May - St. James' and St. Basil's Church, Fenham
May - St. James' and St. Basil's Church, Fenham
May - St. James' and St. Basil's Church, Fenham
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so that participation in Lent <strong>and</strong> observance of Holy week is<br />
regarded as something most of us join in, rather than something<br />
for a few.<br />
One of the highlights for me of Holy Week was a series of the 14<br />
<strong>St</strong>ations of the Cross, which a young local artist had painted, <strong>and</strong><br />
which had been ‘loaned’ to us for an evening devotion in Holy<br />
Week, with the artist present.<br />
But now, we are in the Easter season which continues until<br />
Ascension on 21 st <strong>May</strong>, <strong>and</strong> during this month, I shall be joining a<br />
10 day pilgrimage from the diocese of Newcastle to Israel/Palestine<br />
which Bishop Martin is leading. Some 60 people across the diocese<br />
have been preparing for the past few months for this great journey<br />
which is intended to introduce us both to the places associated<br />
with the life, teaching, death <strong>and</strong> resurrection of Jesus, <strong>and</strong> also to<br />
meet some members of the indigenous Christian communities in<br />
Palestine today. As you realize, Palestinians Christians are a<br />
beleaguered minority in that troubled l<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> the Christian<br />
presence generally is in decline in the Holy l<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> so the<br />
opportunity to meet <strong>and</strong> worship with our fellow Christians there<br />
will be an expression of our solidarity with a part of the <strong>Church</strong><br />
whose members feel isolated.<br />
A pilgrimage isn’t the same as a holiday – it’s a spiritual journey<br />
which is shared in the company of friends <strong>and</strong> colleagues in our<br />
diocese. I shall be taking you – the people of <strong>St</strong> James <strong>and</strong> <strong>St</strong> Basil<br />
with me too – in prayer, <strong>and</strong> praying for particular people at<br />
particular places – for example for the sick at Bethsaida, for new<br />
mothers at a Palestinian maternity hospital we shall visit, for<br />
families at Nazareth. At the Mount of the Beatitudes I shall<br />
remember especially our schools, <strong>and</strong> other points such as the<br />
place of the cross or the empty tomb where anyone has especially<br />
asked to be prayed for. So please let me have a note of any<br />
personal prayer requests to take with me by Sunday <strong>May</strong> 3 rd .<br />
There will be stories to tell <strong>and</strong> experiences to share from the<br />
pilgrimage on my return, as there were for Chaucer’s pilgrims on<br />
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