6 May: Remembering D-Day in Lichfield Cathedral

If you are in Staffordshire at the beginning of June you might like to reflect on the Second World War and the people who served and suffered in it. Here are two events at Lichfield Cathedral that celebrate some of the unsung (but singing!) heroes of the time.

Let’s pray for the courage to be peacemakers in our own times.

Join us as we mark 80 years since the historic D-Day landings, remembering the great efforts and sacrifices made by many to fight for peace. Celebrate one of the heroes of WWII, Peggy Knight, and her amazing story or join us for an evening of music inspired by a generation at war, learning to make the best of every situation.

Peggy Knight: A Monologue by Lesley Smith Sunday 2 June 2024 In 1944, a young shorthand typist at the electricity board in North London was parachuted into Nazi occupied France, she had only received two weeks training and one practice parachute jump. Lesley Smith’s fascinating portrayal comes 80 years after the Allied invasion of France. Tickets

The D-Day Darlings Saturday 8 June 2024 As seen on Britain’s Got Talent, the D-Day Darlings are the UK’s premier wartime group. Enjoy an evening of original music and reimagined arrangements of popular wartime songs. Tickets

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1 April: A Test of Faith

Early on Sunday morning, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb and found the stone had been rolled back. She peered in and, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw it was empty. She was weeping. This Easter we, like Mary, are peering into the darkened tomb. The darkness we are experiencing is the death and destruction in Gaza.

Thousands have been killed and people are on the edge of starvation. Mary asks the angels in white: Where is the Lord? We are asking, in this time of great sadness: Where are you, Lord? Where is our hope? Surely this Easter isn’t the time to cry Alleluia and sing songs of praise. But just at that moment, like Mary, we turn and see Jesus. He is standing with us and he says our name. We, like Mary — say Rab-boni-, teacher.

Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel (of Jerusalem’s Dormition Abbey) reminds us that Easter is an important test of faith for all Christians ‘because it is the key moment to know if we really trust in God and if we really believe what we celebrate. After the catastrophe, are we waiting for Easter? Do we truly believe in redemption?’ And he added: ‘As a rational citizen of this world, I can only see war, suffering, hate, violence. But as a man of faith, I trust that my God can redeem, can save this world, can heal, and can create new life. Forgiveness. Mercy. That’s what we celebrate in Holy Week and at Easter. I hope for all Christians that there will be a new beginning and new hope, new life.’

Last week, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the people of the Holy Land, in which he said:

In these bleak times, when it seems that the dark clouds of Good Friday hover over your land, and all too many parts of our world are scarred by the pointless folly of war — which is always and for everyone a bitter defeat — you are lamps shining in the night, seeds of goodness in a land rent asunder by conflict.

More than ever we affirm that our hope is in the risen Christ, that Jesus is Saviour and has conquered death. As we begin our celebration of Easter, let us affirm that Jesus is our peace. We know that it is the Lord who sets the human heart free from hatred, violence and the spirit of revenge.

Father Giovanni and I wish you every blessing for Easter. Thank you, to all those who have helped in any way to enable us all to celebrate these past days with joy and solemnity. May the Risen Christ fill your minds and hearts with wisdom, love, joy and courage, that you may know him in the breaking of bread and follow him in his risen life.

Thank you to Fr Anthony Charlton for this reflection from Saint Thomas of Canterbury.

25 March: The Stations of the Cross in time of war in Gaza, IX. Jesus falls a third time.

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Here is the link to the ninth Station of the Cross: Jesus falls a third time.

God bless and thanks again to our brothers and sisters in the URC.

Will T.

24 March: The Stations of the Cross in time of war in Gaza, VIII.

Alnmouth: the Cross marking the site of the Synod of Twyford.

Here is the link for the eighth Station of the Cross from the United Reformed Church, Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.

Thank you to Our URC sisters and brothers.

Let us pray for the women of the Holy Land, suffering in the war.

23 March: The Stations of the Cross in time of war in Gaza, VII; Jesus falls a second time.

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Here is the link for the 7th Station of the Cross from the United Reformed Church, Jesus falls a second time.

