A short service and reflection for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

You may wish to light a candle before you begin.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

God of constant mercy, who sent your Son to save us: remind us of your goodness, increase your grace within us, that our thankfulness may grow, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

We come before God’s gracious mercy, in sorrow for our sins, and seeking his help and strength.

O Lord our God, we confess before you the sins by which we have displeased you: the wrong things we have done, and the good we have failed to do. Help us and comfort us, cleanse us from our sins and renew us in your service,  in Jesus’ name. Amen.

May almighty God free us from our sin and from all that may harm us, and make us worthy of the kingdom of his glory.  Amen.

God’s Word 

Romans, chapter 12, verses 9 to the end :-

Love in all sincerity, loathing evil and holding fast to the good. Let love of the Christian community show itself in mutual affection. Esteem others more highly than yourself.

 With unflagging zeal, aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Let hope keep you joyful; in trouble stand firm; persist in prayer; contribute to the needs of God’s people, and practise hospitality. Call down blessings on your persecutors - blessings, not curses. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in agreement with one another. Do not be proud, but be ready to mix with humble people. Do not keep thinking how wise you are.

Never pay back evil for evil. Let your aims be such as all count honourable. If possible, so far as it lies with you, live at peace with all. My dear friends, do not seek revenge, but leave a place for divine retribution; for there is a text which reads, ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.’ But there is another text: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; by doing this you will heap live coals on his head.’ Do not let evil conquer you, but use good to conquer evil.

Matthew, chapter 16,  verses 21 to the end :-

From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem, and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes; to be put to death, and to be raised again on the third day. At this Peter took hold of him and began to rebuke him: ‘Heaven forbid!’ he said. ‘No, Lord, this shall never happen to you.’ Then Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Out of my sight, Satan; you are a stumbling block to me. You think as men think, not as God thinks.’

Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must renounce self; he must take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What will anyone gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his life? Or what can he give to buy his life back? For the Son of Man is to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will give everyone his due reward. Truly I tell you: there are some of those standing here who will not taste death before they have seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Readings

“He hasn’t made much of a success of his life, I suppose, but he always seems happy enough.” So said a friend to me the other day about someone we both know, a man of great talent and skill who could probably have been very successful in worldly terms, but chose not to be. I found myself not quite at ease with this analysis.

It was the implication that he wasn’t successful that I found difficult, I think. Because he  hadn’t built up his business into something worth millions (and perhaps he could have done), and because he hadn’t made a name for himself that the world would recognise (and again, he probably could have). But he was a kind and pleasant person, good to be with, and, above all, happy. Isn’t that “being successful”?

Paul, writing to the Church in Rome, gives his readers a list of ethical imperatives that can be summed up in the last words of the chapter: “Use good to conquer evil.” Paul writes about making space with others in mind, living with sympathy and empathy, and being prepared to mix with all sorts, to be hospitable to everyone, and to call down blessings even on those who treat you badly.

I recall a friend many years ago who chose to escape the rat race by setting up his own small business; and at the time he said to me, “I’m happy to climb as high as you want in the world, but I’ll not do it by trampling over other people.” I think Paul would have recognised and approved of that philosophy. “Never pay back evil for evil,” says Paul, “Live at peace with others if you possibly can.” 

But where I find him a bit more difficult is when he goes on to talk about “heaping live coals on your enemy’s head.” OK, you’re doing it by being nice to him - feeding him when he’s hungry, giving him a drink when he’s thirsty - but it still comes across as somehow doing those things with bad intent.  My friend, after all, had chosen not to trample on anyone - not the good guys, but not the bad guys either.

But I think what Paul is really saying is something Jesus also said: “Don’t set yourself up as judge; leave that to God - leave it to God to be the arbiter of what is good and what is evil.” Maybe also a bit about not coming down to your enemy’s level. And behind all of that we need to be aware of the high priority given to hospitality in the world of those days - so that not to give food and drink to someone who needed it, whoever they were, would in itself be a deliberately bad and neglectful action.

Perhaps your kind and charitable response to the person who deals with you badly may change and convert them. If that happens, you’ll very obviously have overcome evil with good. But often it won’t, and people may think of you  as weak, and take advantage of you. Within yourself, though, you will still have overcome evil with good, and your heavenly Father knows that. And if your enemy does persist in repaying your kindness with malice, really it won’t be you heaping up the burning coals on his head . . . he’ll doing that to himself.

The same word in Greek, the language of the New Testament, means both happy and blessed: makarios. Happy are they who are content within themselves, rather than always striving to take on the world; and blessed are they also.

All this I think is what Jesus is talking about when he tells us we must take up our cross, in order to follow him. Though they find it hard to accept and understand, he’s started to talk to his disciples about how he will die. The way of the cross isn’t just about suffering, but it is always about sacrifice: living with others, caring for others, moving aside from the “me, me, me” of modern culture. Living as God calls us to live, carefully, practically, kindly, rather than dancing to the world’s tune.

Statement of faith 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for the world, and for those in places of leadership and power, in our own nation and across the world. Pray they may have vision and understanding, a desire for peace, and a concern especially for the poorest and most vulnerable among us. Continue to pray for co-operation and mutual support as we face up to the continued threat of Covid 19, and that the search for a safe and effective vaccine will be entirely successful. On the International Day of the Disappeared, pray for all who are imprisoned unjustly and without cause. 

Pray for the Church worldwide to bear the marks of kindness and concern, and to be united in both mission and service. Pray for Christians in India, and especially for the United Church of South India. Pray for our own Diocese - for Bishop Richard, and for the care, conservation and creative use of our church buildings.

Pray for all who are ill or troubled, and for their healing and health; pray for those infected with Covid 19, wherever in the world they may be. Pray too for the health, safety and protection of health care workers.

Pray for families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray for the safety and health of people at work, and also for those whose jobs have been lost or are insecure.  Pray we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for each other, and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing 

May God keep us steadfast in faith, joyful in hope and constant in love; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for Trinity 11

You may wish to light a candle before you begin.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

God of glory, the end of our searching, help us to lay aside all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom, and to give all that we have to gain the pearl beyond all price, through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession

Trusting in God’s gracious mercy, let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

Almighty and eternal God, you are the source of all healing and peace. We confess the times when we have fallen short of what you would have us be. We are truly sorry and repent of our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that henceforth we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

May the Lord God have mercy upon us; may he deliver us from all our sins, and strengthen us in all goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 to 8 :-

My friends, I implore you by God’s mercy to offer your very selves to him: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance, the worship offered by mind and heart. Conform no longer to the pattern of this present world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds. Then you will be able to discern the will of God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect. 

By authority of the grace God has given me I say to everyone among you: do not think too highly of yourself, but form a sober estimate based on the measure of faith that God has dealt to each of you. For just as in a single human body there are many limbs and organs, all with different functions, so we who are united with Christ, though many, form one body, and belong to one another as its limbs and organs. 

Let us use the different gifts allotted to each of us by God’s grace: the gift of inspired utterance, for example, let us use in proportion to our faith; the gift of administration to administer, the gift of teaching to teach, the gift of counselling to counsel. If you give to charity, give without grudging; if you are a leader, lead with enthusiasm; if you help others in distress, do it cheerfully.

