Candidates for Cantuar: Justin Welby
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Saturday Sitrep: Canterbury Candidates
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Intercessions for Epiphany 2013
First, a statement from Church House (verbatim, I am not making this up):
In 2013, the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January)...
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Man doth seek a triple perfection: first a sensual, consisting in those things which very life itself requireth either as necessary supplements, or as beauties and ornaments thereof; then as intellectual, consisting in those things which none underneath man is either capable or or acquainted with; lastly a spiritual and divine, consisting in those things whereunto we tend by supernatural means here, but cannot here attain unto them.
They that make the first of these three the scope of their whole life are said by the Apostle to have no god but only their belly, to be earthly minded men. Unto the second they bend themselves, who seek especially to excel in all such knowledge and virtue as doth most commend men. To this branch belongeth the law of moral and civil perfection.
That there is somewhat higher than either of these two, no other proof doth need than the very process of man’s desire, which being natural should be frustrate, if there were not some farther thing wherein it might rest at the length contented, which in the former it cannot do. For man doth not seem to rest satisfied, either with fruition of that wherewith his life is preserved, or with performance of such actions as to advance him most deservedly in estimation; but doth further covet, yea oftentimes manifestly pursue with great sedulity and earnestness, that which cannot stand him in any stead for vital use; that which exceedeth the reach of sense; yea, somewhat above capacity of reason, somewhat divine and heavenly, which with hidden exultation it rather surmiseth than conceiveth; somewhat it seeketh, and what that is directly it knoweth not, yet very intentive desire thereof doth so incite it, that all other known delights and pleasures are laid aside, they give place to the search of this but only suspected desire.
On any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. His masterpiece is The Laws Of Ecclesiastical Polity. Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are developed from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience.
The occasion of his writing was the demand of English Puritans for a reformation of Church government. Calvin had established in Geneva a system whereby each congregation was ruled by a commission comprising two thirds laymen elected annually by the congregation and one third clergy serving for life. The English Puritans (by arguments more curious than convincing) held that no church not so governed could claim to be Christian.
Hooker replies to this assertion, but in the process he raises and considers fundamental questions about the authority and legitimacy of government (religious and secular), about the nature of law, and about various kinds of law, including the laws of physics as well as the laws of England. In the course of his book he sets forth the Anglican view of the Church, and the Anglican approach to the discovery of religious truth (the so-called Via Media, or middle road), and explains how this differs from the position of the Puritans, on the one hand, and the adherents of the Pope, on the other. He is very heavy reading, but well worth it. (He says, on the first page of Chapter I: “Those unto whom we shall seem tedious are in no wise injuried by us, seeing that it lies in their own hands to spare themselves the labor they are unwilling to endure.” This translates into modern English as: “If you can’t take the intellectual heat, get out of the kitchen. If you can’t stand a book that makes you think, go read the funny papers.”)
The effect of the book has been considerable. Hooker greatly influenced John Locke, and (both directly and through Locke), American political philosophy in the late 1700′s. Although Hooker is unsparing in his censure of what he believes to be the errors of Rome, his contemporary, Pope Clement VIII (died 1605), said of the book: “It has in it such seeds of eternity that it will abide until the last fire shall consume all learning.”
Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; 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 Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: 1 Kings 21.1-10(11-14)15-21a
There was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.” As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood – yes, yours!’” Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!” “I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. ‘I am going to bring disaster on you.’”
Psalm 5.1-8
Give ear to my words, O Lord; * consider my lamentation.
Hearken to the voice of my crying, my King and my God, * for to you I make my prayer.
In the morning, Lord, you will hear my voice; * early in the morning I make my appeal to you, and look up.
For you are the God who takes no pleasure in wickedness; * no evil can dwell with you.
The boastful cannot stand in your sight; * you hate all those that work wickedness.
You destroy those who speak lies; * the bloodthirsty and deceitful the Lord will abhor.
