Prayers produced by Geoff Baguley

Easter 3

Acts 9. 1-6 [7-20]; Psalm 30; Revelation 5. 11-14; John 21.1-19

 

We open with a mind - freshening morning prayer:

 

Thank you, Father, that the longest night ends in dawn and a new day. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Clear from my mind now all black thoughts of the night and give me confidence in your loving care as I face today. Give me your strength in my tiredness and the sure hope that your love will guard and keep me. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

As this Easter season continues, we can usefully pray that we can reflect the glorious Resurrection in our own lives with faith, hope and love:

 

Lord, at this Easter time we ask you to increase  our Faith our hope and our love.
Give us the faith that overcomes the world and enables us to face both life and death with calm and unafraid.
Give us the hope  that looks beyond this mortal life and grasps hold of  the things unseen and eternal.
Give us the love that binds us more closely to one another, and to you, our risen Lord; to whom be all glory and praise, dominion and power, now and for ever. Amen

 

The gospel reading tells us how Peter and some of the other apostles had reverted to their secular occupation. They knew about fishing but Jesus appears and gently but firmly calls them back to the ministry which he had already given to them:

 

Dear God, be good to me
The sea is so wide,
And my boat is so small.  Amen

(Breton Fishermen’s prayer)   

 

The lectionary calendar for this week prompts us to move from the straight simplicity of the Breton fisherman to the searing heart searching wisdom of Julian of Norwich.

 

Dear Lord, I can see that you are real truth . And I know that we sin grievously every day of our lives, and are most blameworthy. I can never hide from you the truth about myself. Yet I never see you blame us. How is this? since you do not seem to blame us, perhaps there is no such thing as sin. Yet surely such thinking is wrong, and I am ignorant of the truth? On the other hand, if we are sinners, terrible blame hangs over us. Good Lord, how is it that I cannot see the truth about sin my God and my Creator you know that I yearn to see all truth about you.  Amen

 

 

Easter 2

Acts 5.27-32; Psalm 150; John 20.19-31

 

In some ways this order of readings is back to front!  The Gospel reading is all about doubt and fear. The disciples are secretly meeting up in a locked room ‘for fear of the‘ Jewish establishment. Then Thomas the doubter has his incredulity overwhelmed and becomes the first to declare the Godhead of Christ.  By the time we get to the Acts the disciples (now apostles) have been transformed. They proclaim their faith fearlessly and defy the establishment of which they had been so fearful. For us, like them, it is a time of rejoicing. Do we proclaim our faith like they did?

 

Eternal God ,in whom is all our hope in life,,in death, and to all eternity: grant that rejoicing in the eternal life which is ours in Christ, we may face whatever the future holds in store for us, calm and unafraid always confident that neither death nor life can part us from your love, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

At this time we share the sorrow of our sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church mourning the death of Pope Francis. His genuine humility and love and concern for the poor and oppressed is to be treasured and followed by all Christians.

His death in Eastertide must be an encouragement to all who share his love for Christ and for all God’s creation so the hymn which bears his name is an Easter hymn:

 

All creatures of our God and king  
lift up your voice and with us sing Alleluia alleluia
thou burning sun with golden gleam
thou silver moon with softer beam
o praise him o praise him Alleluia alleluia

 

And all ye folk of tender heart

Forgiving others take your part o sing ye alleluia                     

he who long pain and suffering sorrow bear
praise God and on him cast your care
alleluia alleluia

 

And thou most kind and gentle death
 Waiting to hush our latest breath
O praise him alleluia
Thou leadest home the child  of God
and Christ our Lord this way has trod

 

Let all things their creator bless
and worship him in humbleness
o praise him alleluia
praise praise the Father and the Son
and praise the Spirit three in one.

Catherine of Siena is in this week’s lectionary Calendar. Here is her challenging look a Easter writte almost 700 years ago.

 

Dear Lord, it seems that you are so madly in love with your creatures that you could not live without us . So you created us and you redeemed us. Yet you are God and so have no need of us. Your greatness is made no greater by our creation , your power is made no stronger by your redemption. You have no duty to care for us, no debt to re-pay us . It is love, and love alone, which moves you. Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday after Trinity

Jeremiah  31. 7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 7. 23-28; Mark 10. 46-52

 

The liturgical car seems to change gear when the Sundays after Trinity come to an end and All Saints Day markst he first touch on the accelerator…  Having said that, we are going to start in the days of the horse and cart . This prayer dates from the 10th century !

 

How shining and splendid are your gifts, O Lord,
which you gave us for our eternal well-being !
Your glory shines radiantly in your saints, O God,
In the honour and noble victory iof the martyrs.
The white- robed company follow you, bright with their abundant faith;
they scorned the wicked words of those with this world's power.
For you they sustained fierce beatings, chains, and torments,
they were drained by cruel punishments,
they bore their holy witness to you,
who were grounded deep within their hearts,
they were sustained by patience and constancy.

Endowed with your everlasting grace, may we rejoice for ever with the martyrs in your bright fatherland,

O Christ, in your goodness, grant to us the gracious heavenly realms of eternal life. Amen

 

Although many French people live a secular life, they remember their parents at the cemetery on All Souls Day by laying flowers on the family graves. Spoiler alert! Avoid buying  chrysanthemums for a French lady -chrysanths are very closely associated with graveyards in France.

 

Eternal God, Lord of heaven and earth, we remember with thanksgiving, and commend to your infinite love, those faithful souls who having served you here on earth are now at rest in your presence, especially those most dear to us .
Give us grace to follow their faith and good examples that we may share their joy and at last be numbered with your saints in glory everlasting; Through the mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

The slight floral frivolity seemed best before our Lectionary commemoration this week. Martin Luther was often intense!

 

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith, strengthen me. I am cold in love, warm me and make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbour . I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether. O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in you. In you I have sealed tYou are rich and came to be merciful to the poor . I am a Sinner ; you are upright. With me there is an abundance of sin, in you the fullness of righteousness. Therefore I will remain with you of whom it I can receive but to whom I may not give . Amen

 

Trinity 21

Isaiah 53 .4-12; Psalm 91. 9-16 ; Hebrews 5. 1-10; Mark 10. 35-45

 

We rejoice as a benefice that we are able to count a number of new committed members of our church family who have this week been confirmed.

The following prayer is designed to record that and give thanks for that gift. Although it reads as intefor those who have just been confirmed, it is not out of place for those of us for whom confirmation is a long-treasured memory:

 

Lord, I can only see a little of the road ahead .

 I can't see my final destination.

 I can't even see over the next hill, know they'll be other ups and downs beyond it- high points from which one can see quite a long view,

valleys where the hills shut one in.

And some of those clouds may mean storms.

But the great thing is to have got started!

Lord, thank you for calling me, and setting my feet on the way.

Thank you for the map of the way, which is yourself. Lord, help me to persevere.  Amen

 

(Margaret Dewey - USPG) 

 

Eternal God,

we confess to you our sinfulness .

You made the world a paradise

but we have turned our lands into     

places of tears and unhappiness.

People are fighting with each other race against race. The holocaust of chauvinism sweeps through countries,

 devouring humanity, terrorising us into submission.

Liberating one, free us from all bondage so that our faith in you will make us free to create with courage a new world- new societies. Amen

 

Our reading from Psalm 91 this week is all about God's protection.. It is familiar to us as the recital by Jesus of what God does for him when he is being tempted in the desert . The importance of this protection is happily expressed in this Celtic prayer  .

 

O Christ, Son of the living God,                                                    

May your holy angels guard our sleep.

May they watch us as we rest

And hover around our beds.

 

Let them reveal to us in our dreams

Visions of your glorious truth,

O high Prince of the universe

O high priest of the mysteries.

 

May no dreams disturb our rest

And no nightmares darken our dreams

May no fears or worries delay

Our willing prompt repose.

 

May the virtue of our daily work

Hallow our nightly prayers.

May our sleep be deep and soft,

So our work fresh and hard.

 

Trinity 20

 

Amos 5. 6-7, 10-15; Psalm 90.12-17; Hebrews 4.12-16; Mark 10. 17-31.

 

The readings this week have much to say about our relationship with God both as individuals and as a community.

On the individual level St Teresa of Avila alwavs comes to mind as one who saw herself in a really close, intimate relationship with God. It happens to be the week  when her name appears in our lectionary.

 

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for not abandoning me when I abandoned you.

May you be blessed forever. Lord , for offering your hand of love in my darkest, most lonely moment.

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for putting up with such a stubborn soul as mine.

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for loving me more than I love myself.

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for continuing to pour out your blessings upon me even though I respond so poorly.

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for

drawing out the goodness in all people , even including me.

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for repaying our sin with your love. 

 May you be blessed forever, Lord, for being constant and unchanging amidst all the changes of the world.

May you be blessed forever, Lord, for your countless blessings on me and on all your creatures .

 

Perhaps it is a matter of length that has caused the lectionary to offer only the last verses, rather than all, of Psalm 90. Let us, however, pray one of the great hymns of Isaac Watts, published just over 300 years ago, his free paraphrase of Psalm 90 which illuminates the nature of our God to us as a community

 

                    O God, our help in ages past,

                    Our hope for years to come;

                    Our shelter from the stormy blast

 

                    And our eternal home.

                    Be thou our guard while troubles last.,

                    And our eternal home.

 

After the pomp and ceremony associated with that hymn here is a simple but effective pointer to our hope for years to come in a personal way that affects us as a community

 

          Lord let me not be the one to choose      

          which of my gifts you'd have me use ;              

          But lets me always wait and pray,                    

          for you to guide me on my way;                       

          So those I meet will always see                        

          More of you and less of me,

          (Mary Steer)

 

Harvest Festival

 

Joel 2  21 - 27 ; Psalm 126;  1Timothy 2 .1-7; Matthew 6,25-33

 

As an urban parish we are not at the sharp end of sowing, reaping and storing the produce of our fields. We know it has been a difficult year with so many stretches of bad weather. We need  to think when we go to the supermarket and complain about the prices. Many of those who produce our fruit and vegetables have sown and grown in faith, knowing nevertheless that the prices they are able to get next year are out of their hands. They pray that  prices will allow them to keep going and earn enough for them to live and carry on for another season.. The good things of harvest need to be shared.

 

Generous God, at this harvest time we thank you for all the good things you give us. As we thank you for our food, we remember all those who do not have enough for even one proper  meal each day. Lord, Bless all those who suffer because of the greed of others. We pray for the homeless, and those who depend on the charity of others. We pray for the work of the Daylight Centre, and local foodbanks, providing food for those in need. Help us to share the harvests of the world more fairly, so everyone can be fed and there will be no more starvation. Lord of the harvest: hear our prayer

 

 

No apologies for offering this prayer again for its simple sincerity and the message it serves up on our harvest plate

 

We dare not ask you bless out harvest feast

Till it is spread for poorest and for least

We dare not bring our harvest gifts to you

Unless our hungry brothers share them too.

 

Not only at this time, Lord: every day

Those whom you love are dying while we pray,

Teach us to do with less, and so to share

From our abundance more than we can spare.

 

Now with this harvest plenty round us piled

Show us the Christ in every starving child

Speak, as you spoke of old in Galilee,

You feed, or refuse, not them, but me.

(Lilian Cox)

 

We are watching a dreadful harvest in the Middle east. From intransigence and hatred spring up death and destruction. George Appleton when he served as Bishop of Jerusalem sought to build bridges between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities.His prayers such as this touch on the deepest human feelings and this reflects the problems that existed then and have still not been solved.

 

Lord, give to the nations wisdom to understand the things that belong to their peace and the will to reject the things that make for war. And we pray that, realising our common humanity, we may live together as a family and make the world a home, bearing one another's burdens, ministering to one another's needs, and obeying your laws in righteousness as children of one God and Father in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

 

Trinity 18

Numbers 11. 4 -6, 10-16. 24-29; Psalm 19, 7-14; James 5. 13-20; Mark 9. 38-50 

 

This week’s readings reflect an unfortunate human tendency – misdirected loyalty. Joshua, the model

supporter of  Moses, wants Moses to stop two prophets who received the Spirit by what Joshua

views as an administrative error to  be stopped  from prophesying. Moses  points out his mistake. John “Thunderson” a cherished disciple wanted Jesus to stop a man from carrying out exorcisms in the name of Jesus ‘ because he ‘isn’t a member of the union’  Jesus points out that whoever is not against us is for us. As even devout Christians still find things to quarrel about, we need constantly to be reminded of what Christ tells us:

 

Oh God of unchangeable power and eternal light, look favourably upon the whole church,

That wonderful and sacred mystery ;

and by the tranquil operation of thy perpetual providence

carry out the work of humanity's salvation:

that things that were cast down may be raised up , and that all things may return into unity;

through him by whom all things were made. Amen

((Eric Milner-White )

 

Exorcism, now referred to as ‘deliverance, has prompted many prayers, not least this one, thought to be of Cornish origin

 

From witches, warlocks and wurricoes, from ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties, from all things that go bump in the night - good lord, deliver us !

 

This is the week when we commemorate a man cherished   for centuries not just in Italy, Francis of Assisi. His prayer, inspired by the Lord’s Prayer, is long but unpacks so much that Christ left thought but unsaid:

 

 

Our Father, Our Creator, Redeemer, Our Comforter and Saviour.

 

Who art in heaven

You are with the angels and the saints, bathing them in your light that they may be enlightened by your love, and dwelling within them that they may be filled with your joy. You are the supreme good, the eternal good,

 from whom comes all goodness, and without whom there is no goodness.

 

Hallowed be your name

May our knowledge of you become ever clearer, that we may know the breadth of your blessings, the length of your promises, the height of your majesty and the depth of your judgments.

 

Your Kingdom come.

Rule in our hearts with your grace, that we may become fit subjects for your Kingdom. We desire nothing more than to dwell in your Kingdom, where we can watch you on your throne, and enjoy your perfect love.

 

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

May we love you with our whole heart by always thinking of you, with our whole soul by always desiring you, with our whole mind by directing all our intentions to you, and with whole strength , by spending all our energies in your service. And may we love our neighbours as ourselves, drawing them to your love , rejoicing in their good fortunes, and caring for them in their misfortunes.

 

Give us this day Our daily bread. 

In memory and understanding and reverence of the love which our Lord Jesus Christ has for us, revealed by his sacrifice for us on the Cross, we ask for the perfect bread of his body.

 

And forgive us our sins .

We know that you forgive us through the suffering and death of your beloved son.

 

As we forgive those who sin against us .

Enable us to forgive perfectly and without reserve any wrong that has been committed against us . And strengthen our hearts truly to love our enemies, praying for them and striving to serve them .

 

And lead us not into temptation.

Save us not only from obvious and persistent temptations, but also those that are hidden or come suddenly when our guard is lowered.

 

But deliver us from evil .

Protect us from past evil, protect us against present evil, and free us from future evil.  Amen

 

Trinity 17

Jeremiah 11.18-20; Psalm 54; James 3,13-4-3,7-8a; Mark 9.30-37

 

A  much treasured Bishop of Ely and then of Winchester is remembered this week. He provided a great deal of the basics of the Anglican church as we know it today . He was one of the translators who produced the Authorised Version of the Bible and he was also acknowledged to be a great writer of prayers. We shall therefore begin with an example of one which is adapted from his extensive set of prayers and we will then follow with a complete if rather long one but it is nevertheless a comprehensive  and inspiring thanksgiving:

 

Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever

 

after Lancelot Andreses

 

I thank thee, O Lord , my Lord, for my being, my life, my gift of reason; for my nurture, my preservation, my guidance, for my education, my civil rights, my religious privileges;  for thy gifts of grace, of nature, in this world; for my redemption, my regeneration, my instruction in the Christian faith: for my calling, my recalling, my manifold renewed recalling; for thy forbearance and long-suffering, thy prolonged forbearance, for many a year; for all the benefits I have received, and all the undertakings wherein I have Prospered; for any good I may have done; for the use of the blessings of this life; for thy promise, and          my hope of the enjoyment of good things to come; for all these and also for all other mercies, known and unknown, open and secret, remembered by me, or now forgotten, kindnesses received by me willingly or even against my will, I praise thee, I bless thee I thank thee, all the days of my life. Amen

 

Cardinal Newman moves us from heartfelt thanks to guidance:

 

Teach me, good Lord, frequently to consider this truth :                                             

That if I gain the whole world and lose you,                                  

I have lost everything ;                                

whereas if I lose the whole world and gain you                          

in the end I have lost nothing.  Amen

 

 

Trinity 16

Isaiah 50. 4-9 a; Psalm 116  1-9; James 3. 1-12; Mark 8. 27-38 

 

The commemorations this week include two people who who lived centuries apart but shared a burning Christian love displayed in their devotion  to him and the ways in which they expressed this  in their prayers

 

Edward Bouverie Pusey was a 19^th century clergyman who, with Newman and Keble, led the Oxford Movement which sought to restore Catholic doctrine  and practice to the Church of England.

 

Our opening prayer seeks to start our day iby putting us un the right frame of mind:

 

Teach me, O Father, how to ask thee each moment, silently, for thy help.  If I fail, teach me at once to ask thee to forgive me. If I am disquieted, enable me, by thy grace, quickly to turn to thee.  May nothing this day come between me and thee. May I will, do and say, just what thou, my loving and tender Father, willest me to will, do and say. Work my holy will in me and through me this day. Protect me, guide me, bless me, within and without, that I may do something this day for love of thee; Something which shall please thee; And that I may this evening , be nearer to thee, though i see it not, nor know  it. Lead me, O Lord, in a straight way unto thyself, and keep me in thy grace unto the end. Amen

 

Like Pusey Hildegard of Bingen lived  into her early eighties, but almost exactly 800 years before him. She experienced visions which initially disturbed her but then gave her strength in her devotion. Although she wrote some of the pop songs of her day, this prayer isn’t one of them. It takes us into her visionary world in a way which is challenging in its unfamiliarity.

