RAMBLING RECTOR
I have borrowed the name of a strong and beautiful rose as the title for my reflection during the times when we cannot meet in the church building because of the current pandemic. I plan to offer you a short reflection each week, stemming from the impressions and inspiration I am discovering. It is my prayer that we all discover God more deeply in this time while we are ‘Together While Apart’.
TRINITY SUNDAY 7 June
BIBLE READINGS
The Second Letter to the Corinthians chapter 13 verses11 to the end
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All God’s people here send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The Gospel of Matthew chapter 28 verses16 to 20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
REFLECTION
Have you, like me, been deeply shocked by some of the news coming out of the USA this last week? The agonising TV footage of the death of George Floyd while in ‘police custody’ has sparked demonstrations and protests in town and cities across America, and beyond. Often the frustration has escalated into violence, from both protesters and those with civic authority. Violence is never acceptable. Clearly a voice of reconciliation is needed to calm the situation and allow true justice to be served.
In our epistle reading from the letter to the church at Corinth, Paul calls for God’s people to strive for restoration, mutual encouragement, unity of mind, and peaceful living. In our Gospel reading, Jesus reminds his disciples that they are to reach out to all people, and that all authority rests ultimately in his hands, for all time. Both readings speak of that triple strength of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that three strand relationship that is in One God, and in the Perfect Unity of Love.
This Trinity Sunday, in a world made strange by the Coronavirus, and a time made stranger still as racial and economic fault-lines in various societies are further fractured by unfolding events, we as Christians have a special responsibility. Jesus welcomed the outcast and entrusted us with a message for ‘all nations’. The Apostle Paul preached the Good News of God’s love to Jew and Gentile alike. Through the centuries, myriad Christian voices have spoken out for justice and mutual respect, refusing to compromise the Christian message of love and forgiveness. They have ‘spoken truth to power’, calling for a recognition of the dignity of every human being and the healing of division and discord.
Echoing out of the turmoil of the last week, has been the courageous voice of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, who reminds us that, while we can challenge the failures and hypocrisies of others – and he quite rightly does that - we must always be mindful of our own inadequacies in following the pattern of Jesus.
This week, I invite you to reflect on Archbishop Wilton’s words…
“We must examine our own attitudes and actions in order to seek conversion from sin and turn our hearts towards Christ in order to end personal and structural racism. Now, and every day, we must pray to find the strength to do what is right and just as we encounter our neighbours from a culture, country, religion, race, or experience different than our own and see in them God’s creative design. This moment calls us to be the Church of hope that Jesus Christ created us to be in a world full of pain and despair.”