But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy, I will come into your house; * I will bow down towards your holy temple in awe of you.
Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness, because of my enemies; * make your way straight before my face.
Second Reading: Galatians 2.15-21
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Gospel Reading: Luke 7.36-8.3
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – that she is a sinner.’ Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied. ‘Speak.’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
The RSCM in 2007 saw the essence of today’s readings as being about God’s love and forgiveness for all: ‘How can love be measured? It can’t, but sometimes people try, particularly at meal times, in different ways. The presence of the woman who was a sinner seemed very inappropriate to the Pharisee, but Jesus accepted her extravagant behaviour. Despite her past history, she knew that she was loved and forgiven by Jesus. Do we realise that God’s love and forgiveness are freely available to us too?‘
Prayers of Intercession
¶The Church of Christ
Lord, draw your Church together into one great company of disciples, together serving your Son in his mission to the world. May we accept one another as brothers and sisters, finding strength and joy in our life together as fellow members of the Body of Christ. May we as a Church be open and welcoming to all people. Prepare a room in our hearts, we pray, so that those who are hurt, rejected or ignored in the world may find kindness there. We ask this in the name of One who had to be born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn.
Lord, give us the grace to love one other as you have loved us: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority
Lord, whose beauty is beyond our imagining and whose power we cannot comprehend: show us your glory insofar as we are able grasp it, and shield us from knowing more than we can bear until we may look upon you without fear. By the power of your Spirit make us, your children, followers and partners in the grand design of your kingdom of love. We pray for peace in a world of war, for health in a world of hunger, and for harmony in a world of discord. Lead us from war and want by the pathways of justice and peace.
Lord, give us the grace to love one other as you have loved us: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶The local community
Heavenly Father, give us a genuine love for others, both those whom we like and those that we don’t. Help us to overcome our fears and prejudices and to see your image in all people. Lord, your Son welcomed the downtrodden, those made to feel small. We ask you to help us in turn to enlarge others rather than to diminish them; to build up rather than to belittle. And if any truly have gravely offended us, help us to forgive with our whole hearts, knowing that our own grave offences have been forgiven by you.
Lord, give us the grace to love one other as you have loved us: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶Those who suffer
Merciful Lord, we remember before you the homeless, the destitute, the sick, the aged and all who have none to care for them. Heal all those who suffer, whether physically or mentally, and restore them to strength of mind and cheerfulness of spirit. Remember especially, Lord, those whom we have forgotten. For you are the helper of the helpless, the saviour of the lost, the refuge of the wanderer and the healer of the sick.
Lord, give us the grace to love one other as you have loved us: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶The communion of saints
Lord and father of all, we pray to you for those whom we love but see no longer. Grant them your peace; let light perpetual shine upon them; and in your loving wisdom and almighty power, work in them the good purpose of your perfect will.
Lord, give us the grace to love one other as you have loved us: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
The image is of stained glass in Manchester Cathedral and is copyright: Alastair Wallace via Shutterstock
Two of my best-loved DVDs are dramatisations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Both paint a picture of the priesthood that is little more than the assumed profession of a younger son, or else something that could be bestowed on an unfortunate friend or relative, regardless of suitability. Thus it is possible for Lizzie to ask: “How should you have liked making sermons?” and for Wickham to reply “Exceedingly well” without there being any discussion of his vocation, and with a complete absence of the sort of scrutiny that characterises today’s Church of England as individuals offer themselves for ordination.
By contrast, Managing Clergy Lives paints a picture of ordination that is weighty, awesome and therefore, to misuse the Book of Common Prayer “not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly.” Using the metaphor of the panopticon, Peyton and Gatrell explore the way in which our understanding of ordination has evolved, with the focus on a three-fold obligation…. obedience, sacrifice and intimacy.
