Christ Church Blog; Reflection

The Cherubic Hymn - Gretchaninov The Cherubic Hymn  Иже херѹвимы тайнѡ ѡбразѹюще, и животворѧщей Троицѣ трисвѧтую пѣснь припѣвающе, Всѧкое нынѣ житейское отложимъ попеченіе. Ꙗкѡ да Царѧ всѣхъ...

Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost: The Lord is King The Lord is King, Henry Aldrich (1648-1710) The Lord is King  This Sunday is the last Sunday of Eastertide. Like Lent, Eastertide finishes with a shift of gear: the celebration of the risen Jesus present with his disciples culminates with the return of Jesus to the Father, the...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

The Sixth Sunday of Easter: O Saviour of the World Salvator Mundi, Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585) Salvator Mundi  You may think that my choice of anthem for this last Sunday before Ascension is cheating slightly. Its text is part of the Good Friday liturgy, not from the liturgies of the Easter season: Salvator mundi, salva nos, qui...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean Psalm 2  Why do the heathen so furiously rage together : and why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together : against the Lord, and against his Anointed. Let us break their bonds asunder : and cast away their cords from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn : the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath : and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King : upon my holy hill of Sion. I will preach the law, whereof the Lord hath said unto me : Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Desire of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance: and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of iron : and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings : be learned, ye that are judges of the earth. Serve the Lord in fear : and rejoice unto him with reverence. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and so ye perish from the right way : if his wrath be kindled, (yea, but a little,) blessed are all they that put their trust in him.  Earlier in the week, writing about Psalm 1, I suggested that it was placed at the beginning of the Book of Psalms as a summary of some of the key themes of the book. Psalm 2, which follows it, does the same: this time, drawing out the themes of kingship and the sovereignty of God which are threaded through the Psalms. It reminds us, as we read, hear or pray the psalm, that God is the real sovereign, compared to whom the world’s leaders and their plans are insignificant.  Many Old Testament scholars think that this psalm was written to be used at the coronations of kings of Israel. Even at the moment of coronation, when they  symbolically received almost total power over the kingdom and its people, those kings were reminded: all this belongs to God. You are where you are because God has called you there; you have enormous power because God has given it to you; all you are comes from God, and all you do needs to honour God.  I wonder what that did to the way those kings ruled? (If you read the Old Testament books of Kings and Chronicles, you might think: not a lot!)  I wonder what it might change for the world’s leaders at the moment, if they truly believed the message of this psalm?  And I wonder what it might change in us, if we live as people who believe that real power belongs to a God who is righteous and loving? 

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean Psalm 114   When Israel came out of Egypt *  and the house of Jacob from among the strange people,   Judah was his sanctuary *  and Israel his dominion.   The sea saw that, and fled *  Jordan was driven back.   The mountains skipped like rams *  and the little hills like young sheep.   What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest *  and thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?   Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams *  and ye little hills, like young sheep?   Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord *  at the presence of the God of Jacob;   Who turned the hard rock into a standing water *  and the flint-stone into a springing well. Most psalms open with a verse that brings God and God’s people together: a call to praise, lament or prayer before the Lord. Psalm 114 is different – it rises in a crescendo, naming God only at the very end. Beginning with the people of Israel, exiled among a people whose language and customs are alien to them, it recounts their flight to sanctuary. As yet, God remains unnamed, merely gestured to: the terms in which the crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan are described echo the creation account in Genesis. Just as in creation, so here in deliverance, order is brought out of chaos in ways that exceed human powers of understanding. Then, in awe the psalmist describes these miraculous events again, not as past happenings, but as a present encounter in which the Red Sea and the Jordan are addressed directly, the mountains and hills also. And only then is God named: first in fear and trembling; then as the one who is so close to his people that his presence is like a draught of fresh spring water, slaking our thirst in the desert. Edmund Newey

