From the Bishop
Dear friends,
As I write to you, many of the clergy in the Diocese will be on one of three retreats over the next two weeks. While it is a formal part of their conditions of ministry it is, for most, a cherished time to step away from the ordinary routines of ministry for rest, reflection, and prayer.
The scriptures contain some profound encounters with God as well as significant encouragement to find our rest in God. We are meant to be a Sabbath people, following God’s example (Genesis 2:2 – 3) by bringing blessing to our labour by resting.
There is the wonderful allegory of Jacob wrestling with God face to face through the hours of the night (Genesis 32: 22 – 32).
This reminds us of the times we have been challenged by our circumstances, values, or ethics through the night as we have sought God’s guidance. That story reminds us that an encounter with God can mark us for life.
We might turn to the story of Elijah hiding fearfully in a cave. He is looking for insight from God. To his surprise, it comes in a gentle whisper rather than in rushing wind, earthquake, or fire (1 Kings 19: 9 – 18). This challenges our assumptions about where and how God might seek to reach us.
I could easily go on with other examples.
In Luke 5:15 we have a picture of large crowds often seeking to hear Jesus. As they gathered he would go off to wilderness or solitary places to pray. Places where he could be at one with his Father without distraction.
Whether it be a retreat, a quiet day, a solitary hour in the bush or by the beach, we need to make times when we are subject to fewer distractions and can focus on our relationship with God. In these times, we can listen to some spiritual music, hear the scriptures, engage in reflective writing, and pray.
Please pray for the bishops and clergy of the Diocese as they are renewed through retreat for their leadership and ministry.
Every blessing,
Bishop Peter Stuart
Anglican Bishop of Newcastle
Glimpses of discipleship: Mary of Bethany
By Reverend Canon Dr Christy Capper
While there are quite a lot of women in the Biblical narrative, they aren’t usually front and centre and there can be a lot of confusion about who they are and what they did.
When it comes to women named “Mary”, in the Gospels it gets even more confusing. There are so many Marys, so little explanation or differentiation. Over the life of the Church, it has led to a lot of confusion.
Today we are considering Mary of Bethany.
In the Anglican calendar, Mary of Bethany shares a feast day with Martha and Lazarus.
She appears in John chapter 11, grieving with Martha as Jesus arrives too late to heal their brother. In this narrative we see Martha coming to meet Jesus as he arrives, while Mary stays at home (11:20). Martha tells Jesus that had he come their brother would not have died, and Jesus speaks with her of resurrection.
Mary appears in the narrative again in verse 28, at home, with people consoling her. She leaves the house to meet Jesus, making the same accusation that her sister had earlier made.
She is crying. Those who followed her from the house are crying with her, and Jesus is deeply moved and he also begins to cry. In Mary’s tears we see that Jesus is also moved, a Christ who is moved by the grief and distress of a friend. It is wonderful to have a God who shares with us in our sorrows.
Mary shares her feast day with Martha and Lazarus, but it is not the only time that we meet Mary in John’s Gospel. John introduces her by explaining that “Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair” (11:2).
Once again, we see that Mary is a woman of deep emotion.
There were tears and anger at the death of her brother, and love and extravagance in worship of Jesus.
She and Martha both have strong faith in Jesus (“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”). Yet, we know little else about Mary (or Martha and Lazarus). Recent scholarship suggests that the Mary and Martha in Luke 10 are a different pair of sisters to those in John’s Gospel. This again shows the conflation of the different women within the Scriptures – lots of women, but only little glimpses of them.
Their stories are not told in the same way that we hear the stories of David or Peter or Paul. It means that it is easy for them to be confused with one another – one Mary bleeding into another (until 1969 the Roman Catholic Church calendar considered Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene to be the same person).
Neither history, nor the Scriptures, tell us much about the stories of women. Yet, the presence of women in the Scriptures, as disciples of Jesus and leaders in the early church, is evidenced in small glimpses and easily missed.
But from the tears of Mary of Bethany caused Christ to cry, the perfume she poured caused Christ to uphold her.
Mary, it seems, was not only a disciple of Jesus, but also a friend. Both she and Martha would hold him to account – “if you had been here, my brother would not have died”.
A pair of strong women.
Although the women of Scripture may not have had quite so much time devoted to them in the Scriptures, they were there, they were present, they were following Jesus, and they were leading in the church – just like women today.
It would be great if we knew more about these women, if we knew more about Mary of Bethany, of Phoebe, of Junia, of Mary the mother of Jesus, of Mary Magdelene.
It would be wonderful to know their stories of faith and witness more fully, as we know those of Peter and Paul. But we see only glimpses of their great faithfulness, leadership, and witness in the Scriptures.
Let’s make sure that we don’t make the same mistake of skimming over the stories of those who aren’t “up front” in our lives and our churches today.
Points for Prayer
One of the gifts of the church is the structured liturgy. It gives us words when we are struggling with what to pray.
Here is a litany for ministry from the ordination of priests in the Church of England Book of Common Worship.
In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ,
let us pray to the Father.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world,
for the welfare of the Holy Church of God,
and for the unity of all,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For all the members of the Church in their vocation and ministry,
that they may serve him in truth and love,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For Peter our bishop,
and for Sonia and Charlie and all bishops, priests, and deacons,
that they may hunger for truth and thirst after righteousness
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For all who are
called to be deacons and priests in this Church,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the mission of the Church,
that in faithful witness we may proclaim the gospel of reconciliation35
to the ends of the earth,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the unity of the Church,
that we may be one in Christ, according to his will,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who are lost and for those who have strayed,
that they may return to the way of Christ,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the sick and suffering,
for the aged and infirm,
for the lonely and neglected,
and for all who remember and care for them,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the poor and the hungry,
for the homeless and the oppressed,
for all prisoners and captives,
and for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For Charles our King,
for the leaders of the nations,
and for all in authority,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For ourselves;
for grace to repent and amend our lives,
that we may be pardoned and absolved from all our sins,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Remembering all who have gone before us in faith,
and in communion with all the saints,
we commit ourselves, one another,
and our whole life to Christ our God;
to you, O Lord.
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