Colourful Dreamer

Welcome to Good Shepherd Sunday! All fourth Sundays of Easter are Good Shepherd Sunday. This tradition is a significant theme in scripture and in John’s gospel. Kenneth Bailey [1] proposes this tradition begins with 23 rd Psalm. The writer uses the ordinary work of a shepherd to describe how God seeks out the lost sheep, brings them home, protects them, and provides all they need to flourish. Bailey describes how this basic tradition is then reinterpreted again and again through threats, exile and beyond. And now by Jesus in today’s reading from John 10. This is not just Jesus’ reinterpretation. It is also John’s. He sets his version within the story of the man born blind who was healed, was then cast out by the Jewish leaders, and then became a disciple and was included in Jesus own community of followers. Everything Jesus says relates back to those very concrete acts. And we hear echoes of this as Lazarus and Mary hear the shepherd’s voice and respond. Jesus becomes the shepherd ...

  Gate Pa – Year B   Easter Sunday 2024 Readings: First Reading:             Isaiah 25:6-9                             Second Reading:         Acts 10:34-43                           Gospel:                        John 20:1-18    What I want to say: Our friend died this time 2 years ago in Holy Week. The resurrection affirms that she is with God now. Swallowed in God’s life. I don’t know what that means or what it looks life. That is ok. I trust God for all that. This story is bigger than Liz, or me, getting ...

This Easter, as we listen to Matthew,  we are invited to join Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the tomb. They had suffered the trauma of holy week. Jerusalem had become increasingly more hostile with their growing fear and anxiety all mixed with hope. They had been there at the arrest, heard about the trial, and witnessed the horror of the crucifixion as the earth shook and the sky darkened. They were traumatised. They came to the tomb to mourn in their shock and grief. This is a place to take the ache of trauma. We are invited to join them in all we have gone and are going through over the last few years. Covid, climate change disasters here and overseas with floods and cyclones, and the deadly slips on Mauao and Pāpāmoa Hills. War in Ukraine, the Middle East and all the ripples here as we wonder what is next. And our personal stories of loss, fear, and sorrow. It is a lot. And so, we are invited to bring our trauma and grief and join Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the...

Maungatapu – Palm Sunday 2026 Readings: Psalm                          Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29                                                 First Reading:               Isaiah 50:4-9a Gospel:                          Matthew 21: 1-11 What I want to say: I want to help people enter into this story to Where are we in this story? What do we see? What I want to happen: Who is Jesus? Let go of our stereotypes and engage with the one presented in...