 

                        O eternal God

                        now let it please you

                        to burn in that love

                        so that we become those limbs

                        which you made In that same love

                        when you gave birth to your Son

                        in the first dawn

                        before all creatures,

                        and look on this need

                        which falls upon us ,

                        Take it from us

                        for the sake of thy Son

                        and lead us into the bliss of salvation. Amen

 

Week after week  we pray to the Lord for peace and reconciliation. We often produce a shopping list of places across the world where the news has told us of wars and atrocities,  Let us for once let go of the list and look more widely at the struggles that go on day by day all over the world:

 

Eternal God, in whose perfect Kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, and no strength known but the strength of love: we pray thee so mightily to shed and spread abroad thy Spirit, that all people and ranks may be gathered under one banner, of the Prince of Peace, as children of one God and Father of all to whom be dominion and glory now and forever. Amen

 

 

Trinity 15

Isaiah 35. 4-7; Psalm 146; James 2. 1-10 [11-13] 14-17; Mark  2 .24-37 

 

Two significant events happening at present  coincide remarkably with the basic theme of this week’s readings. We read of God’s care and love for the disabled. It has been uplifting to see the remarkable sporting activities of those taking part in the Paralympics, Their delight in their achievements has been a joy to behold. They are, however, the elite .and Jesus shows loving care for those who cannot reach such dizzy heights.

This prayer by Caryl Micklem is mainly about them:

 

God our Father, we offer you thanks and praise for life and all its blessings:

the world of sight and sound, touch and taste and smell:

the gift of language, the power to communicate with others and share our thoughts with them;

the ties of family life and of friendship, in which giving and receiving become one and the same;

the beacon of high ideals; and above all for the sense of eternal things amid all that changes, and for hope which

dares to stretch out beyond the confines of this mortal life. Amen

 

Father, all these things you give, but not  everyone has all of them. In the name of Jesus who went about doing good and making men and women whole we pray now for those who are blind or deaf or dumb, for the paralysed in body, and the isolated in mind. For those who have no one to trust, and who feel there is no one to trust and love them. We pray for all whom force of circumstance condemns to half-life and for those whose worst enemies are themselves.

 All this we do not and yet there is so much we do not see. Our prejudices distort our vision and make our judgments shallow. Keep restoring our sight, so that we see people in their own right, and not just for the good or harm they may do us. Amen

 

The other event is shameful.  Throughout the history of mankind there has been greed, dishonesty, ignorance, carelessness and disdain for others. Examples of these and many other faults are gathered together in the Grenfell Tower report.  It is not for us to throw the first stone but to read what James has to say:

 

Lord God, we are ashamed.

We have received strangers into our country and have not treated them as they deserve nor in the way which you have told us to. known for many years of dangers surrounding them and we have not investigated.  

covered up the truth because we are greedy, taken on work which we were not qualified to do have ignored the concerns of those directly personally affected and treated them with disdain have failed in our duty to prepare for emergencies of this kind as we are obliged to do.

We pray you to find it in your loving heart to forgive us for all these and our other failings, to help us to amend our ways, to treat survivors as they deserve and provide a just outcome for them where it is possible for  us to do so. We ask these things in the name of the one who showed loving care for so many, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

GVB

 

Commemorated this week is John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher of the Faith who died in 407. Many of the liturgies we use today are clearly derived from those he created, but here are a couple ot examples of his wide-ranging style:

 

We have seen the true light , we have received the Holy Spirit, we have found the true faith, we worship the undivided Trinity: for the Trinity has saved us

And later

Let our mouth be filled with thy praise,  O Lord, that we may sing of thy glory, because thou hast counted us worthy to partake of thy holy, divine, immortal and life-giving mysteries; preserve us in thy holiness, that we may learn of thy righteousness all the day long. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

 

 

 

Trinity 14

Deuteronomy 4.1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1, 17-27; Mark 7. 1-8, 14-15, 21 - 23

 

Some of the squabbles about medals in the Olympic Games have been rather disheartening.

Let us hope that the attitude towards the Paralympics is healthier, although the competitive element has been emphasised.

 

Lord God we, we pray for those who engage in sports and contests to show their ability to overcome handicaps to compete for their personal satisfaction and rightfully to gain the admiration and esteem of others.              

We ask that  through their knowledge of the rules of the game they may see that there are greater laws; 

We ask that through their experience of training they may see that there is a greater discipline; and that through their desire for victory they may be directed to the greatest triumph of all, and the goal which is Christ, the saviour of the world. For his name's sake, Amen

 

(Christopher Idle adapted)

  

Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher of the Faith, d.604 . He lived in a time of rampant plague (think of Covid without vaccinations). Central Rome was in ruins and constantly fought over. He converted the family country estate just outside Rome into a monastery and he didn’t really want to be  Pope but continue in contemplation, It was he who sent Augustine to Canterbury. His background means he created prayers particularly well suited to our disturbed times, so he rings the bell twice!

 

O good Jesu, the word of the Father, the brightness of the Father’s glory, whom angels desire to behold; teach me to do thy will; that guided by thy good spirit, I may come to that blessed city where there is everlasting day and all are of one spirit;  where there is certain security and secure eternity and eternal tranquillity and quiet felicity and happy sweetness and sweet pleasantness, where thou, with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, world without end. Amen

 

Lo, fainter now lie spread the shades of night,

and upward spread the trembling gleams of morn,

suppliant we bend before the Lord of Light, and pray at early dawn,

that this sweet charity may all our sin forgive and make our miseries to cease;

may grant us health, grant us the gift divine of everlasting peace.

Father Supreme, this grace on us confer: and thou, O Son by an eternal birth!

With thee, coequal Spirit, comforter! Whose glory fills the earth. Amen

 

Trinity 13

 

Joshua 24.1-2a,14-18; Psalm 34.15-22; Ephesians 6.10-20;  John 6.56-69 

 

This week's Gospel reading is a typical example of St Peter's humanity but equally his faith. The idea of cannibalism is as repulsive today as it was in his day, but whether we consider he overcomes that difficulty purely by faith or in despair, his answer to Jesus was very clear indeed: “Where else could we go?” or, if you like: “There is no alternative.”

 

St Augustine, who is commemorated this week, reluctantly arrived at the same conclusion after serious struggles. Both Peter and Augustine were products of Mediterranean culture and tended to be impulsive . The result was that both produced very powerful prayers and here is one of  Augustine’s:

 

O God, who requires that we should seek you and makes us to find you and opens to us when we knock : O God, from whom to be averted is to fall, and to whom to be turned is to rise; in whom to abide is to be establishe : O God, whom to know is to live, whom to serve is to reign; I praise you, I bless you, I adore you, my God. Amen

 

Timothy Dudley-Smith, who has just died, constantly offered an affirming approach to the Lord. In the dark and difficult state in which our world finds itself, there is much over which we can lament and pray earnestly about, like Augustine. Timothy wrote effective prayers on such topics, but we shall follow him in feeding hope and joy first in familiar words and then in an uplifting prayer.

 

Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided,
urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided:
Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.

Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us:
Lord of the word, receive Your people's praise.

                                  ------

My Father, I thank you with all my heart

that though the human condition 

speaks to me of hope unfulfilled,

of the mark missed

the bloom fading, the chill of autumn

and beyond that the dark

yet the Christian condition is joy. Amen

 

Trinity 12

1 Kings19. 4-8; Psalm 34. 1-8; Ephesians 4. 25-5,2; John 6. 35-51

 

The recent sickening violence that invaded our cities and towns has perhaps now been contained. There is a sad tradition of  social unrest in the dog days of summer. but the advent of social media has increased the potency of rumour and malicious perversions of the truth

 

Lord,  lover of all humanity,  we seek your peace in our communities. Many have taken to our streets. They have been   led there by malice, lies, by racism, seeking excitement, committing physical and social damage. May they learn humility, patience  and the value of honesty as they are called to account for their untruths and aggression.

But they are not alone;  others have expressed without violence concern about immigration. Through your Holy Spirit help them to an understanding that refugees, asylum seekers, all those fleeing oppression are in your special care and you ask us, in your love, to care for them and welcome them. Help us to spread this message of your love amongst the fearful to your honour and glory. Amen

GVB

 

Go back a thousand years and, sadly, religious and social intolerance were rife. Bernard of Clairvaux, commemorated this week, was a leading proponent of the Crusades and the inspiration of the stern Cistercian Order of monks. Yet his prayers and verses are often gentle and we still sing and pray his verses in Edward Caswall’s translation

 

      Jesu, the very thought of thee

          With sweetness fills my breast:

          But sweeter far thy face to see

          and in thy presence rest.

 

     Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,

          Nor can the memory find,

          a sweeter sound than thy blessed name,

          O saviour of mankind

 

Visits to hospital are all too frequent at present. It was particularly striking recently. There were perhaps 20 staff in contact, including many nurses. Their cheerful care and concern for me was both humbling and uplifting. Most of them were black and were of immigrant background. They are repaying any debt they or their parents owe to this country with interest! As St Bartholomew is also in this week’s lectionary list a prayer for nurses is called for.

 

We give thanks for all who are nurses,

for their natural gifts,

for their training

and for the skills they have acquired.

 

Grant to nurses in all areas of their work,

the gifts of sensitivity, perception

and understanding,

both of other people and of themselves.

As those who are closer to patients,

enable them with confidence

to meet all their needs,

physical emotional and spiritual,

to care for their whole person

and to quicken the progress

of healing within them.

We ask this for your name’s sake. Amen

 

(Prayers for people in Hospital, Neville Smith)

 

Trinity 11

1 Kings 19. 4-8; Psalm 34. 1-8; Ephesians 4. 25 -5.2; John 6, 35, 41-51

 

Let’s start at the bad end. We have seen violence on the streets in our towns and cities throughout the country. A contemporary journalist needn’t re-write the words of the author of our epistle reading this week: ‘put off falsehood and speak truthfully… in your anger do not sin… Get rid of all bitterness, rage  and anger’ It’s the Epistle to Liverpool, or to Hartlepool (where I once lived), to Belfast… A prayer from the Corrymeela Community of Northern Ireland is entirely appropriate in this context for us to pray too:

 

God, we believe you have called us together

to broaden our experience of you and of each other.

We believe that we have been called

to help in healing the many wounds of society and in reconciling man to man and man to God.

Help us, as individuals or together,

to work in love for peace and never lose heart.

We commit ourselves to each other – in joy and sorrow

We commit ourselves to all who share our belief in reconciliation -

to support and stand by them

We commit ourselves to the way of peace – in thought and deed

We commit ourselves to you as our guide and friend.  Amen

 

Bishop Loyd in a meditation on today’s Gospel throws us in at the deep end! ‘The claim of our Lord Jesus to be our Life.  …in order that he might be so, he became Man… for that he had to be born of a human mother. How much simpler our theology would be if we had not the Incarnation to take into account!

Janet Morley provides a prayer and in this part of which she offers us the chance to, at least, dig a little way below the surface into the minefield

 

O God, embodied in a human life

We believe and trust in you;

Jesus our brother, born of the woman Mary,

You confronted the proud and the powerful

and welcomed as your friends

those of no account

We commit our selves to work with you

and renew our world.

 

Thus have we moved from the bad to the best in human terms which we celebrate on August 15^th -  the Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

And now we give you thanks

because in choosing the Blessed Virgin Mary

to be the mother of your Son

you have exalted the humble and meek

Your angel hailed her as most highly favoured;

wth all generations we call,her blessed and with her we rejoice and magnify your name.

 

Trinity 10.

Exodus 16. 2-4, 9-15; Psalm  78. 23-29; Ephesians  4. 1-16; John 6. 24-35

 

This week includes the festival of the Transfiguration of our Lord. It must have been a sublime experience for all those involved. Jesus received  the Father’s confirming support for what was soon to come. As for the Apostles they couldn‘t take it in properly at the time, but must have treasured it for the rest of their lives.

 

          God of Moses and Elijah,

          Father of Jesus Christ our Lord,

          we recall that fearful moment on the mount

          when Peter James and John heard your voice

          and saw the touch of glory on your Son.

          May we by faith behold his majesty

          and give him the obedience and reverence

          which are his due;

          and to his name be dominion and power     

          now and for evermore.  Amen

 

(Roger Pickering) 

 

The lectionary also offers us remembrance of two individuals whose lives and backgrounds are such a contrast that all Christians may rejoice to know that Christ welcomes and recognises all who offer him their love, praise and service.

 

John  Mason Neale was the offspring of a clergy family. He was a graduate of the University of Cambridge and had particular gifts in translating (and transforming) hymns in classical European languages. He is known to us for many of these beautifully polished versions, not least the following, Neander’s  Chorale ‘Unser Herricher’:

 

          Come, ye faithful, raise the anthem,

          Cleave the skies with shouts of praise

          Sing to him who found the ransom

          Ancient of eternal days

          God eternal, Word incarnate

          whom the heaven of heaven obeys.

 

          Bring your harps and bring your incense.

          Sweep the string and pour the lay:

          let the earth proclaim his wonders

          King of that celestial day;

          he the Lamb who once was worthy

          Who was dead, and lives for ay.

 

Jean Vianney, popularly known as the Cure d’Ars (the parish priest of Ars) stayed in the one tiny parish in rural France for 40 years. By his devout simplicity he transformed his parish and a wider area.

 

My Jesus, from all eternity you were pleased to give yourself to us in love. And you planted within us a deep spiritual desire that can only be satisfied by yourself.

I may go from here to the other end of the world, from one country to another, from riches to even greater riches, from pleasure to pleasure, and still I shall not be content.  All the world cannot satisfy the immortal soul.  It would be like trying to feed a starving man with a single grain of wheat.

We can only be satisfied by setting our hearts, imperfect as they are, on you.  We are made to love you; you created us as your lovers.

It sometimes happens that the more we know a neighbour, the less we love him. But with you it is quite the opposite. The more we know you, the more we love you. Knowledge of you kindles such a fire in our souls that we have no energy left for wordly desires.

My Jesus, how good it is to love you. Let me be like your disciples on Mount Tabor, seeing nothing else but you. Let us be like two bosom friends, neither of whom can bear to offend the other,

 

Trinity 9

 

2 Kings 4.42-44; Psalm 145. 10-18; Ephesians 3. 14-21;  John 6. 1-21

 

The reading from John’s gospel is the familiar account of the feeding of the five thousand. It has so many resonances for us: manna in Exodus, the love of God for humanity, the boundless riches God pours  out for us...

In one of his meditations on John’s Gospel Philip Loyd points to Jesus evading attempts to crown him king by force, sending his disciples away and withdrawing to a mountain by himself. He then quotes the following poem by George Macdonald:

 

They all were looking for a king to slay their foes and lift them high  

Thou cam’st a little baby king that made a woman cry.

 

O Son of Man, to right my lot Naught but thy presence can avail;                                                                           

yet on the road thy wheels are not nor in the sea thy sail   

                 

My how or when thou shalt not heed, but come down thine secret stair that thou may’st answer all my need-

yea, every by gone prayer

 

In the realities of today’s  world at the end of Communion we ask the Lord to send us out to live and work to his praise  and glory. In the context of the reading and the wonderful sustenance so freely given to us, we supp ort the Daylight Centre and the associated Food Bank. In the wider world wars and climate change bring  famine. This is where we call on the Lord to help. As the World Coucil of Churches pray we join them:

 

Lord we remember the millions in our world who must go hungry today,

All those who do not have even the basic necessities of life and for whom life itself has become a burden

Out of the depths we cry to you, Lord, Hear our cry and listen to our prayer. Amen

 

There is a related problem to which USPG draws our attention and that is Human Trafficking. The Diocese of Durgapur, in  the Church of North India, is close to the border with Bangladesh and many of its people are vulnerable and fall victim to trafficking.This prayer is prompted by the problem in the Diocese:

 

Heavenly Father, we pray for your Spirit to bring comfort, safety and peace to people who are survivors of trafficking. Please give them means of escape and access to safe havens.

 

There is a second section to the World Council of Churches prayer which reinforces this on a global scale:

 

Lord, we remember all those who, because of their caste or class,

colour or sex are exploited and marginalized

the forces of oppression that trample on people and the unjust systems that break the spirit of people and  and rob them of their rights and dignity

Out of the depths we cry to you, Lord, Hear our cry and listen to our prayer.

 

This week’s lectionary includes Ignatius Loyola. A familiar and perhaps his best and well-loved prayer:

 

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous;                                                        

Teach me to serve thee as thou deservest;                                                    

To give and not to count the cost,                                                                               

to fight and not to heed the wounds,                                                                             

to toil and not to seek for rest,                                                                                    

To labour and not to seek for any reward                                                               

Save that of knowing I do thy will.  Amen               

 

Trinity 8

 

Jeremiah 23.1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2. 11-22; Mark 6. 30-34,53-56

 

There  are shepherds around in this country but they are not people we meet everyday in the town of Wellingborough .We know that UK shepherds operate in a different way from shepherds in the Middle East. They share one important feature in common that everyone recognises, however, they care deeply for their sheep. If you have the 23^rd Psalm as one of your readings you know that the theme is Jesus Christ the Shepherd.. .We start with a prayer that has that theme but is based on verses in Hebrews 13.