Matthew, chapter 16,  verses 13 to 20 :-

When he came to the territory of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They answered, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’   ‘And you,’ he asked, ‘who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 

Then Jesus said: ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are favoured indeed! You did not learn that from any human being; it was revealed to you by my heavenly Father. And I say to you: you are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall never conquer it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; what you forbid on earth shall be forbidden in heaven, and what you allow on earth shall be allowed in heaven.’ He then gave his disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Readings

“You are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock I will build my Church.” With these words Jesus confirms Simon Peter as leader among the apostles; but as a foundation stone Peter comes across as a bit wobbly, surely? There’s no doubting his faith, or his boldness in speaking out. But this is the man who loudly denied on the night before the crucifixion that he had ever known Jesus. That may well have been a perfectly sensible course of action given the circumstances, but the fact remains that it was exactly what Peter had promised Jesus he would never do just a short time before.

And then, as he heard the cock crow, Peter realised - too late - what he’d done. “I will never abandon you, Lord,” he had said to Jesus. “Really, Peter?” said Jesus in reply. “Let me tell you that before the cock crows, you will have denied three times that you know me.” Peter collapsed in tears; he’d let Jesus down at the very first test. How quickly and easily he had reneged on that promise! How weak he was, how much not to be relied on. And yet Jesus had said to him, “You are the rock on which I will build my Church.”

So what had Jesus seen in Peter that was so special? Well, as we heard in this morning’s reading, he was the first to call Jesus “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter didn’t yet understand what this would mean; neither he nor any of the others could yet see how Jesus as Messiah would walk the way of the cross. But he could see that Jesus was more than just a rabbi, a teacher, more than just a good man, more than a prophet and a healer. Where Jesus was, God was present, and that when Jesus spoke, he did so with all the power and authority of God.

But then it was I think the very brokenness of Peter - Peter’s failure, and the self-awareness that sprang from it, that would make him a good and sure foundation. He’d always been quick to promise, and eager to do - too quick, though, and too rash in his eagerness. But then he’d learned that his own strength could never be enough. And he became the foundation on which the Church could be built only because he would be himself completely and utterly dependant on Christ.

“Offer your very selves to God,” writes Paul to the Church in Rome. And he goes on to say to them: “Do not think too highly of yourself.” Had Peter originally thought too highly of himself, I wonder? I don’t mean that Peter was boastful or conceited or looking for others to praise him. But I do think he thought he could do it all himself, that his own eagerness and loyalty and strength would be enough. Like the child in class whose hand always goes up first: “Let me do it, Miss!” - the ever-helpful one who can begin to get a bit wearing. He needed to grow up a bit.

By the time he wrote what we know as the First Letter of Peter he had. And this is what he writes in chapter 4 verse 10: “As good stewards of the varied gifts given you by God, let each use the gift he has received in service to others.” This chimes in with what Paul wrote to the Romans in our first reading about “belonging to one another as the limbs and organs of the body of Christ.”

Peter discovered that his own strength could never be enough, he needed to be strong not in himself but in his Lord. And for that to happen he had first to be made aware of his own weakness. A Christ-like church must be a servant church, and to be of service in the world we must first of all be serving and supporting each other. The image of the body of Christ is a very helpful one. For a body to function well, every bit of it needs to be working, working in ways that are coherent and mutually supportive. And a body is only truly healthy when each and every part of it is fully instructed by the head, fully on-message, to use the modern phrase.

As we begin the difficult transition from the Covid world to the post-Covid world, and try to discern how to be the Church of Christ within the new normal, our starting point has to be to take Peter and Paul seriously. We are the body of Christ, we say: and we must truly be that body, to be of use and service in the world.

Statement of faith 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for the world, and for every place of disharmony and division. Pray for the refugees and displaced people of our world, often living in places of great risk and need. Pray for the places of poverty and for those whose crops have failed. And pray for all who are abused, exploited or treated badly, perhaps because of their race, colour or faith. Pray for all who work to bring help and healing, to build bridges, to challenge injustice, and to inspire peace.

Pray for the Church worldwide to learn to be one body, true to the commands and example of Christ, especially that first and greatest command, that we should love one another. Pray for Christians in South-East Asia, and for the Anglican Province of South-East Asia. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard and for the churches and communities of the Condover Deanery.

Pray for all who are ill or troubled, that they may he healed and restored to health; pray for all in hospital or other places of care, including those infected with the Covid virus, here and around the world. Pray for the health, safety and protection of health care workers, and also for the continuing research to find effective treatments and vaccines to combat Covid.

Pray for families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray for all who manage and use our local village halls, and also for our schools as they look to the challenges of the new school year.  Pray we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for each other, and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing 

May the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory in Christ, restore, establish and strengthen us on a sure foundation; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

You may wish to light a candle before you begin.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

Lord of heaven and earth, as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer, give us patience and courage never to lose hope, but always to bring our prayers before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, trusting that in God our Father we may find forgiveness, renewal and peace.

Gracious and holy God, when we fail to be good stewards of your creation, forgive us; when we fail to be good stewards of your gospel, forgive us; and when we fail to be good stewards of your gifts, forgive us. Help us to use the time, the talents and the opportunities you give us to your glory and in ways that enrich the lives of those around us. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hear this word of pardon: through God in Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.  Amen.

God’s Word 

Romans, chapter 11, verses 1 to 2a, and 29 to 32 :-

I ask, then: Has God rejected his people? Of course not! I am an Israelite myself, of the stock of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected the people he acknowledged of old as his own. 

For the gracious gifts of God and his calling are irrevocable. Just as formerly you were disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so now, because of the mercy shown to you, they have proved disobedient, but only in order that they too may receive mercy. For in shutting all mankind in the prison of their disobedience, God’s purpose was to show mercy to all humanity.

Matthew, chapter 15,  verses 21 to 28 :-

Jesus then withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from those parts came to meet him crying, ‘Son of David! Have pity on me; my daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he said not a word in reply. 

His disciples came and urged him: ‘Send her away! See how she comes shouting after us.’ Jesus replied, ‘I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and to them alone.’ 

But the woman came and fell at his feet and cried, ‘Help me, sir.’ Jesus replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ ‘True, sir,’ she answered, ‘and yet the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Hearing this Jesus replied, ‘What faith you have! Let it be as you wish!’ And from that moment her daughter was restored to health.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Readings

There is a thread running through both our readings today that is about exclusion. And then another common thread to do with persistence. And then, added to these, something important about what faith is, what faith does, and where faith is to be found.

Let’s start with Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul rejoiced greatly to find the gospel message he felt called to preach being enthusiastically received by Greek or gentile people, non-Jewish people. But he himself was a Jew, and so he also felt the pain of finding this same message rejected by those of his own faith. Why was this? Had God rejected his own people?

Paul could see how people who had been excluded - people he’d have excluded himself back in the old days - were coming with delight into a new faith in Jesus. It had always been God’s plan, he realised, that those who had been for so long excluded should now be included, so that in this new beginning there would be no distinction between Jew and Greek, and all would be one in Christ.

He could also see how faith, in other words trusting in Jesus and in the healing and reconciling power of the cross, rather than law - the requirement to keep to the letter every facet of the Law of Moses - was becoming the basis for a new form of community, marked by healing, thanksgiving, peace and mutual love.

And yet his own people seemed for the most part to be excluding themselves from this new way. For Paul this was hard to take. In the reading we heard this morning he suggests a link between the new obedience of those who once were excluded, and the new disobedience of those (his own people) who continued to claim that they and only they were God’s chosen people. And, looking at this, he insists that it remains God’s purpose to show mercy to all humanity, and not to be partial. Jesus died on the cross not for some people, but for all people; not to change some human situations, but every human situation.