The panopticon was conceived as an especially oppressive prison in which the inmates were constantly under scrutiny, and could never escape from the vigilance of their guards, thereby intensifying the ordeal of their confinement to an almost intolerable level. Michel Foucault borrowed this concept when he coined the expression “The Panopticon of Ordination”, suggesting that once ordained, clergy are under the dual scrutiny of God and of the Church, and unable to escape either. Once ordained: always ordained.
Rather in the way that Psalm 139 (“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?”) may be seen in either a half-full or a half-empty way, or both, the panopticon of ordination carries similar overtones. In terms of the practicalities of everyday life, what may seem trivial examples – the vicarage being public territory, being available round the clock, having to do more and more with less and less, and so on – are simply indicators of a far greater and more awesome commitment, to a life of obedience, sacrifice and intimacy that Peyton and Gatrell explore in some depth.
Managing Clergy Lives combines extensive literature reviews with quotations from the research group. These bring to life the realities as seen and experienced by a panel of Area/Rural Deans, and paint a picture of life-long dedication, tenacity and endurance. Amusing anecdotes weave their way through the text, with references also to the impact of the ordained life on clergy families and households.
If I have a quarrel, it is this. I am not an academic and the book, which is after all based on a doctoral thesis, seems to labour the literature review, with frequent citations interrupting the text, and favouring a circumlocutory approach that ensures that every T is crossed and every I dotted. Put another way, it is not a page turner, nor at £17:99 is it priced as such.
I was also a little uneasy as to whether a panel of four dozen Area/Rural deans – predominantly full-time stipendiary, and by definition successful in view of their appointment to these roles – could really be said to represent the life, challenges and travails of clergy in general. I concede that you have to start somewhere, but I felt that some of the authors’ assertions might have been less sustainable if the panel had included, for instance, self-supporting ministers, curates in training and close-to-retirement clergy who had never sought nor been granted preferment.
Why was it worth publishing? All in all, I believe that for the unordained, the awesomeness of ordination is barely understood. I am not talking here about people being unaware of the workload and things like that; but of the underlying and overbearing imperatives that make ordained clergy who they are. With this comes a paradox: Managing Clergy Lives does not pretend to be a populist book to enable the person in the pew better to understand the calling and challenges of their parish priest, and yet that may really be what is needed. Conversely, the sorts of people who would read this might end up feeling that it had not added a great deal to what they already knew.
So, am I glad I read Managing Clergy Lives? Yes. Did learn from it? Definitely? Would I recommend it? Simply put, if the concept of the panopticon of ordination correctly portrays the true meaning of ordination, then being a priest simply isn’t “just like any other profession”, and the life of the priest and the priest’s family are quite distinct. This needs to be clearly understood, and therefore, if you can cope with an academic approach, it is worth reading.
You can hear Dr Nigel Peyton and Dr Caroline Gatrell discuss this book in ‘Thinking Aloud’ with Laurie Taylor on 22 April here
The Rt Revd Dr Peyton is Bishop of Brechin and Honorary Teaching Fellow at Lancaster University. Dr Gatrell is Senior Lecturer in the School of Management at Lancaster University
God does not deflect our gaze prematurely from the work he himself has given us, since he presents himself to us attainable through that very work. Nor does he blot out, in his intense light, the detail of our earthly aims, since the closeness of our union with him is in fact determined by the exact fulfilment of the least of our tasks…God, in all that is most living and incarnate in him, is not far away from us. altogether apart from the world we see, touch, hear, smell and taste about us.
