Assistant Priest's News - 19 April 2026

17 hours ago
3 min read

Christ on the Road to Emmaus American 18th Century between 1725 and 1730

The Road to Emmaus

When Jesus walks beside you and you don’t even know it: the hidden power of the Emmaus Road... There’s a quiet wonder in the Emmaus story. Two disciples walk mile after mile with the risen Jesus, and yet they have no idea who He is. Not because He is distant, or veiled in glory, but because He appears as something far more disarming – ordinary. A fellow traveller. A voice in conversation. A companion on the long walk home.

This is the brilliance of the story: divine presence often hides in plain sight. God slips into the everyday – into the moments we celebrate, the conversations we share, the meals we break, the journeys we take, and the communities that hold us together. These are the quiet threads that make up the fabric of Christian life.

I was reminded of this just this week in parish life. We celebrated two birthdays – both members of our church community are in their eighties, radiant in the way only the wise and weathered can be. Each celebration began with prayer and ended in laughter, the kind that fills a room with warmth. Nothing dramatic. Nothing staged. Just ordinary people, fellow pilgrims. And perhaps that is the point. The Christian life is not built on mountaintops but on moments. God is not waiting for us only in the sanctuary – He is already beside us on the road.

On the road to Emmaus, the disciples however don’t see it. They walk with Jesus, talk with Him, listen to Him open the Scriptures, and still their eyes remain closed. It isn’t until they sit at a table, until bread is taken, blessed, broken, and given, that everything changes. In that simple, sacred act, their vision clears. Suddenly they know Him. In the Blessing Breaking and Giving of bread.

It is as if Luke is whispering to us: Christ becomes known not merely through information, but through shared life. Through hospitality. Through the table. Through the community gathered around it. Faith is not only learned – it is tasted.

The Emmaus road invites us to pay attention to the places where Christ still walks unrecognized. In the laughter of a birthday celebration. In the gentle wisdom exchanged over tea. In the quiet companionship of a daily commute. In the bread broken at the altar. In the community that carries us when our own strength falters.

Perhaps the real miracle of Emmaus is not that Jesus appeared, but that He still does – again and again – in the ordinary moments we are tempted to overlook. And perhaps the invitation is simply this: Walk slowly enough to notice who is walking beside you.

Music for the Third Sunday of Easter

SUNDAY 19 APRIL 2026

10am Choral Eucharist

Prelude: Tento sobre el Pange lingua – Diego de Alvarado (c 1570--1643)

Hymns: Processional Ye choirs of new Jerusalem

Gradual We have a gospel to proclaim

Thanksgiving Thank you for giving me the morning

Post Communion Rejoice, the Lord is King

Setting: Parish Eucharist – Michael Dudman (1938-1994)

Psalm: 116.1-4, 11-17 (RSCM)

Anthem: Lord God of Abraham from Elijah – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Motet: 'Love bade me welcome' from Five Mystical Songs – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Prelude: Finale from Sonata 1 – Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)

Vale

The funeral service for Christopher Timms, son of parishioners Robert and Jill Timms, will be held in the church on Thursday 23 April at 2 pm.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

The silent auction has now closed and all winners have been notified. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who took part and contributed so generously to our parish. Special thanks to Jean Hawkins and Jonathan Hough for spearheading the auction and overseeing its final success.