From The Parish Priest
Every time I escort a coffin from the lichgate up any of our church paths to the main door I always recite the words of Psalm 122: I was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord.
It is often used in services for when someone is entering a church building, most obviously, and recently, at the Coronation of our King. It was originally written about going in to the Great Temple in Jerusalem, and the importance of both the temple and of Jerusalem to the Jewish people. In the Christian tradition the new Jerusalem is the Kingdom of heaven opened to all believers by Christ.
Verses 6 and 7 of the Psalm say O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you Peace be within your walls and tranquillity within your palaces.
The dreadful scenes of human suffering that have assaulted our eyes through our television Screens, newspapers and the internet from the Holy Land make that prayer even more urgent that it ever has been.
Human beings’ ill treatment of each other, of whatever side, politics or religion is always wrong, and the continuous acrimony and bitterness that continues between societies in that sacred part of the world is a source of deep sadness and shame on the human race.
We, as a society or individuals, may not be able to affect the immediate future of the Holy Land, but we can affect the human race by making sure we treat each and every other person with the respect and love that they are entitled to simply by being a human being created and loved by God.
As we spend this month remembering the horrors of times past: Wars, and gun powder plots etc. let us also our responsibilities to learn from the past and work for a peaceful and bright future for the whole world.
With love and prayers,
Philip
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