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean Psalm 134 Behold now, praise the Lord * all ye servants of the Lord; Ye that by night stand in the house of the Lord * even in the courts of the house of our God. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary * and praise the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth * give thee blessing out of Sion. This psalm comes a close second to 117 in the contest for shortest in the Psalter. Like its cousin, it is a hymn of praise, but whereas Psalm 117’s context is the day, Psalm 134 is an evening psalm, often prayed in the office of Compline before bed. It consists of two parts, the distinction between them being the switch from plural to singular in the final verse. In the opening three verses, the worship leader addresses the congregation, inviting them to praise God at the close of day. In the last verse the congregation responds with a blessing upon the minister. This pattern of call and response invites us to see that blessing is a two-way process: from God to us, obviously, but also from us to God: ‘Come, bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord’, says the modern translation, faithful to the Hebrew vocabulary. Odd, we may think, that creation could bless its Creator, but this is the dignity conferred on us in worship which puts us back in right relationship with God and one another: called not just to receive but to bestow blessing. Edmund Newey  

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean PSALM 47 Omnes gentes, plaudite O CLAP your hands together, all ye people: O sing unto God with the voice of melody. For the Lord is high, and to be feared: he is the great King upon all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us: and the nations under our feet. He shall choose out an heritage for us: even the worship of Jacob, whom he loved. God is gone up with a merry noise: and the Lord with the sound of the trump. O sing praises, sing praises unto our God: O sing praises, sing praises unto our King. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon his holy seat. The princes of the people are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham: for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield. Clapping is a universal expression of applause and usually approval. We have been doing it for millennia – and it currently finds common expression on a Thursday evening when we applaud all those working for the NHS and other social services during our Covid-19 crisis. The psalm cries out to be sung – as all psalms are in Jewish worship. There are numerous musical settings and hymns. One of my favourites is the anthem by Orlando Gibbons which was first performed when he received his D Mus in Oxford – ‘O clap your hands together’ in 1622. We particularly use the Psalm with its words ‘God is gone up with a merry noise’ at Ascensiontide. Every verse centres on God and the coming of his Kingdom or Rule. Can we join this worship and express our own sense of God’s Kingship in our lives? Interestingly the Psalmist focuses on the Nations, not just humans and the rest of creation. It is the Nations – the world of politics? - who are called together to express awe and wonder at our complex but inspiring world. Here is a universal challenge: May we see you Lord as King of all and sing praises with this psalm, for you are highly exalted and reign in majesty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. David Knight

