Holy week and Easter Saturday

My dear Friends

I can't believe that we have come to the end of Holy Week and Easter, and the Risen Christ, is upon us. This week has been a bit of a whirlwind, as I have bowed to the Spirit and let god lead me through all sorts of encounters with different faith groups. It started on Palm Sunday, when i was unexpectedly asked to read as the third voice of the Passion, the events leading up to, and including the death of Jesus on the Cross.

Palm Sunday and Good (really meaning Holy) Friday are always difficult and painful days for a Jewish Christian, when you feel torn between your love for your own Jewish people and your love for your Lord(explains why the Gospel of John can be seen as controversial.) But of course they are not contradictory, far from it as the Jews still have a role to play in the history of salvation, something which has meant more to me now that I have been twenty four years in the Catholic Church. (It was on this Saturday that i was baptised and confirmed.) And speaking out the different voices in Church last Sunday  I became more aware of the battle between Good and Evil, which was not just played out on the particular but continues on the universal plane.

Tuesday I was with my friends in the little Independent Evangelical Church round the corner from my home, where i have a close relationship with the Pastor and his wife. Tuesday evening was pure JOY as I joined the Beth Shalom Jewish community round the communal Seder table for the Jewish Passover and relished in the singing. I met friends, old an new as we recounted the Exodus from Egypt, the liberation of the people from bondage to redemption and sorrow to joy-we enjoyed the traditional four cups of wine and opened the door for Elijah and the heralding of the Messiah.

In between these two events I learned that my very dear friend, Sr Jane, had just died. I had no time to grieve as i prepared for the Seder, but reflected it was a most timely moment for her to enter her heavenly home on Passover and Holy week, as she loved the Jewish people and came to all of my passover meals that I presented in the Church, arriving two hours ahead in order to lay out tables with all the ritual food. Not only was she loved in the parish, but in the wider community and as well as having a heart for Israel and justice, she was often helping the poor and marginalised, often in hidden ways.

To be continued!

By the time i write the next instalment it will be Easter ans xtill Passover.

Chag Sameach and Krystos Voskreas-Christ is Risen!

Shalom from Gila