But it remains up to us whether we accept that, whether we respond to it. At the heart of it all is love: Jesus is the King of love. And love cannot force or compel, it can only love, and wait for the other to respond - it can only attract and serve, and risk being ignored, rejected or taken advantage of.

God’s purpose is to show mercy to all humanity, wrote Paul. But that’s not so clear when we start to read our passage from Matthew’s Gospel which begins with Jesus in the region of Tyre and Sidon, modern-day Lebanon, and back then a very mixed community, many if not most of whose members would not have been Jews.

A woman described here as Canaanite, and in other Gospels as Syro-Phoenician - certainly not a Jew, anyway - is being troublesome. Or so the disciples think, we find. They’re urging Jesus to get rid of her, but he in fact just chooses to disregard her completely. He blanks her, and she is excluded, because she isn’t one of the lost sheep of Israel, and therefore she isn’t the concern of Jesus at all.

But what she is, is persistent, not on her own behalf, but for her sick daughter.  So at last Jesus does have to respond to her directly. He speaks to her as any Jewish rabbi might be expected to speak to one who has been excluded, who doesn’t count: “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs!” “But the dogs can still take the scraps from under the table,” replied the woman.

Had Jesus deliberately provoked her into a profession of faith that would astound and maybe open the eyes of his disciples? Or had Jesus meant what he said, until the woman’s firm and faithful response changed his understanding? We can’t be completely sure, but this we can say - the story shows us how faith can cross boundaries and break barriers. We see that persistence pays off in prayer as it does elsewhere, and that in reality the love of God seeks to exclude no-one.

And nor should we. “Love your neighbour as yourself,” says the Summary of the Law. And my neighbour isn’t the person of the same tribe as me, or the person who looks like me, or thinks like me, or votes like me. He or she is the person who needs the help I can give. Without regard for race or religion or even merit. That is how God sees us; and that is how should see and deal with one another.

Statement of faith 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for the world:  that leaders of nations may work together for harmony, fellowship and peace, and with full regard for human rights and freedom, especially on this World Humanitarian Day; that across the world we may work together for the common good, especially as we face up to the continued impact of Covid 19: and that the work to find an effective cure may meet with success, and its fruits be made available to all. 

Pray that the Church in every place may be fervent in prayer, strong in faith and purpose, and open to all. Pray for Christians in Scotland, and for the life and work of the Scottish Episcopal Church. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and today especially for all that helps to create good and creative links between church and community in each local place.

Pray for all who are ill or troubled, especially those we know, and for their help and healing; pray for all in hospital or other places of care this weekend, including those infected with the Covid virus. Pray also for the health, safety and protection of all who care for others.

Pray for our families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray for all who have lost jobs, or whose employment is insecure. Pray for our shops and high streets under pressure. Pray too that we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for each other, and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing 

May God, who no longer calls us strangers and foreigners but has made us fellow-citizens with all the saints, bring us into full fellowship with him; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for the 9th Sunday after Trinity

You may wish to light a candle before you begin.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

Gracious Father, revive your Church in our day, and make her holy, strong and faithful, for your glory's sake in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

As God’s family, we turn to him to offer our penitence and praise, for he is full of gentleness and compassion. Let us then ask his forgiveness of our sins.

We confess to God that we have sinned in thought, word and deed, and in the things we have failed to do. Most loving Father, where sin has divided and scattered, may your love make us whole again; where sin has brought weakness, may your power heal and strengthen us; and where sin has brought death, may your Spirit raise us to new life. Amen.

May God through his forgiveness draw us closer to him, and in him closer to one another, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

God’s Word - Romans, chapter 10, verses 5 to 15 :-

Of righteousness attained through the law Moses writes, ‘Anyone who keeps it shall have life by it.’ But the righteousness that comes by faith says, ‘Do not say to yourself, “Who can go up to heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ‘or, “Who can go down to the abyss?”’ (to bring Christ up from the dead). And what does it say next? ‘The word is near you: it is on your lips and in your heart’; and that means the word of faith which we proclaim. If the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ is on your lips, and the faith that God raised him from the dead is in your heart, you will find salvation. For faith in the heart leads to righteousness, and confession on the lips leads to salvation.

Scripture says, ‘No one who has faith in him will be put to shame’: there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord is Lord of all, and has riches enough for all who call on him. For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how could they call on him without having faith in him? And how could they have faith without having heard of him? And how could they hear without someone to spread the news? And how could anyone spread the news without being sent? As scripture says, ‘How welcome are the feet of the messengers of good news!’

Matthew, chapter 14,  verses 22 to 33 :-

As soon as they had finished, Jesus made the disciples embark and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he dismissed the crowd; then he went up the hill by himself to pray. It had grown late, and he was there alone. The boat was already some distance from the shore, battling with a head wind and a rough sea. Between three and six in the morning he came towards them, walking across the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were so shaken that they cried out in terror: ‘It is a ghost!’ But at once Jesus spoke to them: ‘Take heart! It is I; do not be afraid.’

Peter called to him: ‘Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you over the water.’ 

‘Come,’ said Jesus. Peter got down out of the boat, and walked over the water towards Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the gale he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, ‘Save me, Lord!’ Jesus at once reached out and caught hold of him. ‘Why did you hesitate?’ he said. ‘How little faith you have!’ Then they climbed into the boat; and the wind dropped. And the men in the boat fell at his feet, exclaiming, ‘You must be the Son of God.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Readings

It was forty years ago at the end of June last that I first went, in some fear and trepidation, to Lichfield Cathedral, there to have hands laid upon me and to begin my ministry as a deacon. A year later I returned to be ordained as a priest; and on both occasions I think I shared something of what it may have felt like for Peter to have left the safety of the boat to walk across the water to Jesus.

It’s all right to begin with, but then when you start to really think about what you’ve set yourself to do, and just how impossible it really is, your nerve begins to fail you, and you find yourself sinking. “Save me, Lord,” cries Peter at that point, and Jesus reached out and held him up. “Why did you hesitate?” he asks him, as they climb into the boat.

This strange story is told partly to demonstrate that in Christ all the creative power of God resides. After all, the story includes the sudden stilling of the storm wind against which the boat had been battling, as soon as Jesus steps on board, which connects this story to the account of Jesus stilling another storm which had terrified his disciples on the lake, which we can read in Matthew chapter 8. Mark and John also tell the story of Jesus walking on water, but only in Matthew’s version do we have Peter trying to do the same.

And by including Peter’s failed attempt, Matthew makes the story one not only about authority, but also faith. It was Peter’s faith that failed him; and why? Because he was suddenly aware of just how strong the wind was, and how high the waves.

The late Anglican priest and preacher Roly Bain, who also performed as a clown under the name “Holy Roly”, used to tell his own version of this story while doing a tightrope walk across the church. Like many tightrope walkers aiming to scare the crowd a bit while entertaining them, he would seem to lose his balance halfway across, and sway on the wire. But his walk was one with a serious message. To walk a tightrope you need to have your eyes firmly fixed on the destination point, so that you are completely focused on that, and not distracted by anything else. And Roly would have fixed a great cross as his destination point.

The apostle Paul would have understood that well, for he wrote this to the Church in Corinth: “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Roly’s message was that to walk the way of faith he - and you - would need to keep eyes and heart and mind firmly fixed on Jesus. And that’s what Peter was managing to do, until the wind and the waves distracted him.