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean PSALM 18 Diligam te, Domine I WILL love thee, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my stony rock, and my defence: my saviour, my God, and my might, in whom I will trust, my buckler, the horn also of my salvation, and my refuge. I will call upon the Lord, which is worthy to be praised: so shall I be safe from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me: and the overflowings of ungodliness made me afraid. The pains of hell came about me: the snares of death overtook me. In my trouble I will call upon the Lord: and complain unto my God. So shall he hear my voice out of his holy temple: and my complaint shall come before him, it shall enter even into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked: the very foundations also of the hills shook, and were removed, because he was wroth. There went a smoke out in his presence: and a consuming fire out of his mouth, so that coals were kindled at it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and it was dark under his feet. He rode upon the cherubins, and did fly: he came flying upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place: his pavilion round about him, with dark water and thick clouds to cover him. At the brightness of his presence his clouds removed: hail-stones, and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered out of heaven, and the Highest gave his thunder: hail-stones, and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows, and scattered them: he cast forth lightnings, and destroyed them. The springs of water were seen, and the foundations of the round world were discovered, at thy chiding, O Lord: at the blasting of the breath of thy displeasure. He shall send down from on high to fetch me: and shall take me out of many waters. He shall deliver me from my strongest enemy, and from them which hate me: for they are too mighty for me. They prevented me in the day of my trouble: but the Lord was my upholder. He brought me forth also into a place of liberty: he brought me forth, even because he had a favour unto me. The Lord shall reward me after my righteous dealing: according to the cleanness of my hands shall he recompense me. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord: and have not forsaken my God, as the wicked doth. For I have an eye unto all his laws: and will not cast out his commandments from me. I was also uncorrupt before him: and eschewed mine own wickedness. Therefore shall the Lord reward me after my righteous dealing: and according unto the cleanness of my hands in his eye-sight. With the holy thou shalt be holy: and with a perfect man thou shalt be perfect. With the clean thou shalt be clean: and with the froward thou shalt learn frowardness. For thou shalt save the people that are in adversity: and shalt bring down the high looks of the proud. Thou also shalt light my candle: the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be light. For in thee I shall discomfit an host of men: and with the help of my God I shall leap over the wall. The way of God is an undefiled way: the word of the Lord also is tried in the fire; he is the defender of all them that put their trust in him. For who is God, but the Lord: or who hath any strength, except our God? It is God, that girdeth me with strength of war: and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like harts' feet: and setteth me up on high. He teacheth mine hands to fight: and mine arms shall break even a bow of steel. Thou hast given me the defence of thy salvation: thy right hand also shall hold me up, and thy loving correction shall make me great. Thou shalt make room enough under me for to go: that my footsteps shall not slide. I will follow upon mine enemies, and overtake them: neither will I turn again till I have destroyed them. I will smite them, that they shall not be able to stand: but fall under my feet. Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou shalt throw down mine enemies under me. Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn their backs upon me: and I shall destroy them that hate me. They shall cry, but there shall be none to help them: yea, even unto the Lord shall they cry, but he shall not hear them. I will beat them as small as the dust before the wind: I will cast them out as the clay in the streets. Thou shalt deliver me from the strivings of the people: and thou shalt make me the head of the heathen. A people whom I have not known: shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: but the strange children shall dissemble with me. The strange children shall fail: and be afraid out of their prisons. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my strong helper: and praised be the Lord of my salvation; Even the God that seeth that I be avenged: and subdueth the people unto me. It is he that delivereth me from my cruel enemies, and setteth me up above mine adversaries: thou shalt rid me from the wicked man. For this cause will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles: and sing praises unto thy Name. Great prosperity giveth he unto his King: and sheweth loving-kindness unto David his Anointed, and unto his seed for evermore. The superscription of this psalm tells us that it was written when David has been delivered from Saul and his other enemies. It is therefore one of the psalms of thanksgiving. David begins by celebrating the greatness of God (vv 1-4), then describes his plight and his deliverance from his enemies, when God appeared in an earthquake and thunderstorm and ‘sent his arrows and scattered them’ (vv 7-19). David boldly proclaims his own righteousness and faith, ‘For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and not wickedly departed from my God’ (v 20), a reminder that the Israelite ideal of kingship was always expressed in strongly ethical terms. David concludes by celebrating the might of God, ‘For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle’ (v39), and in thankfulness praises the living God, who ‘sheweth mercy to his anointed , to David and to his seed for evermore’ (v50). This psalm is almost the same as the song sung by David at the end of his life, as recorded in 2 Samuel 22. It was therefore sung in two contexts, first when David became king of Israel, and later as a grateful retrospect as he looked back as an old man over his life. This psalm expresses a full-blooded faith in God, ‘my rock and my fortress and my deliverer… my strength in whom I will trust’ (vv1-2); and also a firm belief in the power of righteous living, ‘with the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful’ (v 25). Such is David’s confidence in his relationship with God that he uses strong and vivid expressions, running through a troop, leaping over a wall, making my feet like hind’s feet, pursuing enemies until they are destroyed. We may today find such aggressive confidence misplaced, but we cannot help being moved by David’s stirring and unequivocal declaration of faith and love, ‘I will love thee, O Lord, my strength’. Revd David Meara

