Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be | Faith Matters

Christians throughout the world are preparing to celebrate Easter. On Good Friday Jesus dies on the cross. On Easter Sunday he rises from the dead. His followers encounter him again.

Unbelievable, for some. For others, it has inspired heroic acts of love and generosity across two thousand years.

Mary Magdalen is a key figure in the story of Easter Sunday. Jesus meets her first. He sends her as his messenger to the 12 disciples. In management jargon, they were the Church’s first board of directors.

Over time, stories get confused. Mary Magdalen becomes identified as a prostitute who is given a new life by Jesus. He loves her differently from the men who used her. He is not afraid to be touched by her. Not long before his arrest she brings him her expensive perfume. It’s a beautiful gift and Jesus doesn’t reject it.

Mary Magdalen is there at his execution. Crucifixion is slow, vicious, ingenious violence.

In the Church’s imagination, she has been used to this sort of behaviour by men. It’s how prostitutes are treated. The death rate is frighteningly high and only a fraction of deaths are ever investigated.

Pictures of Mary Magdalen often show her with the pot of perfume. The subtext is that dignity has been restored. But this can obscure the brutal reality of life for women who are trafficked for sex in our own time, in Sussex.

For over 25 years, Helena Croft has been working with women who are victims of sexual violence. She leads Streetlight UK, a charity that responds to needs, offering a way out, a new life. The team includes women who have found freedom through the work of Streetlight UK.

This Easter, I challenge you, especially if you identify as male, to read Helena’s new book, No Little Girl’s Dream. You can get it on Amazon.

It confronts male violence against women. It indicates why Jesus was different.

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Dates for your diary:

​• ​Find out what services are offered by your local church

The website ‘A Church Near You’ – www.achurchnearyou.com – enables you to easily see what services are being held by churches in your vicinity throughout the year.

​• Chichester Singers: Haydn, Bernstein and Jonathan Willcocks – Chichester Cathedral, Saturday, March 23, 7.30pm

The classical elegance of Haydn – Te Deum is contrasted by the evocative colour of Bernstein – Chichester Psalms (which was originally commissioned for performance in Chichester Cathedral) and the expressive beauty of Finzi’s elegy for solo tenor and strings Dies Natalis.

Remaining close to home, the second half of the programme features Jonathan Willcocks – A Great and Glorious Victory which dramatically chronicles the events of the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar with an overriding message of the triumph of humanity over the horrors of warfare.

Book at: www.ticketsource.co.uk/the-chichester-singers

​• Chrism Masses

As Christians observe Holy Week, so the Church in each place expresses the fullness of her life by gathering clergy and people with their bishop. Holy oils are blessed and consecrated for the year and the clergy renew their vows of ordination.

On Tuesday, March 26, the Bishop of Horsham will preside at the Eucharist and bless the oils at St Mary’s, Horsham at 12 noon.

On Wednesday, March 27, the Bishop of Lewes will preside at the Eucharist and bless the oils at St John the Evangelist, Preston, Brighton at 12 noon.

Bishop Martin will be present at both locations to preach and to receive the renewal of commitment to ordained ministry.