Forty years on from my ordination, I can see - looking back - many occasions on which I got distracted - times when the sea around me seemed too rough, the demands on me too great, my faith not enough, my nerve gone. At my ordination, the bishop had prayed, “May their life be disciplined and holy, their words declare your love, and their actions reveal your glory.” But we’re only human. Mistakes get made. Things go wrong. It took me a while to realise that my job is to persevere in doing the best I can. Amazingly, God has called me despite my imperfection, and he goes on calling me despite my mistakes. His faith in us bridges the gap between faith and practice in our own lives. Peter failed in his attempt, but Jesus caught him.

And of course, it’s not only ordained folk that all this refers to. We’re all in the same boat, or out of it. All of us are called to share God’s love, and to act in ways that reveal his glory. And all of us fail in the attempt. But let’s not ever give up. For our weakness is known and understood, our sins forgiven - if we re-fix our eyes on Jesus, and keep striving, and keep loving, and keep going.

Statement of faith 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for the world, and that we may live in harmony with one another, and with respect and care for God’s creation. Pray for the leaders of nations, that they may work together for the peace of all, and with regard for the needs and rights of all. Continue to pray that we may work together and support each other as we face up to the continued threat of Covid 19: for the places where the impact of the disease is growing, and for all that is being done to develop treatments and vaccines. 

Pray that the Church in every place will be strong in faith and active in service. Pray for Christians in Rwanda, and for the Anglican Province of Rwanda. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and today especially for the churches and communities of the Clun Forest Deanery.

Pray for all who are ill today, especially those known to us, and for everyone who is in hospital or some other place of care. Pray for those waiting for operations or courses of treatment, and for all who have tested positive for Covid 19. Pray for the treatment, care and recovery of all who are ill, and the safety of all who care for others.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for the places where new virus infection clusters or spikes have been identified, and for all who feel they are particularly at risk. Pray we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for each other, and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing 

God grant us a spirit of unity and common purpose, that with one voice we may glorify his name; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for the 8th Sunday after Trinity

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

Lord God, your Son left the riches of heaven and became poor for our sake: when we prosper save us from pride, when we are needy save us from despair, that we may trust in you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Trusting in his forgiving love, let us make confession to our heavenly Father.

Holy God, hear our prayer: for the mending of our hearts, torn apart by our unkindness; for the healing of our souls, wasting away from the despair around us; for the forgiveness we seek for the sin we have allowed to persist; and for the reconciliation of the world, whose division condemns us. We pray for the courage to admit our fault, the strength to amend our actions, and the hope that your grace awaits us. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

May God our Father deliver us from our sins, heal our hearts, and kindle within them the flame of his love,  for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

God’s Word

Romans, chapter 9, verses 1 to 5 :-

I am speaking the truth as a Christian; my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, assures me that I do not lie when I tell you that there is great grief and unceasing sorrow in my heart. I would even pray to be an outcast myself, cut off from Christ, if it would help my brothers, my kinsfolk by natural descent. They are descendants of Israel, chosen to be God’s sons; theirs is the glory of the divine presence, theirs the covenants, the law, the temple worship, and the promises. The patriarchs are theirs, and from them by natural descent came the Messiah. May God, supreme above all, be blessed for ever! Amen.

Matthew, chapter 14 verses 13 to 21 :-

Having heard of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew privately by boat to a remote place; but large numbers of people heard of it, and came after him on foot from the towns. When he came ashore and saw a large crowd, his heart went out to them, and he healed those who were sick. As evening drew on, the disciples came up to him and said, ‘This is a remote place and the day has gone; send the people off to the villages to buy themselves food.’ Jesus answered, ‘There is no need for them to go; give them something to eat yourselves.’ 

‘All we have here’, they said, ‘is five loaves and two fish.’  ‘Bring them to me,’ he replied. 

So he told the people to sit down on the grass; then, taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied; and twelve baskets were filled with what was left over. Some five thousand men shared in this meal, not counting women and children.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Readings

It has felt very strange over the past few months not to have received the bread and wine of communion. Some of my colleagues have continued regularly to celebrate communion at home while churches were closed, but for me it would have felt wrong to do that - not that I would want to criticise those who have. It’s just that for me the fellowship of communion is of overriding importance: not just the closeness to God I feel when receiving the bread and wine, but the fellowship I share with those around me. And so it’s felt wrong to make my own communion (other than in a spiritual sense) while my congregations have been excluded.

I’ve met each week through lockdown with a group of friends for a drink and a chat on Zoom; next week though we’re going to meet up in reality, and to share a meal together. I’m really looking forward to it. Eating together is an important expression of fellowship. The hospitality of the table is part of the joy of friendship, and it’s also a duty of community. For Jesus, not to have offered that hospitality to the people who’d come out to hear him in the wilderness would have been unthinkable, even though he’d really been trying to get some quiet time on his own.

While the feeding of the 5,000 - as this meal has come to be called - is not the Holy Communion, I can’t help but find myself thinking about communion. For both this miraculous meal and the Lord’s Supper share a message that is about God’s grace and abundant provision for his people. God’s generosity, in fact. In God’s grace and generosity we can discover a new fellowship. And in response to God’s grace and generosity we can learn to act with generosity and grace as his people.

And both these stories of meals begin with a need we don’t have the resources to meet. With five loaves and two fish, the disciples had hardly enough for their own needs, let alone a crowd that was actually much more than five thousand people, since it was only the men who were actually counted. “Five loaves and two fish! What are they among so many?” “Even so, bring them to me,” replies Jesus.

Last week we heard the story of the pearl of great price, and the man who sold everything he had to buy it. The message of the parable is that the Kingdom of God has to have first place in our lives. The message here is the same. We may not have very much, but if we offer it all, God is able to do great things with it. Everyone ate well that day, including the disciples who offered the bread and fish in the first place.  Those who gave also received back, and abundantly. But the question that’s left at the end of the story is this: what would have happened without that original offer of five loaves and two fish?

Bread is also divided and shared at the last supper. “Take this and eat it - this is my body,” says Jesus to his surprised and shocked disciples. The need here is starker and deeper than the mere physical hunger of people who’ve trekked round the lake side. It’s dark outside as Jesus shares this supper, and the forces of darkness are closing in. Our much-vaunted independence and freedom mires the world in sin, and, left to ourselves, we can do nothing about it. “The wages of sin are death,” as we heard Paul say in our reading a few weeks back.

And here Jesus offers himself, to take our place, and to bear the weight of our sin, and to lead us to life. At that table that night he shared bread to make his friends part of that story, and to open God’s generous heart to them, and also to us; for every communion service brings us to that same table.

So of course I miss it terribly, and I long to take communion again; and - with care and keeping safe - I hope we may begin to hold communion services again this month or from September. But even if the physical act of Holy Communion is unavailable, the message of communion remains at the heart of my faith: of the generous and hospitable God whose glory and love is revealed in Jesus - who gives more than we can ask or deserve, and who does such amazing and wonderful things when his Church in fellowship discovers a generosity that reflects his love.

Statement of faith 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for peace in our world, and for all who are exploited or abused by others, or treated unjustly. Pray for those who are tempted to misuse the power they hold, and for all who have been forced to live as refugees and displaced people. Continue to pray for strength and unity of purpose as the world faces up to the threat of Covid 19, and for all that is being done to develop treatments and vaccines. 

