The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beeching
Day 35 – Monday in Holy Week – Captivated (still…)
To Read:
From the Scriptures:
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped the with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ (John 12v1-8)
From Vicky Beeching:
Captivated (still…)
Your laughter it echoes like a joyous thunder
Your whisper it warms me like a summer breeze
Your anger is fiercer than the sun in its splendour
You’re close and yet full of mystery
Ever since the day that I saw Your face
Try as I may, I cannot look away, I cannot look away…
Captivated by You.
I am captivated by You
May my life be one unbroken gaze
Fixed upon the beauty of Your face
Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my gaze
I’ll become more like You and my heart is changed
Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my view
Transform me into the likeness of You
This is what I ask, for all my days
That I may, never look away, never look away
Captivated by You.
Captivated by You
May my life be one unbroken gaze
Fixed upon your beauty. Fixed upon your beauty
No other could ever be as beautiful
No other could ever steal my heart away (repeats)
Just can’t look away…
I am captivated by You.
Captivated by You
May my life be one unbroken gaze
Fixed upon the beauty. Fixed upon the beauty.
Fixed upon the beauty of Your face. Beauty of Your face
To Listen: Captivated (still…) by Vicky Beeching
To Reflect:
Previously on The Wonder of the Cross…
Thus far Vicky has only written 40 Songs so for me to be able to include one on Easter Day as well as Shrove Tuesday I’ve had to double up on some. But this beautiful song needs to be played on a loop throughout Holy Week.
Poor Mary of Bethany. It doesn’t seem that she can get this whole idea of washing things sorted. Earlier on her sister Martha has a moan at her because she won’t help with washing the dishes. Now in Holy Week Judas has a go at her for washing feet. I wonder how he felt when a few days later it was him having his feet washed by Jesus…
But my advice is perhaps just as confusing.
On Saturday, looking at the song ‘Nothing is Impossible’, I suggested that we set ourselves free from ‘Silly devotions and sour-faced saints’.
In my next post today I am encouraging us to hand ourselves over to slavery and learn to be Captivated instead!
Of course the offering of our lives to our Beloved, our determination we might make [our] life one unbroken gaze, is devotion on a totally different level to whatever ritual we might find in a Book of Prayers.
To fix our gaze on our Beloved is to see the depth and breadth and length and height of God’s great love.
To fix our gaze on our Beloved is to find shelter from the violence and evil of the world around us.
To fix our gaze on our Beloved is to, please Lord, commit ourselves to being transformed into a loveliness that will give us the grace and strength and humility to walk You in the footsteps of love.
Like Peter, trying to walk on the water (Matthew 22v22-33), if we take our eyes away from Him and look at the stormy world around us we will surely drown. And at this time in the history of our in-Humanity there is much to frighten and concern us. In the intercessions on Palm Sunday did you wince with me when this petition was made:
For those who still make Jerusalem a battleground,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Ouch!
But not just Jerusalem. Mariupol, Mogadishu, Khartoum, Tehran, Beirut… [1]
What are we to do? As St Paul cried out centuries ago, ‘Who will rescue me [and us] from this body of death?’ and the reply remains the same ‘Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (Romans 7v24-25a).
There is, in some respects, nothing we can do in our own strength. Our forebears have tried to live lives of peace again and again and have failed again and again.
What we need is a Saviour.
Someone who knows about the costly price of making peace.
Someone who can carry this cross for us.
Someone who we can gaze upon, be captivated by, and try to imitate.
…and if we can do this who knows perhaps it will not only be we who are transformed but the world around us as well?
To Pray:
O Holy Jesus,
most merciful Redeemer,
Friend and Brother,
May I see Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
and Follow Thee more nearly,
Day by day.
(Richard of Chichester)
To Do:
- Play this song, or another one of Vicky’s songs that has captivated your heart, every day from today to Easter Day.
- Try to spend a few minutes each day of the week ahead gazing at a picture of Jesus that inspires you to give yourself away.
Here is collection of different faces of Jesus that may help you.
Going Further:
The Church of England has produced a suite of Videos and Study Notes using Mary of Bethany’s washing of Jesus’ feet as a way to encourage us to be generous in our devotion and offer all parts of our life to God. Aimed at small groups, it also works well as a basis for sermons or personal studies. Find out more here….
oooOOOooo
If you would like to find out more about Vicky and her work here is a link to her Wikipedia entry. For a fuller picture her autobiography ‘Undivided’ is highly recommended
Please Note: These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com on Bluesky as @suffolkvicar.bsky.social, and on my public Facebook page Suffolk Vicar – Rev Andrew Dotchin.
If you would like them as a daily email please send a request to revdotchin@gmail.com
If you have enjoyed reading them please make a donation to The Clergy Support Trust who provide generous grants to help clergy.
Acknowledgements:
These Reflections, ‘The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beaching’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that their source is acknowledged.
All of the music on the video clips are from YouTube and are © Vicky Beeching.
If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings. A full discography and other information about Vicky can be found on her website vickybeeching.com.
Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Prayers are from A Diary of Prayer compiled by Elizabeth Goudge and are copyright © 1966 The Estate of Elizabeth Goudge.
[1] For a list of ongoing conflicts across the world visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts
Suffolk Vicar 