Dear Friends,
Yesterday I had a call from one of my cousins, who has had to postpone his wedding which I was to conduct next weekend. His bride is Japanese and comes from Northeast Japan where the terrible devastation has occurred. Though they eventually found that all the family have survived, none of them can consider coming to Christchurch at this time. This is only one of many personal connections between our disaster and theirs. The world is a small place and we are wise to see how closely joined together we all are, in trouble and in joy. Our suffering God is present with them and with us in our trauma.
The Transfiguration of Jesus, of which we read on this Sunday, is a mystical experience in which he and his disciples are reminded that God’s holy presence is active in the events of their life, even events that become more and more testing and even terrible, as Jesus approaches the stronghold of his opponents in Jerusalem. God’s Holy Spirit is active in our lives too, even in our ‘time of trial’. It is good if we can trust that, even though it may take us time to see it.
It was good to be back in S. Michael’s Church last Sunday, and to be here again today. We still have no power and that may be the case for some time, but we have managed with daylight and candlelight. We now have a water supply and that is an improvement. The Revd Lynne Horwood and others have kept the church open for some hours each day. Despite the cordon across the road, people are still about, and some welcome the opportunity to come into this place of prayer.
The School has reopened and we hope that the roll will fill up as word gets around. The staff have been wonderful in getting the School ready and coping with all the uncertainties. Please support them in your prayers.
As you will see, the stone building has had much of the high-up stonework removed for safety’s sake. The walls up to the height of the eaves have stood up well, strengthened by the work we did a few years ago. While the School has had to move out of this area, it still has plenty of classroom space in the new building. The stone building will, I am sure, be looked at very critically by the safety inspectors, when they have finished elsewhere.
In the week ahead we shall celebrate most of our usual daily Masses at S. Michael’s. Please look at the schedule for this week to check the times. The only change is that on Wednesday we shall not have the 7:00 am Mass here, but instead a 10:00 am Mass at S. John’s, Bishopdale.
May God bless you all.
Fr Peter Willaims
Lent Readings: Week Two
Monday Daniel 9: 4–10 Luke 6: 36–38
Tuesday Isaiah 1: 10, 16–20 Matthew 23: 1–12
Wednesday Jeremiah 18: 18–20 Matthew 20: 17–28
Thursday Jeremiah 17: 5–10 Luke 16: 19–31
Lady Day Isaiah 7: 10–14 Luke 1: 26–28
or Friday Genesis 37: 3–4, 12–13, 17–28 Matthew 21: 33–46
Saturday Micah 7: 14–15, 18–20 Luke 15: 1–3, 11–32