Pray that the Church everywhere may in its generosity and hospitality reflect the generosity of our God. Pray for Christians in north Africa, and for the new Anglican Province of Alexandria. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for all that is being done in our Diocese to encourage and resource a spirit of outreach and mission in each local church and deanery.

Pray for all who are ill today, especially those whose situations we know, and all who are in hospitals and other places of care. Pray for those whose diagnosis or treatment has been delayed by the Covid crisis, and also for all who are suffering directly as a result of Covid 19 virus infection. Pray for the care and recovery of all who are ill , and the safety of healthcare workers.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Give thanks for the new opportunities to see families and friends that the easing of restrictions allows, and pray we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for one another, and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing 

May the generosity of God support, encourage and strengthen us, and open our hearts to be generous in all we offer and do; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for Trinity 7

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect

Generous God, you give us gifts and make them grow: though our faith is small as mustard seed, make it grow to your glory and the flourishing of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

Have mercy upon us, Lord, as we have hoped in you.
Lord, have mercy.     
Lord, have mercy.
Bring in your justice, and break in us the power of evil.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Hear our prayer, and answer us in your righteousness.
Lord, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy.

May God our Father deliver us from our sins, heal our hearts, and kindle within them the flame of his love,  for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

God’s Word - 
Romans, chapter 8, verses 26 to the end :-

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness. We do not even know how we ought to pray, but through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us, and God who searches our inmost being knows what the Spirit means, because he pleads for God’s people as God himself wills; and in everything, as we know, he co-operates for good with those who love God and are called according to his purpose. For those whom God knew before ever they were, he also ordained to share the likeness of his Son, so that he might be the eldest among a large family of brothers; and those whom he foreordained, he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

With all this in mind, what are we to say? If God is on our side, who is against us? He did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all; how can he fail to lavish every other gift upon us? Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? Not God, who acquits! Who will pronounce judgement? Not Christ, who died, or rather rose again; not Christ, who is at God’s right hand and pleads our cause! Then what can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or hardship? Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or sword? 

'We are being done to death for your sake all day long,’ as scripture says; ‘we have been treated like sheep for slaughter’ - and yet, throughout it all, overwhelming victory is ours through him who loved us. For I am convinced that there is nothing in death or life, in the realm of spirits or superhuman powers, in the world as it is or the world as it shall be, in the forces of the universe, in heights or depths: nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew, chapter 13 verses 31 to 33, and 44 to 52 :-

This is another parable Jesus gave them: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Mustard is smaller than any other seed, but when it has grown it is taller than other plants; it becomes a tree, big enough for the birds to come and roost among its branches.’

‘The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure which a man found buried in a field. He buried it again, and in joy went and sold everything he had, and bought the field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like this. A merchant looking out for fine pearls found one of very special value; so he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

‘Again the kingdom of Heaven is like a net cast into the sea, where it caught fish of every kind. When it was full, it was hauled ashore. Then the men sat down and collected the good fish into baskets and threw the worthless away. That is how it will be at the end of time. The angels will go out, and they will separate the wicked from the good, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ he asked; and they answered, ‘Yes.’ So he said to them, ‘When, therefore, a teacher of the law has become a learner in the kingdom of Heaven, he is like a householder who can produce from his store things new and old.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Reading

What exactly does Jesus mean when he talks about the pearl of great price? Isn’t it an act of extreme foolishness for someone to sell absolutely everything he has in order to buy a single pearl? Unless, I suppose, he had the means and the contacts to sell it on quickly at a decent profit. Then it might just make sense; but somehow I don’t think that’s what the man in the parable was intending to do.

But then again, what if there was something so important in your life that nothing else matters? It can feel a bit like that when you first fall in love, especially I guess when that falling in love is accompanied by the crashing accompaniment of teenage angst and hormones. But people can be equally single minded in pursuit of a career or ambition, I suppose, some of them, anyway.

What this does connect into, as Jesus tells the parable, is something we’re being asked or challenged to do on Tuesday nights at the Zoom bible studies Mark and Ian are doing. In five minutes to tell the story of how I became a Christian. Hmm, that’s interesting, and to be fair we’ve heard some good and challenging testimonies. But I’m not sure I could quite do that. I’m not sure I have become a Christian, or at least I don’t think I could say it happened at this time on this day in this place.
I think I am work in progress, or maybe I should say process. I like the word process. I’m not the finished article, I’m still in the process of being formed and made. I’ve always been “in the church”, from a young child. I may have drifted away in my university days and later years, but somehow I drifted back. But there has never been one moment when I gave my life to Christ, to borrow the evangelical phrase.

So does that mean I’m yet to find the pearl of great price? Yes, maybe. But there have been times along the way, some of them times when I’ve been challenged, maybe when I’ve been hurt, others when I’ve felt blessed, times when in some way the penny has dropped, and I’ve had a deeper awareness of God’s presence and God’s love, God’s call as well. What I’ve heard called “disclosure moments”.

And, of course, even where people have had that one great crashing Damascus Road moment of conversion, that never can be the whole story. There’s always more to learn, further to travel, new challenges to face. The story of faith is different for every person of faith, and it needs to be. The Holy Spirit visits us as rushing wind and tongues of flame, but also as a still small voice in the quiet moments, or a brief time of insight within a busy day. Your story of faith is yours and God’s; don’t be put off by the fact that others tell their story differently.

But the process of faith, however it develops, is always about that pearl - that the love of God individually for you, for me, is worth more than anything else we can have or own or know. It’s the one thing that makes sense of me, of who I am. And as I discover that, I become more and more the person God is calling me to be.

Statement of faith

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 
We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. 
We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. 
We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for world leaders in the difficult and often demanding decisions they need to make in these troubled times; pray that all who govern may do so with wisdom and integrity, and with a heart for the poor and needy. As the Covid 19 pandemic continues to gather strength in many parts our world, pray that nations may be able to act decisively and with compassion to protect their citizens. Pray for research, and that a vaccine may be found.

Pray that the Church everywhere may be truly Christ-centred, and that all we do may be according to his will, and designed to affirm the value of our neighbour, whoever he or she may be. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the communities and churches of the Bromyard Deanery. In the week of Lammas Day (Saturday) pray for farmers and fruit growers within our diocese, and all who work for them to harvest their crops.

Pray for all who are ill or in any kind of need: for those in hospitals and other places of care, and for those at home who may be struggling or anxious. Pray for all suffering directly as a result of Covid 19 virus infection, and for their care, treatment and recovery , and for the safety of all healthcare workers.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray that as people return as visitors to our communities that this may be managed safely. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing

May the peace of God surround and sustain us in all that we do in his name; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us and with all those we love, today and always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

Creator God, you made us all in your image: may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

God our Father and Creator, we are the work of your hands, and yet we have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We confess that we have sinned against you and against our neighbour. Heal and restore us for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

May the Lord enrich us with his grace, and nourish us with his blessing; may he hear our cry and graciously absolve us from all our offences, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

God’s Word - 

Romans, chapter 8, verses 12 to 25 :-

My friends, our old nature has no claim on us; we are not obliged to live in that way. If you do so, you must die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the base pursuits of the body, then you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. The Spirit you have received is not a spirit of slavery, leading you back into a life of fear, but a Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit of God affirms to our spirit that we are God’s children; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ; but we must share his sufferings if we are also to share his glory.

For I reckon that the sufferings we now endure bear no comparison with the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is in store for us. The created universe is waiting with eager expectation for God’s sons to be revealed.

