17.03.2024
Reflection for the Fifth Sunday in Lent by Archbishop Michael Jackson
Archbishop Michael Jackson is sharing a reflection for each Sunday in Lent in connection with our Shine a Light appeal for Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, run by our partners in the Diocese of Jerusalem. Each short reflection takes the Gospel of the Sunday and links it to a range of international humanitarian needs, most especially in the context of the sufferings in Gaza and Israel and in the wider region encompassed by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. Details of how you can support our Lent 2024 appeal are below.
The Fifth Sunday in Lent March 17
St John 12.24: … unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it die, it bears much fruit …
While much of the world is turning green, from high rise buildings to fast flowing rivers on St Patrick’s Day, Jesus offers a sombre and a counter–cultural picture of glory on Passion Sunday. Announcing that the hour of his glory has come, he proceeds to speak of the essential capacity of death to give greater and bigger life. Presence is paradox.
In a world exhausted by war and counter–war, by death and brutality, by grief and gluttony, we struggle to understand this divine wisdom in human form. Death unfolds like a withered flower before our eyes. We trust to the prophetic maxim that even in the desert the crocus flowers.
Let us pray for those in the wilderness of death today.
You can learn more about our Lent 2024 appeal here.
You can donate to our GoFundMe appeal here: https://gofund.me/408e9f59
You can continue to transfer funds by EFT to: Diocesan Funds of Dublin and Glendalough No 1 A/C Current Account, Bank of Ireland, 2 COLLEGE GREEN DUBLIN 2 IBAN: IE50 BOFI 9000 1769 3548 78, BIC: BOFIIE2D. Cheques may be sent to Diocesan Offices of Dublin and Glendalough, Church of Ireland House, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6, D06 CF67.