the blessed scene.

The Lord is risen

My eyes have seen.

Daily Devotions

This week we explore the first Easter encounters. Liturgy by Rev’d Norman Wallwork ;  Artwork and Verse by Rev’d Paul Collings’s

Glory to you, O Christ

by your death you have destroyed death

and by your resurrection you have brought life and immortality to light.

Jesus assures the Disciple he loved at the tomb 

The one who believed without seeing

Glory to you, O Christ:
by your death you have destroyed death

and by your resurrection you have brought life and immortality to light.

Risen Lord, though we are among those have not seen you, let our hearts dance with love in your Easter presence.

Alleluia. Christ is risen 

He is risen indeed. Alleluia

The tomb was empty and, for the faithful ones, this was a sign of new life. Some would remember Jesus saying he would rise from death. Others would feel down, cheated or just lost. It is the same with ourselves: the tough times of life can bring us close to God, or distance us; suffering can make us better people, or make us bitter and isolated. We may feel a bit of both at times. The empty tomb is the message that nothing is final in this life, not even death. God's love is stronger than any human power, violence or cruelty. Love conquers all.

1 My heart so broken,

My mind confused, 

His love, devotion

On cross abused.

2 He loved so dearly

So much He cared,

Yet, have they took him;

I fear, I’m scared.

3 We heard how Mary

Saw the Lord

And ran so quickly

To prove her word.

4 I view the mystery

Of empty tomb

The clothes that bound him

On stone floor strewn.

5 I do not see him,

Yet now I know,

He is arisen

My heart’s aglow.

6 Yet lacking knowledge,

I know not how,

But I believe him.

My love avows.

Daily Devotions

Verse and Artwork by Rev’d Paul Collings

Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Mark 15:46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

Matthew 27:57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

So here, they lay with deep respect

Their master, shepherd, architect

Of all they’d planned and recollect.          

So here lies one of truth, the life

The door, the way, beyond earth’s strife

The vine, the source, eternal life.

O Jesus, as I view your grave

Teach me my way here not to crave

But now to see  you came to save.

Help me to wait for dawns bright ray

The joy of life’s new Easter day

And heart ablaze, find your new way.

As I pause and rest at the end of these reflections of the stations of the cross, I ask for forgiveness Lord, for the times when I have not paused and rested, and made time to hear your voice. Amen.

Daily Devotions

 

Verse and Artwork by Rev’d Paul Collings

Jesus Dies 

John 19:28-37 

Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

How can it be finished?

This can’t be the end.

He spoke of such promise

This Jesus, my friend.

I really denied him

Said I did no know

This Nazarene Rabbi

Is dying, but how?

He once asked the question

Who am I to you?

The Christ, the one chosen,

This was then my view.

But now, it is finished,

How can I go on.

He’s dead and defeated

Did I get it wrong?

Read John 19:38-40

Psalm 22:14 am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. 15 My mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

That sacred body, that humble form,

Loved by so many, by others scorned.

Hangs there so helpless, each heartbeat warns.

They take his body from the cross

Anoint and wrap in linen clothe

And so prepare a place, repose

The funeral cortège, soldier guards

Wends to the garden’s  dark graveyard.

The day is over a day so hard.

Lord, when I walk a darkened road

Or struggle ‘neath a heavy Load

Help me recall the truth you told.

Daily Devotions

Verse and Artwork by Rev’d Paul Collings

Jesus is stripped of His garments,

John 19:23, When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.

Psalm 22:16  Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18  They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

The woven clothe; all that remains

That clothed his loving sacred fames.

With lots they cast for his attire;

Who’ll win the spoil, this robe acquire?

O Lord, who spoke of Lilies fair

Now stripped, and drawn into their lair.

Prepared for death, you face the fate

And out of love, confound their hate.

Teach me, my Lord, to put aside

All that would cover, even hide

That truth, that peace, that love perfects

And  by your grace my soul protects.

© 2020 Paul Collings

Lord Jesus, you were stripped of your garments, exposed to shame, cast out of society. You took upon yourself the shame of Adam, and you healed it. You also take upon yourself the sufferings and the needs of the poor, the outcasts and the refugees of our world. And in this very way you fulfil the words of the prophets. This is how you bring meaning into apparent meaninglessness. This is how you make us realise that your Father holds you, us, and the whole world in his hands. Give us a profound respect for man at every stage of his existence, and in all the situations in which we encounter him. Clothe us in the light of your grace. Amen

Daily Devotions

Verse and Artwork by Rev’d Paul Collings

Jesus falls the third time, 

Psalm 37:23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Hebrews 4: 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Each footstep, and each tortured pace,

Each sinew stretched, each painful trace

Brings with it’s pain, an ache divine,

A weight to bear for humankind.

Such love I see within your hold

Our pain, our torture, lives so soiled.

You stoop beyond your sacred place

And grovel on the ground with grace.

O Lord, your humbled self, speaks ease

Of power, and truth and love and peace. 

© 2020 Paul Collings 

Give me grace Lord, to live a life of discipline and obedience through charity, and care for others, thereby transforming my life, so that I do not become dominated by the way of this world, a dominion that has brought wealth to the few and poverty to the many. Amen