Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

Josephine Butler is the ‘saint’ for anyone who believes in social justice.  This remarkable 19th century clergyman’s wife became a renowned campaigner for women’s rights and for putting a halt to human trafficking. Josephine was born in Northumberland in 1828, the daughter of a wealthy family of liberal politics and committed Christian faith. They had...

How far would you go to respond to God’s call on your life? When, as the daughter of a peasant family in Champagne in 1426, 14-year-old Joan heard heavenly voices calling her to ‘save France’ from the English, she decided to obey the call, no matter what the consequences. Teenage girls who want to rescue...

…. celebrating our God who is Three Persons Trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity has kept many a theologian busy down the centuries.  One helpful picture is to imagine the sun shining in the sky. The sun itself – way out there in space, and unapproachable in its fiery majesty – is the...

Editor:  As the church year does not change, much of this material has appeared before.  The article on Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, is new this year. 1          Maundy Thursday 2          Good Friday 2          Hugh of Grenoble – the saint who fought corruption 3          Richard of Chichester – wanting God more clearly, dearly and nearly...

Maundy Thursday is famous for two things. The first is one of the final acts that Jesus did before His death: the washing of His own disciples’ feet (see John 13).  Jesus washed His disciples’ feet for a purpose: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you...

Good Friday is the day on which Jesus died on the cross. He was crucified at 9 a.m. in the morning, and died six hours later, at 3pm. It is the most solemn day in the Christian year, and is widely marked by the removal of all decorations from churches. In Lutheran churches, the day...

Luke’s account of the crucifixion (Luke 23:32-43) emphasises the mocking of the crowd, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself’ (35,37,39). In their view a Messiah does not hang on a cross and suffer. In considering the two men who were crucified with Jesus, we are also confronted with the issue of...

Easter is the most joyful day of the year for Christians. Christ has died for our sins. We are forgiven. Christ has risen!  We are redeemed! We can look forward to an eternity in His joy! Hallelujah! The Good News of Jesus Christ is a message so simple that you can explain it to someone...

As the traditional Easter story is rehearsed again this month, you may notice that there is one name that frequently occurs. It is that of the ‘other’ Mary – not the mother of Jesus, but Mary of Magdalene, who stood by her at the cross and became the first person actually to meet the risen...

Three years after the Russian Revolution of 1917, a great anti-God rally was arranged in Kiev. The powerful orator Bukharin was sent from Moscow, and for an hour he demolished the Christian faith with argument, abuse and ridicule. At the end there was silence. Then a man rose and asked to speak. He was a...

The following list of witnesses may help you put all those references in order…. Mary Magdalene                                Mark 16:9-11; John 20:10-18 Other women at the tomb                Matthew 28:8-10 Peter in Jerusalem                             Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5 The two travellers on the road        Mark 16:12,13 10 disciples behind closed doors     Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25 11...

How do you make sense of the Resurrection? Dead men don’t rise, so why believe that this particular dead man did rise? At the end of St Luke’s gospel we read that: “they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement” (Luke 24.4). This is highly significant. The Gospels do not show us a...