Rather he awaits us every instant in our action, in the work of the moment. There is a sense in which he is at the tip of my pen, my spade, my brush, my needle—of my heart and of my thought. By pressing the stroke, the line or the stitch, on which I am engaged, to its ultimate natural finish, I shall lay hold of the last end towards which my innermost will tends…
Try, with God’s help, to perceive your connection—even physical and natural—which binds your labour with the building of the Kingdom of Heaven; try to realise that heaven itself smiles upon you and, through your works, draws you to itself; then, as you leave church for the noisy streets, you will remain with only one feeling, that of continuing to immerse yourself in God…
Never, at any time…consent to do anything at all without first of all realising its significance and constructive value in Christo Jesu, and pursuing it with all your might. This is not simply a commonplace precept for salvation: it is the very path to sanctity for each man according to his state and calling. For what is sanctity in a creature if not to adhere to God with the maximum of his strength?—and what does that maximum adherence to God mean if not the fulfilment—in the world organised around Christ—of the exact function, be it lowly or eminent, to which that creature is destined both by natural endowment and by supernatural gift?
I love the way Teilhard de Chardin expresses this idea. It is not new, and may remind you as it does me of George Herbert’s ‘Teach me, my God and King’. However, while both are writing about, as it were, the Mary and Martha paths to salvation, there is an almost Hindu quality in the Chardin passage, recalling the Laws of Manu.
For me, reading this passage in June 2013, Chardin’s words resonate in the field of social media. He affirms (what I hope is true) that ‘works’ may include blogging and participating in social media generally if that is what you feel best able to do in God’s service.
Lord, you have 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 true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you. Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
¶ The Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: 1 Kings 17.8-16(17-24)
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
Psalm 146
Refrain: The Lord shall reign for ever.
Alleluia. Praise the Lord, O my soul: while I live will I praise the Lord; * as long as I have any being, I will sing praises to my God.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in any human power, *for there is no help in them.
When their breath goes forth, they return to the earth; *on that day all their thoughts perish. R
Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help, *whose hope is in the Lord their God;
Who made heaven and earth,the sea and all that is in them; *who keeps his promise for ever;
Who gives justice to those that suffer wrong *and bread to those who hunger. R
The Lord looses those that are bound; *the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; *the Lord loves the righteous;
The Lord watches over the stranger in the land; he upholds the orphan and widow; * but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
The Lord shall reign for ever, * your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Alleluia.
Refrain: The Lord shall reign for ever.
Second Reading: Galatians 1.11-24
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, ‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.
Gospel Reading: Luke 7.11-17
Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Prayers of Intercession
Do you know the 1979 prayer book of The Episcopal Church? If not, may I recommend it highly as a source of prayers, particularly public prayers rather than for private worship. You can download it in various formats here. (I have it in Word and keep a link on my Desktop). Today’s intercessions are based on prayers from it.
The most helpful commentary on the readings today I found in Jane Williams (you can read it on pp 80-81 here).
¶The Church of Christ
Gracious Lord, we pray for your holy Church and ask you to flood it with the truth and peace of your Holy Spirit. Where the Church is right, strengthen it; where it is in error, re-direct it. Where the Church is corrupt, purify it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it. Where it is faltering, stiffen its resolve so that it may fulfil its role as a shining beacon on a hill to all who surround it.
Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority
Lord, who made the universe with all its marvellous order, its atoms, worlds, and galaxies, and the infinite complexity of living creatures: in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow-workers in your creation. Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty. Grant that, as we probe the mysteries of your creation, we may come to know you more truly, and more surely fulfill our role in your eternal purpose;
Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶The local community
Lord, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne.
Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶Those who suffer
Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us, in the name of your Son, to sit beside them as we attempt to offer comfort to those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy through the knowledge of your presence.
Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶The communion of saints
Lord, we give thanks to you for all your servants and witnesses of time past: for the apostles and all the martyrs and saints in every age and in every land. Lord of all, our breath and being come from you, yet our earthly end is dust; as you loose the bound and feed the hungry, so bring us in your mercy through the grave and gate of death to the feast of eternal life,
where you reign for evermore.
Lord, look with compassion on your faithful people in all their frailty: in your mercy, hear our prayer
What we call ‘being in love’ is a glorious state, and, in several ways, good for us. It helps to make us generous and courageous, it opens our eyes not only to the beauty of the beloved but to all beauty, and it subordinates…our merely animal sexuality; in that sense, love is the great conqueror of lust. No one in his right senses would deny that being in love is far better than either common sensuality of cold self-centredness. But…the most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of our own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs.
Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing…You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go…If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married’, then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and it would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?
But of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense – love as distinct from ‘being in love’ – is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it…
People get from books [and the cinema] the idea that if you have married the right person you may expect to go on being ‘in love’ for ever. As a result, when they find they are not, they think this proves they have made a mistake and are entitled to a change – not realising that, when they have changed, the glamour will presently go out of the new love just as it went out of the old one. In this department of life, as in every other, thrills come at the beginning and do not last…The thrill you feel on first seeing some delightful place dies away when you really go to live there…Does this mean…that it would be better not to live in the beautiful place? By no means. …If you go through with it, the dying away of the first thrill will be compensated for by a quieter and more lasting kind of interest…it is just the people who are ready to submit to the loss of the thrill and settle down to the sober interest, who are then most likely to meet new thrills in some quite different direction…
This is, I think, one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies…Let the thrill go – let it die away- go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow – and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time. But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be …bored and disillusioned…for the rest of your life. It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all around them.
O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; 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 Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: 1 Kings 18.20-21(22-29)30-39
Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.‘ The people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred and fifty. Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.‘ All the people answered, ‘Well spoken!’ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.’ So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, ‘Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.’ Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response. Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come closer to me’; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name’; with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, ‘Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt-offering and on the wood.’ Then he said, ‘Do it a second time’; and they did it a second time. Again he said, ‘Do it a third time’; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.’ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt-offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.’
Psalm 96
Refrain: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Sing to the Lord a new song; *sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord and bless his name; *tell out his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations * and his wonders among all peoples. R
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; *he is more to be feared than all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are but idols; *it is the Lord who made the heavens.
Honour and majesty are before him; * power and splendour are in his sanctuary. R
Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; *ascribe to the Lord honour and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; * bring offerings and come into his courts.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; *let the whole earth tremble before him.
Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is king. *He has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. R
Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; *let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
Let the fields be joyful and all that is in them; * let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord.
For he comes, he comes to judge the earth; *with righteousness he will judge the world and the peoples with his truth.
Refrain: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Second Reading: Galatians 1.1-12
Paul, an apostle – sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead – and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reading: Luke 7.1-10
Jesus entered the town of Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go,” and he goes, and to another, “Come,” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this,” and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
We are back in Ordinary Time (strictly speaking, since last week, but Trinity Sunday always feels to me like a festival). Twenty-six Sundays lie ahead until Advent. The good news is that this leaves us freer to find themes to pray about within the lectionary. The slightly less good news is that the signposts become more Delphic. Also there are the two tracks, Continuous and Related (although they usually share some of the readings). I will follow the Continuous track, which I think will suit the majority. If you are following the Related track, I commend you into the hands of Jane Williams. But the Golden Rule (as told to me by my vicar!) is ‘when in doubt, go for the gospel’.
So what have we here? The collect suggests God’s grace; the OT reading has Elijah persuading God to act as a celestial conjuror in order to convince the people that the Lord is a better god than Baal (how unlike 21st century religious life – or is it?); the epistle shows Paul’s disappointment and irritation at the prospect of the Galatians wandering away from the truth that he has shown them; and the gospel tells us that * “anyone can be saved— Gentiles, women, the poor, outcasts, as well as privileged leaders…Jesus is the saviour of the world and the healer; the Greek word for ‘save’ also meaning ‘heal’ “.
Thus my interpretation is we should pray for grace and faith in believing (without the need for conjuring tricks); we should pray for an inclusive and loving Church welcoming to all believers; and we should pray for God’s healing love for our Church, our nations and communities, for those who suffer, and ourselves.
