This Sunday for the first time since March, we were able to hold a service at St Marys, following the guidance on social distancing, hand sanitising, and with out any singing or exchanging the peace we non the less celebrated the Eucharist! About 20 people gathered at 10 am, and using alternate pews, we said the service, and Father Stephen was the celebrant. His homily is presented below for those who could not come!

It was a wonderful thing to be together again and we praise God that we are able to meet in his presence at the Eucharist. We were not able to have refreshments afterwards, but it was joyful to meet and see each other, to resume our worship and to hear Joanna play the organ.

Next week we will meet again for Matins, many thanks to Chris and Janet for organising this 'new normal' service!



‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, 12 JULY





Dear Friends

Vincent van Gogh painted two pictures entitled ‘The Sower’ during 1888.  Both show a large sun behind the central figure and we can imagine him sweltering in the ‘heat and burden of the day’, although in one of the paintings the sower is depicted beside a river, with a large tree perhaps offering a little shade.

For van Gogh, the one-time lay preacher in Holland, the Gospel reference to the parable of the sower would almost certainly have been uppermost in his mind as he worked on these paintings.  And, of course, the Gospel set for today (Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23) provides one of the versions of this parable, describing the sower who liberally sprinkles the seed of God’s word, which falls indiscriminately over the ground, with some falling on the edge of the path, some on patches of rock, some among thorns, and only some on the good soil, which, as every Sunday School child knows, brings forth a rich harvest, whether thirty-, sixty- or a hundred fold.

Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom, of which this is one, tend to be very concise – every word counts – and in this case we are offered an explanation of the details.  Thus we learn that the seed that is sown in good soil represents those who hear the word of God and understand it.  I must have preached on this passage at least thirty, sixty or even a hundred times in my ordained life, but it has never struck me before that it is only those who understand the word who produce the crop.  We know that any preacher Sunday by Sunday will only be able to ‘broadcast’ the seed of God’s word to a limited number of people – perhaps forty or fifty on average – although these days, with the increased streaming of services, perhaps this might be more.  We can never know what effect our preaching will have on those who listen, but we trust that the Holy Spirit will come to our aid, so that those who hear God’s word may also receive it with understanding, and bring forth a good harvest within their own lives and situations.

Fr Stephen


Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God now and for ever.  Amen.



Romans 8:1-11

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.

There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For God has done what the law,
weakened by the flesh,
could not do:
by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

To set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God;
it does not submit to God's law—indeed it cannot,

and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh;
you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you,
though the body is dead because of sin,
the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies
also through his Spirit that dwells in you.


Gospel.  Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake.

Such great crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat there,
while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

And he told them many things in parables, saying:
"Listen! A sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate them up.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground,
where they did not have much soil,
and they sprang up quickly,
since they had no depth of soil.

But when the sun rose, they were scorched;
and since they had no root, they withered away.

Other seeds fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew up and choked them.

Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain,
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Let anyone with ears listen!"

Hear then the parable of the sower.

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom
and does not understand it,
the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart;
this is what was sown on the path.

 As for what was sown on rocky ground,
this is the one who hears the word
 and immediately receives it with joy;

yet such a person has no root,
but endures only for a while,
and when trouble or persecution arises
on account of the word,
that person immediately falls away.

As for what was sown among thorns,
this is the one who hears the word,
but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth
choke the word, and it yields nothing.

But as for what was sown on good soil,
this is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields,
in one case a hundredfold,
in another sixty, and in another thirty."