Lent Talks serialised – Rev Eric Eyre
First LENT TALK given by Rev Eric on 23 February
Theme FORGIVENESS
Hello to all my dear friends and welcome to the first of the ‘Seven Last Words of Jesus’.
Blog post excerpt provided by Rev Eric
Hello to my dear pilgrim friends,
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross, first Lent Talk – FORGIVENESS
FORGIVENESS – ‘TO ERR IS HUMAN TO FORGIVE DIVINE’, Alexander Pope.
I heard on the radio Peter and Ruth’s story – they met in 1941, fell in love and wanted to get married. They were told they were too young so they eloped. After 72 years of marriage and after being in love for 8 decades they were asked the secret of the longevity of their relationship. They said, ‘ the one key to sustaining our relationship has been the decision to choose forgiveness’. ‘Forgiveness is an act of will and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart’. Corrie Ten Boom.
Listen to Rev Eric’s first Lent Talk on the Harbour Churches YouTube channel.
Blog provided by Rev Eric
Second LENT TALK given by Rev Eric on 2 March
Theme SALVATION
Hello to my dear pilgrim friends.
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross – SALVATION
TURNING A PILGRIMAGE INTO A JOURNEY OF PRAYER Andrea Boccelli. I have been deeply moved by Andrea Boccelli’s television presentation THE JOURNEY – a beautiful programme of his pilgrimage by horseback from Rome to Tuscany spanning 340 kilometres. His journey encompassed not only the glorious music and breathtaking scenery but the testimonies of himself, family and friends and how their lives have been changed and enriched by the grace of Christ. The programme concluded with them all singing Amazing Grace; Boccelli knelt in the church singing ‘Once I was blind now I see’.
We are looking at the conversion of the criminal on the cross who asked Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom and Jesus replied, ‘ Today you will be with me in paradise’.
Listen to Lent Talk two the theme is : SALVATION Audio Player
Third LENT TALK given by Jonathan Rector on 9 March
Theme LOVE
Blog post excerpt provided by Rev Eric:
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross – LOVE
Hello to my fellow travellers as we share our pilgrimage of the heart.
A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED (English proverb).
I am writing this week’s blog travelling on a coach towards Cornwall for my first holiday on my own. I’m feeling lonely and it has been said that the loneliest place on earth can be in a crowd. Everyone is friendly to each other whom they know but as one tries to navigate the landscape of singleness there are moments of dark isolation.
As our Lord was going through his own crushing solitude from the cross he could see his tearful mother and his beloved disciple in their dark night of the soul, ‘and when Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother: “Dear woman here is your son” and to the disciple (John): ” here is your mother”.
From that time on this disciple took her into his home’. John c19v25-27
Listen to Lent Talk three the theme is : LOVE Audio Player
Fourth LENT TALK given by Rev Eric on 16 March
Theme FORSAKEN ?QUESTIONS?
Blog post excerpt provided by Rev Eric.
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross – FORSAKEN ?QUESTIONS?
Hello to all my friends and fellow pilgrims.
WAS JESUS FORSAKEN? DID GOD ANSWER HIS QUESTION? (The day I interrupted the sermon and upset the service). We were on the coach travelling to Cornwall and I was feeling rather isolated; no one had spoken to me, and it was the first time I had ever been on a holiday on my own. We unexpectedly stopped for a break at Buckfast Abbey; it had been a special place to Margaret and myself. There is in the grounds an old Methodist Chapel. I clattered in surprised to find a service taking place with six people, a hymn book was thrust in my hand with the words ‘glad you can join us’.
Listen to Lent Talk four the theme is : FORSAKEN ?QUESTIONS? Audio Player
Fifth LENT TALK given by Rev Eric on 23 March
Theme THIRSTING
Blog post excerpt provided by Rev Eric.
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross – THIRSTING
Hello to all my friends and fellow pilgrims.
A SELF EMPTYING LOVE (I THIRST John c19v28-29)
He sat on the edge of the well; it was 12 noon the sun was at its zenith. No one else was drawing water, not in this heat. Then a lone woman dragging her water jars appeared. He said, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ ‘You a Jew asking me a Samaritan?’ To the Samaritan woman he speaks of living water; being like an inner spring of water welling up to eternal life. He reveals her immoral life and how she can receive the living eternal Spirit. She realises He is the Messiah. Now renewed and filled with the living water of His Spirit of love she runs to her village to tell them; now she has found both pardon, peace and purpose. Mother Teresa writes, ‘He thirsts for you. He loves you always even when you don’t feel worthy, when not accepted by others even by yourself ‘.
Listen to Lent Talk five the theme is : THIRSTING Audio Player
Sixth LENT TALK given by Rev Eric on 30 March
Theme IT IS FINISHED
Blog post excerpt provided by Rev Eric.
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross – IT IS FINISHED
Hello to all my pilgrim friends,
A TRIUMPHANT JOURNEY’S END (‘It is finished’ John c19v30-37).
I have just re-read the fascinating book called The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse with fresh eyes; it is about the four characters who are lonely and making a journey towards home. The author Charlie Mackesy has written and illustrated this book for those from age eight to 80. It has also been on television and is soon to be turned into a feature film. Elizabeth Gilbert writes, ‘The world I am required to inhabit is this one. But the world I long to inhabit is the one that Charlie Mackesy has created’. Mackesy recently said that in his bedroom he imagined pictures on his ceiling of a life re-storied, this he wrote down and illustrated as a story of journeying home. The mole asks the boy what he would like to be when he grows up? The boy simply says ‘kind’. The book reveals different facets of what our life and character could be.
Listen to Lent Talk six the theme is : IT IS FINISHED Audio Player
Seventh LENT TALK to be given by Rev Eric
on GOOD FRIDAY 7 April from 2pm to 3pm
AT St Peter & St Paul Church, West Wittering
Theme ‘FATHER INTO YOUR HANDS’
Blog post excerpt provided by Rev Eric.
We continue our journey looking at the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross – ‘FATHER INTO YOUR HANDS’
Hello to all my pilgrim friends,
‘SEE I HAVE ENGRAVED YOU ON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS’. Isaiah c49v46.
I am preparing this week’s blog in Northampton; I have been to the thanksgiving service of a wonderful 95-year-old friend (my son- in -laws father) whom we have committed into God’s hands.
The last words of Jesus from the cross FATHER INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT’ (Luke c24v46) have caused me to think of the hands of God. I remember an old song written by Max Bygraves ‘You need hands to hold someone you care for. You need hands to show that you’re sincere. When you fear nobody wants to know you, you need hands to brush away the tears. When you hold a brand-new baby, you need tender hands to guide them on their way. You need hands to thank the Lord for living and for giving us this day’. We use hands to show affection and hands are raised in worship, prayer, anointing the sick, receiving the Eucharist, baptism, sharing the peace and making the sign of the cross. When Jesus uses these last words, he is quoting some words from Psalm 31v5 written when David was deeply troubled and surrounded by enemies. Jesus on the cross adds the word ‘Father’. The word ‘commit’ means to entrust; Jesus at the point of his departing is totally entrusting his spirit into the Father’s hands and he shouts it out so that all can hear.
Listen to Lent Talk seven the theme is : ‘FATHER INTO YOUR HANDS’