From Fr. Marcus. Hope you are soaking up the sun! Please click here to see today’s video. 

I am the Bread of life.

Good afternoon you lovely people, I hope you are feeling OK, and are managing to continue to find moments of joy each day.

If we were in church today our Gospel reading would have included 

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Jn 6.35

It is one of the best known phrases of Jesus, and has a depth that warrants a great deal of searching. The ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus are all very powerful. I am The Way, the Truth and the Life, I am the light of the world,… Resurrection and life, …Gate, …Good Shepherd, ..True vine.  “Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am”,

The origin of Jesus words takes us right back to the voice of God speaking to Moses from the burning bush. When Moses is afraid to go and rescue the Israelites, he says ‘Who shall I say sent me?  The voice of God replies, ‘Tell them I am sent you.’

So clearly theses sayings of Jesus are designed to help us understand something of his divine nature. He is one with God.
They are meant to point to a greater truth than the immediate. So, for example today’s ‘I am the bread of life’, means that Jesus  is the complete sustenance we need to experience the fullness of life that he calls us to. Not just the food that nourishes our body, but our soul too. And of course we embrace this fully in the Eucharist.

The  Greek, ‘Ego Eimai’ helps us understand it even more. It is where we get the word Ego from.
Ego is often thought of as that part of us that likes to draw attention, the bit that allows us to ‘show off’ or perform, or imagine we are very important.

It is, of course all these things, but the Ego is so much more. It is the blend of our conscious and subconscious that exists to put us as an individual at the very heart of everything.
It’s that petulant child inside every person, the one that chooses getting his or her way over anything or anyone else. 
It comes very naturally to us, and we can spot it first when babies begin to understand that something, like their favourite piece of cloth, is special, and is theirs. They identify things with themselves, and this goes on to become a huge part f some people’s life. What they have, or what they are seen to do, or their status or wealth become completely disproportionate.
In these circumstances the Ego, or ‘Self’ has taken over from the real self, who in essence does not have any of these things.

This is why these I am sayings of Jesus, and his total teaching are so important.
Jesus constantly moves away from ‘Self’, he puts others first, and he practices absolute humility, rather than seeking his own Glory.
Just a few example… Being born in a stable, Blessed are the meek, Entering Jerusalem on a donkey, not seeking to save his own life…. There are so many.
In the letter to the Philippians we read in chapter 2

 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing  by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,  he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

You get the idea. The life and ministry and teaching of Jesus are very much about letting go of the Ego, letting go of self,  and putting others first. It is in so doing that we experience the Fullness of life and therefore ultimate Joy that we are called to, and where we discover the most authentic expression of our nature.

Bless you,

Fr Marcus

Click here to view today’s Eucharist, led by Fr. Rodney and Fr. Robin. Due to a technical hitch the recording begins with the wonderful sermon from Fr. Robin. Apologies.

Click the link below to view this video –

Hi Guys,
Sorry it is so late, had real trouble uploading it! Don’t know why.Anyway, here is the link for today’s video
Just click here – Lost in wonder, love and praise
I would be grateful if you could spread it far and wide.
Many Thanks,
Marcus

Message from Fr Marcus Friday 24^th April 20202 

My Dear Friends,

Thank you for taking the trouble to read this. It is one of the ways in which we are trying to embrace and maintain our sense of community and fellowship.

I hope you are feeling OK. 
Not everyone is, and when one hurts we all hurt.  So if you are feeling poorly, or down, or lonely, I pray that it will pass soon. If you are feeling merry and bright, then please give a friend a ring. It really does help.

The reading, if we were in church today would be the wonderful story from John about the feeding of the 5000. You know it so well, but here it is if you need a reminder.

John 6.1-15

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.  ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ ¹⁰Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

¹⁵When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

We all love this story on so many levels – The crowds following Jesus always delights us. The compassion of Jesus as he is concerned that folk will be hungry. The faith of Andrew who brings the lad with the loaves and fishes, and then of course the miracle itself. Taking, Blessing, breaking and sharing. How brilliant is that. A foretaste of the Eucharist, and those disciples who recognised Jesus in the breaking of the bread in the Emmaus story.
I have an absolute belief in miracles, and love the fact that John calls them signs, which point to the nature of Jesus and the glory of God.

In this case we see a miracle of multiplication. 5 loaves and two fish feeding 5000. And it makes us wonder about miracles in our time. We need them too.
But not all miracles are about multiplication. Sometimes they are about us being more Christlike.
Imagine you were going out for the day to some big gig – and you planned to be out all day. Would you take a packed lunch? I certainly would. Now imagine that thousands of other people heard about the gig, and got swept up in the crowd, moved by the enthusiasm, and found themselves listening to a powerful message. How great that would be. But maybe they were not planning to come, maybe they didn’t know it was on, so they didn’t bring their sandwiches.
Would you eat all of yours while the folk around you had nothing. Of course not. You would share what you had.