Prayers of Intercession
¶The Church of Christ
Lord, we pray for your Church. Inspire in us the desire to draw together as we seek to serve you. Inspire us to reach out as the Body of Christ to all who remain outside, feeling themselves guilty of dust and sin. Through your grace, may we invite them to taste and see that the Lord is good. And then, as you have taught us, may we as a united whole worship you in the beauty of holiness, in spirit and in truth.
Lord, who has given us so much, give us one thing more – a grateful heart: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority
Lord God, you draw us by your beauty and transform us by your holiness; let our worship echo all creation’s praise and declare your glory to the nations. As we move into summer and the days lengthen, our souls are drawn out of their mortal weariness, helped by the wonders of your creation upwards to you, source of unfailing refreshment and strength. **
Lord, who has given us so much, give us one thing more – a grateful heart: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶The local community
Lord, who has commanded us to love one another, give us grace also to fulfil this commandment. We ask you to help us be gentle, thoughtful and forgiving to all whom we meet and live amongst. We thank you for our friends, and ask you to help us to keep these friendships in good repair. We thank you for the unselfish loving kindness which our friends have shown us, sharing our laughter in times of happiness, and standing beside us in times of trouble. Help us to be good friends in our turn, ready to help but not to interfere, and at all times a dependable source of strength to those whom we love.
Lord, who has given us so much, give us one thing more – a grateful heart: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶Those who suffer
Lord, comfort all who are distressed. Be with them, we pray, through the lonely watches of the night and the narrow tunnel of their pain and grief. Give to the suffering the faith that will protect them from despair, and give them the hope that will deliver them from fear and faint-heartedness.
Lord, who has given us so much, give us one thing more – a grateful heart: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
¶The communion of saints
Lord, we bring before you those whose earthly life is now at an end. Receive their souls into your kingdom, we pray, that redeemed by grace they may be forgiven for their sins, rest in peace and rise in glory.
Lord, who has given us so much, give us one thing more – a grateful heart: in your mercy, hear our prayer.
** This is based on a prayer of St Augustine: ‘The whole creation speaks thy praise…that so our soul rises out of our mortal weariness unto thee, helped upward by the things thou hast made and passing beyond them unto thee who has wonderfully made them: and there refreshment is and strength unfailing. ”
The image is God in every Gap? by: Dr Bex Lewis Description: Plymouth Cathedral – Windows blown out in the Second World War.
(Take this as some sort of prose poem, not a sermon. I have no theological training.)
The trouble with the trinity is the numbers. Three into one won’t go, yet some preachers still attempt the maths. People sometimes say that the New Testament only hints at the trinity, and the doctrine itself was developed later. The truth is that the New Testament tells us all we need to know about it:
“God has sent the spirit of sonship into our hearts, that we may cry Abba, Father.” (Gal 4:6; cf Rom 8:15)
“Jesus breathed on them and said, Receive the holy spirit.” (Jn 20:22)
Later formulations run the risk of reducing the living God to a formula.
We are not called to understand the trinity, still less to define it: we are called to live it. The spirit isn’t some abstract person or construct: the spirit is the life of Yeshua living in us, the breath of Yeshua breathing in us, the death of Yeshua expiring in us, the resurrection of Yeshua exploding in us. We are his body. We’re a living body because Yeshua breathes in us.
The day of Pentecost is simply the working out of the resurrection, which is the glory of the cross. God dies on Good Friday. The breath goes out of him. The sky goes black. Why doesn’t the universe just disappear? Because this is a death freely accepted in the agony of the garden.
“Don’t torture me. Anything but this. But I’m not going to turn away from your will, your overwhelming desire. The life in me has worked miracles, healed people, touched people, disturbed people, transformed people, because I’ve let it burst through even when it flatly contradicts religious principles. I’m not going to fight and I’m not going to turn and run. Life itself, the creative force of the universe, drives me on. The desire to reach out and touch others, and to let them touch me, is overwhelming. I’m going to stand and face them, terrified, sweating blood, with one simple assertion. I am he. I am who I am, no more or less.”
