The Way of Hope

On a recent short trip to the south coast, I was down by the sea when I encountered an unusual group. A man dressed in a long robe was accompanied by a handful of people, all engaged in talking to passers by. The robe turned out to be a voluminous coat, made up of individual patches of fabric, all bearing colourful messages and emblems. I was told it was called the ‘coat of hopes’. And the group were pilgrims, carrying a striking visual message of concern for our natural environment. They change regularly as they travel through the country, talking and singing, stopping to mend and acquire fresh patches for the coat.

This Holy Week we are all on a pilgrimage. Jesus entered Jerusalem, the centre of his faith, carrying the weight of his people’s hopes. We can join him in our services and our imaginations, as he teaches in the temple and shares a final passover meal with his disciples. In this, as in every, year, he bears our deepest longings for peace and justice. He will carry them through the indignities of a criminal’s death to the tomb, where our Lenten pilgrimage ends. Stripped bare of the trappings of humanity, he carries them to his Father, who receives and blesses all we hold dear in our beautiful, troubled world.

Ours is a strange pilgrimage, carried out at work, at home, on holiday, as well as in church. But we are together this week, learning with his followers everywhere what it means to be faithful to the one who continues to give us hope and show us his Way.

Lord Jesus,                                                 

keep us close to you                                           

as we journey with you                                      

through this Holy Week,                                          

that we may learn your power                                                                

to bless all in our prayers                                                    

with your risen Life.                                              

Amen  

For more information on the coat and its journey click Coat of Hopes