Maybe that is a miracle too. Maybe in our time of stress, confinement, confusion, lockdown, anxiety and worry, the big miracle is to do with our attitude. Not just demanding that God fix it because we have faith, but rather thinking ‘How can I be the miracle?’
Which takes me neatly back to the beginning. If you are one of those who is able to maintain a sense of hope and joy and love and faith, then please don’t keep it to yourself. There are planty of people who are hungry for some of what you have.

Bless you. Bless you. Bless you.

Fr Marcus

Click here to view this new video from Raymond Hodson.

My Dear Friends,

I hope you are feeling OK, and not struggling too much. It continues to be a tough time for everybody, and my heart goes out to all of you who are on your own.

Please remember that I, and indeed all the clergy are on the end of a phone and email.

Today is the feast of Saint Anselm. He was an Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, teacher of the faith and was known as the Father of Scholasticism.

I think my fondness for him derives from two things. The first is that at the monastery where I go on retreat, one of the monks is Dom Anselm, and he led our retreat this year. He spoke from the heart about prayer, and I could have sat at his feet and listened for hours on end. He was so humble, yet absolutely profoundly wise, and led us simply through the drama of trying to work out what happens when we pray, to the joy of the greater silence. I loved every second of it.

The second is some words from St Anselm himself, so full of sensitiveness. ‘I want to understand something  of the truth which my heart believes and loves. I do not seek thus to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order that I may understand.’

This is so great, especially coming after our reading on Sunday about Thomas struggling to accept when the other disciples told him they had seen the Lord. ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

Thomas wanted to understand in order that he could believe – Anselm believed in order that he could understand! And they both speak volumes to different people. Thomas was very sensory in that he wanted proof. Anselm very intuitive in that his starting point was belief in things that can’t be proven.
We are all somewhere on that spectrum.

I love Thomas, he allows Jesus to once again take the initiative, and reveal himself, and Thomas is able to proclaim ‘My Lord and my God.’ His doubt was short lived. He told it like it was – right from the heart. To start with he says, sorry guys, I just don’t get it. Then he says, Right! Now I see! And once he could see, he accepted everything. Many people are like that.

I love Anselm. It is like he says, I don’t need to wait for all the bits to be shown to me. They will come. If I live as though the resurrection were true, I will discover that it is!

It is so important that there is such a breadth of personalities in the history of our faith, that we can each find a range of saints to inspire us. We are all so different, and we approach our Lord each in our own unique way, and whatever that way is, we will find him eagerly waiting, and anticipating our approach.

Which leads me neatly to a couple of things.
During these highly unusual times we have been working hard to build on our sense of community and family by posting a range of things online, live streaming services and using youtube and the radio. It is great to get feedback, because much of this is new to us, and we don’t want to overwhelm folk by doing too much, or leave people short by not doing enough, so please let us have your thoughts.
Last week my letter was from the whole Standing Committee, and it provoked some very positive responses, mainly saying ‘Thank you for your understanding that times are hard, but perhaps you could encourage folk to make donations now.’
Well, we are happy to do that. If you are keen to donate to Chaplaincy Funds here is a link
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=Q5FK-LmgDvZJDjdrs4K1Iz9k2I5-um8qSDHxSpetfh3NmMxkfUhmKx7zZdE0le-E8K5Ggm&fromUL=true&country.x=ES&locale.x=es_ES

Or you could contact Carole Bentley our Stewardship Officer or Dennis Johnson our Treasurer, both whose details are on the letter

And here is a link to the letter if you missed it, or fancy a refresher
https://costablanca-anglicanchaplaincy.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=3444&action=edit

And finally, as many of you know I do a radio show every Sunday from 6-8pm
www.puregold.fm
Please let me have your favourite tracks, and indeed a request or dedication, so that we can share the love that is so apparent in our Chaplaincy. Just email me at marcusronchetti@yahoo.co.uk and we will see what happens.

Bless you. Bless you. Bless you.

As ever,

Fr Marcus

This message is from Fr. Marcus –

Good Morning All, 

I hope you are managing to find some moments of hope and joy each day.

Just to let you know the Bishop David phoned me yesterday, to ask how we were all doing, to show his care and concern, and generally to be just the great pastor he is.

We chatted for a long while, and he asked how each of the churches were faring, about the health of our members, and he listened to the concerns I expressed about our common uncertainty, and our worries about the future of our finances.

I felt really uplifted by his call.

He asked me to send his love and regards to the whole team, and to assure everyone of his prayers.

We are very fortunate in having +David as our Bishop,

Please feel free to pass this on as much as you can.

As ever,

Marcus

Click here to see the “Notepaper Semaphore” video from Fr. Jim.