It was made subject to frustration, not of its own choice but by the will of him who subjected it, yet with the hope that the universe itself is to be freed from the shackles of mortality and is to enter upon the glorious liberty of the children of God. Up to the present, as we know, the whole created universe in all its parts groans as if in the pangs of childbirth. What is more, we also, to whom the Spirit is given as the firstfruits of the harvest to come, are groaning inwardly while we look forward eagerly to our adoption, our liberation from mortality. It was with this hope that we were saved. Now to see something is no longer to hope: why hope for what is already seen? But if we hope for something we do not yet see, then we look forward to it eagerly and with patience.

Matthew, chapter 13 verses 24 to 30, and 36 to 43 :-

Here is another parable Jesus gave them: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like this. A man sowed his field with good seed; but while everyone was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel among the wheat, and made off. When the corn sprouted and began to fill out, the darnel could be seen among it. The farmer’s men went to their master and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? So where has the darnel come from?” “This is an enemy’s doing,” he replied. “Well then,” they said, “shall we go and gather the darnel?” “No,” he answered; “in gathering it you might pull up the wheat at the same time. Let them both grow together till harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the darnel first, and tie it in bundles for burning; then collect the wheat into my barn.’” ’

Then he sent the people away, and went into the house, where his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable of the darnel in the field.’ He replied, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed stands for the children of the Kingdom, the darnel for the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed the darnel is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and the reapers are angels. As the darnel is gathered up and burnt, so at the end of time the Son of Man will send his angels, who will gather out of his kingdom every cause of sin, and all whose deeds are evil; these will be thrown into the blazing furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection on the Reading

I was reading a very interesting article last week in my wildlife magazine about cornfield weeds, which used to be widespread but now are in many cases all but extinct. The seed we plant these days is so much cleaner, and systemic herbicides can quickly remove what used at one time to be pernicious weeds. Many of those weeds have very attractive flowers - so these days you’re more likely to see them deliberately sown onto a road verge than wild in a cornfield.

Having said that, some weeds are still hard to root out. Tall growing wild grasses of various kinds - wild oats, for example - can’t be removed with systemic herbicides, since what would kill them would kill the crop as well. So the image in today’s Gospel of letting the things you don’t want keep on growing alongside the things you do want hasn’t entirely disappeared, even in modern farming.

In the story Jesus tells, it makes for a good metaphor for how things are. People ask me now and again how I can believe in a good God, when all around we see people who act badly prospering and doing well. I’d begin my answer by saying that I believe God is good not because of what I see in the world around, but because of what I see in Jesus. John tells us that though no-one has ever seen God, Jesus has made him known; and Paul wrote that, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” And then I might go on to mention that none of us is completely good.

But bad people do prosper, and horrific things can happen to folk who don’t seem to deserve it. The real world is all too often an unfair world. In an ideal world, no-one working to heal the sick would contract Covid 19 themselves. In an ideal world, cheats who exploit the vulnerable would be quickly caught and locked away.

But last week I was hearing a nurse describe to me quite graphically what it had felt like to catch Covid 19 and become desperately ill. Happily, she had pulled through, but it had been pretty rough. “Not something I deserved,” she told me, and I had to agree. And I also heard the story of an elderly lady who’d been rung up and told she owed back tax and was at risk of prison. A cruel scam call, but she’d been incredibly afraid and anxious, though again happily a neighbour had sorted things out for her.

People obviously asked Jesus the same question: “Why do the wicked do well? How does God let that happen?” And that’s why he told this story. Its message is that all of us stand under judgement, and that where wickedness thrives, it does so not because the hand of judgement will never fall, but because it is just for the moment stayed. There will be a time for all of us when we have to account for what we’ve done and what we’ve failed to do. And because none of us can guarantee the span of our lives, our time to turn to God is always now.

In each of us, there’s something of the fruitful crop, and something of the noxious weed. Christian growth is about rooting out the weedy and harmful stuff in our lives, to concentrate our hearts and minds on the fruitful and good: what helps and heals, and is pleasing to God.

Statement of faith

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world: for world leaders that they might have a love of peace and justice, and govern with wisdom and integrity; for those who live in poverty, and the victims of natural disaster or of the violence, injustice or race hatred perpetrated by others; and for the world response to the present pandemic, especially those who are working to find a cure for this disease.

Pray that the Church everywhere may be a place of welcome and acceptance, and of forgiveness. Pray for Christians in the Philippines, and for the Episcopal Church of the Philippines. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the team of Intergenerational Missioners working around our Diocese. Pray for all our work with families and children, for those who reach out to the broken and lost, and for places of Christian pilgrimage.

Pray for all who are ill or in any kind of need, including those who are anxious, grieving or lonely. Pray for all in hospital or other places of care, especially those infected by the Covid 19 virus, for their care, treatment and recovery , and for the health and safety of those who minister to them.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for all who are anxious about jobs and businesses at this time, and all who feel more vulnerable and fearful as restrictions are eased in the world around us. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing -

May God’s love surround us, God’s joy fill our lives, and God’s peace be in our hearts; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

Short Service and Reflection for Trinity 5

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

Almighty God, send down upon your Church the riches of your Spirit, and kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

You raise the dead to life in the Spirit: Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart: Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided: Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word 
Romans, chapter 8, verses 1 to 11 :-

There is now no condemnation for those who are united with Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus the life-giving law of the Spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death. What the law could not do, because human weakness robbed it of all potency, God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of our sinful nature and to deal with sin, he has passed judgement against sin within that very nature, so that the commandment of the law may find fulfilment in us, whose conduct is no longer controlled by the old nature, but by the Spirit.

Those who live on the level of the old nature have their outlook formed by it, and that spells death; but those who live on the level of the spirit have the spiritual outlook, and that is life and peace. For the outlook of the unspiritual nature is enmity with God; it is not subject to the law of God and indeed it cannot be; those who live under its control cannot please God.

But you do not live like that. You live by the spirit, since God’s Spirit dwells in you; and anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then although the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is your life because you have been justified. Moreover, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give new life to your mortal bodies through his indwelling Spirit.

Matthew, chapter 13 verses 1 to 9, and 18 to 23 :-

Jesus went out and sat by the lakeside, where so many people gathered round him that he had to get into a boat. He sat there, and all the people stood on the shore. He told them many things in parables. He said: ‘A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the footpath; and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil, and it sprouted quickly because it had no depth of earth; but when the sun rose it was scorched, and as it had no root it withered away.  Some fell among thistles; and the thistles grew up and choked it. And some of the seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. If you have ears, then hear.’

To his disciples, Jesus said, ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word that tells of the Kingdom, but fails to understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what has been sown in his heart; that is the seed sown along the footpath. The seed sown on rocky ground stands for the person who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy; it strikes no root in him and he has no staying-power; when there is trouble or persecution on account of the word he quickly loses faith. The seed sown among thistles represents the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the false glamour of wealth choke it, and it proves barren. But the seed sown on good soil is the person who hears the word and understands it; he does bear fruit and yields a hundredfold, or sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

For some reason, as I read through today’s readings last week, the phrase that came into my head was, “In Spirit and in truth,” words from John’s Gospel, chapter 4, verse 24: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Why should those words pop into my head, I wondered?

A second question. Is the parable of the sower aimed at the seed, or at the sower? In other words, who am I in this story? Is it about whether or not I grow, or whether or not I sow? And a third question: if, as Paul says, those who do not possess the Spirit of Christ do not belong to Christ, what exactly does it mean, to possess the Spirit of Christ?

