Sermon - Easter Sunday : Eyes which see life anew

The False Mirror by René Magritte, 1929

It was a great privilege to be invited to preach for the Pascal Triduum at St George’s Bloomsbury in April 2023. The first time I have preached at all three services and the first time I have spoken in front of so many people at once. I drew on my experience visiting the Holy Land last year and based each sermon loosely around part of a prayer attributed to St Teresa of Avila ‘Christ has no body now on earth but yours’ and the theme of connection, disconnection and reconnection. On Thursday the focus was ‘Feet which walk to do good’ and connections to the embodied love of Jesus through the symbolic washing of feet and the sharing of the Last Supper. On Friday the focus was ‘Hands which bless the world’ and our disconnection from the embodied love of Jesus when he died on the cross. On Sunday the focus was ‘Eyes which see life anew’ and our re-connection to the love of Jesus through Mary Magdalene’s vision in the garden at dawn. The sermon on Sunday drew each reflection together to encourage us to choose to live life as pilgrims – not tourists. To embody the love of God we have now received through the Spirit of the risen Christ.

A sermon given at the Choral Eucharist on Easter Sunday, April 9th 2023 at St George’s Bloomsbury. A version of this sermon was also given at the Easter Vigil at St Stephen Walbrook on Saturday April 8th 2023 (Year A) based on John 20.1-18. A recording of this sermon and the gospel reading (and the fantastic Nessun Dorma style acclamation that preceded it!) can be watched below:

Start:Stop-Mary Magdalene

The Resurrection by Jyoti Sahi, 1987

This week the church remembers Mary Magdalene. The scriptures tell us that Mary was healed by Jesus and was one of a group of influential women who supported his ministry practically and financially. Mary holds a unique place amongst the followers of Jesus; the first person to encounter the empty tomb and the first disciple to whom Jesus made himself known after the crucifixion – bearing the Good News which changed the world and which Mary was the first to hear and share – a fact that earned her the title “Apostle to the Apostles” in the early church.