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean Psalm 112 1 Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he hath great delight in his commandments. 2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the faithful shall be blessed. 3 Riches and plenteousness shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. 4 Unto the godly there ariseth up light in the darkness: he is merciful, loving, and righteous. 5 A good man is merciful, and lendeth: and will guide his words with discretion. 6 For he shall never be moved: and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. 7 He will not be afraid of any evil tidings: for his heart standeth fast, and believeth in the Lord. 8 His heart is established, and will not shrink: until he see his desire upon his enemies. 9 He hath dispersed abroad, and given to the poor: and his righteousness remaineth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. 10 The ungodly shall see it, and it shall grieve him: he shall gnash with his teeth, and consume away; the desire of the ungodly shall perish. Imagine you’re tasked by the Department for Reviving Public Morals to write a poem to be committed to memory and repeated each day by the public as they wash their hands. You decide to create something easy to remember by using the alphabet: begin with avarice, end at zootheism, and your work is done. Something like that was the origin of Psalm 112. The Jews in their captivity concluded that their exile to Babylon was due to the nation’s wickedness: what was needed was renewal, and it had to start with the individual. Righteous and unrighteous behaviour were easily distinguished - all aspects of behaviour were covered by the Law, in which the God-fearing would take great delight. And so we have this poem. Each half-verse begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, to assist the memory. Learn it by heart, and you can recite a lesson on public behaviour: piety will lead the righteous to prosperity, while they take comfort from watching the wicked fade away through their disregard of God’s commandments. The promise to the godly that light will arise in the darkness – hope in times of despair – is wisdom worth repeating in any age. John Paton

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean Psalm 109  HOLD not thy tongue, O God of my praise: for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.  And they have spoken against me with false tongues: they compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.  For the love that I had unto them, lo, they take now my contrary part: but I give myself unto prayer.  Thus have they rewarded me evil for good: and hatred for my good will.  Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.  When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned: and let his prayer be turned into sin.  Let his days be few: and let another take his office.  Let his children be fatherless: and his wife a widow.  Let his children be vagabonds, and beg their bread: let them seek it also out of desolate places.  Let the extortioner consume all that he hath: and let the stranger spoil his labour.  Let there be no man to pity him: nor to have compassion upon his fatherless children.  Let his posterity be destroyed: and in the next generation let his name be clean put out.  Let the wickedness of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord: and let not the sin of his mother be done away.  Let them alway be before the Lord: that he may root out the memorial of them from off the earth.  And that, because his mind was not to do good: but persecuted the poor helpless man, that he might slay him that was vexed at the heart.  His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen unto him: he loved not blessing, therefore shall it be far from him.  He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment: and it shall come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.  Let it be unto him as the cloke that he hath upon him: and as the girdle that he is alway girded withal.  Let it thus happen from the Lord unto mine enemies: and to those that speak evil against my soul.  But deal thou with me, O Lord God, according unto thy Name: for sweet is thy mercy.  O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor: and my heart is wounded within me.  I go hence like the shadow that departeth: and am driven away as the grasshopper.  My knees are weak through fasting: my flesh is dried up for want of fatness.  I became also a reproach unto them: they that looked upon me shaked their heads.  Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy.  And they shall know, how that this is thy hand: and that thou, Lord, hast done it.  Though they curse, yet bless thou: and let them be confounded that rise up against me; but let thy servant rejoice.  Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame: and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a cloke.  As for me, I will give great thanks unto the Lord with my mouth: and praise him among the multitude.  For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor: to save his soul from the unrighteous judges. (BCP)  Imagine yourself a ‘forty-niner’ laboriously panning soil and sand in the Klondike, until you’re rewarded with the glint of a nugget of pure gold. Nuggets are generally of little value by themselves; but they may indicate rich seams nearby.  And so it is, perhaps, with this psalm. It’s rarely used in public worship. Getting things off your chest is one thing, but this concentrated stream of cursing and invective fits badly with Jesus’ command, ‘Love your enemies’. Who the deceitful and ungodly people are who’ve caused the psalmist such harm that he should want their children to be fatherless vagabonds, we’re given no clue.  The psalm needs no commentary – it speaks for itself, and the vicious details of its imagined harm are best passed over. But there is one gleam of gold. ‘Though they curse, Lord, yet bless thou’, says verse 27. Balaam the prophet was asked by King Balak of Moab to curse the invading armies of Israel; but he refused, saying, ‘How can I curse whom God has not cursed?’, and he goes on to bless them instead. Perhaps Balaam’s wisdom may lead singers of this psalm to the limitless seam of grace that came through Jesus Christ.   John Paton 

Set me as a seal The Old Testament readings for Evensong in the week after Easter are always from the Song of Songs: a book of passionate love poetry (sometimes so passionate it’s awkward to listen to!).  While it was written as just that, as poetry describing a passionate relationship, the early Church interpreted this book as referring...

