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He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Mark 15.33-39 From noon until three o'clock it was dark over all the land. At three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "My God, My God, why have You left Me alone?" When some of those who stood by heard that, they said, "Listen! He is calling for Elijah." One of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine. He put it on a stick and gave it to Him to drink. He said, "Let Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come and take Him down." Then Jesus gave a loud cry. He gave up His spirit and died. The curtain in the house of God was torn in two from top to bottom. The captain of the soldiers was looking at Jesus when He cried out. He saw Him die and said, "Surely, this Man was the Son of God."

A sermon for Palm Sunday, as promised! Year A Palm Sunday 2008 Matthew 21.1-11 What did they think they were doing? As we hear again the familiar story of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, as we imagine the crowds pressing against him, the shouts, the palm trees being stripped of leaves, cloaks laid on the ground. As we imagine the air ringing with the sound of acclamation ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. As we see this rag tag collection of ordinary people, along with prostitutes, tax-collectors, fishermen, labourers, fanatics, religious types following this odd figure seated upon a donkey, a beast of burden. As we wonder at the adulation of the crowd and the song of people we should ask ourselves – what did they think they were doing? Jesus came into Jerusalem, we are told, on this wave of popular support. But they were an odd group to have considered taking on an occupying army, if that is indeed what they expected to do. I mean, if they were declaring Jesus king, as the inference of...

That cold turned into a pretty hefty bout of 'flu which knocked me out for the best part of a week, hence no postings! I then found myself thrown into our Marriage Preparation Day where we prepare as many couples as can make it for their wedding day later in the year. We find by putting all the content of what could be a number of evenings into one day we get a lot more done and we offer both some Christian perspective on what we believe marriage to be, and some practical help in putting together a very personal and individual wedding service. A good day, but quite intense and tiring... Then Sunday was palm Sunday, which was a good day, I had three services on Sunday, all of which were very thought provoking for different reasons. We took different perspectives on the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem which then led into the reading of the full passion narrative from the Gospel of Matthew. Very moving, very profound. I only preached at one of the three services because for two of...

Well, having escaped the flu-ey bug up to now it really hit yesterday - fortunately I don't seem to have it as bad as the rest of the family had it, but I still felt pretty rotten yesterday and today - which was a bit of a shame as yesterday was my birthday. Thirty-nine years old and wondering what I will do to mark my Fortieth! I guess it depends where we are by March of next year! So here I am now, aching and nursing slightly strained back muscles due to excessive coughing! Despite the fuzzy head feeling that i have I am still trying to put together something original by way of a sermon for tomorrow. Fortunately it's a 'light' Sunday with only an 8.30am and a 10.30am to cover. Unfortunately this coldy thing started on Thursday evening and I took myself off to bed early, which was when i was going to offer reflections on the excellent training day I had been on! I will write more when my head is clear and services aren't looming. Have a good Sunday!

I seem to be spending a lot of time musing at the moment and not a lot of time doing. I mean, I am doing all the things I normally do, but not really doing more than that. I think part of it is because of the huge amount of work i did in January and February, followed by a week in France, I don't feel as though I have quite reconnected with everything yet. In fact, things are eerily quiet in the parishes - I've done some visiting of the sick, I've had quite a lot of meetings, I've led a number of services, I've been out and about, I've had a day at Ely Cathedral finding out about what it means to be a 'Day Chaplain' (I will tell you more when I've done a day) and I've spent a lot of time with the family as wife and children have had very heavy colds which has meant no one has been completely healthy (except me) for a week or so. Even so, that bit of spare time that has cropped up hasn't really seen me doing stuff - I've not been writing...