SPCK - Judith Dimond
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fifth Sunday of Easter John 13.31-35 Gaze on the supper table. The meal is over, the table strewn with crumbs, the cups empty of wine, and the plates greasy. The feast is finished and the disciples are tired. They are all anxious after they have been warned of betrayal, and c…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fourth Sunday of Easter John 10.22-30 Gaze on a rough, stormy day in Jerusalem. Our usual picture of the Holy Land is of sun and heat, and a life led in the open air, but there can be cold winds and rain, too. Jesus is sheltering in one of the inner courts of the Temple. It’s…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Easter Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Third Sunday of Easter John 21.1-19 Gaze on another dawn, another occasion when at first all is in shadow until Jesus illuminates the day for the disciples. Gaze on another setting when things are going badly: if there are no fish, at best the disciples won’t eat, and at wo…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday of Easter Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Second Sunday of Easter John 20.19-31 Gaze on the faces of the disciples, their jaws clenched, eyes half shut, pictures of defeat. So far we have been gazing on expressions of fright and grief, of doubt and confusion. They’ve seen the stone rolled away, and they’ve seen the e…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Easter Day Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Easter Day Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Easter Day Luke 24.1-12 Gaze on the early dawn. Each time we see it, it is as if we live through all the stages of creation again. First all is chaos and confusion, the stars are obscured by cloud and so is the moon. One moment nothing is visible, all is dark and we stumble about…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Palm Sunday The Liturgy of the Palms Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Palm Sunday The Liturgy of the Palms Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Palm Sunday The Liturgy of the Palms Luke 19.28-40 Gaze on that onlooker at the back, peering over the taller people at the front of the crowds. It could be you or me. Your heart is thumping, you are so exhilarated. For once, feel ready to come out of your safe corner and move to…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fifth Sunday of Lent Luke 12.1-8 Gaze on this cosy domestic setting, spruced up for a special celebration. It seems that this house is the nearest Jesus came to an adult family home. Martha is being Martha again – the carer in the kitchen. Mary is being Mary as ever – impetuo…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fourth Sunday of Lent Luke 15.1-3, 11b-32 Gaze on the father pacing his lemon groves each evening, climbing to the highest point of his land to scan the horizon. And at last he sees a dot, growing ever more distinct, ever more familiar. Gaze on the elder son, the outsider loo…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Second Sunday of Lent Luke 13.31-35 Gaze on Jerusalem today, in greater need than ever of her children being gathered together in harmony. It is a city divided between Jew and Muslim, Jew and Christian, with no-go areas armed by guns. Churches are locked. Doubt and suspicion …
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday of Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Second Sunday of Lent Luke 13.31-35 Gaze on Jerusalem today, in greater need than ever of her children being gathered together in harmony. It is a city divided between Jew and Muslim, Jew and Christian, with no-go areas armed by guns. Churches are locked. Doubt and suspicion …
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The First Sunday of Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The First Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The First Sunday of Lent Luke 4.1-13 Gaze on Jesus in the wilderness. Gaze on the harsh monochrome of fear and confusion, on the hard bed of stones that brings no comfort. Imagine forty days without the scent of grass, his feet cut raw against the ragged paths, as he searches for…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Sunday Next Before Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Sunday Next Before Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Sunday next before Lent Luke 9.28-36 [37-43a] Gaze on all things that dazzle – spume of the waves that roam the sea, and is tossed up like tinsel in the air, or the light on a lake, making silver rays skid over the surface like a thousand steel skates flashing across ice. Gaz…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday before Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday before Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Second Sunday before Lent Luke 6.22-25 Gaze on all the storms and flooding that towns and villages have suffered in Britain in recent years. Remember how violently the water rushed, stronger than a battering-ram, breaking down river banks and inundating the streets and homes.…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Proper 3 Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Proper 3 Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 3 Luke 6.27-38 Gaze on a traffic jam and imagine yourself behind the wheel, smelling the fumes of the cars all around, and hearing the bass beat of a loud radio. You’re on the main road into town, but there’s a side road that joins in at such an angle that the traffic from…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Proper 2 Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Proper 2 Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 2 Luke 6.17-26 Gaze on the waiting room in a busy hospital. Pale walls bear replica Monets and dull still lifes of sallow fruit, and these are meant to calm you somehow. Lino echoes with each nurse’s step. People sit around, some chatting quietly, others gaze ahead, each p…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Proper 1 Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Proper 1 Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 1 Luke 5.1-11 Gaze on a shoal of fish. Imagine the weight of herring that used to be caught in the nets of the North Sea trawlers. Nets that have been torn at sea and mended countless times by patient, rough hands. The fish shine in the sunlight as they wriggle on deck. Th…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Luke 2.22-40 Gaze on a diamond just mined from deep underground, formed from elements from the beginning of time. It is dull until it’s been polished, and only the expert knows what is to be looked for. Another diamond is discovered in a river bed, e…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year C