Just a few weeks ago, when there was still a semblance of normality in the world, our iconic Cathedral was occupied at least twelve hours a day, seven days a week, and had nearly half a million visitors a year. Almost overnight that all changed. Quite possibly for the first time in 800 years, last month the doors were locked shut for most...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Edmund Newey, Sub Dean Psalm 78 HEAR my law, O my people: incline your ears unto the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will declare hard sentences of old; Which we have heard and known: and such as our fathers have told us; That we should not hide them from the children of the generations to come: but to shew the honour of the Lord, his mighty and wonderful works that he hath done. He made a covenant with Jacob, and gave Israel a law: which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children; That their posterity might know it: and the children which were yet unborn; To the intent that when they came up: they might shew their children the same; That they might put their trust in God: and not to forget the works of God, but to keep his commandments; And not to be as their forefathers, a faithless and stubborn generation: a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit cleaveth not stedfastly unto God; Like as the children of Ephraim: who being harnessed, and carrying bows, turned themselves back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God: and would not walk in his law; But forgat what he had done: and the wonderful works that he had shewed for them. Marvellous things did he in the sight of our forefathers, in the land of Egypt: even in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and let them go through: he made the waters to stand on an heap. In the day-time also he led them with a cloud: and all the night through with a light of fire. He clave the hard rocks in the wilderness: and gave them drink thereof, as it had been out of the great depth. He brought waters out of the stony rock: so that it gushed out like the rivers. Yet for all this they sinned more against him: and provoked the most Highest in the wilderness. They tempted God in their hearts: and required meat for their lust. They spake against God also, saying: Shall God prepare a table in the wilderness? He smote the stony rock indeed, that the waters gushed out, and the streams flowed withal: but can he give bread also, or provide flesh for his people? When the Lord heard this, he was wroth: so the fire was kindled in Jacob, and there came up heavy displeasure against Israel; Because they believed not in God: and put not their trust in his help. So he commanded the clouds above: and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna also upon them for to eat: and gave them food from heaven. So man did eat angels' food: for he sent them meat enough. He caused the east-wind to blow under heaven: and through his power he brought in the south-west-wind. He rained flesh upon them as thick as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. He let it fall among their tents: even round about their habitation. So they did eat and were well filled, for he gave them their own desire: they were not disappointed of their lust. But while the meat was yet in their mouths, the heavy wrath of God came upon them, and slew the wealthiest of them: yea, and smote down the chosen men that were in Israel. But for all this they sinned yet more: and believed not his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity: and their years in trouble. When he slew them, they sought him: and turned them early, and inquired after God. And they remembered that God was their strength: and that the high God was their redeemer. Nevertheless, they did but flatter him with their mouth: and dissembled with him in their tongue. For their heart was not whole with him: neither continued they stedfast in his covenant. But he was so merciful, that he forgave their misdeeds: and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned he his wrath away: and would not suffer his whole displeasure to arise. For he considered that they were but flesh: and that they were even a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. Many a time did they provoke him in the wilderness: and grieved him in the desert. They turned back, and tempted God: and moved the Holy One in Israel. They thought not of his hand: and of the day when he delivered them from the hand of the enemy; How he had wrought his miracles in Egypt: and his wonders in the field of Zoan. He turned their waters into blood: so that they might not drink of the rivers. He sent lice among them, and devoured them up: and frogs to destroy them. He gave their fruit unto the caterpillar: and their labour unto the grasshopper. He destroyed their vines with hail-stones: and their mulberry-trees with the frost. He smote their cattle also with hail-stones: and their flocks with hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the furiousness of his wrath, anger, displeasure and trouble: and sent evil angels among them. He made a way to his indignation, and spared not their soul from death: but gave their life over to the pestilence; And smote all the first-born in Egypt: the most principal and mightiest in the dwellings of Ham. But as for his own people, he led them forth like sheep: and carried them in the wilderness like a flock. He brought them out safely, that they should not fear: and overwhelmed their enemies with the sea. And brought them within the borders of his sanctuary: even to his mountain which he purchased with his right hand. He cast out the heathen also before them: caused their land to be divided among them for an heritage, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. So they tempted and displeased the most high God: and kept not his testimonies; But turned their backs, and fell away like their forefathers: starting aside like a broken bow. For they grieved him with their hill-altars: and provoked him to displeasure with their images. When God heard this, he was wroth: and took sore displeasure at Israel. So that he forsook the tabernacle in Silo: even the tent that he had pitched among men. He delivered their power into captivity: and their beauty into the enemy's hand. He gave his people over also unto the sword: and was wroth with his inheritance. The fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests were slain with the sword: and there were no widows to make lamentation. So the Lord awaked as one out of sleep: and like a giant refreshed with wine. He smote his enemies in the hinder parts: and put them to a perpetual shame. He refused the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim; But chose the tribe of Judah: even the hill of Sion which he loved. And there he built his temple on high: and laid the foundation of it like the ground which he hath made continually. He chose David also his servant: and took him away from the sheep-folds. As he was following the ewes great with young ones he took him: that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them with a faithful and true heart: and ruled them prudently with all his power. In the much-quoted words of the philosopher, George Santayana, ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ In many ways this sums up the message of psalm 78. The psalmist asks that ‘the hard sentences of old’ be listened to and taught to children, so that all may remember and learn from the history of the people of Israel. The psalm outlines the relationship between God and the people of Israel in the time of the Exodus. God repeatedly delivers and blesses: rolling back the sea for them to pass, providing water, manna and quails in the wilderness. The people fluctuate between remembering God’s provision of their needs and then forgetting: ‘many a time did they provoke him in the wilderness’, ‘they thought not of his hand.’ This time of difficulty that we live in can make us wonder where God is. We face a situation unknown in our lifetime. The psalm reminds us to look back. The past has things to teach us about how God sustains people through turmoil and reminds us how often we forget our dependence on the sustaining power of our Creator. Our God makes springs in the desert and gives us the sustenance we need day by day. We can take time to reflect on our past – both the tough times and the good times – to see how God provided for us. We can read the lives and prayers of Christians in the past who point us to the sustaining power of God. And we can count our blessings that we may not forget the hand that holds us and keeps us through the wilderness days. Emma Percy