 

God of peace, whose Son, our Lord Jesus was brought back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant: equip us to do your will in everything that is good, that our lives may be always acceptable to you through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

 

Shepherds in the UK and the Middle East have that important feature in common. The sheep they look after also share something in common – they do silly things and can often get entangled.  The Good Shepherd had an extraordinary effect on one such sheep who is commemorated this week – Mary Magdalene made her the first witness of the resurrection. That transformation was recognised in a wonderful way

 

Lord Christ, as you delivered Mary Magdalene

and made  her the first witness of the resurrection,

set us free from all that holds us captive,

that we may bear witness  to your risen life roday.

We ask it in your name, living reigning Lord.  Amen

(New Lectionary collect).

 

This is a fertile week in the lectionary. Brook Foss Westcott was Bishop of Durham at the end of the 19^th century. There is a theological College in Cambridge named after him where I once went on retreat. His prayers are permeated with words and phrases from the Book of Common Prayer, but skilfully direct thought to positive action. The following, very slightly adapted,. seems fitting as a  new Parliament begins its work, although its message is by no means confined to Parliamentarians!

 

O Lord and Heavenly Father, by whose providence the duties of men and women are variously ordered, grant to all of us such a spirit that we may labour heartily to do our work in our several stations, as serving our Master and looking for no reward. Teach us to put to good account whatever talents you have lent us; help us to overcome all sloth and indolence and enable us to redeem our time by zeal and  patience, through your Son, our Saviour. Amen

 

A brief thought from an Old Boy of my school!

 

Lord, who has given all for us, help us to give all for you. Amen   (Canon G W Briggs)

 

Trinity 7

 

Amos 7. 7-15; Psalm  85. 8-13; Ephesians  1. 3-14; Mark 6. 14-29

 

We are going to look outwards,  but first let’s look to ourselves with a prayer by  a man called Eugene Bersier, a Protestant pastor who worked in Paris during the 19^th century and was involved with both rich and poor

 

O God, from whom we have received life, and all earthly blessings vouchsafed to give unto us each day what we need. Give unto all of us strength to perform faithfully our appointed tasks, bless the work of our hands and of our minds. Grant that we may ever serve thee, in sickness and in health, in necessity and in abundance; sanctify our joys and our trials and give us grace to seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness, in the sure and certain faith that all else shall be added unto us; through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen

 

USPG  seek our support in prayer this week for a programme in Brazil advocating human, environmental and territorial rights. This is being led by Dr Rodrigo Espluca dos Anjos Siqueira, the Diocesan Officer based in Brasilia. The programme is designed with a fundamental objective of reducing disparities in society, advancing both climate justice and human rights:

 

Father God, we pray for religious leaders who commit their ministries and lives to proclaim full life to all. We pray for the Anglican Diocese of Brasilia in Brazil. For all their work serving communities , and for all they are doing for human rights. We pray too for The  Right Reverend Mauricio Jose Araujo  de Andrade, Bishop of Brasilia.  Amen

 

Towards the end of the fourth century there was a highly committed Christian family who produced three memorable siblings, two brothers and a sister. Bishop Basil the Great had a sister Deaconess Macrina, both are commemorated in our lectionary but this week with Macrina we remember her brother Bishop Gregory of Nyssa. who produced the following profound prayer:

 

You alone are unutterable, from the time you created all things that can be spoken of.

You alone are unknowable, from the time you created all things that can be known.

All things cry out about you; those which speak, and those cannot speak.

All things honour you those which think and those which cannot think.

For there is one longing, one groaning, that all things have for you.

 

All things pray to you that comprehend your plan and offer you a silenr hymn.

In you, the One, all things abide, and all things endlessly run to you who are the end of all.  Amen

 

Trinity 6

 

Ezekiel 2,1-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12. 2-10; Mark 6.1-13

 

These prayers are being prepared on Election day with results still to come Our Archbishops ended their series in the same situation but their words are invaluable for this moment in time and for what is to come:

 

There is no such thing as a perfect government. Whoever wins the General Election will doubtless be elated. But the months and years ahead will be a challenge as government is as much about implementing ideas and avoiding errors as it is about developing policy.  It is wisely said that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose…

We give thanks for all that has been good in this election campaign. We pray for both government and opposition parties in the coming days and for the whole life of the nation.

 

Almighty God , direct the hearts and minds of those who bear in their hands the government of this people.

Make them to uphold  honour and justice,

to restrain evil and oppression,

 and to seek the true prosperity of our nation and the welfare of mankind;,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

(Tim Dudley-Smith)

 

This is a quiet week in Lectionary terms. The one name listed for July 11 is, however, a very potent one in Western Christian terms, Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western monasticism, c.550.. it is perhaps a good opportunity to move from the hectic moments of politcal turmoil affecting so many countries around the world this year to think of the quiet, focussed devotional life enjoined on those accepting the Rules of St Benedict.

 

Lord God of quietness and devotion, we pray for those who seek to follow what your servant Benedict called  a school of your service in which we hope to order nothing harsh or rigorous. We thank you for their peace and moderation, good discipline with respect for human personality and individual capabilities. Bless all nuns and monks as they think upon you and your everlasting mercy. Amen

 

Let’s now have the prayer attributed to Benedict which sums up so well his approach;

 

Almighty God, give us wisdom to perceive you, intellect to understand you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate upon you and life to proclaim you, through the power of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Trinity 5

Wisdom of Solomon 1.13-15, 2.23-24, Lamentations 3. 23-33; Psalm 30, 2 Corinthians 8.7-15; Mark 5.21-43,

                                                                   

The Parliamentary election is almost upon us and  we have four more prayers from our Archbishops to use and ponder on up to Thursday:

                                        

HOUSING                                                   

 

Let us pray today that a firm foundation can be laid, so that everyone has a home, everyone can flourish, and everyone belong. Grant to all our neighbours safe and affordable housing, and help us to build communities

where all have space to flourish. Hear us, good Lord

 

EDUCATION

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight (Proverbs 3)

 

Education is so vital to us individually and collectively. Educatoion can enablr us to grow in’‘life in all its fulness’  as Jesus offered.

          Give wisdom and compassion to all those who teach

          strengthen all those who lead our schools

          and guidance to those who set policy

          Hear us, good Lord

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

Every generation faces new challenges as technology evolves. We are grappling today with breathtaking developments in science and technology. Government and society need to understand the benefits they can bring in healthcare, productivity, education and the environment. But they can easily become dangerous weapons…

 

We pray for all those deve;oping new technologies; for safety online, for the young and vulnerable, for good fruit and the avoidance of harm.

          Help us to use developments in science

          to heal and not to hurt.

          Give wisdom to government and regulators,                                      

          and grant that the world might benefit from innovation and avoid potential harm    

         Hear us, good Lord

 

IMMIGRATION

 

Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and you r God , my God -Ruth 1.15)

 

          Look with mercy on those who are fleeing from danger, homeless and hungry.

          Bless those who work to bring them relief and inspire generosity and compassion

          in all our hearts.

 

FRIDAY MORNING’S PRAYER

We give thanks for all that has been good in this election campaign. We pray that both governmenr and opposition parties in the coming days and for the whole life of the nation.

 

This week USPG invite our prayers for St Luke’s Hospital. Nablus which is administered  by the Diocese of Jerusalem. It continues ro care for the local community.

 

Lord God, thank you for the long-standing partnership between USPG and the Diocese of Jerusalem. Bless their work in accordance  with your will in order that there may be more stories of transformation and restoration.

 

Who this week? Let’s go for Thomas More whose death showed us that he never suffered the doubt of his namesake (who is also commemorated this week).He seems to have swallowed a Thesaurus in this prayer but in praying it you may attach each word to yourself as youu see fit.

 

Give me, good Lord, an humble,lowly, quiet, peaceable, patient, charitable, kind and filial and tender,every shade, in fact, of charity, with all my words and all my works, and all my thoughts to have a taste of thy holy blessed Spirit. Amen

 

 

Trinity 4.

Job 38 1-11; Psalm 107 1-2, 23-32; 2 Corinthians 6 1-13; Mark 4. 35-41

 

As we face the continuing bombardment from politicians of all shapes, sizes and persuasions, we turn once more to the offerings of Justin and Stephen to provide a Christian dimension to it all:

 

THE MEDIA

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour (Exodus 20)

We pray today for our public media (online, broadcast and print) might become more truthful and more worthy of trust, let’s reflect too on our own role as consumers of such media, and commit ourselves to telling the truth about - and loving – our neighbour.

 

Give wisdom , courage and insight to the media defend us from deception; and help us all to engage with truth and kindness .

Hear us. good Lord

 

THE NHS

no more shall  there be in it an infant that lives but a few days or an old person who does not live out a lifetime (Isaiah  65.20)

 

Give all who work in health care

your compassion, skill and wisdom

Be their strength and their shield

as they give of themselves in the care of others. Hear us. good Lord

 

SOCIAL CARE

 

As we pray we ask how we might honour God’s image in every person by creating and sustaining an umbrella system of care which cherishes every person equally.

Heal the sick in body and mind,

 and provide for the homeless,

the hungry and the destitute                             Hear us. good Lord

 

That last prayer leads us on seamlessly to USPGs theme for this week provided by Anglican Support and advocacy for exiled people in northern France.

 

As one who, in the first 25 years of his life lived in more than 25 different buildings

 I called ‘home,’I know what it is to feel rootless, but in all of that time I was secure and never threatened or starved or in fear for my life.

 

Bless all who seek refuge on this earth

meet their needs for safety and home.

 

Move the hearts of your people to show them welcome

Cause wars to cease and bring justice to the nations

so that no one will need to flee again

(Diocese of Salisbury)

 

 

Let’s go from contemporary to years ago .St Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons,  is remembered this week. He was active until about the year 200.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sin of the world,                                                                             

look upon us and have mercy upon us;

Thou who art thyself  Victim and Priest, both thyself Reward and Redeemer, keep safe from all evil those whom thou hast redeemed, O Saviour of the world. Amen                                                                                                                                                       

 

Trinity 3

Ezekiel 17. 22-24; Psalm 92. 1-4, 12-15; 2 Corinthians 5. 6-10; Mark 4. 26-34

 

There is widespread disillusionment with our politcal parties but if we have concern for our nation and our community it is surely our duty to take part in the election and vote. I believe I have voted in every election since 1954 (sometimes by post when abroad)..In the context of ‘Your Kingdom come’our Archbishops, Justin and Stephen, have provided us with prayers and reflections for this time and we can do no better than to follow these prayers during the remaining weeks of the election campaign:

 

Let us vote and let us pray for all those who are standing for election and for the future of our country

 

  Guide the leaders of the nations

  that they may work for the common good,

  And strengthen our hearts

  with a vision of your kingdom..

  Hear us, good Lord

 

INTEGRITY

  Endue the High Court of Parliament

  and all the ministers of the Crown

  with integrity, wisdom and understanding.                                                                          

  Hear us, good Lord

 

CANDIDATES

  Guide all candidates for office

  and the leaders of the nations

  into the ways of peace and justice

  Hear us, good Lord

 

PARTY LEADERS

 

  Give us the wisdom and the will

  to use the resources of the earth to your glory

  and for the good of all creation

  Hear us, good Lord

•  

FAMILY LIFE

 

 Let all families know your joy.

 Watch over children, guide the young

 and grant your peace to all in turmoil.

  Hear us, good Lord

 

A significant anniversary comes along this week. Saturday June 22^nd is celebrated as Windrush Day.

 

On every Windrush Day, we give thanks to those early pioneers, celebrating the successes of those individuals who believed in their talents and skills, and, most often, their God. Who often worked hard to overcome prejudice and advance themselves, their families and their community. Today we can see the flourishing of leadership and representation of people of colour and those of Caribbean heritage and descent in  all aspects of life in this country, Though much has changed there is still a way to go, however, before people can truly feel welcome and accepted and that they fully belong.

 

(Trinity 2) St Barnabas

 

 Psalms1,15; Isaiah 42.5-12; Acts 14. 8-28.

 

We read of Barnabas as thoughtful, loyal, helpful and an encourager.You may find personal encouragement in this prayer of Mary Zimmer’s:

 

Dear God,

Somehow many of us have grown to adulthood believing we are not intelligent, experienced or wise enough to give our opinion or share our insight. We passively wait for leaders to solve every problem. Keep us aware that each of us has something to offer – a personal wisdom different from anyone else’s. We can never know what influence we might have unless we speak up in the spirit of Christian love. Give us the courage to share what you have revealed to us. Amen

 

As one with a close friend who was the seventh Frenchman to land in France on D-day and one whose brother landed on the beach at  Arromanches less than a week after D-day, I have always been profoundly thankful about their survival and deeply moved thinking of the thousands of men and women, military and civilian, who died in Normandy in the weeks that followed.

Eighty years later new generations seem to have forgotten so much...Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan,Palestine Afghanistan … the list goes on.

George Appleton is one who has clearly felt the pain:

 

Grant us to look with your eyes of compassion,

O merciful God, at the long travail of mankind,

 the wars, the hungry millions,

the countless refugees

the natural disasters,

the cruel and needless deaths;

men’s inhumanity to one another,

the heartbreak and hopelessness of so many lives.

Hasten the coming of the messianic age

when the nations shall be at peace,

and men shall live free from fear and free from  want

and there shall be no more pain or tears,

in the security of your will,

the assurance of your love,

the coming of your kingdom,

O God of righteousness,

O Lord of compasssion.  Amen

 

Whilst you may have found that not very encouraging (although its aspiration are!) Columba of Iona is also remebered this week:

 

My dearest Lord

be thou a bright flame before me,

be thou a guiding star above me,

be thou a smooth path beneath me

be thou a kindly shepherd behind me

today and for evermore Amen

 

Trinity 1

 

Deuternomy 5.12-15; Psalm 81. 1-10;  2 Corinthians 4. 5-12; Mark 2. 23-3.6.

 

I always feel that the marathon of Sundays after Trinity needs a bit more training before we get fully launched and  a little longer for a work-out on the Trinity itself is valuable. Bishop Pritchard sets us on our way

 

Ever One, Sacred Three,

Holy God, the Trinity.

 

O God beyond us, lead us forward to pray,

O God, beside us, teach us gently to pray

O God within us, still our hearts to pray

 

O God beyond us, give us faith

O Christ beside us, give us peace

O Spirit within us, give us life

 

Ever One, Sacred Three,

Holy God, the Trinity. Amen

 

The account in today’s reading from the Psalms evokes a very different picture from the orchestras I used to play in, but God’s gift of music spans the world and spans the centuries:

 

God of creation, vou have made all things well and given us much to enjoy:

we thank you for the gift of music,

through which, far beyond words,

we can feel our way towards the greater mysteries.

We thank you for the skill and sensitivity

of those who by making music

can give such great pleasure;

and we pray that each of us

may be helped to develop those talents

which can be used to benefit others;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen                               (Roger Pickering)

 

A look in the Lectionary for this week brought me the happy news that on June 8^th we remember Thomas Ken, who is identified as Bishop of Bath and Wells, non-Juror and Hymn writer. He wrote a prayer which gives added strength to our own prayer for the growth of this church:

 

O God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship; narrow enough to shut out all envy, malice and strife,  Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling-block to children, nor to straying feet, but rugged and strong enough to turn back the tempter’s power. God make the door of this house the gateway to thine eternal kingdom. Amen

 

Two simple but potent verses from his Evening Hymn

 

Glory to thee, my God, this night

For all the blessings of the light;

Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,

Beneath thy own almighty wings.

 

Forgive me. Lord, for thy dear Son,

The ill that I this day have done,

That with the world, myself, and thee

I, ere I sleep, at peace may be

 

Trinity Sunday.

 

Isaiah  6.1-8;  Psalm 29;  Romans 8. 12-17; John 3. 1-17

 

God is with us, ever present for every moment of our lives but, as finite humans, we are given a sense of time.

The Son is much in our minds each year at Easter, the Spirit at Pentecost and now we can think about our triple (yet single!) God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

 

Eternal source of life and love,

holding all in purposeful order,

awaken reverence and awe

for your mystery and wonder.

 

Eternal Presence,

making visible and intimate

the depth of your being,

draw all people into your outpouring heart.

 

Eternal Spirit,

indwelling,

moving creation into being

and hearts to leap for joy;

inspire justice,

excite truth

and refresh the face of the earth.

 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Blessed and glorious Trinity,

to you be glory and honour,

now and for ever.  Amen           (Ian Black)

 

You may have found that a rather masculine style of trying to express the inexpressible. Mary Robins offers a feminine interpretation.

 

Giver of life,

Infinite God,

penetrating and containing,                    

gestating and birthing,

open our being to yours.

 

Bearer of pain,

Gracious Beloved,

seeded with Truth,

Yearning, dying for new life,

open our being to yours.

Maker of love,

hungry and passionate,            

refining and enlivening,

open our being to yours.

 

Holy Trinity, looking at one another,

earthing and impregnating,

evoking life between you,

open our being to yours.  Amen

 

Saint Augustine is in our Lectionary for this week. After our struggles with the complexities of the Trinity this evening prayer of his is direct in its simplicity:

 

Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake, or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones,, O Lord Christ, rest your weary ones. Bless your dying ones, soothe your suffering ones. Pity your afflicted ones. Shield your joyous ones. And all for your love’s sake. Amen

 

Pentecost

 

Acts 2.1-21; Psalm 104. 24-34, 35b; John 15.26-27,16. 4b-15.

