Lent 2023: Seven Last Words from the Cross

 Week 2. ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’. [Luke 23.43]   Jesus’s is an outward focused life. He is there for others from the very beginning, caring for them, telling them about the God who created them, and who loves them. It should come as no surprise then that at the end his first two words from the cross ‘Father forgive them’ and now ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’ offer his listeners some comfort, if only they would listen! His words on this occasion are for the penitent on the cross but they resonate with us also as we share in that promise of our presence in the presence of God.   What is paradise? When we imagine the afterlife we use the language of Heaven, but the theologian Paula Gooder has called this into question as in the Revelation of St John we read that we will be in the presence of God, in the New Creation. (The old Heaven and Earth having passed away, and the dwelling place of God being in the midst of his people.) Paradise then is not Heaven

 Week 1.  ‘ Father f orgive them  for they know not what they do’. [Luke 23.34] Ash Wednesday begins our Lenten pilgrimage. Lent is a time for us to let go of what holds us back, both spiritually but also physically in order that we might better celebrate the Easter Feast. As part of our Ash Wednesday observance we participate in a liturgy of repentance, of letting go of, and turning away from our sins.   In our First Word from the Cross Christ prays for forgiveness for those who are crucifying him, and not just for those who involved in the action of crucifixion, but for us also because it is our sins he will bear in himself on the cross. The process of reconciliation has already begun in this act of receiving the cross and of being crucified to it.   In one sense those who are crucifying Christ knew exactly what they were doing, they were experts in their craft, knowing exactly how to prolong the torture as well as the life of their victim. But they also do not know what they a

This year as part of our Lenten journey we will be reflecting on the Seven Last Words (or sayings) of Jesus from the Cross. Reflections will be posted here on Wednesdays beginning on Ash Wednesday, with a link going on to Facebook (and for St Nicholas's people). Each reflection will include an image which hopefully will highlight a facet of what has been discussed in the reflection, and a chance for us to reflect and act ourselves on what we have read. Fr Matt The Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross: 1 (Ash Wednesday): Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. 2 (Lent I): To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. 3 (Lent II):  Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother! 4 (Lent III): My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 5 (Wednesday after Mothering Sunday): I thirst. 6 (Wednesday after Passion Sunday): It is finished 7 (Spy Wednesday/ Wednesday of Holy Week): Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.