The Third Sunday of Easter - April 26, 2020

​I appreciated the Dean’s invitation to write the Sunday blog this week. In a strange kind of way, for years my life has been shaped by the rhythm of Sunday worship. Each Sunday is the same, and yet each Sunday is different. Each Sunday is the same because there at the centre is the same Eucharistic structure and the same foundation narrative. Each Sunday takes us to the table where Jesus presides with bread and with wine. Each Sunday is different from the one before and from the one after in two ways. We travel through the liturgical year from Advent to Christmas, from Lent to Easter, from Pentecost to Christ the King. We encounter the Gospel set for the day and we are invited to take that Gospel to heart.
 
Some may see that Gospel set for the day as the springboard for thought during the coming week. Others, like me, may see that Gospel set for the day as the culmination of preparation invested throughout the previous week. During this uncomfortable period of COVID-19 lockdown, I have been inviting those who visit the prayerforliverpool.org website to join me in preparing for the Sunday Gospel at home, so that when we share in the Sunday service online we have already prepared for engaging with the distinctive Gospel theme. I have shaped this preparation through identifying a core image at the heart of the Gospel theme.
 
Today, the Third Sunday of Easter, I have offered the image of Sharing Bread as a lens through which to view the narrative of the journey to Emmaus. I have invited you to prepare the space in which you will engage with today’s service by placing there images of bread. I have invited you to prepare your minds, hearts, and souls by thinking seriously about Luke 24: 13-25. Here at the cathedral we would be interested to know if you have been willing to engage in this process and how you have experienced it.
 
Next week I am offering the image of Sheep as a lens through which to view the ideas in John 10: 1-10 about the Good Shepherd. I invite you to engage with these materials in readiness for next Sunday, and during the week to share your ideas and photos of your creativity with us by emailing them to [email protected].
 
You will find our Sunday service video here: 

​​If you’d like to follow along with Canon Neal’s sermon, the text is here, in both English and Farsi: 

easter_3_sermon_-_canon_neal.pdf
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​We invite your further participation today by engaging with the Breakfast and the Bible notes here: 

reflecting_on_the_resurrection_~_james.pdf
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​To access the “Exploring the Sunday Gospel at Home” documents, go to the “Prayer Resources” page of this blog and look under the “Worship” column: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. You will also find Children’s activities from the Cathedral Education Team on under the “Education” column on the same page. The documents for next week are now available, so that you can begin preparing for next Sunday early in the week.
 
The picture above is taken from the book, Exploring Why: Bread, a part of the Exploring Why series of books for 3 to 7 year olds. You can find the whole book and the entire series of Exploring Why books on the St. Mary’s Centre website, http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why.html.
 
Canon Leslie
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