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

Palm Sunday: Hosanna to the Son of David All the great days and seasons of the Christian year have music that goes with them: carols, hymns, choral music, organ music. Whatever it is that you associate with Palm Sunday and Holy Week, I’m sure it has its own soundtrack – whether that’s the processional hymns of Palm Sunday, the stark and unaccompanied chanting of the Passion on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, or the St John Passion. And as we begin this strangest of Holy Weeks with this strangest of Palm Sundays, perhaps the music is one of the things we miss. As our standalone Palm Sunday sermon explored, it is strange and painful to celebrate Palm Sunday without the donkey, without the processions, without the hymns, without the palm crosses. We miss them, because they mean something. The importance of being there for the Palm Sunday processions echoes the sense that this was a day all about physical presence. Jesus and the disciples entered a crowded, noisy Jerusalem, full of pilgrims, tourists, locals and soldiers – a city it’s almost impossible to imagine in these days of lockdown, social distancing and eerily empty streets. I imagine that those who were with Jesus as he mounted the donkey and rode in, or those in the streets who were drawn into the clapping and shouting, went home to tell their friends and family that ‘you had to be there.’ Being there drew people in, to meet Jesus in a new way and make a profound theological statement.  The piece of music we have chosen for this Palm Sunday blog post is a setting of those profound words which the crowds called to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem: Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, thou that sittest in the highest heavens. Hosanna in excelsis Deo. It’s set by English composer Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623); a music student at New College Oxford, then organist at Winchester College then Chichester Cathedral.  Weelkes is known mostly for his madrigals, and for his distinct lack of holiness of life – yet the music he writes can allow us to enter into the story of Jesus. Listening to these words, sung, perhaps you can imagine yourself in Tom Quad – straining to hear the words of the president and the music of the choir, singing All glory laud and honour as we process into the cathedral and becoming increasingly out of time (and possibly key!) And perhaps you can also imagine yourself in Jerusalem, greeting Jesus with palm branches or your coat, laid down in his path to make a red carpet for this donkey-riding king. As you enter into the story of Palm Sunday – and as you enter into this holiest of weeks, even when all else is so strange – may you sing your praises to Jesus, Son of David, and cry with saints and angels ‘Hosanna’! Hosanna to the Son of David     