 

Does the return of the rain depress you?Struggling with financial problems? It’s Pentecost! The moment to be jolted out of it all and celebrate yet another  of God’s gifts to us THE HOLY SPIRIT!

 

Father. pour out your Spirit on your people,

and grant to us a new vision of your glory;

a new faithfulness to your Word;       

a new consecration to your service;

that your life may grow among us,

and your kingdom come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

(Anglican Church in Australia)

 

Exuberant Spirit of God,

bursting with the brightness of flame

into the coldness of our lives

to warm us with a passion for justice and beauty.

We praise you

 

Exuberant Spirit of God,

sweeping us  out of the dusty corners of our apathy

to breathe vitality into our struggles for change

We praise you

 

Exuberant Spirit of God,

speaking words that leap over barriers of mistrust

to convey messages of truth and new inderstanding

We praise you

 

Exuberant Spirit of God,

flame, wind, speech,

burn, breathe, speak in us

fill your world with justice and with joy.  Amen

(Jan Berry)

 

 

O Lord, who has taught us that all our doings without love are nothing worth pour into our hearts that most exce[Unknown A1] llent gift of love, the very bond of peace and all virtues,without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant us this for thy Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen

 

We have shared the joy of Pentecost across the world and across the centuries. Remembered this week is one from another time and place, Hildegard of Bingen who gave us this:

 

Holy Spirit, the life that gives life.

You sae the cause of all movement

You are the breath of all creatues,

You are the salve vthat purifies our souls

You are the ointment that heals our wounds,

You are the fire that warms our hearts:

You are the light that guides our feet.

Let all the world praise you, Amen

 

Easter 7

 

Acts 1.15-17,21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5.9-13; John 17. 6-19

 

 At every Communion service we proclaim ‘Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.’ As we have celebrated The Ascension already we need to find a summary of all that Easter is. That’s impossible. of course, but an Easter prayer from New Every  Morning at least starts from the wonder of it all and leads us on from glorious past to securest future.

 

Eternal God, in whom is all our hope in life, in death and to all eternity, grant that, rejoicing in th e eternal life which is ours in Christ, we may face whatever the future holds in store for us  calm  and unafraid, always confident that  neither death nor life can part us from your love in Jesus Christ. Amen

 

The wish to think of and pray about Ascension inhibited remembering last week a remarkable Christian who emerged from obscurity  during my time in Norwich. That is Julian and her prayers are worth offering at any time. The following may be found to be a suitable prayer for taking us onwards from the Easter season:

 

God of thy goodness; give me thyself,

for thou art sufficient for me.

I may not ask for anything less

than what befits my full worship of thee.

If I were to ask for anything  less I should always be in want

 for in thee alone do I have all. Amen

 

It would be hard to match that clear simplicity  some six or seven centuries later, but another woman gives us an insight into the problems of today and the obstacles they present to us:

 

I pray especially for all who face this day without health and strength of body or mind;

And all who start it without interest;

All who face the earning of money with anxiety;

All hindered and hurt by alcoholism and any other secret addiction.

Whatever our special needs your wisdom and love and care are sufficient, Whatever we are called to go through, nothing can utterly overwhelm us. In  this security of spirit is our strength now and always. Amen

(From a Woman’s Book of Prayers, Rita Snowden)

 

 

Easter 6 + Ascension Day

 

Acts 10.44-48; Psalm 98;1 John  ; John 15. 9-17

 

Acts 1.1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1. 15-23;

Luke 24. 44-53

 

 It’s two for the price of one this week – we are still in the Easter season but on Thursday we join the Apostles in experiencing the Ascension

 

Father , we pray for excited new Christians and mellow experienced ones; for  the troubling, cynical ones and the hesitant believers:  In every situation God knows best 

 

Father, we pray for the responsible and the peacemakers in our

world and for the defensive  arrogant and ambitious.

In every situation God knows best 

 

Father, we pray for contented thriving families and for those struggling to survive each day.

 In every situation God knows best 

 

Father, we pray for those who, like Kath Clipstone, have recently died and for those dying now.

In every situation God knows best 

 

Father, we thank you and praise you for all the blessings you shower on our lives, and ask you to keep us in closer touch with you from now on.                                           (Adapted)

 

Our Easter Gospel reading from John has prompted many gifted prayer writers . It is always satisfying to offer one from a native of this county.  William Law (1686-1761) born in Kings Cliffe, is a prime example:

 

O God, in whom nothing lives but it lives in love, grant us the spirit of love which does not want to be rewarded, honoured or esteemed, but only to become the blessing and happiness of everything that wants it;  love which is the very joy of life, and thine own goodness and truth within the soul; who thyself art Love, and by love, our Redeemer, from eternity to eternity. Amen

 

Now a joyous celebration of the Ascension

 

You are not only risen and alive, you are  Lord.

This is your Ascension, your ascendancy over the whole universe

You stand over and above all that is best in life as  its source.

You stand above all that is worst as ultimate victor.

You stand above all powers and authorities as judge.

You stand above all failure and weakness and sin as forgiveness and love.

You alone are worthy of total allegiance, total commitment.

You are Lord.

‘My Lord  and my God.’  Amen

(Rex Chapman)

 

Easter 5.

Acts 8.16-40;Psalm 22. 25-31;1 John 4.7-21; John15. 1-8

 

The basic message of Easter can be summed up in the word ‘Love’ One who brings that message through time and again is Catherine of Siena who claimed to have a personal hot line to Jesus. She is remembered this week and this prayer of hers illustrates her point forcefully:

 

Dear Lord, it seems that you are so madly in love with your creatures that you could not live without us, So you created us; and then when we turned away from you, you redeemed us. Yet you are God, and so have no need of us. Your greatness is made no greater by our creation: your power is made no stronger by our redemption. You have no duty to care for us, no debt to repay us. It is love, and love alone , which moves you.

 

Ian Black takes us on to lead us to showing that sort of love to others by being a Servant Church:

 

Lord our God,

who taught his holy apostles that those who would be great must first be servants,

give to your Church this servant heart,

that any glory we seek will be to your name

and our triumph only in the cross of your Son.

May no act of love come to be regarded as beneath us.

We ask this in the name of the one who humbled himself to reveal your saving presence among us

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

One of our Lesser Festival s to be found in the Lectionary falls on May 4^th and, I suspect, its Collect is rarely used! We live in a country rich in history, some of which is rather shameful, this is acknowledged on that day which is allocated for the Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era.

 

Merciful God,

who, when your Church on earth was torn apart by the ravages of sin,

raised up men and women in this land

who witnessed their faith with courage and constancy:

give to your church that peace which is your will

and grant that those who have been divided on earth may be reconciled in heaven

and share together the vision of your glory;

Through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God now and for ever. Amen

 

Let’s finish with part of a grace written by a boy student at Winchester who, sadly, was later killed in the First World War. Motto for the Week?

 

Give me a healthy mind, Good Lord,

That finds the good that dodges sight

And, seeing sin, is not appalled

But seeks a way to put it right.

 

Easter 4

Acts 4. 5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3.16-24;John 10. 11-18

 

This prayer by Frederick Temple gives us an approach to the Cross of Christ that resonates:

 

O Lord Jesus Christ. take us to thyself,draw us with cords to the foot of thy cross; for we have no strength to come, and we know not the way. Thou art mighty to save, and none can separate us from thy love. Bring us home to thyself, for we are gone astray. We have wandered; do thou seek us. Under the shadow of thy cross let us live all  the rest of our lives , and tere we shall be safe.

 

Our reading from John 10 and Psalm 23  which springs from it prompts many prayers

 

 Lord Jesus, good shepherd of the sheep, have compassion on those who have wandered from you; feed those who are hungry;  cause the weary to lie down in your pastures; bind up those who are broken in poerheart; And lead us all, O Lord, in the paths of righteousness,for thy name’s sake Amen           

                                                                                                                                      (New Every Morning)

 

There are two very different prayer writers remembered during this week. Archbishop Anselm is the first:

 

Grant, Lord God, that we may cleave to you withouf parting,

worship you without wearying,

serve you without failing

faithfully find you, for ever possess you, the one only God, blessed for all eternity. Amen

 

and Christina Rossetti the other:

 

Lord, thou art life, though I be dead,

Love’s fire thou art, however cold I be;

Nor heaven have I, nor place to lay my head,

Nor home but thee.

 

Easter 3

Acts 9. 1-6 [7-20]; Psalm 30; Revelation 5. 11-14; John 21.1-19.

 

As this Easter season continues, we can usefully pray that we can reflect the glorious Resurrection in our own lives with faith, hope and love

 

Lord, at this Easter time we ask you to increase  our Faith our hope and our love.

Give us the faith that overcomes the world and enables us to face both life and death with calm and unafraid.

Give us the hope  that looks beyond this mortal life and grasps hold of  the things unseen and eternal.

 Give us the love that binds us more closely to one another, and to you, our risen Lord; to whom be all glory and praise, dominion and power, now and for ever. Amen

 

Regular readers may remember that I have called upon Richard Harries’ ‘Praying Around the Clock’ He  let me down this time when it came to ‘Breakfast’. I was thinking of Christ cooking the barbecue on the beach, but a few pages later Richard offers one about Crises. I have adapted it slightly:

 

God, grant that now, even at this late hour, you would unlock prickly prides, warring wills, opposing forces and open the way to a negotiated settlement  which we cannot find, but which assuredly resides in you, for you are the source of both justice and peace: through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

 

A short prayer keeping to the barbecue theme but can be applied personally:

Dear God, be good to me

The sea is so wide,

And my boat is so small.  (Breton Fishermen’s prayer)

 

Here we have a young girl’s prayer about Easter,  not so far from some grown-up’s prayers!

 

Dear God, thank you for all you’ve given me, a family, a happy home, lots of love, friends food and clothes. I’m sorry I don’t always get things right, and sometimes quarrel with my brother.

Thank you for Easter and the love you show us.

Please let the Easter Bunny come. Amen

 

(Elaine Round in  The Lion Prayer Collection)

 

Easter 2.

 

Acts 4, 32-35; Psaim 133; 1 John 1.1-2.2; John 20. 19-31.

 

We need Sundays after Easter to give us time to take it all in. It’s a time of wonder and joy which so many have captured for us over the years. Let’s start with Charles Wesley:

 

                    Love’s redeeming work is done;

                    Fought the fight, the battle won                                                                           

                    Lo, the Sun’s eclipse is o’er!.

                    Lo, he sets in blood no more.

 

                    Vain the stone, the watch, the seal,

                    Christ has burst the gates of hell;

                    Death in vain forbids his rise;

                    Christ has opened Paradise

                  

                     Lives again our glorious  king                                               

                     Where, O death, is now thy sting?                            ,

                     Dying once, he all doth save;

                    Where thy victory, O grave?

                                                

We are blessed with contemporaries who have the gift of expressing the same truths in ways which some may find offer the same truths with a modern poetic expression. We can share this with Kathy Galloway, a vibrant member of the Iona Community.

 

                    Christ our life, you are alive

                     in the beauty of the earth

                     in the rhythm of the seasons

                     in the mystery of time and space

                     Alleluia       

          

                    Christ our life, you are alive

                    in the tenderness of touch

                    in the heartbeat of intimacy                                                                                        

                    in the insights of solitude

                    Alleluia

             

                   Christ our life, you are alive

                   in the creative possibility

                   of the dullest conversation                                                                                 

                   the dreariest task the most threatening event              

                    Alleluia       

          

                   Christ our life, you are alive                                                                                                                                     to offer re-creation to every unhealed hurt

                   to every deadened place 

                   to every damaged heart

                   Alleluia

 

                    You set before us a great choice - we choose life,

                    The dance of resurrection soars and surges 

                    through the whole creation.

                    It sets gifts of bread and wine upon our table

                    This is grace, dying we live

                    So let us live.

 

Familiar words on which to meditate.

 

                    Peace be unto you, it is I, Alleluia: be not afraid, Alleluia.

 

Easter Day.

 

Acts 10. 34-43 or Isaiah 25. 6-9; Psalm 118. 1-2,14-24;  1 Corinthians 15. 1-11 or Acts 10. 34-43; John 20. 1-18 or Mark 16. 1-8

 

At last! Our Lord and Saviour has endured the obloquy of a  criminal’s death by one of the most horrible methods ever devised. He suffered  and HE OVERCAME and he did it all for me. You can say just that too and we can rejoice tigether.

 

Let’s share the way in which  men and women have rejoiced over the centuries:

 

Christ is risen:

          The world lies desolate.

Christ is risen:

          The spirits of evil have fallen

Christ is risen:

          The angels of God are rejoicing

Christ is risen:

          The tombs of the dead are empty.

Christ is risen indeed from the dead,

          The first of the sleepers.

Glory and power are his for ever and ever.

(Hippolytus of Rome)

who in the third century also wrote a Hymn to Jesus which begins:

 

You have protected us, Jesus. from endless  disaster.

You spread your hands over us like wings.

You poured your blood over the earth.

Because you loved us.

The anger which we deserved you turned away from us

And restored us to friendship with God.

 

The heavens may have your spirit, paradise your soul, but the earth has your blood.

We celebrate the coming of your Spirit always:

The Spirit leads the mystic dance throughout the year

But Easter comes  and goes…

 

The Church in Korea offers us this prayer:

 

Almighty God, our Father, you have redeemed us by the death and resurrection  of your only Son Jesus Christ and given us your Holy Spirit that we may be witnesses in the world: banish the powers of darkness and sin from the minds of those who refuse to believe in your name and open their hearts to your gospel that they may believe in you and become temples of your Holy Spirit. Grant also that we who believe in you may become effective  ministers of the Word to those whose lives have not been touched by your saving grace.  We make this prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

 

Now we turn to our own Mothers’ Union who can always be relied upon to give us a direct and focussed approach:

 

God Almighty, we praise your holy name in this joyful Eastertide. We thank you, Lord, because through your death and resurrection we have won the victory and your redeeming grace and love. Loving Father God, fill us with new life so that we may love one another and do what you want us to do in sharing your love with those who don’t know you, In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen 

 

Palm Sunday/Holy Week

 

(Palms)  Mark 11.1-11

or John 12.12-16

Psalm 118.1-2, 19-24

(Passion) Isaiah 50. 4-9a; Psalm 31. 9-16; Philippians 2.5-11; Mark 14.1-15.47 or Mark 15, 1-39[40-47]

 

What a week! From Celebrity of the

Year to Public Enemy Number One

  in less than seven days.

 

Let the mountains and all the hills  Break out into great rejoicing at the mercy of God,

and let the trees of the forest clap their hands.

Give praise to Christ, all nations,

magnify him, all peoples, crying:

Glory to thy power, O Lord.

 

Seated in heaven upon thy throne

And on earth on a foal, O Christ our God,

Thou hast accepted the praise of angels

and the songs of the children who ‡cried out to thee:

Blessed art thou who comest to call back Adam.

(Source unknown, Eastern Orthodox)

 

     †     †     †     †      †      †     †      †    

 

Lord Jesus Christ, who  when thou wast able to institute thy holy sacrament at the Last Supper, didst    teach us by thy example the grace of  humility: cleanse us, we beseech thee, from all stain of sin, that we may be worthy partakers of thy holy mysteries, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end,. Amen

(Church of England Office of the Royal Maundy in Westminster Abbey, adapted)

 

    †     †     †     †      †      †     †      †  

 

Great God, our Father as we call to mind the scene of Christ’s suffering  in Gethsemane, our hearts are filled with penitence and shame that we foolishly waste our time in idleness and that we make no progress in the Christian life from day to day… We are ashamed that war and lust flourish and grow more rampant every day. Forgive us for our cruel  indifference to the cross, and pardon us that, like the bystanders of old, we merely stand in idle curiosity upon the piteous scene.  O teach us, we beseech thee, the good news of thy forgiveness. Cause humanity, degenerate as it is, to live anew, and hasten the day when the whole world shall be born again. (Toyohiko  Kagawa 1888-1960)

Lent 5

Jeremiah 31. 31-34;Psalm 51, 1-12 or Psalm 119. 9-16; Hebrews 5. 5-10; John 12. 20-33

 

Lent discipline grows harder to maintain as the days go on, but look how Jesus coped. He clearly felt the strain but John’s account in today’s Gospel puts our feeble attempts into context. This prayer from the Presbyterian Church makes hard reading but spiritual reinforcement:

 

God of thundering glory and wondrous love, you lifted up Jesus Christ from the earth to draw all people to your holy name. Like grains of wheat that fall to the dust, teach us to die—and so to bear much fruit, giving our lives for the sake of the gospel, following and serving Christ Jesus forever. Amen

 

A more personal approach to the idea of seeds, which of course includes wheat, can be found in this prayer:

 

As the days lengthen  and the earth spends longer in the light of day, grant that I may spend longer in the light of your presence, O Lord, and may those seeds which have been long-buried within me. grow, like everything around us, into love for you and love for people; to become a visible declaration of your Lordship in my life. Grant, Father, that this Lent there may be a springtime for my life in Christ. Amen

(Dick Williams)

 

Day after day accounts of war and violence reach us from many lands. George Appleton provides a prayer which seeks to encompass the horror and the misery, the suffering inflicted in the name of what? This prayer is to be taken carefully and slowly and thought through  for those in our hearts:

 

Grant us to look with your eyes of compassion,

O merciful God, at the long travail of mankind:

the wars, the hungry millions,

the countless refugees,

the natural disasters,

the cruel and needless deaths,

men’s inhumanity to one another,

the heartbreak and hopelesness of so many lives.