22 March, Jeremiah XXIX: in the mud.

Jeremiah spoke unto all the people, saying,
Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.
Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.

The councillors took Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mud: so Jeremiah sunk in the mud.

Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, spake to the king saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Then Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me., As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me:  They shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire. Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken. (38:1-4; 7; 10,11; 14; 17; 21-24).

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Ebedmelech is an interesting character,

21 March, Jeremiah XXVIII: the worth of children.

There are many parallels between the days of Jeremiah and our own time. One of them is our confused attitude towards children. This can be seen at the highest level in the land, the parliament. James Somerville-Meikle of the Catholic Union tells us a chapter of this sorry story.

A recent government policy announcement is the introduction of “baby loss certificates” for women who have endured miscarriages. This seems like a good initiative from the Department for Health and Social Care and will no doubt help some parents come to terms with their loss.

More MPs have added their names to an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to “decriminalise” abortion – removing some of the last remaining safeguards in place for babies in the womb. There is a clear contradiction here. The loss of a baby cannot be something which the Health Secretary describes as a “hugely traumatic event” and yet also something which Parliament wants to encourage.

This is far from the only case of such a contradiction. Throughout the pandemic, the stated aim of the Government’s strategy was to “save lives” and yet now we see parliamentarians clamouring to make assisted suicide lawful. Bishop John Sherrington wrote in the Universe  about the dangers of going down this path. The need for a clear moral framework, which the Church provides, is badly needed. Without it, there may be more chaos to come.

Chaos came to Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time. The Law and the Prophets set out a clear moral framework but neither king nor people would listen to Jeremiah’s call to repentance. God told him:

Thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

The children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it, and they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. 7:27-33.

We should not forget the other forms of child sacrifice in our world today. Children are victims of war, displacement, avoidable disease, climate change, trafficking and modern slavery. They have suffered abominations in the house which is called by God’s name. The need for a clear moral framework is evident; what is not evident to the man or woman in the street is that the Church pronounces and follows such a code.

Let us pray for them all, and pray, too, that day by day we may learn to see our God in the children entrusted to our care.

18 March, Jeremiah XXVI: I will gather my flock.

I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:3-4.

This prophecy does not seem to apply to many places on earth today, certainly not the Holy Land. Human beings have created the problems, all unwittingly, and human beings seem to be making it worse. Can we make it better?

Let us pray that we may have the wisdom and love to be caring shepherds to our families, friends and acquaintances, including the strangers in our midst, who might well wish that they could move back to their fold. And let’s support refugees with our prayers and almsgiving.

And let us pray for our sisters and brothers caught up in conflicts that we cannot influence in any other way.

17 March: The Stations of the Cross in time of war in Gaza, Introduction.

Our friends in the United Reformed Church are sharing a set of Stations of the Cross from the Holy Land, with prayers written by Church of Scotland minister, the Rev’d Muriel Pearson who is based in Tiberias and ministers to pilgrims and visitors, and liaises with partners in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories engaged in seeking peace with justice. You will find the introduction here. The stations will follow each evening.

2 March: praying with Pope Francis: the new Martyrs.

Here is Pope Francis’s prayer intention for the month of March.

We pray for those who risk their lives
for the Gospel
in various parts of the world:
may their courage and missionary zeal
permeate the Church.

We are told that there are more people than ever before being killed for their faith, and Christians are the most persecuted group of people across the globe. One place among many where Christians have been suffering is the Holy Land, undergoing the latest in a series of wars going back to Jeremiah’s time and beyond. This report from The Independent tells how Christians in Gaza were faring under siege from IDF snipers.

Let’s pray for the Gaza families, for those in Nigeria, Sudan, Central America, and all Christians who, as a group or as individuals, suffer for their faith.

The Good King Edmund of East Anglia was surrounded and murdered by Viking invaders, who cut off his head and tossed it into a nettle patch. When his people went to gather his remains, they found a wolf on guard over his head. This wolf patrols the precincts of Saint Edmundsbury Cathedral.

Let us learn to be faithful witnesses through the troubles and challenges that we and our families and friends encounter. May we be signs of God’s love through our loving friendship.

Here is a link to the Pope’s video message for this month.