There is clearly a connection between Spirit and truth, not only in worship but in all aspects of our daily living. One writer puts it this way: “To live a Pentecostal life means no longer hiding anything of myself from God, but letting the light of his love flood through every part of me.” He goes on to contrast this with the picture in Genesis of Adam and Eve hiding from God in the Garden, because they know they have disobeyed him. “It’s not that I am no longer sinful,” he writes. “I still get things wrong, but what’s changed is the relationship I have with the God who longs to forgive me and heal me.”

And this peace of mind gives him the courage to live the Gospel and to share the Gospel with others. Which takes me to my question about the parable - am I the seed or the sower? The short and simple answer is that I’m both, but we do tend to concentrate more on the seed when we read the story. Indeed, the explanation Jesus gives his disciples later - the second part of our reading today, is more about seed than sower, and perhaps designed to speak to a young Church living under persecution, with people falling away from the faith.

Of course, seed is useless unless it’s fruitful, and that’s what we should all aim to be. But is it the seed’s fault if it ends up on the rocks instead of in the soil? In the days before the seed drill, seed was broadcast across the poor land, and not all of it grew. And I see in this story a simple instruction to those who sow the seed, to an apostolic church, a church doing mission. Keep on sowing, and don’t be put off by the fact that not all the seed you sow grows to be fruitful. That’s in the nature of things. But if you don’t sow, then none of the seed can grow.

A good and careful sower will make sure as much of the seed as possible falls into good soil, and he’ll come back and nurture the growing crop, so as much of it as can grows well.  And that takes me to the question about what it means to have the Spirit of Christ within us. It doesn’t just mean that we’re filled with joy, it’s not just about knowing we’re saved, and no longer shackled by sin. It has an intensely practical side. Paul has a lot to say about the fruits of the Spirit - and perhaps the most important thing to say about them is that they’re all things we see in Jesus himself. And at its simplest, to follow Jesus is to be as like him as we can be - the great Shepherd of the sheep, and the great Sower too.

Statement of faith

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers 

Pray for the world, and especially for those places in our world where there is trouble and tension, and where people are unsettled, and unsure of their place, their rights or their future. Pray for those places where the resources are lacking to deal with Covid 19 and other urgent problems and threats. Pray for scientific co-operation, both to find a vaccine for Covid and to develop effective treatments and prevention strategies. Continue to pray  for wise and caring leadership in our own and every nation.

Pray that the Church everywhere may live and work and witness in the Spirit of Christ, and for all evangelists and preachers. Pray for Christians in Papua New Guinea, and for the Anglican Church there. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the churches and communities of the Bridgnorth Deanery. Pray too for Christian poets, and those who write songs and hymns.

Pray for all in need today: those who are grieving, lonely, worried or anxious, and all who are ill, including those infected by the Covid 19 virus. Pray for the care, treatment and recovery of all who are ill or troubled, and for the health and safety of all who care for them, and for all front line workers. Pray too for all who suffer from forms of mental illness, and those who offer support and care.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for our village shops and for other small businesses in our communities. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing

May the God of hope fill us with his Spirit of love and peace; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

Short Service and Reflection for Trinity 4, Sunday 5th July

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect

Gracious Father, by the obedience of Jesus you brought salvation to our wayward world: draw us into harmony with your will, that we may find all things restored in him, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

Almighty God, long-suffering and of great goodness, we confess with our whole heart our neglect of your commandments: our wrong doing and thinking, the hurts we have done to others, and the good we have left undone. Forgive us, Lord, and raise us to newness of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word 
Romans, chapter 7, verses 15 to 25a

I do not even acknowledge my own actions as mine, for what I do is not what I want to do, but what I detest. But if what I do is against my will, then clearly I agree with the law and hold it to be admirable. This means that it is no longer I who perform the action, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me - my unspiritual self, I mean - for though the will to do good is there, the ability to effect it is not. The good which I want to do, I fail to do; but what I do is the wrong which is against my will; and if what I do is against my will, clearly it is no longer I who am the agent, but sin that has its dwelling in me.

I discover this principle, then: that when I want to do right, only wrong is within my reach. In my inmost self I delight in the law of God, but I perceive in my outward actions a different law, fighting against the law that my mind approves,

and making me a prisoner under the law of sin which controls my conduct.  Wretched creature that I am, who is there to rescue me from this state of death? Who but God? Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Matthew, chapter 11 verses 16 to 19, and 25 to the end

Jesus said, ‘How can I describe this generation? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to each other, “We piped for you and you would not dance. We lamented, and you would not mourn.” For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and people say, “He is possessed”;  the Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drinker, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet God’s wisdom is proved right by its results.’

At that time Jesus spoke these words: ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and wise, and revealing them to the simple. Yes, Father, such was your choice. Everything is entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who are weary and whose load is heavy; I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble-hearted; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to wear, my load is light.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

I do sometimes feel that Paul tends to think too much. When he was on trial in Jerusalem, and speaking in his own defence, Festus, the Roman procurator or governor, interrupted him to say, “Paul, your great learning is making you mad!” Maybe Paul wasn’t always the best at expressing his thoughts in simple terms. But once you clear a way through it, our first reading shows us that Paul, like us, had a perpetual dilemma: knowing what he should be doing, he still doesn’t do it.

When lockdown started, I saw it mostly in terms of “tidy up”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a lot of the stuff I wanted to. But there’s still a great pile of paper in a filing tray that needs to be sorted through and filed or binned or otherwise disposed of. That was supposed to be my very first job, and I still haven’t done it. I am entirely and completely persuaded that I need to get it done; and I’ve had plenty of time to do it; and yet it remains undone.

Jesus described the reaction of the people to his ministry and to John the Baptist by comparing them to children singing in the street. Observation of the two of my grandchildren who happen to be brothers to each other suggests that small boys can be very good at finding, or manufacturing, reasons to fall out with each other. I was trying to talk to my daughter the other day while the two lads were noisily falling out in the background. “Nothing’s ever right for them,” she sighed.

It can feel like that sometimes. The same people who dismissed John the Baptist as a madman because he fasted, condemned Jesus as a glutton because he didn’t. Is that, I wonder, because we want a religion that suits us and approves of us, rather than one that challenges us? I’m reminded of the man who, as he came out of church one Sunday, said, “Good sermon, vicar! Just for once, I thought you didn’t mean me!”

Anyway, Jesus goes on to talk about things denied to the wise and clever people, but understood by those who are humble and simple. And Paul understood it too, for all his great intellect, though it did take being struck down on the road to Damascus to break through. To make him realise that the important thing about religion isn’t knowing lots of things, like exactly how a priest should hold his hands when saying the prayer of consecration, or what colour candle is lit on the Third Sunday of Advent, or how to calculate the date of Good Friday. Nor is it to do with keeping all the rules, getting it all legally correct. No - to be religious is to be in a relationship with God.  With Jesus.

Paul knew that. My life’s a mess, he tells us. I know what to do yet I don’t do it. I know what’s good, and yet I choose what’s bad. I keep on getting stuff wrong. And I don’t seem to be able to do anything about this. Not on my own. But, he goes on to say, with Jesus I can. On my own I’m lost, but with him, I’m found; on our own, we’re destined for death, but in Jesus we have the way to life.