Nails and spears can’t kill that sort of life. The body gets ripped apart by pain and gives birth to a new creation, a risen body of ecstatic believers on the day of Pentecost, centred on the chalice, facing their fears and finding a whole new life which is not limited by religion, death, illness or anything else. Surely this is why Trinity Sunday sits between Pentecost and Corpus Christi. We have ourselves to offer, fruit of the womb and work of human love. In him we become the body of Christ.
God becomes a zygote; a foetus labouring through the birth canal, soft skull distorted; a baby at the breast; a playful child; a pretentious twelve-year-old; a carpenter’s apprentice; a homeless guru and a wandering miracle-worker; a threat to religion; a corpse, and then:
An empty tomb, an elusive presence, a burning and yearning within us, a farewell, an absence, a rush of mighty wind, a breath of fire, a body of believers struggling to express an overwhelming experience in human language and art and organisation through twenty centuries, a piece of bread.
God has sent the spirit of sonship into our hearts, calling us to gatecrash that father-son relationship. The trinity is God calling us into himself, calling us to be Yeshua crying out Abba! Daddy! Crying for the breast, calling for Mummy or Daddy to come and play, calling for Dad to help sort out the carpentry or the homework, calling on his father’s healing power, calling on God in the agony of the darkest moments of doubt, fear, pain, betrayal and abandonment.
Yeshua is Yeshua because he’s the son of his father, the son of life and love, everything and nothing, the child of the creative void. We are his if we let his breath in us call out to the same father, if we let our weight fall back into the everlasting arms, if we give him our last gasp. We have no other life.
Today’s voice from the past is taken from Mary Batchelor‘s anthology, The Lion Literature Collection. She introduces it as follows:
In Your God Is Too Small, J B Philips reasons that many people today reject God because they have failed to form an adult image of him that is big enough to meet the questions and demands of life. In this extract, he describes those he dubs ‘bosom-flyers’.
The critics of the Christian religion have often contended that a religious faith is a form of psychological ‘escapism’. A man, they say, finding the problems and demands of adult life too much for him will attempt to return to the comfort and dependence of childhood by picturing for himself a loving parent, whom he calls God.
It must be admitted that there is a good deal of ammunition ready to hand for such an attack, and the first verse of a well-known and well-loved hymn provides and obvious example:
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
Here, if the words are taken at their face value, is sheer escapism, a deliberate desire to be hidden safe away until the storm and stress of life are over, and no explaining away by lovers of the hymn can alter its plain sense.
It can hardly be denied that if this is true Christianity then the charge of ‘escapism’, of emotional immaturity and childish regression, must be frankly conceded. But although this ‘God of escape’ is quite common, the true Christian course is set in a very different direction. No one would accuse its Founder of immaturity in insight, thought, teaching or conduct, and the history of the Christian Church provides thousands of examples of timid half-developed personalities who have not only found in their faith what psychologists call integration, but have coped with difficulties and dangers in a way that makes any gibe of ‘escapism’ plainly ridiculous.
Yet is there in Christianity a legitimate element of what the inimical might call escapism? The authentic Christian tradition…show[s] that throughout the ages heroic men and women have found God their ‘refuge’ as well as their ‘strength’…It has been well said by several modern psychologists that it is not the outward storms and stresses of life that defeat and disrupt personality , but its inner conflicts and miseries. If a man is happy and stable at heart, he can normally cope, even with zest, with difficulties that lie outside his personality…
Now Christians maintain that it is precisely this secure centre which faith in God provides. The genuine Christian can and does venture out into all kinds of exacting and even perilous activities, but all the time he knows that he has a completely stable and unchanging centre of operations to which he can return for strength, refreshment and recuperation. In that sense he does ‘escape’ to God, though he does not avoid the duties or burdens of life. His very ‘escape’ fits him for the day-to-day engagement with life’s strains and difficulties…
Today the gibe is that the message of Christianity attracts only the psychologically immature. Even if the charge were true, the answer to it would be that those who know they are at sixes and sevens with themselves are more likely to respond to a gospel offering psychological integration (among other things) than those who feel perfectly competent and well-adjusted. Nevertheless, the true Christian does not long remain either immature or in internal conflict. It is only if he becomes ‘fixed’ with the inadequate god of escape that he exhibits the pathetic figure of the perpetual bosom-flyer.