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Psalm 102 Hear my prayer, O Lord * and let my crying come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble * incline thine ear unto me when I call; O hear me, and that right soon. For my days are consumed away like smoke * and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-brand. My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass * so that I forget to eat my bread. For the voice of my groaning * my bones will scarce cleave to my flesh. I am become like a pelican in the wilderness * and like an owl that is in the desert. I have watched, and am even as it were a sparrow * that sitteth alone upon the house-top. Mine enemies revile me all the day long * and they that are mad upon me are sworn together against me. For I have eaten ashes as it were bread * and mingled my drink with weeping; And that because of thine indignation and wrath * f or thou hast taken me up, and cast me down. My days are gone like a shadow * and I am withered like grass. But, thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever * and thy remembrance throughout all generations. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion * for it is time that thou have mercy upon her, yea, the time is come. And why? thy servants think upon her stones * and it pitieth them to see her in the dust. The heathen shall fear thy Name, O Lord * and all the kings of the earth thy Majesty; When the Lord shall build up Sion * and when his glory shall appear; When he turneth him unto the prayer of the poor destitute * and despiseth not their desire. This shall be written for those that come after * and the people which shall be born shall praise the Lord. For he hath looked down from his sanctuary * out of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth; That he might hear the mournings of such as are in captivity * and deliver the children appointed unto death; That they may declare the Name of the Lord in Sion * and his worship at Jerusalem; When the people are gathered together * and the kingdoms also, to serve the Lord. He brought down my strength in my journey * and shortened my days. But I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of mine age * as for thy years, they endure throughout all generations. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth * and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure * they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed * but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. The children of thy servants shall continue * and their seed shall stand fast in thy sight. This psalm is a psalm of protest, and is of great psychological depth, as it moves from a narrow individualism and isolation to a discovery of meaning gained by placing the psalmist’s own experience within a wider context. The psalm begins in fearful isolation, reflected in its superscription – ‘A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the Lord.’ After the graphic description of the psalmist’s situation which reflects his sense of being an unclean person, isolated from the community, the psalmist cries out in protest against God (v 10), and is full of self pity (v 11). But then he begins to set his own situation in a wider context (v 12-22), looking outwards to his people, and recognising that what is happening to him is mirrored within the wider community. This wider perspective collapses in verse 23, and again he reverts to self-pitying isolation. But he recovers his balance with a dignified reflection on the contrast between a sense of individual transitoriness and the eternity of God (v 26), which finally enables the psalmist to set his own situation within the cosmic context of the permanency of God: You, O God, remain, even if I do not, and because you remain our children will be safe. David Meara  

