Mother’s Day Recently one of our sons played his violin in a concert for the first time. Of course he played only very basic pieces of music, but it is a significant step from playing a few pieces with a piano to playing in an orchestra. When my mother saw the photos of her grandson…

Sometime last year the website Bible Odyssey asked me to write a short article on “Bread in Ancient Israel”. The website is published by the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) and contains short articles by experts in simple language on topics related to the Bible. I must be considered an expert on the subject of…

For centuries the second Sunday after Easter was known as the Good Shepherd Sunday, because the Gospel reading was normally based on the Gospel of John chapter 10, where Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd.” The Sunday was also known as Misericordia Domini from the opening words of the traditional liturgy, based on Psalm…

A few weeks ago I brought my nephew to the airport early in the morning. We took the bus there. After I assured myself that he had been checked in alright, I caught the bus back home. While the bus to the airport was quite full, only one other passengers was on the bus in…

Somehow bunnies and eggs have become associated with Easter. Some say that is because they are symbols of new life. Others suggest that Easter took over an old pagan fertility festival—since rabbits (or hares) and eggs were symbols of fertility they were also associated with Easter. What is true is that in the northern hemisphere…

In some Christian traditions the Easter Vigil on Easter Saturday is an important celebration. While in the early centuries the Easter Vigil was really a waiting for the dawn on Easter Sunday, when the resurrection was celebrated, over the centuries the celebration moved to earlier in the night. I myself have only participated in the…

On Maundy Thursday we will hold an Agape Meal as our evening service. Agape is the Greek word for selfless love and affection. It is the word generally used for God’s love in the New Testament, for love of neighbour and Christian brethren, and for love in the family. Greek has several other words for…

As we hear about wars around the world, the increasing use of military force around the globe and the ordinary people that are affected by the threat of injury and death, many people in New Zealand feel overwhelmed. Whether it is the uncertainty, the knowledge that war is breaking out more easily, sympathy with the…

Recently I attended the exhibition “Cathedral Square Unearthed”, which was on in the shell of the Cathedral on the Square. The building is now sufficiently safe for groups to enter. We were required to wear hard hats and safety vests. The exhibition was organised by the Christchurch Archaeology Project (https://www.christchurcharchaeology.org/), an initiative led by several…

France is one of Europe’s most deliberately secular nations with a strict separation between church and state. There is significant suspicion towards the Church. The Church, after all, was part of the Ancien Régime, which the French Revolution swept away. In a sense, the Church is now the most visible, though severely weakened, sign of…