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity: keep us steadfast in this faith, that we may evermore be defended from all adversities; 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.
¶ The Liturgy of the Word
First Reading: Proverbs 8.1-4,22-31
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: ‘To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth – when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
Psalm 8
O Lord our governor, * how glorious is your name in all the world!
Your majesty above the heavens is praised * out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
You have founded a stronghold against your foes, * that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, * the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them; * mere human beings, that you should seek them out?
You have made them little lower than the angels *and crown them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands *and put all things under their feet,
All sheep and oxen, *even the wild beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea *and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
O Lord our governor, *how glorious is your name in all the world!
We bless you, master of the heavens, for the wonderful order which enfolds this world; grant that your whole creation
may find fulfilment in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Second Reading: Romans 5.1-5
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Gospel Reading: John 16.12-15
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’
I don’t usually include jokes in the intercessions, but there is a serious side to the following YouTube extract: proceed with great caution in any allusion to the doctrine of the Trinity.
Here St Patrick only gets it right when he refers to the Trinity as a mystery and more or less leaves it at that. I propose we do the same in the intercessions.
Prayers of Intercession
Lord, you who are three Persons yet one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, living and reigning in the perfect unity of love: hold us firm in this faith, that we may know you in all your facets and rejoice in your eternal glory, now and for ever.
¶The Church of Christ
Today we pray for the Church, not as a physical entity but as the manifestation of God’s love in the world. Christ has no body now but ours. It is our eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world, our feet with which he walks to do good, and our hands with which he blesses all the world. Lord, pour down upon us your grace as together we strive to serve you as you deserve. Enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth, and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love, that we may truly worship you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Holy Triune God, ever one and sacred three: in your mercy hear our prayer
¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority
Lord God beyond us, with wide-embracing love your Spirit changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears. Though Earth and moon were gone, and suns and universes ceased to be,
every existence would exist in you. God The Father, you send God the Son; God the Son sends God the Spirit. And the circle of your creation outflows into us as it draws us into you. We celebrate the mystery and joy at the heart of creation. Holy God beyond us, we celebrate the mystery and joy which is found even in us.
Holy Triune God, ever one and sacred three: in your mercy hear our prayer
¶The local community
Lord God beside us, who knows of every sparrow that falls to the ground, you are with us in all that we undertake. You walk with us along the path of our life and have promised never to leave us comfortless. We ask you to bless those who are unaware of your presence, or who have chosen to ignore you. We ask you to bless the lonely and the sad, and those unable to find comfort in sharing their joys and sorrows with you.
Holy Triune God, ever one and sacred three: in your mercy hear our prayer
¶Those who suffer
Lord God within us, fill our lives and all those who suffer in body or in spirit with your peace and your strength. May your spirit hover over the broken, lost, and grieving, and may they find your love in their neighbours’ responses to them. Merciful God, thinking particularly of Oklahoma, hear our cry for mercy in the wake of wind and water. Reveal your presence to the victims in the midst of their suffering. Help them to trust in your promises of hope and life so that desperation and grief will not overcome them.
Holy Triune God, ever one and sacred three: in your mercy hear our prayer
¶The communion of saints
Lord, we rejoice that you are our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. You leave no room for victory by Death, nor atom that his might could render void. As you are Being and Breath, you have given us life eternal. We pray for those that have gone before us to that place where we shall be united with you.
Holy Triune God, ever one and sacred three: in your mercy hear our prayer
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