My yoke is easy, says Jesus, and my burden is light. In fact, as one writer on this passage says, what Jesus asks of us is both easy and hard, at the same time. Because of Jesus, we’re no longer shackled to sin, we’re set free. But whenever Jesus says “Follow me,” he’s also saying “And take up your cross to do it.”

A friend of mine has a weakness for cream cakes. “I can’t help myself,” she tells me. And that’s it exactly. That’s what Paul is saying, too. I can’t help myself. The battle to live well is a battle I can’t win. But Jesus has already won it for me. That’s what the cross stands for. And that cross is the sign of our freedom to live thankful lives, to live serving lives, to live lives that will reflect his love.
Statement of faith - We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world:  where there is conflict and war may God bring peace; where people are belittled, abused or exploited may he establish justice; and where people are hurt, afraid or in a desperate place, may he enable the hungry to be fed and the hurt and frightened to find solace. Continue to pray for all that is being done to combat Covid 19 and to find a cure, and for wise and caring leadership in our own and every nation.

Pray that the Church everywhere may seek constantly to live in the light and strength of Christ and to be renewed in his image. Pray for Christians in Pakistan and for the United Church of Pakistan. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and that all that we do and plan may be grounded in a joyful and prayerful placing of ourselves under God’s will.

Pray for all in need today: those who are grieving, lonely, worried or anxious, and all who are ill, including those infected by the Covid 19 virus. Pray for the care, treatment and recovery of all who are ill or troubled, and for the health and safety of all who care for them, and for all front line workers.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. As society reopens pray this may be done safely and with care and thought for others.  Pray for all who have lost jobs or businesses, and for those who continue to feel vulnerable, and have either chosen or been instructed to self isolate. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing

May the almighty and eternal God sanctify and govern our hearts and minds in the ways of his commandments; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

Short service and reflection for Trinity 3, Sunday 28th June 2020

You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect 

God our saviour, look on this wounded world in pity and in power; hold us fast to your promises of peace won for us by your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

You were sent to heal the contrite: Lord, have mercy.   
Lord, have mercy.
You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy.                   
Christ, have mercy.
You plead for us at the Father’s right hand: Lord, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - Romans, chapter 6, verses 12 to the end :-

Sin must no longer reign in your mortal body, exacting obedience to the body’s desires. You must no longer put any part of it at sin’s disposal, as an implement for doing wrong. Put yourselves instead at the disposal of God; think of yourselves as raised from death to life, and yield your bodies to God as implements for doing right. Sin shall no longer be your master, for you are no longer under law, but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin, because we are not under law but under grace? Of course not! You know well enough that if you bind yourselves to obey a master, you are slaves of the master you obey; and this is true whether the master is sin and the outcome death, or obedience and the outcome righteousness. Once you were slaves of sin, but now, thank God, you have yielded wholehearted obedience to that pattern of teaching to which you were made subject; emancipated from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness (to use language that suits your human weakness). As you once yielded your bodies to the service of impurity and lawlessness, making for moral anarchy, so now you must yield them to the service of righteousness, making for a holy life.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. And what gain did that bring you? Things that now make you ashamed, for their end is death. But now, freed from the commands of sin and bound to the service of God, you have gains that lead to holiness, and the end is eternal life. For sin pays a wage, and the wage is death, but God gives freely, and his gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew, chapter 10 verses 40 to the end :-

Jesus said, ‘To receive you is to receive me, and to receive me is to receive the One who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will be given a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a good man because he is a good man will be given a good man’s reward. Truly I tell you: anyone who gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, will certainly not go unrewarded.’

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Slavery played a bigger part in the history of our land and in the process that formed our modern western society than we sometimes like to think. The National Trust is wrestling with that issue just now, having discovered just how many of the great houses it administers and opens to the public have a slavery connection. The mission agency I used to work for owned slaves on Barbados, and went on owning them after the slave trade ended, until the ownership and use of slaves became illegal some thirty years later.

The fact that slavery was a fact of life for people like Paul played its part in assuring otherwise faithful Christian people that it was all right, even divinely sanctioned. As of course did the sort of unthinking racism - or perhaps I should say racial stereotyping - that allowed a white man to say that because an African looked different from him he was actually inferior, and to deduce from that that God had placed the African peoples on this earth in order to provide labour for those superior peoples who happened to have white skin. We find such views so utterly offensive now that it can be hard to comprehend that for many people they were unquestioned, and just a fact of life, 250 years ago or less.

Now in Paul’s day slavery was not like that. It was not the enslavement of one race by another. Anyone could be a slave, and any slave might become a free person. A slave could rise to a high status in society, though of course many or most would not. You became a slave as the result perhaps of being on the losing side in a war, or finding yourself grossly in debt. Or you might even choose to be a slave. The Greek word is the same for slave as for servant; to be a slave might be a neat and effective career move, like the person today whose ambition is to be a butler.

And that’s why Paul can talk as freely as he does about slavery without causing offence. Society then saw nothing wrong in the idea of one person owning another.  A slave was of course bound to obey his or her master; you would be bound to him. So choose whose slaves you are, says Paul. You were slaves to sin, but you’ve been emancipated, set free. So don’t go back there. Don’t put any part of yourself at sin’s disposal. Be instead a slave to righteousness.

Sin tends to be thought of in predominantly sexual terms these days. And as the list of things society believes it’s OK to do widens, so what gets classed as sin gets narrower. We could find ourselves honestly believing that sin has no hold on us, that really we’re doing all right, and certainly we’re no worse than the next person along. But Paul is asking us, reminding us, to take sin seriously.

The Greek word we translate as sin isn’t so much about doing things that are wrong as not getting it right. Sin is missing the mark, falling short, messing up. Our sins of commission (things we do that are bad) are well outnumbered by our sins of omission (the good stuff we somehow just don’t get round to doing). And unless we recognise that, and address it, we’re not taking sin seriously.

A slave is 100% owned, and therefore must be 100%  alert, responsive and reliable. There is an old tradition that if someone saves your life you belong to them, and Paul I guess is thinking along those lines here. The wages of sin, after all, are death (everyone knows that saying, and most don’t know where it comes from, but you do - Paul to the Romans, chapter 6). So if we are free from sin, we are free also from death, and we owe our lives and our very selves to the one who saved us. Paul knew this as a personal truth. “I am no longer my own,” he said. “I belong to Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”  Amen.

Statement of faith - 

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers

Pray for the world:  for every place that is not peaceful; for every place where people are abused, enslaved, or denied human rights and access to justice. Continue to pray for the landless and refugee peoples of our world, often very vulnerable to illnesses, including Covid 19. Pray for wise leadership here and in every nation as we try to bring this disease under control, and for all who are working to find effective vaccines and treatments.

Pray that the Church everywhere may take seriously its call to faithful service, and that we may live as those who belong to Christ. Pray for Christians in India and for the United Church of North India. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard and for the churches and communities of the Abbeydore Deanery. Pray too for all Christian counsellors, spiritual directors and confessors.

Pray for all in need today: those who are grieving, lonely, worried or anxious, and all who are ill, including those infected by the Covid 19 virus. Pray for their care, treatment and recovery, and for the health and safety of all who care for them, and for all front line workers.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Continue to pray for our schools, shops and all places of work. As we re-open society may we do so safely and with care and thought for others.  Pray for all who have lost jobs or businesses, and for those who remain vulnerable. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing

May the wounds of Christ, who bore our sins in his body on the cross, be for us healing and peace; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.