Hasten the coming of the messianic age

when the nations shall be at peace,

\nd men shall live free from fear and free from want

and there shall be no more pain and no more tears,

in the security of your will,

the assurance of your love,

the coming of your kingdom,

O God of Righteousness,O Lord of compassion. Amen

 

Mothering Sunday

 

Exodus 2. 1-10 or 1 Samuel 1. 20-28; Psalm 34. 11-20 or Psalm 127. 1-4; 2 Corinthians 1.3-7 or Colossians 3.12-17; Luke 2. 33-35 or John 19. 25-27

 

Mothering Sunday is another cash cow which helps retailers to stay afloat in these difficult times, so perhaps ‘Mothers’Day’ is not without value. It is good in any event to cherish mothers and reflect that in prayers for this celebration of  Mothering Sunday

 

Mary Batchelor successfully combines the two

 

Thank you, Lord, for our mothers. We remember today their loving care, and their ceaseless love for us. May we show them by our gifts, our words and our actions that we love them and care about them too.

Father, we thank you for the family of the Church. May they know your blessing and strength as they care for others. Amen

 

Now the thoughts of a man who sounds like a father

 

Motherhood is never easy,

not for Mary, not for us.

There’s a longing in it, waiting, pain,

hard work and tight budgets.

But you, creating God, come that way, lighting with glory the bond of trust and humble devotion..

Speak to us, God, through our mothers

that we may know your strength and love. Amen

 

This is a time that is particularly poignant for those who have lost a child through miscarriage or stillbirth. Their hopes and plans for their child have ended before they have begun. Let us pray for them too

 

Almighty God,  you make nothing in vain and love all that you have made. Comfort parents in their sorrow and console them with the knowledge of your unfailing love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Back now to a mum who has just joined us and a dad colleague who has been around for quite a while:

 

O God. The pastor and ruler of your holy Church. look graciously upon this diocese of Peterborough and especialy upon your servants Debbie and John, our Bishops, Endue them plentifully with your manifold gifts of grace; and guide them continually in your paths, that they may lead aright the flock committted to their charge, Grant this for his sake who is the chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

(After Ambrosian Use)

 

Lent 3

Exodus 20. 1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1.18-25; John 2.13-22

 

Typical man! Forgets that Women’s World day of Prayer was last Friday and that it’s now gender neutral. But all is not lost, Here is a prayer (suitably adapted) offered in earlier years for that day,, but also valid throughout Lent, and indeed every day of the year:

 

Father                                                                                

you have given all peoples one common origin,

and your will is to gather them as one family in yourself.      
Fill the hearts of all people with the fire of your love
and the desire to ensure justice for all.

Hear the prayers offered  you
by women and men throughout the world
for an end to all division,
and a human society built on love and peace. Amen

(Roman Missal) 

 

People are expressing great concern about the number of young people suffering from mental health problems. For earlier ‘stiff upper lip’ generations who worked their way  through world wars and the like this is difficult to understand. It is also a criticism of many of us who claim to be Christians!  Christ told his followers not to be afraid when he walked to the boat, nor to worry today about tomorrow.’s  oroblems  Do we tell our young people that? Whilst Lent is the time to admit our shortcomings Tim Dudley-Smith provides a prayer that doesn’t salve our consciences but gets our Lord involved in helping while we try to get our act together:

 

Father, we pray for the mentally ill, for all who are of a disturbed and troubled mind. Be to them light in the darkness, their refuge and strength in time of fear. Give special skills and tender hearts to all who care for them and show how best ro assist your work of healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

You may find this prayer by a boy called James Kennedy a refreshing way to approach Lenten discipline (with the Substitutionof “girl” where appropriate so that you don’t think you are getting away with it!)

 

,Dear God,

I am sorry for being a naughty boy today.

Please make me a better boy tomorrow

Bless all my family and friends.  Amen

 

Frederick Macnutt gives us his rather more sophisticated take on the situation we find ourselves in during Lent and how  we may ask for God’s help in moving forward through this demanding season:

Into thy hands, O Lord our God, we commend our souls and bodies this Lent. Draw nigh to us as we draw nigh tp thee, and enlighten us by thy Holy Spirit. Be present with us in our worship, and abide with us amidst the cares  and duties of our daily lives;  and draw us after thee to follow whithersoever thou wilt lead us in thy way of faith and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Lent 2

 Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22. 23-31; Romans 4.13-25; Mark 8.31-38

 

The situation in which we find ourselves is shameful. Our readings set out the nature of faith in our relationship with God. Faith for many is a necessity of life as it was for Abraham, but there is always the danger of excess, so becoming bigotry , becoming harmful and denying the nature of YHWH, of Allah and of God. Psalm 22 offers a clear message

 

Help us, O Father of all as children of Abraham, Jews, Chrisrians and Muslims alike, to be faithful to you. We all fall short: Muslims in failing to observe the pursuit of peace enjoined in the Q’uran, the Jews in their care for widows and aliens, Christians in putting party politics above giving a unified message of love.

Forgive us, O Lord, and show us a path to peace and tolerance, and of acceptance, an end to anti-Semitism and to Islamaphobia. Bring to the minds of those trapped in this tortured state a realisation that you care for all. Carry us in your loving arms to that state where, as the Psamist tells us, all, Jews and goyim sit down together and feast at your table. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen

 

Here’s a pithy Lent prayer  after that expression of pain

 

Joy with peace, amendment of life, time for true repentance, the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit and perseverance in good works, grant us, O almighty and merciful Lord. Amen

(Enriching the Christian Year)

 

Another polished prayer from Frank Colquhoun

 

Lord Christ, who came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance: help us in this season of Lent

to hear and respond to your call that by your grace we may turn from whatever in our lives is at variance with your will, and walk in the way of holiness and love, to the glory of God the Father. Amen

 

 

Lent 1

Genesis 9.8-17;_Psalm 25. 1-10; 1 Peter 3, 18-22; Mark 1. 9-15

 

We may be at the start of Lent and we shall be following that up, but we have another significant event reported in today’s Gospel reading – the Baptism of Christ.

 

Here is a prayer that leads us in the right direction

 

Heavenly Father who sent the Holy Spirit on your Son at his baptism to anoint him for the service of mankind: send your Spirit now to us who have been made your children by adoption and grace, that we may follow in his steps and work for the coming of his kingdom, to the glory of his name. Amen

 

There are many heavyweight prayers that could overload us as the lenten season  begins, but John Pritchard leads us on in simple but penetrating words:

 

Good Lord, in this season of Lent, help us to aim high as  we seek to renew the discipline of our discipleship. May we take up the best and give up the rest, and know your mercy and grace in all things.

From all self-seeking, self -promotion and self-indulgence

 from all self-pity, self-glorification and selfishness;

 from all self-hatred, self-harm and self-destruction,

Good Lord deliver us

 

From all that would keep us from going to church;

from al that would stop us from reading your word;

From the laziness that would keep us from receiving the sacrament

Good Lord deliver us

 

From the laziness that would stop us before we begin;

from the carelessness that would mean that we do it badly;

from the impatience that would mean we wouldn’t finish      

Good Lord deliver us

 

From all that would limit our loving of our neighbour;

From all that would limit our loving of God

From all that  would spoil our attempt to be good;

Good Lord deliver us

 

By the disciplines of Lent and the encouragement of others;

By the body of Christ and the sharing of lives;                    

By the desire of our hearts and the need of our souls           

Good Lord deliver us

 

Holy God

Holy and strong

Holy and immortal

have mercy on us

 

Sunday next before Lent and Ash Wednesday

 

2 Kings 2.1-12; Psalm 50.1-6;  2 Corinthians 4.3-6;Mark 9. 2-9.

Joel 2.1-2,12-17, Isaiah 58.1-12; Psalm 51,1-17; 2 Corinthians 5.20-6.10; Matthew 6.1-6,16-21 or John 8.1-11

 

Although we shall be celebrating the Transfiguration in August, it forms one  of this Sunday’s lectionary readings and this prayer fits the bill

 

God of Moses and Elijah, Father of Jesus Christ our Lord, we recall that fearful moment on the Mount when Peter, James and John heard your voice and saw the touch of glory in your Son.  May we by faith behold his majesty and give him the obedience and reverence which are his due;  and to his name be dominion and power  now and for evermore. Amen

(Roger Pickering)

 

A Collect is a prayer that tries to summarise what the day or the season is about. I have always found Cranmer’s collects amongst the best and we still use most of them, in

modernised form, in our services today. Here is Ash Wednesday’s:

 

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we, worthily  lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever, Amen

 

For those who want something less abstract and more practical to carry them into the demands of Lent,,how about this?

 

 Help us this Lent, O Lord, to know ourselves better, and give us strength to root out of our lives the unsuspected sins and the weak spots in our sharacters.

Help us this Lent. O Lord, to cultivate self-mastery and give us self-control where we are most likely to succumb to temptation.

Help this Lent. O Lord, ro practise self-denial, that we may be more ready to give of our time, our energy and our leisure in service to others.

So may we come to the joyful season of Easter stronger and more  faithful disciples of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Amen

(Prayers at School)

 

Our King has set a good example to those among us already suffering from cancer to be open about it and to be positive.  It is not so long since the word was spoken in hushed tones and privately. But research has made such wonderful progress in terms of alleviation and cure that we join in a prayer used by the London Community of Licensed Teachers of Anaomy  of the London Medical Schools

 

O Lord our God, the source of all truth and the goal of all knowledge, we thank you for the achievements of ,

.medical science. We pray for those engaged in study and research. Give them wisdom and imagination in their investigations and compassion and patience in their dealings with others. Grant them reverence for both life and truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

 

Second before Lent.

 

Proverbs 8, 1, 22-31;Psalm 104. 24-35;

Colossians 1.15–29; John 1,.1-14

 

It’s nearly Lent already! We are blessed this week with readings on the theme of Wisdom and the wonderful opening of John’s Gospel. Wisdom is a potent and popular subject in terms of Hebrew thought from King Solomon on, but we find examples also from Christian writers throughout the centuries such as

 

Let us have clean hearts ready inside us for the Lord Jesus, so that he will be glad to come in, gratefully accepting the hospitality of those worlds, our hearts: he whose glory and power will endure  throughout the ages.

(Origen, 3rd century)

 

or this from the 14th century  Cloud of Unknowing

You are Wisdom, uncreated and eternal

The supreme first cause,, above all being

Sovereign Godhead , sovereign goodness,

Watching unseen the God-inspired wisdom of Christian people.

Raise us, we  pray, that we may totally respond to the supreme unknown, ultimate and splendid height of your words

mysterious and inspired.

 

That’s hard, you need to work at it, but move on to the 16th century, Nicholas Ridley framed it in words we may find easier to follow:

O heavenly Father, the author and founder of all truth, the bottomless sea of all understanding send, we beseech thee, thy Holy Spirit into our hearts, and lighten our understandings with the beams of thy heavenly grace. We ask this, O merciful Father, for thy dear Son,  our Saviour, Jesus Christ’s sake.

 

Simpler still from the 19th century Christina Rossetti;

 

O Lord Jesus Christ, Wisdom and Word of God, dwell in our hearts, we beseech thee, by thy most Holy Spirit, that out of the abundance of our hearts our mouths may speak thy praise.

 

Finally a 20th century prayer written with young people in mind (but no ne theworse for that!)

 

Father, you have promised to give wisdom generously to all who ask in faith. Please give me wisdom. Make me wise to know your way for me, wise to make  good decisions and wise to understand your word, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

(The Lion Book of Prayers)

 

We pray, O Lord, that you grant us the wisdom and humility to understand and use these prayers to your glory. Amen

 

Epiphany 4 & Candlemas

 

Deuteronomy 18.15-20; Psalm 1;Revelation 12. 1-5a; Mark 1.21-28

 

Psalm 118; 1 Samuel 1.19b-28;Hebrews 4. 11-16

 

Things tend to come thick and fast at this time of year.The need for Christian Unity exists at all times so it’s not too late for this prayer from MU which seeks to reflect upon our multicultural society

 

Lord, we thnak you for those you’ve given to walk alongside us, those who think and act the way we do and those who are different from us. May we see Christ in each as we journey through life together, supporting and encouraging one another.

 

Kate McIlhagga pursues a similar path in the following prayer although she reaches a point more focused on Christians:

 

Creator of rainbows,

Come through the closed doors of o   emotions, mind and imagination;

come alongside us as we walk,

come to us at work and worship,

come to our meetings and councils,

come and call us by name,

 call us to pilgrimage.

 

Wounded healer,

out of our disunity

may we be re-membered,

out of the pain of our division

 may we see your glory.

Call us from present

pre-occupation

to future community.

 

Spirit of Unity,

challenge our preconceptions,

enable us to grow in love and  understanding,

accompany us on our journey together,

that we may go out with confidence

into your world as a new creation -

one body in you,

that the world may believe.

 

For those amongst us who celebrate Candlemas this prayer from The Promise of His Glory expresses the aspiration of the day:

 

Lord God, the springing source of our everlasting light,

pour into the hearts of your faithful people

the brilliance of your eternal splendour

that we, who, by by these kindling flames

light up this temple to your glory,

may have the darkness of our souls dispelled,

and so be counted worthy to stand   before you

in that eternal temple where you live and reign.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

our God, now and for ever. Amen

 

Epiphany 3

 

  Genesis 14.17-20; Psalm 128; Revelation 19. 6-10;  John 2. 1-11

 

Our celebration of Christmas is all about God’s gift to humanity and Epiphany is all about  our trying, very inadequately, to worship and say ‘Thank you’  That is reflected in the lectionary readings: Abram tithing, the Psalmist sings of the blessings received by ‘all who fear the Lord’, Revelation is entirely devoted to an  exposition of God’s love and then we get Jesus showing God’s love with a wonderful gift at Cana. Here are some thank-you’s.

 

God of gold, we seek your glory:

the richness that transforms our 'drabness into colour,

and brightens our dullness into vibrant light;        

your wonder and joy at the heart of all life.      

 

God of incense, we offer you our prayer:

our spokem amd unspeakable longings, our questioning of truth our search for your mystery deep within.

God of myrrh, we cry out to you in our suffering:

the pain of all our rejections  and bereavements

 

our baffled despair at undeserved suffering ,

our rage at continuing injustice:

and we embrace you, God-with-us

in our wealth, our yearning,i n our anger and loss.

(Jan Berry)

 

It so happens that Francis de Sales who is remembered this week produced an appropriate prayer for this theme:

 

• Lord, shall we delay any longer our offering to you of all that we have and all that we are? Shall we keep back any longer the complete gift of our free will, which we cling to so  stubbornly? Shall we refuse to stretch our will on the wood of your cross, to transfix it with the thorns and lance that pierced you? Let our will be swallowed up in the fire of your perfect, loving will! Let our will burn for all eternity as a sacrifice  to you.

 

Here is a prayer written by a 14 year old who acknowledged the gifts but makes us realise what we have done with them

 

God has made everything:

The iron ore that is in the ground            

The petroleum in the earth,

the atmosphere around us,

And the atoms of which all these things are made

 

But we have made 

Bullets from the iron ore

Explosives from the petroleum

Gases from the atmosphere,

And bombs from the atoms.

  It is your world, God,

Please save us from these things.

 

Epiphany 2

 

1 Samuel 3.1-10[11-20]; Psalm 139. 1-6,13-18; Revelation 5.1-10;John 1.13-51

 

The Season of Epiphany provides a chance for rich symbolism readily taken up by those who write prayers. George Appleton produced this simple but profound example:

 

O God, we need a star to set our journey through the world. Help us to see in the babe born at Bethlehem the eternal star which will lead us to the place where truth and love and mercy meet, so that we may kneel with shepherds and kings and find heart’s  joy and heart’s peace in Jesus Christ.

 

The following act of praise was compiled and adapted by Frank Colquhoun from various sources:

                                        

Almighty and everlasting God, who  

by the guidance of a star led the magi from eastern lands to adore the new-born King, we praise you for giving your Son Jesus Christ to be the light of the world, and for revealing in him your saving love to all mankind

We praise you for the light of the everlasting gospel sent forth to every nation and race, and shining so long among us.

We praise you for your Church universal, the whole company of Christ’s people worshipping him and bearing witness to him in every land.

Receive, O Lord, these our praises, and fill the world with the radiance of your glory, that all people may come and render homage to Christ, their Saviour and King. Amen

 

Let’s have a simple new year hymn verse from Lawrence Tuttiett, a 19^th century clergyman;

 

Father, let me dedicate

All this year to thee

In whatever worldly state

Thou wilt have me be

Not from sorrow, pain or care,

Freedom dare I claim,

This alone shall be my prayer,

‘Glorify thy name.’ Amen

                                                             

 

Epiphany 1

 

[Isaiah 60.1-6; Psalm 72 [1-9] 10-15; Ephesians 3. 1-12; Matthew 2.1-12 ]

 

Epiphany 1

Genesis 1.1-5;  Psalm 29;  Acts 19.1-7;

Mark 1.4-11

 

It all gets a bit scrambled when Epiphany falls on a Saturday, but let’s think about the significance of Epiphany.

French slang and English slang sometimes fit. We speak of a ‘demo’ where the French use ‘manif’ meaning a display in public of views on something those involved think is importanrt. The French manifest, we demonstrate. That’s exactly what God does for us at the Epiphany. He demonstrates overwhelming  love and that evokes worship amongst some bystanders.

 

O God. who by a star guided the wise men to the worship of your Son, we pray you to lead to yourself the wise and the great of every land,  that unto you every knee may bow, and every thought be brought into captivity through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Church in Jerusalem amd Middle East)

 

We pray for all who spend all their lives leading others to you, supporting and encouraging them on your journet

Give them your ideas, your love for others, your joy, your humility.

