From the Gospel of Cleophas It was a conversation we didn't want to end.Feet and hands washed, we talked aslamps were lit. Bread and salted fish never tasted better;the wine sweet as any from Herod's cellar.It was a meal we didn't want to end. After a prayer he lifted up the loaf,tore it in two as if it were his own bodybroken in Jerusalem. Our slow hearts quickened;mouths mute in recognition.We did not want this meal to end. Jesus, our host, then and always. — Bill Rush
Behold the lamb Behold the lamb,woolly around the heart,milk for the soul,and gambolling spirit.Behold the lambtreading grain dutifullyin furrowed fields.Behold the lamb,obedient, docile and meek,bewildered on crags,alone in the desert. Lost.Behold the hesitant lambhomeless in Jerusalem,crouching in Gethsemane.Abused lamb slaughteredwithout a bleatwithout a sound. Behold the lambwhose silence in my heart says — Come and see.Come, becomethe lion and the lamb. — Marlene Marburg
Lazarus at our gate The rich man was preoccupied.Busy in his own way,what with household affairsand choosing the best linens for his suits,appearance matter to him,and organising the dinners,endless dinners with friends and colleagues.Fun of course, but important mattersto discuss too.The drinks bill was astronomical,but his purse was largeand he was generous,while still acting responsibly.To be fair, he wasn't a leaner,he was one of the lifters.Helped to keep the country running,so to speak,and speak he didoften, on many topics.He was a leader,and felt justified when others,in the region,followed his lead.It wasn't that he didn't seeLazarus,but more that hesaw him differently.Break the rules,help one starving beggarand before you know itthere will be a flood of themon your door step.That's how he arguedand plenty agreed.Judgement day was a long way off. — Maureen O'Brien
A Blessing for Easter Ongoing
May each coming of a new dayGreet you with inner lightFull of colour and joyImmersing your eyes and your soulWith new awareness of what it meansTo be alive
6th April 2015 — John Cranmer
Bill Rush is a Melbourne poet whose third book, Into the World's Light, was published by interactive Press in 2013.
Dr Marlene Marburg PhD is a director of Kardia Formation in Hawthorn. She is a spiritual director, formator and poet. She has two poetry collections Grace Undone: Love and Grace Undone: Passion.
Maureen O'Brien did research and writing for the Penguin reference book Chronicle of Australia.
A resident alien from South Australia in semi-hiding in Melbourne's outer east, John Crammer makes a profession