'One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns'

Available for over a year

Good Morning. “One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns”. So went the rhyme I remember from my childhood. Even back then inflation had somewhat reduced the purchasing power of a penny, well below the value accorded to it back in the 18th century, when that phrase had been popularised by street vendors on Good Friday. Twenty pence, or four shillings in old money, would better reflect today’s prices. The buns themselves, together with their symbolism, go back much further in time. As well as the eponymous cross, signifying the crucifixion of Christ, the spices embedded in it represent those used to embalm Jesus, after his body was taken down, whilst the orange peel often included, stands for the bitterness of his suffering. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, efforts were made to strengthen their symbolic role, by preventing them being sold other than on special occasions such as Good Friday. Tell that to those supermarkets who now happily provide them all year round. Over these next few days, I’ll be reflecting on a number of foods that carry particular Easter associations. However, as yet, we’re still in that moment in the year when Christians focus on the death of Jesus, and its immediate aftermath, our eyes need to remain fixed on the tortures he endured, which for us demonstrate the deep and unswerving love and forgiveness, with which he reaches out to us. And so I pray: Lord Jesus, with every hot cross bun that I enjoy, draw me ever closer to you, who out of love for me, and for the sake of the salvation of the whole world, suffered and died on the cross. Amen.