Father, today and every day lead us to  yourself.

 

We pray for our leaders and advisers in politics, business, education and health; for good values, integrity and compassion for courage to stand up for what is right

 Father, today and every day lead us to  yourself.

(Susan Sayers)

 

Generous God,

everything we have and are comes from you;

in adoration we lay before you

the sweet fragrance of our worship

for you alone are worthy of our praise and thanks giving,

in service we lay before you

our money, power and choices,

for in your will we find true freedom and direction;

in trust we lay before you

our pains and longing for healing

for you hold the goal of our lives’ journey and the hope of salvation

King of of kings and Lord of Lords. Amen                                 (Ian Black)                                                

 

Advent 4 and Christmas

 

2 Samuel 7. 1-11,16; Magnificat Or psalm 89. 1-4, 19-26; Romans 16. 25-27; Luke 1. 26-38

 

Isaiah 52.7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1.1-4[5-12]; John 1, 1-14

 

An unusual  set-up this year with the end of Advent bumping right up against Christmas, so, a spread of prayer. We join Frank Colquhoun leading us from one to the other:

 

Our Heavenly Father, as we once again prepare for Christmas, help us to find time in our busy lives for quiet and thought and prayer; that we may reflect upon the wonder of your love and allow the story of the Saviour’s birth to penetrate our hearts and minds.  So may our joy be deeper, our worship more real, and our lives worthier of all that you have done for us through the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

We’re getting there with the Christmas Vespers of the Western Rite!

 

While all things were in quiet silence, and night was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down out of thy royal throne, Alleluia.

 

We have arrived! Now we are with the Eastern Orthodox:

 

What shall we offer thee, O Christ,

Who for our sakes has appeared on earth as man?

Every creature made by thee offers thee thanks

The angels offer thee a hymn;

The heavens, a star;

The magi, gifts;

The Shepherds, their wonder;

The earth, its cave;

The wilderness, its manger;

And we offer thee a Virgin Mother.

O God from everlasting. have mercy on us. Amen

 

The Prince of Peace is with us and our final offering comes from a Christmas card received from a friend dedicated for many years to Interfaith dialogue…

Pray not for Arab or Jew

or Palestinian or Israeli

but pray for ourselves

 that we might not

divide them in our prayers

but keep them both together in our hearts. Amen

 

 

 

 

 Advent 3

 

We start with a traditional prayer seeking readiness in preparatiion for what is to come, but is not yet here

 

 Father, through John the Baptist you tried to prepare your people for the coming of Jesus.  Will you try to prepare us too?  Prepare our hearts and minds that we may know what to look for in the coming of Jesus Christ into our world… May we show the joy of the Advent message in our lives day by day. Through him who came ar Christmas time. Amen

 

To follow that here is one route to enlightenmemt/ It is some time since I offered the wise and imaginative words of Bishop John Pritchard

. His intercessioms for the Advent Season may date back to the latter years of the 20^th century but they are searching,valid and relevant today

 

Lord, prepare us for your Advent coming, in these prayers  we try to come to you, sure that uyou will come the rest of the way

 

Lord, prepare us for your coming - in the Church.

Clean out the unnecesary clutter of our church  life, the piles of dead habits, the cupboards full of prejudice,  the cobwebs of compronise and the sad rota of forgotten dreams. Open your churches to the free flow of your refreshing Spirit. Give to our churches a new vision and hope. We want to belong to you again,  as we pray, Lord,  each week for new and continuing growth.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer

 

Lord, prepare us for your coming – in the world.

1. Come, drive away despair from our politics; revive our dreams of justice;  restore our passion for what is good, right and true Establish your just and gentle rule in places like Israel, Gaza and the West Bank and in Ukraine where peace has been powerless  and violent people have had their day. Set a fuse of justice where arrogant people have defied the moral order year after year. Guard well the new springtime of hope in those rare places where peace has come like a gift

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer

 

 

Advent 2

Isaiah 40. 1-11; Psalm 85. 1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter  3. 8-15, Mark 1.1-8.

 

John the Baptist was in no way an establishment figure yet he became fashionable: ‘Have you been to look at John yet? He’s all the rage, you know, bit of a bother getting to him. He’s some way off the Jericho Road, but even some of the Rabbis and top Pharisees went out to look at him. He didn’t half tell them off.   Vipers, he called them. They came back to Jerusalem spitting tacks… Good baptism though’

 

Give us, O God, something of the spirit of your servant John the Baptist:

his moral courage, his contentment with simplicity, his refusal to be fettered by this world, his  faithfulness in witness to the end.

So may we be heralds of Christ and his kingdom and make ready his way, to the glory of your name.

(Frank Colquhoun).

 

 

John of the Cross met Teresa of Avila, as a result of which he brought  the Carmelites back, to the kind of simplicity shown by John the Baptist. He produced searching prayers such as this which, surely, would have got the nod of approval from the Baptist.

 

Dear Lord, give me the truths which are veiled by the doctrines and articles of faith, which are masked by the pious words of sermons and books. Let my eyes penetrate the veil, and tear off the mask, that I can see your truth face to face.

 

We commemorate John of the Cross this week on Thursday having remembered the previous day Samuel Johnson, a far more complex character with a chaotic lifestyle but the gift of lucid expression. He was an intellectual but with a clear-eyed view of his own shortcomings  with the need to overcpme them with effective prayer:

 

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, without whose help labour is useless, without whose light search is vain, invigoratre my srudies and direct my enquiries, that I may, by due diligence and right discernment, establish myself and otherrs in thy holy faith. Take not, O Lord, thy Holy Spirit from me, let not evil thoughts  have domination in my mind. Let me not linger in ignorance, but enlighten and support me.

 

At this time of waiting and prepartion these different people praying show that there is more rhan one way to seek God, Cbrist and the Holy  spirit but  we all need do so.

 

 

Advent 1

 

 (We are now in the new Lectionary Year B)

Isaiah 64. 1-9; Psalm 80. 1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1.3-9; Mark 13, 24-37

 

As we begin a New Year the best New Year Resolution is surely to try one’s best to be more Christ-like? Not easy! We are in the season of preparation once again and our prayers are offered with that very much in view. This is not yet the time for celebration…

 

The Gelasian Sacramentary is an early source for much of the material which was adapted to became the Book of Common Prayer so it probably seems vaguely familiar:

 

Stir up our hearts we beseech you, to prepare ourselves to receive your Son.  When he comes and knocks may he find us not sleeping in sin but awake to righteousness, ceaselessly rejoicing in his love. May our hearts and minds be so purified, that we may be ready to receive his promise of eternal life.

 

The following prayer is a few cetntiries later (the 10^th) but enlarges on some of the thoughts of Pope Gelasius

 

You are our eternal salvation,

the unfailing life of the  world.

Light everlasting.

You are truly our redemption.

 

Grieving that the human race was perishing 

through the tempter’s power, without leaving the heights

Readily taking our humanity by your own gracious will,

restoring joy to the world.

 

Redeem our souls and bodies, O Christ,

and so possess  us as your shining dwellings.

 

By your first coming, make us righteous;

At your second coming, set us free:

so that, when the world is filled with light

and you judge all things,

we may be clad in spotles robes

and follow in your steps, O King,

into the heavenly hall.

 

If you feel that is all a bit remote and old, how about this?

 

Ar Advent we should oil the key to our hrart’s door. It may have gathered rust. If so, now is the time to oil it, in otder  that the heart’s door may open more easily  when the Lord Jesus wants to enter at Christmas time!l Lord, oil the hinges of our hearts’ doors that they may swing gently and easuly to welcome your coming.

 

Christ the King

 

Ezekiel 34. 11-16,20-24; Psalm 95. 1-7a; Ephesians 1. 15-23; Matthew 25.31-46

 

St Andrew

 

This Sunday marks the end of the Liturgical Year. We now celebrate it with Christ the King, a modern innovation which, in some ways, has its  drawbacks. Many of the kings we read about in the Bible are not exactly good examples for us to follow or admire. I know, Christ isn’t like them, so why do we call him a King? He could  hardly be called a President! Let’s explore how earlier generations dealt with this, starting with Frank Colquhoun.

 

Lord Christ, when you were here on earth

you stilled the storm.fed the hungry,

healed the sick and cast out demons.

You are the same yesterday, today and for ever.

So make known to us now, O Lord ,your grace and power.

Speak to our restless hearts your word of peace.

Satisfy the hunger of our souls.

Make our lives whole and strong,

and rescue us from the power of evil;

for the glory of your great name. Amen

 

One of those commemorated this week is Charles de Foucauld, hermit of the Sahara. He came to be a revered figure in Algeria, killed in 1916 by a tribesman who resented Charles’s influence. In a meditation on the Lord’s Prayer he had this to say on ‘Thy Kingdom come’

 

In these simple words, I am asking that you reveal the fullness of your glory, and that you make all people holy. Your kingdom will come when all people acknowledge you as Master, seeking with all their hearts to love you, and with all their energies to serve you.So in saying those words, I am committing myself to spread the knowledge of your glory to all mankind.

  

So it’s all about a different kind of King, isn’t it?

                          

  ---

Patronal Festivals are there to be celebrated:

 

Almighty God,

 who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew

that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ and brought his brother wih him

call us by your holy word

and give us grace to follow without delay

and to tell the good news of your kingdom:

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord

who is alive and reigns with you                       

in the unity of the holy Spirit  

one God, now and for ever. Amen

 

Second before Advent

       

Zechariah 1.7,12-18; Psalm 90.1-8, [9-11] 12;1 Thessalonians 5.1 -11; Matthew 25.14-30

 

We are poised on the edge of Advent and many of the readings in recent weeks have been focussed on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It may be difficult to regard that event with quite the degree of urgency that was clearly felt in the years immediately following the Resurrection and Ascension. Nevertheless, these  weeks    are a time of thoughtful preparation encapsulated as usual in this Sunday’s Collect

 

Heavenly Father,                                                                                   

whose blessed Son was revealed to destroy the                                                    works of the devil,                                                                           

and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:                                                                              

grant that we, having this hope,                                                                

may purify ourselves even as he is pure                                                    

that when he shall appear in powert and great glory                                 

we may be made like him                                                                             

in his  eternal and glorious kingdom;                                                    

where he is alive and reigns wirh you,                                                         

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,                                                                  

one God, now and for ever. Amen

 

God, our refuge and strength,
bring near the day when wars shall cease
and poverty and pain shall end,
that earth may know the peace of heaven
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

                                                                              

Amongst those remembered in this week’s lectionary is Mechtild of Magdeburg. Like Hildegard of Bingen rwo generations before her, she had mystic experiences which later resulted in a poetic composition of songs and prayers, refreshingly different

 

O sweet and loving God,                                                                      

when I stay asleep  too long,                                                          

oblivious to all your blessings,                                                            

Then, please, wake me up,                                                                     

and sing to me your joyful song.                                                               

It is a song without noise or notes.                                                            

It is a song of love beyond words,                                                            

of faith beyond the power of human telling ,                                            

I can hear it in my soul,                                                                        

when you awaken me to your presence. Amen

 

                             

 

Remembrance Sunday

Hebrews 10.11-25; Psalm 16; Mark 13.1-6

 It is sometimes hard for those of us born before the outbreak of World War II to realise that for our children and grandchildren ‘all that stuff’ is history. For us who survived, such memories as bombing raids... constantly hearing broadcasts of deaths and disasters… .f the voice of ‘Lord Haw-Haw’… first learning of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Japan.. All these are vivid memories. The list could be continued: the Korean war, the Suez debacle, ; The mad ambitions and cruelties of mankind have continued. For us World War I is history too!We can only Mourn, Remember,  Ask God’s forgiveness for our follies and seek his loving power to bring peace

 A prayer of commemoration for the fallen

Father of all, remember your holy promise,
and look with love on all your people, living and departed.
On this day we especially ask that you would hold forever
all who have suffered during war, those who returned scarred by warfare,
those who waited anxiously at home,
and those who returned wounded, and disillusioned;
those who mourned, and those communities that were diminished and suffered loss.
Remember too those who acted with kindly compassion,
those who bravely risked their own lives for their comrades,
and those who in the aftermath of war, worked tirelessly for a more peaceful world.
And as you remember them, remember us, O Lord;
grant us peace in our time and a longing for the day when people of every language, race, and nation will be brought into the unity of Christ’s kingdom.
This we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Almighty God, from whose love in Christ                                                

we cannot be parted, by death or by life hear our prayer                        

and thanks givings  for those whom we remembe this day                      

Fulfil in them the purpose of your love;                                                  

and bring us, with them, to your eternal joy                                     

through Jesus Christ our Lotd.

We remember with pride and gratitude                                                  

those who fought and died                                                                         .  

to make peace and freedom possible                                                   

and we pray that the memory of their ssacrifice                                         

may inspire in us resolve to seek your kingdom                                       

and to do your will for the world of our days;                                              

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

A prayer for World peace                                                                      

O God of the nations,
as we look to that day when you will gather people
from north and south, east and west,
into the unity of your peaceable Kingdom,
guide with your just and gentle wisdom all who take counsel
for the nations of the world,
that all your people may spend their days in security, freedom, and peace,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Fourth before Advent

 

Micah 3.5-12; Psalm 43; 1 Thessalonians 2.9-13; Matthew 24.1-24

 

Whilst prayer about forgiveness for those ostensibly in charge of our country when Covid 19 first struck is necessary, all that pales into insignificance in face of the violence unleashed by Hamas on Israel and the suffering of the Palestinian people it has provoked.

 

Father of mercies, whose Son here on earth ministered to those in need:

remember for good all those who suffer through war

        by loss of home or health,

        by loss of friends or loved ones,

        by loss of freedom and security,

        by loss of faith and hope.

Look upon our world, still torn apart by violence, and prosper the work of all who are striving for peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Have mercy, O God,on those who are victims of man’s inhumanity             to man:

        defenceless people in hideous war zones:

        families robbed of those they love;

        prisoners of war, ill-treated and tortured;

        old people and children dying of starvation;

        and those who still bear the scars of former wars.

Deepen our pity, O Lord, into creative prayer which will inspire us to positive action, for the sake of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

(New Every Morning)

 

The story, Lord, is as old as history, as remorseless as man:

Man the raider. man the plunderer, the terrorist, the conqueror,

Defiling the light of dawn with the conspiracies of night,

Perverting to evil the instruments of nature,

Dealing fear among the tents, the homesteads of the unsuspecting   of the weak, confiscating, devastating.

The passions are more subtle in our time -

The fire-power of bombs for the dust-clouds of cavalry,

napalm and incendiary and machines in the skies,

Devices for wars decrying the stars,

New skills with the same curse of destruction,

The sanctity of mankind in the jeopardy of techniques,

Gracelessness against the majesty on high.

 

By the truth of the eternal exposure,

by the  reckoning of the eternal justice,

by compassion upon kin and kind,

by the awe of your sovereignty,

turn our deeds, O good Lord,

repair our ravages,

Forgive our perversities.

O God, give peace, grateful peace.

(Kenneth Cragg)

 

 

Bible Sunday

 

Psalm 119. 89-104; Isaiah 55. 1-11;Luke 4.14-30

 

The arrival of the last  Sunday after Trinity marks the beginning of a more focused season in the Church calendar. Involvement with the Bible Society’s Open the Book and use of Bible Reading Fellowship material can be a regular stimulus to reading the Bible and learning to appreciate different and valid ways in which it can be understood. We must always remember that it was not written in English but have to thank generations of scholars  for their efforts to bring us authentic versions of the word of God.

 

Grant unto us, O merciful God, knowledge and true understanding of thy Word, that we may know what thy will is, and also may show forth in our lives those things that we do know; that we be not only knowers of thy Word, but doers of the same; by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

(Prayer from the household of Henry VIII)

 

Lord, here is my Bible,

Here is the quiet room, here is this quiet time, and here am I

Open my eyes, open my mind, open my heart and speak. Amen

(Dick Williams)

 

 

All Saints Day

 

Revelation 7. 9-17; Psalm 34. 1-10; 1 John 3. 1-3;     Matthew 5. 1-12

O King, eternal, immortal, invisible, who in the righteousness of thy saints has given us an example of godly life, and in their blessedness  a glorious pledge of the hope of our calling, we beseech thee that,  being compassed [Unknown A1] about by so great a cloud of witnesses, we may run with patience the race that is set before  us, and with them receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

All Souls Day

 

Eternal God, Lord of heaven and earth, we remember with thanksgiving, and commend to your infinite love, those faithful souls who having served you  here on earth are now at rest, especially those most dear to us.                          

Give us grace to follow their faith and good examples that 

we may share their joy, and at last be numbered with your saints in glory everlasting, through the mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

(Frank Colquhoun)

 

Trinity 20

 

Isaiah 45. 1-7; Psalm 96.1-9[10-13]; Thessalonians 1.1-10;

Matthew 22.15-22

 

History teaches us that no nation, no civilisation, is free from utter failure to treat other nations, other civilisations with kindness, with consideration, with peaceful intent.

Christians undertook Crusades to the Holy Land with moral fervour and great cruelty. Modern Israel, with equal intensity,  treats the Palestinians in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank as interlopers to be bottled up and then disposable. The unspeakable behaviour of Hamas who wish to destroy the State of Israel is clear for all to see.

