We had so much fun with the lost sheep trail at Half Term, we are doing another one for Easter!
Please pop an Easter Egg, Easter Scene, Easter Garden, Easter Wreath or even a knitted Easter Egg in your window or front garden in time for Easter Sunday, and leave it up for 2 weeks, so we can all enjoy finding them during the Easter Holidays. We have our Easter Trail web page ready to go, and will add all your trail locations to our list in time for Easter Day.
It was just after 3pm on the 3rd April 33AD. The Roman Army Execution Detail noted that the first of the three prisoners being executed that day had just died. It was a bit of a surprise because normally a prisoner took much longer to die, but as the Detail had to remain until all the prisoners were dead it was probably more of “One down, two to go” feeling than anything else. In the meanwhile it was back to gambling to while away the hours until they could return to barracks; after all they were just Roman soldiers carrying out their orders.
The background to this? At the time the Roman Empire was busy being the Roman Empire. The Emperor Tiberius ruled in Rome and Pontius Pilate (a junior Roman Civil Servant) was the Roman charged with keeping order in the province of Judea. To keep things rosy he had cosied up to the Jewish Religious Powers and they to him, but being Pilate he had still managed to alienate others. Also in the frame was Herod Antipas (a son of Herod the Great) who was the Roman appointed Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. So far so good.
Then along came trouble, a 30odd year preacher who had gone about preaching that the Kingdom of God was close at hand had come to town. The new preacher was accompanied by a band of rustics (including ex fishers, an ex tax collector and an ex zealot), he did not rail against the Roman Authorities but preached that one should love God and love one’s neighbour as one’s self. He had upset the Religious Authorities by declaring that the Temple was a place for prayer and worship and not a place for commerce. For the Religious authorities the question of the day was how to neutralise this threat without upsetting the status quo?
Herod Antipas had incarcerated a previous troublesome preacher (and cousin to the new one), then without trial the preacher had been beheaded, his head put on a platter and presented to a young dancer who had pleased the said Herod Antipas. This option was no longer available.
The preacher was detained by the Temple Authorities and after a confrontation was handed over to the Roman Authorities. The death penalty was demanded by the Temple Authorities and to avoid trouble this was granted by Pilate, which takes us back to the start of the article.
Epilogue: Pilate was removed from office 36AD, Tiberius died 37AD, Herod was removed from office 39AD, the Temple was destroyed 70AD and that rag tag army of fishers and others (excluding the zealot) spread the teachings of the executed man until in 313AD Christianity was recognised as an acceptable religion within the Roman Empire. Now THAT is a story!
Scrivener
PS. The date quoted above is believed to be the most probable, by many scholars.
Sundays 10am –Join St Mary’s for our weekly Church Service. All are welcome. During lockdown we will be on Zoom only, and once the doors open again at Easter we will be both in Zoom and in person.
Evensong is back too, contact the office for the latest timings.
Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk for the link or see below for zoom details. Hosanna!
Good Friday 2nd April: Stations of the Cross & Prayer
Follow the stations of the cross trail from The Chapel on Wharf Road to St Mary’s Church on Vale Road. Arrive at St Mary’s for a socially distanced opportunity for private prayer and reflection in church. (Open 10am onwards)
Easter Sunday 4th April: Zoom Service 10am
Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk for the Zoom link or to book your seat in Church (spaces are limited) We look forward to celebrating the risen Christ!
The Chapel Poetry Group invites you to get creative and submit poems reflecting on your memories. All the winning poems will be published in our 2021 poetry collection “Mirror Mind”, and celebrated at a launch event either in person or online, as covid regulations permit.
First Prize for our overall winner is a £30 book voucher, and all winners whose poems are published will receive an author’s copy of the collection with your poem in it. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate local poets and explore treasured memories.
Everyone is welcome to participate, whether you are an established poet or a beginner, young or old. The important thing is, you must write about your own memories and experiences. Here’s how to enter:
Does faith seem hard at the moment? In fact does life seem hard? It is often said that life is a marathon, not a sprint – and there are times in a marathon where it feels almost impossible to take the next step towards the finish. The image of a race is one that is used in Scripture to describe our journey of faith – and in today’s Bible reading, the writer acknowledges that it is an endurance race! Not only that, but Jesus has run it before us…
The writer of this letter highlights three ways in which we can be encouraged during this strange time when all is changing, but sometimes it feels as if nothing has changed. The first of these is set out immediately in v1.
We are surrounded
Whether we live on our own or with others, many have experienced the kindness, neighbourliness and a sense of community that has grown throughout this year. Coming on to our doorsteps to encourage the NHS, or to remember those whose lives have been lost, has somehow bound us together. Who, in particular, does this verse say “surrounds” us (v1)? At St Mary’s, many have known the importance of “fellowship” – that “togetherness” that we experience through the Holy Spirit in our lives – as we have continued to meet and worship, albeit remotely, through the wonderful technology of Zoom. How wonderful that our God is not limited by physical walls and distances! There are times when running a long race when it is only the encouragement of the crowds lining the road – “You can do this!” – that keeps us going. Let us not stop encouraging one another in these (hopefully) last stages of beating the pandemic.
