On that very first Good Friday, two thousand years ago, the day that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, a cruel and horrible death, he gave his all for us. He was willing to suffer that hideous death for us! For you and for me.

“He opened wide his arms for us on the cross” are words (from Eucharistic Prayer B, Common Worship) that always paint a powerful picture for me. They remind me of the sacrifice that Jesus made of himself for our sake, for my sake.

We often seem to talk of the Son as being almost separate from the Father, two beings. But, perhaps especially on Good Friday, we should remind ourselves that they’re actually all a part of the same God, with the Holy Spirit. And, whatever the reasons behind the crucifixion, whatever the theology, it was God himself on that cross; it was God himself, in his human form, who sacrificed himself on the cross for us, for me, that’s how much he loves each of us!

Jesus did so much for us — loves us so much that he was willing to do what he did for us — shouldn’t we, at least, give ourselves back to him. He doesn’t ask us to make the same sacrifice for him that he made for us, but he does want us to let him into our lives. And the place we do that, on Good Friday especially, is at the foot of the cross.

All that I am I place at your feet Lord Jesus. Take me, and use me, to do your work, in whatever way pleases you. Your gift to me was your life on the cross, my gift to you is my life. Amen.

Eternal God,
in the cross of Jesus
we see the cost of our sin
and the depth of your love:
in humble hope and fear
may we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for Good Friday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

On that very first Good Friday, two thousand years ago, the day that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, a cruel and horrible death, he gave his all for us. He was willing to suffer that hideous death for us! For you and for me.

“He opened wide his arms for us on the cross” are words (from Eucharistic Prayer B, Common Worship) that always paint a powerful picture for me. They remind me of the sacrifice that Jesus made of himself for our sake, for my sake.

We often seem to talk of the Son as being almost separate from the Father, two beings. But, perhaps especially on Good Friday, we should remind ourselves that they’re actually all a part of the same God, with the Holy Spirit. And, whatever the reasons behind the crucifixion, whatever the theology, it was God himself on that cross; it was God himself, in his human form, who sacrificed himself on the cross for us, for me, that’s how much he loves each of us!

Jesus did so much for us — loves us so much that he was willing to do what he did for us — shouldn’t we, at least, give ourselves back to him. He doesn’t ask us to make the same sacrifice for him that he made for us, but he does want us to let him into our lives. And the place we do that, on Good Friday especially, is at the foot of the cross.

All that I am I place at your feet Lord Jesus. Take me, and use me, to do your work, in whatever way pleases you. Your gift to me was your life on the cross, my gift to you is my life. Amen.

Eternal God,
in the cross of Jesus
we see the cost of our sin
and the depth of your love:
in humble hope and fear
may we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for Good Friday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Anoint us with your Holy Spirit

I have had difficulty writing my reflection for this Third Sunday of Epiphany. When I first started to look at the Collect, I thought it would be good to write on the phrase I’ve chosen, “anoint us with your Holy Spirit”. And I’ve been convinced since that it is what I should be writing on. But I’ve had no idea what to write.

Part of my problem, I think, stems from the Church tradition I come from; part has been a lack of concentration. In our tradition we don’t ignore the Holy Spirit, but we don’t actually talk much about the Spirit either. I know from what I’ve been reading, and listening to other people over the years, that other traditions dwell much more on the personage of the Holy Spirit than we do. Yet we are staunchly Trinitarian, and think of the Holy Spirit as equal to God the Father, and God the Son. Actions and words seem somewhat disjointed. But, given all of that, I was really surprised when I realized that, though I’ve been writing this blog for just over a year, I hadn’t tagged one post with “Holy Spirit” or “Holy Ghost”. Ouch!

The “anoint” part of the phrase I had less problem with. When we hold a healing service at Godmanchester, anointing with holy oil is always offered. It’s also offered at healing services in Walsingham. I find it quite a powerful experience. But not as powerful as when I was anointed when I was extremely ill in hospital; or when my mother was anointed a few days before her death. My Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church tells me that “anointing” means: “A ceremonial action performed on persons and things to separate them from profane use and obtain on their behalf the infusion of Divine grace”. And that would certainly fit with my experiences of anointing.

But what do we mean when we say, “Anoint us with your Holy Spirit”? And here, I have to hold my hands up and say, “I don’t know”. I did a search in Google, but all the results seemed so extreme, so alien to me, that I was put off; and yet I realize “extreme” and “alien” don’t mean the same as “wrong”, and perhaps I should go back to some of those web pages.

Before I do that, though, I would like to ask for your help. What do you understand the phrase, “anoint us with your Holy Spirit”, to mean? Please, I genuinely want to understand this, and would appreciate some help. Thank you.

Fortunately my lack of understanding won’t be a problem at Church on Sunday. We’ll be celebrating “The Conversion of Paul”. But, as there isn’t an Additional Collect for that I’m sticking with The Third Sunday of Epiphany on this blog. This post might have been easier to write had I chosen otherwise, or even chosen another phrase from the Collect I have used; but then I might have missed a learning opportunity.

God of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Third Sunday of Epiphany
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council