EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (H) HEARTS When Jesus speaks to the disciples and tells them that their ‘hearts will be full of joy’, I wonder how they understood it. John sets this lengthy discourse around the table of their last meal together.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (G) GLORY The opening of John’s Gospel weaves together in poetic prose the major theological themes that we will encounter in its pages: life, light, love and glory. It’s hard to explore one without exploring all three.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (F) FILLED When our parents and godparents presented us for Baptism they did so in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. As the water was poured over of heads and the chrism anointed our foreheads the Holy Spirit made a home in us.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (E) EMMAUS I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing the Emmaus story. I almost know the text by heart. I’m struck today as I sit to write this reflection just how healing a long walk with a friend can be.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (D) DORCAS 'Peter went back with them immediately, and on his arrival they took him to the upper room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, showing him tunics and other clothes DORCAS had made when she was with them.'

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (C) COMMON ‘The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in COMMON.‘

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (A) AWE ‘Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.’ I am struck today at how this text conveys a mix of emotions as it couples ‘awe and great joy’.

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER John 20:19-31 There’s nothing worse than being with a group of people who are talking about an experience that you haven’t had. There’s only so far that you can go in trying to understand what they are saying and feeling.

EASTER SUNDAY John 20:1-9* I’ve always loved the early morning. I was usually the first up at home and loved to be in school extra early. There is something about the quiet and the dark that prepares me for the day.

HOLY SATURDAY Holy Saturday is often spoken about as a day of ‘emptiness and numbness’. On one level this is true, but since entering the monastery I have discovered another dimension.

GOOD FRIDAY Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9 Every piece of text in the Good Friday liturgy is heavy with meaning. Pieces of scripture that I may have heard throughout the year have a whole new resonance today. I found it hard to pick just one text. I settled on the text from Hebrews.

WOMEN OF HOLY WEEK (5) JOANNA'S STORY turveyabbey.org.uk/blog/?p=4669

MAUNDY THURSDAY Exodus 12:1-8,11-14 John 13:1-15 Each year I am stuck by how much the liturgy invites us to engage our senses during Holy Week. We wave a palm branch, we hear the story of the anointing and can imagine the smell of the perfume filling the house,

WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK Isaiah 50:4-9 Matthew 26:14-25 Today we have Matthew’s telling of the Last Supper. Once again Judas is in full focus and his actions seem inevitable. Those thirty pieces of silver are lodged in our collective imagination through art, poetry and hymnody.

These stories are beautiful: www.churchofengland.org/faith-life/w...

TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK Isaiah 49:1-6 John 13:21-33,36-38 While at supper with his disciples, Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most solemnly, one of you will betray me.

MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK Isaiah 42:1-7 John 12:1-11 The anointing at Bethany stops me in my tracks each year. For much of the liturgical year the lectionary leads us through the teaching and miracles of Jesus.

PALM SUNDAY Isaiah 50:4-7 Philippians 2:6-11 Luke 22:14-23:56 'Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord has opened my ear.' As we begin Holy Week the Church invites us on a journey. This week is like no other in the year.

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT SATURDAY Ezekiel 37:21-28 John 11:45-56 'I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shall resettle them and increase them; I shall settle my sanctuary among them for ever.'

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT FRIDAY Jeremiah 20:10-13 John 10:31-42 As we get closer to Holy Week there is a sense of growing tension in every encounter that Jesus has. He is challenged on every level and his responses only add to the confusion of his hearers.

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT THURSDAY Genesis 17:3-9 Psalm 104(105):4-9 John 8:51-59 'The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.' Using the responsorial psalm verse as a repeated prayer or mantra can often be a very helpful way into the Liturgy of the Word.

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY Daniel 3:14-20,24-25,28 John 8:31-42 In much of John’s Gospel Jesus speaks to people who struggle to understand him. He speaks figuratively and his hearers assume he is being concrete.

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT TUESDAY Numbers 21:4-9 John 8:21-30 Each year as we get closer to Holy Week I find that the readings are a little more complex than those we read in the early weeks of Lent. The texts from John’s Gospel ask a little more of me.

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT MONDAY JOHN 8:12-20 As we move towards Holy Week there is a sense of growing tension in our Gospel texts. Jesus’ actions are being watched very closely and every word of his teaching is being scrutinised.

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT (C) Isaiah 43:16-21 Ps 125 (6) John 8:1-11 As we get closer to Holy Week the liturgy builds in intensity. We have journeyed with Jesus from desert to mountain top and we have heard his invitation to turn our hearts to God, to bear fruit for his Kingdom.

