Governor's Report, Palm Sunday

Prefect of Judea to Military Tribune, Rome

My Lord,

There is growing excitement and growing tension in Jerusalem and the surrounding region, as the Feast of the Passover Approaches. There has been one major incident this week, which had been preceded by various rumours, a message from the Jews’ chief priest, Caiaphas, and a personal visit by him few days later. The rumours, and later message and visit, concerned a man going by the name Jesus who came to Jerusalem, although at the time of Caiaphas visit he had not yet arrived. Nevertheless, the high priest seemed to consider Jesus some kind of threat.

So far, although this Jesus has caused a little public unrest, it has been nothing our soldiers could not control. Any perceived threat by Caiaphas or his priests would appear to be mainly to themselves, not Rome, however we might still be forced to intervene at some point to maintain public order during the festival. The Pharisees appear to be worried that their authority as religious leaders will be undermined.

The public unrest I spoke about above is, to date, two incidents, one of which was really just high spirits in a crowd as the Passover festival draws closer and which resulted in a few minor injuries cause by the crowd’s own movement. The other a minor disturbance at the temple, dealt with quickly by a detachment of two contubernium of legionaires; no one was hurt. There was also an earlier report of the theft of a colt, that was later returned and found to have had reported stolen in error.

The first incident occurred when this Jesus entered Jerusalem. He came in riding the colt, that had formerly been reported as stolen, and appeared to be playing the part of a king for the crowd, which, at one point, was shouting “Blessed is the King of Israel”. It is our suspicion that the chanting crowd that followed Jesus on the donkey, all the way to the temple, was incited by a group of his followers, however we have been unable to confirm this. As the donkey carrying him approached the temple, the assembled people began to throw palm leaves ahead of the donkey as it made its way along the street.

This act of entering on a Donkey was, apparently, intended as a deliberate affront to the Jews’ priests. It might also be inferred that it was a slight to Rome however the watch commander wisely decided to let the incident pass, as to attempt to intervene to quell the crowd might have caused a greater disturbance, than the relatively good natured atmosphere prevailing. The crowd dispersed at dusk without further trouble and the man named Jesus we think left the city for the night time, thought to be going to the village of Bethany, nearby.

Tesserarius Laurentius is to be commended for his restraint in this matter. This is not the first time he has demonstrated good judgement whilst in command He might in due course be considered as a candidate for promotion to Centurion, to succeed his current officer.

The following day was another incident, initiated directly by Jesus according to witnesses. He had apparently re-entered the city soon after daybreak and made his way to the temple. No legionnaires arrived in time to take action in the matter, which was apparently over quickly.

Reports from witnesses indicate that Jesus entered the outer courts of the temple, where he was heard to shout angrily at the money changers and seen to tip over some of their tables of business. He apparently considered their presence sacrilege and attempted to drive them out. No one was hurt although the business in the outer temple courts was disrupted for a short time.

I intend to have this Jesus watched until after the Passover feast, to try and ensure no further incidents that might incite the crowd to further unrest. With so amy people in the city for the passover, the garrison is spread thinly already.

In regular matters we have collected approximately 2000 Denarius in additional tax in Jerusalem this week, due to the large number of people who have come to the city for the festival.

Your Servant, Sire,

Pontius Pilate

President's Spring Letter

And Lady Day Reflection.

My Dear Friends,

As I write this, it is still cold and we have lately had snow, but I am nevertheless filled with hope and confidence that spring is happening, the temperature will rise, the birds will nest and already there is an abundance of spring flowers in my garden. God is good.

There are also signs of growth in our Mothers’ Union groups in Bristol. We sadly mourn the loss of several long serving and faithful members, but I am thrilled by the number of new member forms that I am frequently being sent to process. If you are one of these members reading this now, welcome! It is wonderful to have you amongst us, congratulations on having joined this amazing global organisation! Congratulations also to the wonderful ladies who have been commissioned as Branch Leaders in the last few months, we are grateful and delighted that you have felt God call you to take on leadership roles and I wish you well. At the recent, well attended AGM and Member’s Day, I was excited to launch the President’s Challenge ’23. 10 bags, each

containing £23 have gone out to Groups. The challenge is to make something of this money, to use imagination and skill to grow and use wisely. The stories and returns will be collected at

the Autumn Gathering in October. A prize will be presented to the Group that is the most innovative and successful. Good luck!

If you were unable to attend the AGM day, you might like to view some of the photographs taken during the morning. In the afternoon we had a guest speaker, Sean Suleman, from the Blonde Angels Street Team. He spoke movingly about their work and told stories of hope as they work with the Homeless and help to move them forwards in their lives, showing care and compassion. We have already been supporting them with gifts of food and warm clothing etc. but now we have agreed to officially take this on as a project. #makingadifference being totally in line with our aims and objectives.

New straplines from Central MU state that we aim to: Stop Poverty, Stop Violence and Stop Injustice. We support this entirely, and by sharing God’s love with those around us, and

those in need, we are helping to make Jesus visible through the selfless work of the Mothers’ Union. 'And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.’ Romans 5:5

With my love and prayers and Easter blessings.

Jacky x

MU President Bristol

A Personal Reflection for Lady Day 25 March 2023

‘Inspire us in our faith that all things are possible with God’.

Lady Day - the Feast of the Annunciation - has been a significant day of prayer, intercession and thanksgiving for Mothers’ Union since 1897.

Bible reading: Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over

the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. ;The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said.

Luke 1: 30-33; 35-38

When you come to us

with gentle whisper

or mighty wind,

and ask what seems impossible

to human minds,

as you did to Mary,

may our response

not be to hesitate,

make excuses

or run away,

but to echo instead

those trusting

and beautiful words,

“I am the Lord’s servant:

may your word be fulfilled in me”

For Mary’s faithfulness

and her life of service

we thank you, Lord.

© John Birch

A Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ

give us, we pray,

the graces of Mary;

faith, patience,

ready obedience,

thankfulness

and courage. Amen

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Prayer For International Mother's Day 2023

Heavenly Father, You created us all yet we men have not treated women as their equals. Your Son, Jesus Christ was perhaps the first male feminist in his treatment of women, and in the example he set. His example could be followed my man more men around the world. While as a man I believe that women’s status has improved, they are still not treated as equals in most places.

We pray for the Mothers’ Union and all organisations and individuals who through action or prayer are trying to improve the status of women through equality and equity. Gracious God, guide and support all those supporting the initiative to #EmbraceEquity in whatever way they are able.

Educate men who treat women as second class citizens to the value of women, their ideas and thoughts. Prompt leaders and governments to introduce policies leading to impartiality and equality for women. We do not ask for special treatment. We ask for justice, equality and equitable treatment, to be judged on merit not sex.

Gracious God, bless women of every colour, religion, political persuasion, race, able bodied, differently abled, rich or poor, married or single, old and young. Empower every woman to meet men on equal terms in whatever field of endeavour they choose to pursue.

Lord and Father, on this Women’s Day we pray to you in particular for the women of Ukraine, trying to protect themselves and their families from invasion and war.

We set this prayer before you God and Father in the name of Your Son and of women everywhere.

Amen.