This term draws to a close as we continue through the Easter season, a period of 50 days, between Easter Sunday and Pentecost. Let us bring to mind one of the occasions on which the risen Christ appeared to his disciples:

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. - John 20:19-20

Indeed, our Lord can move through the locked doors of our hearts, our minds, our communities and our lives. As it took time for the disciples to be able to comprehend and absorb the fact that the beloved Christ was risen from the dead, and the implications of this for the whole of creation, so it takes time for us to allow the risen Christ within us to take form in our understanding and our being. During these holidays, therefore, let us take the time to be gentle with ourselves and with others as we consciously acknowledge God’s presence with us each day, in whose presence we open ourselves for Christ to reveal himself and his will to us ever more and more.

May God bless you, over these holidays.

Revd Claudia Coustas