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT SATURDAY Jeremiah 11:18-20 John 7:40-52 Where you come from seems to matter a great deal in the Bible. It’s not just your town or village that is under scrutiny, but your parents too. In its best light this is about being able to trace the path of God’s promise.

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT FRIDAY Wisdom 2:1,12-22 John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 As we move closer to Holy Week tension begins to mount in our Gospel readings. Today this tension is mirrored in the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom and the Psalm.

FOURTH WEEK IN LENT WEDNESDAY Isaiah 49:8-15 John 5:17-30 Each year in Lent the Church gives us the opportunity to revisit the story of our salvation. It’s a story of faith and great ideals, of times of bitter disappointment and the utmost courage.

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT TUESDAY Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 John 5:1-3, 5-16 'Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary.

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT MONDAY Isaiah 65:17-21 John 4:43-54 Naming a child carries such significance. In biblical times the naming of a child could serve as a way of remembering a significant event.

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT Joshua 5:9-12 Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 This is the second time this Lent that he hear the parable of the Lost Son. I find it helpful to read the three parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son together.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT SATURDAY Hosea 5:15-6:6 Luke 18:9-14 The prophets were all called to deliver challenging messages to people who found themselves in crisis. It was largely a crisis of faith. One question occupied the hearts and minds of the people: Has God abandoned us?

Hosea 14: 2-10 Mark 12:28-34 ‘One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put this question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel. the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must

THIRD WEEK IN LENT THURSDAY Jeremiah 7:23-28 Luke 11:14-23 ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses.’ The onlookers in today’s Gospel challenge the very nature of Jesus’ power to work miracles.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 Matthew 5:17-19 'Now, Israel, take notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe them, that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that the Lord God of your Fathers is giving you.'

THE ANNUNCIATION Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10 Luke 1:26-38 ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.’

THIRD WEEK OF LENT MONDAY 2 Kings 5:1-15 Luke 4:24-30 Jesus starts his preaching ministry in his home town of Nazareth. He doesn’t start gently with an engaging story, but boldly he unrolls the Isaiah scroll and announces that these prophecies are being fulfilled.

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 Luke 13:1-9 This week the Church lays before us a parable that can challenge and comfort us in equal measure.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT FRIDAY Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46 In just one verse the writers of Genesis paint for us a scene that so easily strikes a chord. We can imagine the first time Joseph appears in his special coat. We can imagine the looks and the mutterings.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT THURSDAY Jeremiah 17:5-10 Luke 16:19-31 Today’s Gospel of the Rich Man and Lazarus is part of a sequence of Luke’s exposition of Kingdom values. We meet the familiar theme of a reversal of the world’s ways. Grace and favour come to those whom the world forgets.

ST JOSEPH 2 Sam 7:4-5, 12-14,16 Matthew 1:16, 18-21,24 We step off the Lenten path to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph. Unlike other saints in our calendar, we have no dates of his birth or death, whether from history or folklore. But what we do have is his silent belief in God’s promise.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT TUESDAY Isaiah 1:10. 16-20 Matthew 23:1-12 Wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.

Bishop Stephen Wright shares a pastoral letter on the Second Sunday of Lent, 16 March 2025. “This is my Son, the Chosen One, listen to him.” Read here: diocesehn.org.uk/news/pastora...

MONDAY SECOND WEEK OF LENT Daniel 9:4-10 Luke 6:36-38 Today in the first reading from Daniel the prophet looks back over Israel’s covenant relationship. He fully acknowledges that Israel has strayed far from God and to them ‘the look of shame belongs.’

SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 'Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning.'

FIRST WEEK OF LENT SATURDAY Deuteronomy 26:16-19 Matthew 5:43-48 ‘The Lord your God commands you today to observe these laws and customs; you must keep them with all your heart and all your soul.‘ The Book of Deuteronomy is a favourite of mine.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT FRIDAY Ezekiel 18:21-28 Matthew 5:20-26 The picture that I have used today is of our chapel at Turvey. The place in front of the altar is of huge monastic significance.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT THURSDAY Esther 4:1-7 Matt 7:7-12 ASK SEARCH KNOCK These are all aspects of our life of prayer. Asking God for our own needs and the needs of others is something we learn from an early age. It is, of course, not without its problems. We don’t always get what we ask for.

SORRY, I POSTED THE WRONG READINGS! FIRST WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY Jonah 3:1-10 Luke 11:29-32 ‘The people of Nineveh believed in God: they proclaimed a fast and put on sack cloth, from the greatest to the least.‘