 

And yet… . and yet we are all children of Abraham. The following prayers are Christian (George Appleton) Jewish and Muslim respectively.  All illustrate our common knowlerge of a God of love and peace and so may they lead us to offer to our brothers and sisters a sign of peace…

 

Grant us to look with your eyes of compassion’

O Lord God, at the long travail of mankind,

the wars, the hungry millions,

the countless refugees,

the national disasters,

the cruel and needless deaths,

men’s inhumanity to one another,

the heartbreak and hopelessness of so many lives.

Hasten the coming of the Messianic age

when  the nations shall be at peace,

and men shall live free from fear and free from want

and there shall be no more pain and no more tears,

in the security of your will,

the assurance of your love,

the coming of your kingdom,

O God of righteousness, O Lord of compassion.

 

 

Grant us peace, and goodness and blessing; life, grace and kindness, justice  and mercy. Our Father , bless us all together with the light of your presence, for in the light of Your presence You give us, Lord our God, law and life, love and kindness, justice and mercy, blessing and peace. And in your eyes it is good to bless your people Israel with strength and peace.

 

Our Father in heaven, may your name be sanctified; your commandment stretches  over heaven and earth;, may your compassion come upon earth as it is in heaven.   Forgive us our sin and wrongdoings. You, the Lord of all good things, cause your mercy to descend upon us, your healing upon this sickness, and it will be healed.

 

 

Trinity  19

 

Isaiah 25.1-9; Psalm 23; Philippians 4.1-9; Matthew 22.1-14

 

What desperate situations hunanjty gets itself into! We learnt at Diocesan Synod that many members of General Synod feel betrayed by the House of Bishops over ‘Living in Love and Faith’.The ancient Jewish writers raise the issue of freedom in their account of Adam and Eve in Eden. The abusive behaviour of Donald Trump fades into insignificance when we see Hamas exercising its freedom to hate Israel and, it has to be said, Israel forcibly settling hundreds of thousands of its people in the Occupied West Bank. Now read the Epistle about Euodia and Syntyche…

 

The following long prayer from the Anglican Church of Aotearoa in New Zealand glves us the chance to  pray comprehen giely about freedom ,  its abuse, and our way to tackle it in God’s love

 

 

O God  of many names,

lover of all people;

we pray for peace

in our hearts and homes,

in our nations and in our world;

the peace of your will, the peace of our need,

Dear Christ, our friend and our guide,

pioneer through the shadow of death,

passing through darkness to make it light,

be our companion that we may fear no evil,

and bring us to life and glory.

 

For the hungry and the overfed

May we have enough.

 

For the mourners and the mockers

May we laugh together.

 

For the victims and the oppressots

May we share power wisely.

 

For the peacemakers   and the warmongers

May clear truth and stern love lead us to harmony,

 

For the silenced and the propangadists

May we speak our own words in truth.

 

For the unemployed and the overworked

May our impress on the earth be kindly  and creative.

 

For the troubled and the sleek

May we live together as wounded healers.

 

For the homeless  amd the cosseted

May our homes be simple, warm and welcoming.

 

For the vibran and the dying

May we all die to live

 

May God kindle in us the fire of love

to bring us alive and give warmth to the world.

 

Lead me from death to life

From falsehood to truth;

lead me from despair  to hope,

from fear to trust;

lead me from hate to love,

from war to peace.

Let peace fill out hearts

our world, our universe.

 

 

Trinity 18

 

Isaiah 5. 1-7; Psalm 80.7-15; Philippians 3.4b-14;Matthew 21.33-46

 

This is Prisons Week when Elizabeth Fry is amongst those remembered in our Lectionary. We shall address first those who are imprisoned for having committed crime.

 

God of mercy, You know the secrets of our hearts

better than we do ourselves,

Give those convicted of crimes penitent and contrite hearts

to face the evil they have done with honesty and remorse.

May they use the time ahead to turn away from sin

and rebuild their lives on your sure foundation

that they may learn once more to walk in your ways

and live with respect for themselves and others.

And with humility accept the help they need

to take their place in society as people of blessing and peace,

through Jesus Christ our redeemer and guide. Amen

(Ian Black)

 

We think too of the other kind of prisoner – the prisoner of conscience - all too often a political prisoner, such as Alexei Navalny in Russia today and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany. Bonhoeffer’s prayers are searing in their honesty and despair, but let us go today with one whose approach as a Lithuanian Soviet dissident imprisoned in Gulags and other Russian prisons, Victoras Petkus is uplifting

 

You come through thick stone walls, armed guards and bars; you bring me a starry night and ask about this and that, You are the Redeemer.. I recognise you. You are my way, my truth and my life .Even my cellar blooms with stars and peace and light pours forth. You sprinkle beautiful words on me like flowers. “Son, what are you afraid of? I am with you!”

 

In the middle of the 17^th century there lived a man who became an Anglican priest. He wrote ‘Centuries of Meditations’ only published over 200 years after his death in 1674. His name, Thomas Traherne, is also in the lectionary for this week. One commentator wrote “ his ‘prayers sparkle with hope and love’

 

Let the same mind be in me that is in Christ Jesus. For he that is not led by the spirit of Christ is none of his. Holy Jesus I admire thy love unto me also. O that I could see it through all those wounds!/ O that I could feel it in all those stripes! O that I could hear it in all those groans! O that I could taste it beneath the gall and vinegar! O that I could smell all the savour of thy sweet ointments even in this Golgotha, or place of a skull. I pray thee teach me first thy love unto me, and then unto mankind! But in thy love unto mankind,! I am loved’

 

 

 

Harvest Festival

Either Deuteronomy 8.7-18 or Deuteronomy 28.1-14; Psalm 65;

2 Corinthians 9. 6-15; either Luke 12.26-30 or Luke 17.11-19

 

As one who has lived in a parish where the churchwarden was the local farmer I have experienced full frontal harvest but equally treasure the imaginative ways in which urban parishes like ours seek to express their thanks for God’s loving kindness. We too thank him for providing us with the riches of his bounty from potatoes to caviar and from music to books, from wool to timber.

Our first prayer reflects what many parishes are now seeking to do.

We dare not ask you bless out harvest feast

Till it is spread for poorest and for least

We dare not bring our harvest gifts to you

Unless our hungry brothers share them too.

 

Not only at this time, Lord: every day

Those whom you love are dying while we pray,

Teach us to do with less, and so to share

From our abundance more than we can spare.

 

Now with this harvest plenty round us piled

Show us the Christ in every starving child;

Speak, as you spoke of old in Galilee,

You feed, or refuse, not them, but me.

(Lilian Cox)

 

The news has just broken that our new Bishop has been chosen. We are to welcome some time in the new year The Right Reverend Debbie Sellin, currently Bishop of Southampton. ACCM produced a prayer which, although wide-ranging, enables us to include Debbie as a focus:

 

O God, you have chosen women and men to serve you in the ministry of your Church and have given them a perfect example in the person of your Son Jesus Christ.

We ask your blessing on all bishops, priests and deacons especially in this diocese of Peterborough John our Acting Bishop and Debbie our Bishop Designate

Let all never forget the privilege of their calling, nor shirk its responsibilities.

Keep them in your love, that they may be good shepherds of your people and true servants of him who is your great High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

A loved Saint is remembered this week: St Francis of Assisi. He produced a prayer which applies to us all, not just the clergy!

 

Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God, grant us the desire to do only what pleases you, and the strength to do only what you command. Cleanse our souls , enlighten our minds and inflame our hearts with your Holy Spirit, that we may follow in the footsteps of ypur beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Trinity 16

 

Jonah 3.10-4.11;Psalm 145.1-8; Philippians 1.21-30;

Matthew 20.1-16

 

The Church of England is seeking to provide a framework of guidance offering thematic material for various seasons,. As we approach Harvest Festival season, ‘Generosity Week’ is listed. We can readily identify God’s love shown to us. Such a title for the week sounds faintly American but let’s offset that with a prayer pointing us to generosity from William Law, born and bred in Kings Cliffe!

 

O God, in whom nothing can live , but as it lives in love,

grant us the spirit of love, which does not want to be rewarded, honoured or esteemed, but only to become the blessing and happiness of everything that wants it; love which is the very joy of life, and thine own goodness and truth within the soul, who thyself art Love, and by love our Redeemer, from eternity to eternity. Amen

 

We continue the theme, with a brief prayer by Lancelot Andrewes,

Bishop of Ely and then of Winchester, remembered on Monday. As one of the main translators of the Authorised Version of the Bible he produced streams of clearly focussed prayers in beautiful language:

 

Thou that gavest food for all flesh

which feedst the young ravens that cry unto thee

and has nourished us from our youth up:

fill our hearts with good and gladness

and establish our hearts with peace

 

 

This week we celebrate St Michael and All Angels. Many churches dedicated to St Michael are built on hilltops including the glorious Mont St Michel in Normandy . They stand as enduring witness to the struggle against evil. Those of us with a military background cherish St Michael as the patron saint of soldiers.

 

Almighty God, sovereign of all creation, we praise your name for those who, with angels, have joined in the war against the powers of evil

Most of all we praise you for the cross of your Son Jesus Christ which ensures the final victory.

Grant that we who are marked with the sign of that victory may continue Christ’s faithful soldiers and servants to our lives’ end.

Amen (Basil; Naylor)

 

Trinity 13

 

Isaiah 51. 1-16; Psalm 138; Romans 12.1-8; Matthew 16. 13-20.

 

This week's Gospel is a clear example of why the Church's description of this season as 'Ordinary Time' is a misnomer. Peter's declaration of faith means we should think of this as 'Extraordinary Time'.

 

We have a couple of commemorations coming up and each person offers declarations of faith too. We'll start at the easy end with our neighbour in place, if not in time, John Bunyan.

 

By that place stood a Cross , and a little below, in the bottom, a Sepulchre.  So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the Cross his burden loosed from off his shoulders , and fell from his back and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the Sepulchre, where it fell in and I saw it no more. Then was Christian glad and lightsome.

 

Charles Wesley offers a wide range of memorable hymns but in this one follows close on Peter's declaration

 

Christ, my life, my only treasure, thou alone, mould thine own

After thy good pleasure.

 

Thou, who paid my price, direct me!

Thine I am Holy Lamb

Save, and always save me.       

 

 

Order thou my whole condition

           Choose  my state,

           Fix my fate

By thy wise decision.

 

From all  earthly expectation

           Set me free,

    Seize for thee

All my strength of passion.

 

A bit tougher with Bonaventura who offers something active to follow the meditation

 

Lord Jesus, as God’s Spirit came down and rested upon you, may the same Spirit rest upon us, bestowing his sevenfold gifts.

First, grant us the gift of understanding, by which your precepts may enlighten our minds.

Second, grant us counsel, by which we may follow in your footsteps on the path of righteousness

Third, grant us courage, by which we may ward off the Enemy’s attacks

Fourth, grant us knowledge , by which we may distinguish good from evil

Fifth, grant us piety, by which we may acquire compassionate hearts

Sixth, grant us fear, by which we may draw back from evil and submit to what is good

Seventh, grant us wisdom that we may taste fully the life-giving sweetness of your love

 

Trinity 11

 

Isaiah 56. 1, 6-8; Psalm 67; Romans 11. 1-2a,29-32; Matthew 15[10-20]21-28

 

This week's readings point to the all-embracing love of God and of Jesus. The historic persecution of the Jews, still found today in anti-Semitism, sadly reflects the anti-Gentile attitude of the Jews of Christ's day. Christ came to understand that those Gentile "dogs" who had faith in God would be saved when the Jewish establishment rejected him.. Paul was able to argue successfully that even 'established' Jews such as he had been,  by God's grace, and in faith through Christ, could be saved too. through Christ's self-sacrificing love

Our first prayer, adapted from one by Walter Barker, follows that line of thought

 

O God our Father, we thank you for inspiring Hebrew writers to give us the Bible, and Hebrew prophets to prepare the way of Christ. We thank you for the  Jewish disciples who were the first missionaries and preachers

of the good news.

Above all we thank you for Jesus, your Son born of a Jewish mother.

Help us to repay so great a debt by doing all we can to offer the message of Jesus Christ back to the Jewish people.. We ask this in his name. Amen.

 

Our second prayer by David Adam, with its image of the incoming tide, puts all this in a wider context

 

O God, give us yourself above all things.

it is in your coming alone that we are enriched

It is in your coming that your true gifts come,

Come, Lord, that we may share the gifts of your presence

Come, Lord, with healing of the past, 

Come and calm our memories,

Come with joy for the present,

Come and give life to our existence,

Come with hope for the future,

Come and give a sense of eternity.

Come with strength for our wills,

Come with power for our thoughts,

Come with love for our hearts,

Come and give affection to our being.

Come, Lord, give yourself above all things..

 

The commemorations this week include Bernard of Clairvaux who inspired more than one translation of his prayers. Both   John Mason Neale and Edward Caswall produced versions of Bernard's prayer about the sweetness of Jesus..On this occasion Caswall gets my vote!

Jesus, the very thought of thee

With sweetness fills my breast,

But sweeter still thy face to see,

And in thy presence rest.

 

Jesus, our only joy be thou

As thou our prize wilt be

Jesus, be thou our glory now

And through eternity.

 

Trinity 10

 

1 Kings 19. 9-18; Psalm 85. 8-13; Romans 10. 5-15; Matthew 14. 22-33

 

The theme of this week's readings is Righteousness - dedication to God . The all-too human Peter displays it when his faith appears to desert him but finally, in despair, his faith leads him to call on Christ to save him. 

We have prayers by two men who fell from comfortable positions to relative obscurity but whose faith deepened and still shines through. First, though, we join in commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary:

 

Almighty God, who chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of our Lord, we thank you for her trust and love,, and for her ready obedience to your will.

Give us grace to follow the example of her devotion, and to serve you with pure hearts and minds; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

George Herbert lost his influential political position when the king turned against but in his quiet rural parish he wrote memorable poems, many of which we sing today as hymns. This familiar first verse should be looked up and the remaining verses serve as a prayer and dedication to God:

 

King of glory, King of peace,

      I will love thee

And that love may never cease,

      I will move thee.

Thou hast granted my request,

      Thos hast heard me;

Thou didst note my working breast,

      Thou hast spared me.

 

Jeremy Taylor (who is commemorated this week) lost his powerful position when Charles I lost his head. Jeremy escaped and moved to Wales where he became a domestic chaplain. His prayers also have a depth springing too ,perhaps, from quietness allowing for meditation. Surprisingly relevant today!, 

 

 

Hear our prayers, O Lord, and consider our desires. Give unto us true humility, a meek and quiet spirit, a loving and friendly, a holy and a useful manner of life bearing the burdens of our neighbours, denying ourselves and studying to benefit others, and to please thee in all things. Grant us to be righteous in performing promises , loving to our relatives, careful of our charges: to be gentle and easy to be entreated, slow to anger, and readily prepared for every good work.

 

(Let's sneak in another of Jeremy's:)

 

Teach us to pray often, that we may pray oftener.

 

Trinity 6 - Disability Awareness

 

Isaiah 55. 10-13; Psalm 65[1-8]9-13; Romans 1-11; Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23

 

As today is marked as Disability Awareness Day we shall concentrate on that topic starting with a prayer from the MU:

O God, the Father of the helpless, we pray for handicapped people and all who suffer from any kind of disability.

Give them fresh courage to face each day, and the comfort of the knowledge that you love and care for them.

Open our eyes and touch our hearts, that we may be sensitive to their needs and do all that we can to help them; for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen

 

We follow with a simple but profound prayer by 'BB' Denys Watkins-Pitchford the nature writer, who lived in Sudborough, near Thrapston, and is buried in Cranford churchyard:

O God, we ask your blessing on those who cannot see the beauties of nature or hear the sounds of life. Help them to feel your presence. Guide their hands and feet in safety. Help them to find the gifts which you have given them instead of sight and hearing, so that they may use then to your glory, for the sake of him who healed the blind and the deaf, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen

 

Many of you will be saddened by the news about Huw Edwards. Although this prayer by John Gunstone is used to apply to him, it reflects the level of anxiety, stress and depression experienced by many people today. You may wish to add the names of others known to you.

 

Jesus, our Lord and Shepherd, youu had compassion on the weak and disabled, the two blind beggars, the crippled at Bethesda, the deaf, the dumb, the mentally ill, and those troubled by evil spirits.

By the anointing of your Holy Spirit bring comfort , peace and healing to Huw Edwards in his distress.

May he have patience to accept what cannot be changed and faith to receive the healing which you offer him

in body, mind and spirit.

Equip us with discernment and love to encourage him to respond to you, to the honour and glory of the heavenly Father. Amen

 

The seven devils that wracked Mary Magdalen (commemorated on July 22nd) very probably centred on mental illness, but what a wonderful outcome!

Most merciful Father, whose compassion was revealed to Mary of Magdala in transforming power, cast out from our hearts all that is evil and make us new in Christ; and grant us such gratitude for your love that we, like her, may minister to the needs of your people and be witnesses to our risen Lord. In his name we ask it.