Strip off the weight
For an endurance athlete, the balance between weight and strength is an important one, and it is essential that they are not carrying any unnecessary weight on race day that would slow them down. Whilst God does not mind what physical shape or size we are, he does want us to run this “race” of our Christian life unhindered. What are the things that might slow us down, or even “trip us up” (v1)? As we reflect on the past year, can we use the opportunity to consider what might be preventing us from living life as God intended? We may not have been out much – but are there aspects of our attitudes, relationships and behaviours that we have hidden away, but we know need to change? “Strip off every weight that slows us down” – use this time to commit to change!
Eyes on Jesus
If the challenges just mentioned seem hard, we are now told how to do it (v2) – what is the secret? All successful athletes have a trainer – the one who commits to seeing them succeed, from beginning to end. The athlete can only succeed if they follow the trainer, who will themselves have been a successful athlete who has won many races – a true “champion”. Who do these verses say is our “champion”, and what is his role (v2)? The secret is that we are not meant to run this race alone. The “crown of witnesses” (v1) can support and encourage us, but is it Jesus himself, our champion, who enables and empowers us. Note that he is both the “initiator” (some versions say “author”) and “perfecter” of our faith. We so often feel guilty that we are not trying hard enough to believe, or not trying hard enough to live the right way. The world tells us that we need to rely on our own inner resources. The Bible tells us that it is Jesus himself who, by his Holy Spirit living in us, is our inner resource. He sows the seed of faith within us, he shows us the way forward, and he gives us the strength and ability to live according to what he has shown us – to “run the race”.
We know we can trust him to do this because he has run it before us (v2b). This coming week we will remember how Jesus went to the cross (v2) and died for all our sakes (v4) in order for us to be able to live our present lives in relationship with him, free of all that slows us down (v1). We have this “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow” * because this death was not the end – Easter is a celebration, not a mourning, because Jesus rose again and “is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne” (v2).
And so, this Easter, if you are tempted to “become weary and give up” (v3), “fix your eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith”!
1Great is Thy Faithfulness. Thomas Obediah Chisolm 1923
Hebrews 12: 1-4 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
As we look back over a challenging year, we are contemplating our experiences of God and faith in these times, and collecting psalms written by our church family & community, expressing our despair, fear, hope, love, and all things in between.
(You can see the Psalms already submitted on the Prayer Wall outside church.)
Roots down – into the Gospel… Walls down – into the Community
Sunday Morning 10am Services:
On Zoom for now, and in Person & on Zoom after lockdown
You are welcome to Zoom in to the Sunday Morning service at 10am; simply email the Parish Administrator to receive the link, or find it on Facebook @StMarysAshVale.
Once restrictions lift you will also be able to attend in person, with extra measures to keep everyone safe. On arrival please sign in or scan the QR code on your NHS app, use hand sanitiser, pop on your mask and go directly to your seat and remain seated. We must not mingle, so as to protect all those attending. (Please stay at home and use Zoom if you have COVID-19 symptoms). We look forward to welcoming you.
Evensong Wednesdays 8pm
You can Zoom in to Evensong on Wednesday nights or join us in the car park. Email the Parish Administrator to join our mailing list and receive the link. Keep in touch as arrangements are always evolving!
Monthly Messy Church:
Contact Alex 07730 609446 for details & bookings
– Jan: Wedding at Cana Kits
– Feb: Lost Sheep Trail
– March: Messy Easter kits
– April: Messy Easter Trail
– May: Messy Church indoors if permitted, text to book!
St Mary’s Community Centre
· Large hall & kitchen
· Small hall & sink / coffee making area
· Wheelchair accessible toilet
Bookings: Please contact the Parish Administrator for news. We are following latest Government and CofE guidance.
Editors: Alex Sanderson & Neil Lambert (Alex: 07730 609446)
Advertising: Eileen Monds
Collation: Alison Shewell
Distribution: Caroline Johnson
Contact the Parishioner team: parishioner@ash-vale.org.uk
During the Pandemic we are publishing mainly online, with paper copies on request. Please collect your copy at St Mary’s or text us: 077309 609446 www.ash-vale.org.uk
We are hugely grateful to a small army of willing volunteers who contribute, collate, publish, email, print, bundle and deliver The Parishioner to all our readers!
Once again, a huge thank you Dan Austin for another great Easter cover for the Parishioner Magazine. For those reading this on the web page you get it in glorious Technicolor too! You might remember, last year he took us verse by verse through the chapter in the gospel of Luke 24 and the road to Emmaus. This year, we have a picture of an English hedge row, with a tree that clearly represents the cross.
The painting was inspired by a wounded blackbird that Dan found in the road, and brought home to nurse. With the mother and father blackbird, and the eggs in the nest, it’s almost like a holy family. On the lft, representing our business that we are all involved with is the car, whizzing past. On the opposite side, a field, and the hope of something different. The Sun is shining, like a beautiful pearl.
