Jerusalem
and the Middle East
Church Association

News

Book Review

Obituaries

Holy Week in Jerusalem

Bishop Riah’s pictures of Holy Week in Jerusalem arrived on my computer on Holy Saturday.

These pictures of the cross being carried along the Via Dolorosa, of oil being blessed, and of feet being washed, touched me deeply, as they not only linked closely with the Passion story, but also related to my own church worship in that week. They reminded me that Jerusalem is not some strange, troubled, faraway city, but a place full of people who mostly want to live with their families, and work and worship, much as we do. In the same way, the story of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus is not just an old story of betrayal, violence, loving self-sacrifice, and triumph over death. It is an ongoing story, still touching millions of lives.

The Holy Spirit in the kitchen

In his letter, Bishop Riah prays that God may bless us with another Pentecost, when people will know the truth and will be set free: a time of truth, love and reconciliation.

I remember hearing Rabbi Lionel Blue describe the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives as like – sharing a kitchen! You could hardly find a more homely simile. Most people have shared their kitchen, as students, when they married, when mother-in-law came to stay. The meat-eater and the vegetarian clash, and so do the lovers and haters of garlic, while those who wash dishes as they go along look down on those who leave them all for another day. We have to change. So, after the first excitement, we discover that the Spirit’s ways are not always our ways, and there are clashes.

The very big difference is that while garlic is a matter of opinion, the Holy Spirit is right!

We need the Holy Spirit to pervade all we do, in our kitchens and home relationships, at work, in government, and between countries and religions.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will empower us to grow to be like Jesus Christ and live with others in the freedom of God’s children.

Request a copy of Bible Lands.