 

The other commemoration is a St Gregory. I found the following prayer by another St Gregory, a contemporary which is too positive not to offer :

Lord, as I read the psalms let me hear you singing. As I read your words, let me hear you speaking. As I reflect on each page, let me see your image. As I seek to put your precepts into practice, let my heart be filled with joy. Amen

 

 

Isaiah 44. 6-8; Psalm 86.11-17; Romans 6. 12-25; Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

 

Years ago when Greenbelt was held at Castle Ashby our children used to go there. Several other gatherings of a similar kind take place each year: at Keswick, Taize and elsewhere. They seek to provide spiritual food through Bible readings, commentaries. worship with hymns and songs. This week it's the turn of New Wine in their festival at Maidstone:

Dear Father God, we pray to you for the successful outcome of the United festival being held in kent this week. Give strength and encouragement to New Wine as they seek to lead those attending in enlivening their home parishes to attract more people to hear your word and learn and accept the message of love given by Jesus. Bless and strengthen all such festivals which spread the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Those of us old enough to remember will never forget the bewilderment and fear we suffered during the Second World War. It may have helped some of us to develop 

resilience in later life but it gives us a particular understanding of what the people of Ukraine are suffering today:

Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of war:

for the injured and disabled,

For the mentally distressed

and for those whose faith in God and in man has been broken or destroyed...

for the homeless and refugees,

for those who are hungry

and for all who have lost their livelihood and security...

for those who mourn their dead,,

those who have lost their husband or wife, children or parents,

and especially for those who have no hope in Christ to sustain them in their grief...

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, infinite in wisdom, love and power have compassion  on those for whom we pray' and help us to use all suffering in the cause of your kingdom, through him who gave himself for us on the cross. Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen

 

Over the road from my college in Cambridge is the redundant church known to us as 'St Opposites' but, more importantly,there is the theological college known as Westcott House This week we hold Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, in mind. Many of his prayers are still in regular use. This one has a positive feel to it that encourages and inspires:

 

Bless us in all we think or do, seeking to know the light of your truth, and to taste of your love. The world is too much with us; help us to get nearer to you and to the things and thoughts that die not,  evermore you have promised that you will hear and answer the prayer of your children in their needs. Save us from ourselves at all times, O our God, and keep us for your kingdom.Amen

 

Sunday 2nd July - Trinity 5

Isaiah 55.10-13; Psalm 65. [1-8] 9-13; Roman 8. 1-11; Matthew 13, 1-9,18-23

 

As a benefice we rejoiced last Sunday being with Andrew as he presided at Holy Communion for the first time. We also thanked Rob for his effective witness during his short stay with us as he moves towards ordination. We have Worship Teams some members of which aspire to greater commitment. This surely leads us to pray for all who feel the stirrings of vocation of any kind.

 

O Lord Jesus Christ who called people from their daily work

Saying to them 'Come ye after me' 

May your children hear today your voice and gladly answer your call

To give their lives to you, to serve your Church, to offer their gifts   

And give away their hearts to you only.

 

Bless their hopes, the first tiny stirrings of desire

The little resolve to go forward, the small vision of what might be.

 

Deal gently with their fears, the hesitation of uncertainty,

The darkness of the unknown

The lack of confidence in their own capacity

And turn it all  to trust in you

 

(Gabrielle Hadingham, USPG)

 

Two interesting men in the lectionary this week St Benedict of Nursia and John Keble. 

Saint Benedict is another of those of whom it is written "Little is known of his life"  (he died at Monte Cassino in the middle of the 6^th century after all)  but his monastic rule was widely adopted.  He is regarded as the patriarch of Western monks. The following prayer is attributed to him and certainly reflects his approach to the monastic life (but applies to us today and is not to be confined to monks!):

 

Almighty God, give us wisdom to perceive you, intellect to understand you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate upon you and life to proclaim you, through the power of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Some might say of John Keble that too much is known of his life! He was born in 1792 and went up to the University of Oxford at the age of 15 and gained a double first at 18. He was an accepted poet, became ordained and was one of the founders of the Oxford Movement which re-established the catholic tradition in the Church of England. He wrote a whole series of verses which were gathered together in 'The Christian Year' which has been described as 'The Prayer Book in verse' He died in 1866. One or the most familiar of his hymns is:

 

New every morning is the love

Our wakening and uprising prove;

Through sleep and darkness safely brought

Renewed to life and power and thought.

 

New mercies each returning day

Hover around us as we pray,

New perils past, new sins forgiven

New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.

 

 

Trinity 4

 

Jeremiah 28.5-9; Psalm 89, 1-4, 15-18; Romans 6.12-23; Matthew 10.40-42

 

Some of the older ones among us will remember Thora Hird. She was an actress and in her later years took an active part in many religious programmes on TV. She dug up quite a few interesting prayers and here’s part of one of them described as bein g by a seventeenth century nun

I dare not ask for improved memory,

but for a growing Humility,                                                           

and a lessening of cocksureness                                             

when my memory seems to clash with the memory of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken

Keep me reasonably sweet                                       ,                     

I do not want to be a saint                                                                    

(some of them are so hard to live with)                                       

but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places     

and talents in unexpected people                                                       

and give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

 

As this is the week when the Apostle Thomas - “Doubting Thomas” is commemorated, a prayer reflecting the troublous times in which we live seems appropriate:

 

In times of doubt and questions, when our belief is perplexed by new teaching, new thought, when our faith is strained by creeds, by doctrines, by mysteries beyond our understanding, give us the faithfulness of learners, and the courage of believers in thee; give us boldness to examine and faith to trust all truth, stability to hold fast our tradition with enlightened interpretation, to grasp new knowledge and combine it loyally and honestly with old; alike from stubborn rejection of new revelation and from hasty assurance that we are wiser than our fathers, save us and help us, O Lord. Amen

 

Let us move from doubt, turmoil and uncertainty with an evening prayer of quiet faith by George Appleton

 

My God, as I come to the end of another day, I lift a grateful heart to thee. I thank thee for thy presence with me, for the love of family and friends, for the kindness that I have received today, for the joy of living and for the satisfaction of daily work. I thank thee for thy patience with me, for thy forgiveness and for the grace made available for me through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen

 

Trinity 2

 

Exodus 19. 2-8a; Psalm 100; Romans 5.1-8; Matthew 9.35-10.8 ,19-23

 

The prayers may have a slightly different flavour about them this time, but I will explain why as we go along.

 

We start off in the official format because I am speaking about a person listed in the lectionary for this week Saint Alban, He labours under the traditional problem that “very little is known about him”. He was active in about the year 350.  It is said that he protected a Christian priest from being arrested and tortured. As a result, he himself was beheaded. He is given the status of being the first British Christian martyr. British society today is less violent perhaps, but the Collect reminds us that our Christian witness is still called for.

 

Personal note I lived briefly in Saint Albans during the 1950s

 

Eternal Father,                                                                        

when the gospel of Christ first came to our land                      

you gloriously confirmed the faith of Alban                              

by making him the first to win a martyr’s crown:                    

grant that, following his example,                                               

in the fellowship of the Saints                                                  

we may worship you, the living God,                                      

and give true witness to Jesus Christ your Son our Lord       

who is alive and reigns with you                                                   

in the unity of the Holy Spirit                                                 

one one Cod now and for ever. Amen

 

We are still with the lectionary, because we have come forward almost exactly 1300 years but we are going to be looking at a version of Psalm 100 that was produced by a Brit, possibly a Scot, his name was William Kethe and he wrote a metrical version of the psalm. This formed part of the first British collection of metrical psalms produced by a man called Daye .The object of this was to provide the congregation with the opportunity of singing at a time when the tradition was still to leave that sort of thing in complicated form,to the choir.

 

All people that on earth do dwell                                             

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice                                        

Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,                               

Come ye before him and rejoice.

 The Lord ,ye know, is God indeed                                             

Without our aid he did us make                                               

We are his folk, he doth us feed                                                

And for his sheep he doth us take.

 

Personal note: I have always found it difficult to sing the tune known as The Old Hundreth with a cheerful voice...

 

If you look at a secular calendar you will see “Father's Day”. I see this purely as a commercial operation, designed to extract money from your pocket.  I feel the same about the so-called Mother's Day. Mothering Sunday is something very different.                                           

I am blessed in sharing with Janet three children, six grandchildren, each with a wife or partner and now two great- grandchildren. The family is where my prayers are directed.

 

Father, how can I express what I owe to my family?                   

I have shared so much of life with them, old and young,     

Even when they are far from me, we are bound closely together when I am angry or frustrated, they rescue me from myself, when I doubt, they rekindle my faith.                                        

My family make demands on my time and energy they remind me that I am still wanted.

(More Everyday Prayers)  Finally, generationally adapted

Thank you, God, for the gift of great grandchildren I love them to come and stay. And thank you, God, for that blessed peace that descends when they've gone away  (Jean Crowther)

 

Festival of Saint Barnabas

 

The lectionary offers alternative readings for this Festival they are 

either Job 29.11-16; Psalm 112; Acts 11.19-30; John15.12- 17

 or Acts 11.19-30; Psalm 112; Galatians 2.1-10; John 15.12-17

 

The collect for Saint Barnabas Day is particularly well constructed and goes like this:

 

Bountiful God, giver of all gifts,                                               

who poured your Spirit upon your servant Barnabas              

and gave him grace to encourage others;                              

help us, by his example,                                                           

to be generous in our judgments                                            

and unselfish in our service:                                                    

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord                                      

who is alive and reigns with you                                                 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,                                                   

one God, now and for ever. Amen

 

The ever-reliable Frank Colquhoun also offers his take on our Encurager:

Christ our Lord, we remember today with thanksgiving your servant Barnabas, that generous and warm-hearted man who was a true Son of Consolation in the Apostolic Church.        

Help us by your grace to follow his faith, the faith that works through love; and like him, make us generous in our giving, in our judgments and in our friendship.                                   

Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of your name. Amen

 

Like many others my thoughts over the past few days have been with the people who live on the banks of the river Dnipro. The destruction of the Nova Khaknovka Dam has been an act of wickedness committed probably by men who believe they are doing their Christian duty in fighting against threats from western materialism. I do not ignore the sufferers, please pray for them, but the following prayer of unknown origin and dating back 1000 years comes down to us in the context of the Holy Trinity but serves as a reminder that we are all sinners.

 

Perhaps St Barnabas reminded his hearers of this, and pointed out that if we acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness, there is hope for all who believe in our salvation through Christ.

 

Receive, O Holy Trinity, those these oblations which I, a sinner, offer both for myself and for the whole Christian people, for our brothers and sisters and for those who remember us regularly in their prayers, so that in this present world we may deserve to receive forgiveness of all our sins, and in the next may deserve to attain eternal res,t through you, Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen

 

Trinity Sunday

 

Psalms 97,98; Exodus 34, 1-10; Mark 1. 1 to 13

 

Many clergy, bless them, struggle to find analogies for three in one and one in three, but it is easier just to think of the way in which our God manifests himself by looking at how we fit him into in our day-to-day living and in our spiritual lives. Brian Wren encapsulates this:

 

Living Love                                                                          

beginning and end                                                                

giver of food and drink,                                                            

clothing and warmth, love and hope                                             

life in all its goodnes -                                                                

 

we praise and adore you                                                                                         

 

Jesus, Wisdom and Word,                                                     

lover of outcasts, friend of the poor,                                      

one of us yet one with God;                                                  

crucified and risen;                                                                    

life in the midst of death -                                                        

 

we praise and adore you                                

 

Holy Spirit,                                                                            

storm and breath of love;                                                    

bridge-builder, eye-opener,                                                 

waker of the oppressed,                                                    

unseen and unexpected, untamable energy of life -                

 

we praise and adore you

 

Holy Trinity,                                                                         

forever one                                                                             

whose nature is community                                                  

source of all sharing                                                                   

in whom we love and meet and know our neighbour               

life in all its fullness making all things new                                

 

we praise and adore you    

 

Bishop Ken (commemorated this week) was partiocilarly gifted in finding ways in which to put this across. He was a entering a Christian hospital and he uttered this prayer at the door - which applies just as much to our church doors

 

O God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship, narrow enough to shut out all envy pride and strife; make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling-block to children nor to straying feet, but rugged and strong enough to turn back the Temper’s power. God make the door of this house the gateway to thine eternal Kingdom. Amen

 

If you find Brian disturbing thenThomas Ken may be more digestible:

To God the Father, who first loved us, and made us acceptable in the Beloved                 

To God the Son, who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood                                  To God the Holy Ghost, who sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts.                                        Be all love and glory for time and eternity. Amen

 

Day of Pentecost

 

Acts 2.1-21; Psalm 104.24-34, 35b;1 Corinthians 12. 3b –13; John 20.19-23  or John 7. 37-39

 

Pentecost is a complicated way for us to describe this Festival. It indicates (in Latin!) celebration in the Jewish faith the festival marking the fiftieth day after the second day of the Passover. Let’s call it the day of the Holy Spirit!

 

The Spirit has clearly been at work – borne out by the number of prayers each generation  has been inspired to create.

 

Wind of God keep on blowing,                                                  

sail over the barriers that we build                                                  

to divide ourselves from each other                                         

Pick up your seeds of freedom and truth

wherever they flourish carry them across frontiers

to be planted in other soil,              

to begin fresh growth and new forms                                    

 

Blow from the South                                                                   

to the ears of Northern peoples,                                            

blow away the blinkers                                                         

which keep our eyes focused only on the past,              

repeating its violence deepening its divisions                          

and adding to its to its despair ,                                          

Reveal the new future you have in mind for us

Fire of God, keep on burning                                              

smoluder in the hearts of people                                        

where oppression keeps them in chains,                                 

where unemployment and poverty devalue their humanity      

and where hunger weakens the spirit                                     

Burn in them like Moses’ bush                                                 

and do not let them be destroyed.

 

Tongue of God, keep on speaking                                             

so that the peoples of earth                                                    

can speak your language to each other                                     

and all can hear you in their own.

 Speak peace where nations meet,                                         

justice where ideas clash,                                                   

mercy where power reigns,                                                     

healing where minds and bodies hurt,                                       

and love where churches seek your unity,                               

and wherever else Babel drowns out the sound of Pentecost.

(Graham Cook)   

 

There's a great deal packed in by Graham, Ian Black offers a  a simple and straightforward alternative –but it’s not as simple as it first appears:

 

Holy Spirit of God,                                                                                   

breathe into your followers                                                     

new life and confidence                                                                                 

as you did in the upper room..                                                

Pour upon your whole church                                                 

the gifts of your grace                                                             

that it may live and work                                                            

to your praise and glory Amen

 

Easter 7 (Sunday after Ascension Day)

 

Acts 1.6-14; Psalm 68.1-10,32-35; 1 Peter 4.12-14; 5.6-11;    John 17.1-11

 

The Roman god Janus had two heads – one looked forward, the other looked back. This Sunday is similar! We look back to the glories of Easter and forward to the risen Christ alive here for us today and every day, Charles Wesley (who, together with brother John, is commemorated this week) reflects that in his hymn:

 

Hail the day that sees him rise

Glorious to his native skies                                                      

Christ a while to mortals given                                                 

Enters now the highest heaven.

See! The heaven its Lord receives                                               

Yet he loves the earth he leaves                                         

Though returning to his throne                                                       

Still he calls mankind his own

See! He lifts his hands above                                                    

See! He shows his prints of love                                                    

Hark! His gracious lips bestow                                             

Blessings on hic Church below.

 

Which leads quite naturally to our next prayer

 

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the service to us by Donald, our Bishop for over a decade. We pray for John, our present Bishop, with the heavy burden he has to carry. Support him with your love and power to withstand the  many pressures over the coming months. Be close to those whose task it is to discern your wishes for our new bishop as they seek your help. May we be blessed with a man or woman ready to lead, ready to listen and always open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We ask this in your beloved name, Amen

 

Having looked forward  to an event probably 12 months ahead let us look forward just one Sunday to Pentecost! The words are familiar but powerful:

 

O Lord, who has taught us that all our doings without love are nothing worth, send your Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, the very bond of peace and virtues without which whosoever lives is counted dead before you; grant us this for your Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen

(Thomas Cranmer)

 

Easter 5 

Acts 7.55-60; Psalm 31.1-5,15-16; 1 Peter 2. 2-10; John 14.1-14 

 

Our Gospel passage includes that wonderful reassurance that accompanies a coffin as it enters the church. Jesus Christ tells his disciples that he will be playing the role of a dragoman in going ahead, fixing up their next accommodation, and assuring them that ‘all will be well’ Whilst we remain in the Easter Season, we have other events to think about this week! On Monday we remember Julian of Norwich. She has been very much in my mind as, over the Bank Holiday, we visited the house we lived in in Norwich 50 years ago. Let’s begin with Easter however with John Chrysostom and Basil the Great: 

Let our mouth be filled with thy praise, O Lord, that we may sing of thy glory, for that thou hast counted us worthy to partake of thy holy, divine, immortal and life-giving mysteries: preserve thou us in thy holiness that we may learn of thy righteousness all the day long. Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia. 

 

Now for Julian who re-emerged from relative obscurity during our Norwich years 

I learned that love was our Lord’s meaning,

And I saw for certain both here and elsewhere that before ever he made us, God loved us; and that his love has never slackened nor ever shall.                         

In this love all his works have been done, and in this love he has made everything serve us: and in this love our life is everlasting

Our beginning was when we were made but the love in which he made us never had beginning. In it we have our beginning. All this we shall see in God for ever. May Jesus grant this. 

 

King Charles and Queen Camilla will be very much in our thoughts and prayers this week. Charles will be the first to admit that the power he exercises is ‘soft’. Let's spread the net wider with Lilian Cox 

 

King of kings and Lord of lords,

We pray today for statesmen, rulers and leaders                        

May they be quiet in spirit, clear in judgment, Able to understand the issues that face them. May they think often of the common people on whose behalf they must think and act  May they remember that in keeping thy laws is man’s good and happiness.                                                                               

Grant them patience, grant them courage, Grant them foresight and great faith, in their anxieties be their security, in their opportunities be thou their inspiration, by their plans and their actions may thy kingdom come, thy will be done.