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Psalm 22  MY GOD, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me: and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint?  O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not: and in the night-season also I take no rest.  And thou continuest holy: O thou worship of Israel.  Our fathers hoped in thee: they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.  They called upon thee, and were holpen: they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.  But as for me, I am a worm, and no man: a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people.  All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot our their lips, and shake their heads, saying,  He trusted in God, that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, if he will have him.  But thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb: thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's breasts.  I have been left unto thee ever since I was born: thou art my God, even from my mother's womb.  O go not from me, for trouble is hard at hand: and there is none to help me.  Many oxen are come about me: fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side.  They gape upon me with their mouths: as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my gums: and thou shalt bring me into the dust of death.  For many dogs are come about me: and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me.  They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all my bones: they stand staring and looking upon me.  They part my garments among them: and casts lots upon my vesture.  But be not thou far from me, O Lord: thou art my succour, haste thee to help me.  Deliver my soul from the sword: my darling from the power of the dog.  Save me from the lion's mouth: thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the unicorns.  I will declare thy Name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.  O praise the Lord, ye that fear him: magnify him, all ye of the seed of Jacob, and fear him, all ye seed of Israel.  For he hath not despised, nor abhorred, the low estate of the poor: he hath not hid his face from him, but when he called unto him he heard him.  My praise is of thee in the great congregation: my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied: they that seek after the Lord shall praise him; your heart shall live for ever.  All the ends of the world shall remember themselves, and be turned unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.  For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the Governor among the people.  All such as be fat upon earth: have eaten and worshipped.  All they that go down into the dust shall kneel before him: and no man hath quickened his own soul.  My seed shall serve him: they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation.  They shall come, and the heavens shall declare his righteousness: unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.  ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ This cry of bewildered despair to God is very apt as we all confront the new and unexpected challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic. Our whole way of life Is changing in previously unimaginable ways in the coming weeks and months, and we are obliged to look again at our private and public priorities. Jesus cried out these very words in his great agony on the Cross. Certainly he knew, even if he did not say, the entirety of this psalm with its prophetic references to the events of the Crucifixion: ‘all who see me mock at me’ and ‘for my clothing they cast lots’, but we should read on. While we, our families and friends may be burdened with fears and anxiety about the future of our society we appeal to God ‘Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help’, and find that there is hope for us all.  Psalm 22 ends in triumph, praise and redemption: ‘He did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him’; ‘The poor shall eat and be satisfied, those who seek him shall praise the Lord’; ‘Future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.’ Just as Jesus overcame death in his Resurrection we too will trust in God and look towards the coming day when we will rebuild our lives. Thanks be to God. Janet Proudman   

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance to God, in whom we have our origin and our end. Here at Christ Church the book of Psalms – the prayer book of the Bible, as it is sometimes called – sustains our daily worship, now as always. Public worship is no longer an option, but the cathedral clergy here are maintaining the daily round of prayer and warmly encourage you to share in the spiritual communion that prayer makes possible across all boundaries of time and space. At the core of this work of prayer the psalms voice the cry of our hearts to God. With this in mind the ministry team here is sharing one psalm each day with an accompanying reflection. Recalling the University of Oxford’s motto, Dominus illuminatio mea – ‘The Lord is my light’ – we pray that, together, we may know God’s strength, encouragement and blessing in this time of need. ‘The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1) Psalm 91  WHOSO dwelleth under the defence of the most High: shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my strong hold: my God, in him will I trust.  For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter: and from the noisome pestilence.  He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe under his feathers: his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.  Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day;  For the pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day.  A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.  Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold: and see the reward of the ungodly.  For thou, Lord, art my hope: thou hast set thine house of defence very high.  There shall no evil happen unto thee: neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways.  They shall bear thee in their hands: that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.  Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him up, because he hath known my Name.  He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.  With long life will I satisfy him: and shew him my salvation. There is no obvious title to this psalm in the Scriptures but it helps us feel God’s protection and encourages us to trust him in all things. Christians often say it at Night Prayer or Compline where we entrust ourselves to God during the hours of darkness. We express our hope in God who will deliver us ‘from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.’ We shouldn’t be afraid of the ‘pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the sickness that destroys at noonday’ – words that strike home with particular force at the moment.   The psalmist spells out his complete trust in God whatever the circumstances and the chaos going on around him, be it the plague or danger from hostile people. Verses 11 and 12 are quoted in the Gospels during the Temptation of Christ – but in that instance the Devil misuses the text and tries to bargain with God and manipulate the outcome.  Finally, towards the end of the psalm we hear the assuring voice of God promising to deliver his people; those in relationship with God, who know God’s name. What is more, God is prepared to grant us a satisfying long life and the ‘salvation’, the health, to go with it.  David Knight 

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...

In these extraordinary times, as our nation and our world face the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus epidemic, our first task is naturally to support and enable the efforts of frontline staff tackling the disease and supporting those who have fallen ill. As we engage in every way we can with their work, we as Christians turn for guidance...