03 November 2024
10:30 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Another busy weekend at St Mary our Lady. On Saturday night we had a Eucharist for All Souls Day with the Faure Requiem sung liturgically in the service. St Mary's choir was joined by a number of guest singers and our soloist was our friend Peter Webster. It was a very lovely event to recall all those who have gone before us. Many thanks to Joanna for all the work involved in the music.
A reading from the book of Revelation
I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,
having the seal of the living God,
and he called with a loud voice to the four angels
who had been given power to damage earth and sea,
saying,
‘Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees,
until we have marked the servants of our God
with a seal on their foreheads.’
And I heard the number of those who were sealed,
one hundred and forty-four thousand,
sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:
After this I looked,
and there was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
And all the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,
singing, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying,
‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’
I said to him,
‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’
Then he said to me,
‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
1 John 3:1-3
A reading from the first letter of John
See what love the Father has given us,
that we should be called children of God;
and that is what we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we will be has not yet been revealed.
What we do know is this:
when he is revealed, we will be like him,
for we will see him as he is.
And all who have this hope in him purify themselves,
just as he is pure.
Matthew 5:1-12a
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain;
and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
who were before you.
27 October 2024
Father Chris is back, and we had a parish Eucharist today at 10 am
The choir sang 'Tantum Ergo' in the setting by Deodat de Severac as the anthem.
There was coffee after the service,
A reading from the book of Job
Job answered the Lord:
‘I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me,
which I did not know.
“Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.”
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.’
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job
when he had prayed for his friends;
and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters
and all who had known him before,
and they ate bread with him in his house;
they showed him sympathy and comforted him
for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him;
and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels,
a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters.
He named the first Jemimah,
the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.
In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters;
and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years,
and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations.
And Job died, old and full of days.
Hebrews 7:23-28
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews
The former priests were many in number,
because they were prevented by death from continuing in office;
but he holds his priesthood permanently,
because he continues for ever.
Consequently he is able for all time
to save those who approach God through him,
since he always lives to make intercession for them.
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest,
holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners,
and exalted above the heavens.
Unlike the other high priests,
he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day,
first for his own sins,
and then for those of the people;
this he did once for all when he offered himself.
For the law appoints as high priests
those who are subject to weakness,
but the word of the oath,
which came later than the law,
appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever.
Mark 10:46-52
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho,
Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar,
was sitting by the roadside.
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to shout out and say,
‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’
Many sternly ordered him to be quiet,
but he cried out even more loudly,
‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’
Jesus stood still and said,
‘Call him here.’
And they called the blind man, saying to him,
‘Take heart;
get up, he is calling you.’
So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him,
‘What do you want me to do for you?’
The blind man said to him,
‘My teacher, let me see again.’
Jesus said to him,
‘Go; your faith has made you well.’
Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
20 October 2024
The Third Sunday of October so our service was Mattins. Father Roger and Christine were with us today as Father Chris is still away. The Children had a session in the Parish rooms att eh same time!
Its starting to look like Autumn!
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Hebrews 5:1-10
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews
Every high priest chosen from among mortals i
s put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward,
since he himself is subject to weakness;
and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins
as well as for those of the people.
And one does not presume to take this honour,
but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest,
but was appointed by the one who said to him,
‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you’;
as he says also in another place,
‘You are a priest for ever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.’
In the days of his flesh,
Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears,
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Although he was a Son,
he learned obedience through what he suffered;
and having been made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
having been designated by God a high priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Mark 10:35-45
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came forward to Jesus and said to him,
‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’
And he said to them,
‘What is it you want me to do for you?’
And they said to him,
‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand
and one at your left, in your glory.’
But Jesus said to them,
‘You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink,
or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’
They replied, ‘We are able.’
Then Jesus said to them,
‘The cup that I drink you will drink;
and with the baptism with which I am baptized,
you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant,
but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’
When the ten heard this,
they began to be angry with James and John.
So Jesus called them and said to them,
‘You know that among the Gentiles
those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them,
and their great ones are tyrants over them.
But it is not so among you;
but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life a ransom for many.’
13 October 2024
Father Chris is away at present so we had Father Reggie with us for our 10 am Eucharist
He had all the children helping with the consecration
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
A reading from the book of the prophet Amos
Seek the Lord and live,
or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,
and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood,
and bring righteousness to the ground!
They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Therefore, because you trample on the poor
and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions,
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and push aside the needy in the gate.
Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time;
for it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be with you, just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Hebrews 4:12-16
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews
Indeed, the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing until it divides soul from spirit,
joints from marrow;
it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And before him no creature is hidden,
but all are naked and laid bare
to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.
Since, then, we have a great high priest
who has passed hrough the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are,
yet without sin.
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness,
so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.
Mark 10:17-31
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
As he was setting out on a journey,
a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him,
‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments:
“You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery;
You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;
You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’
He said to Jesus,
‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said,
‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own,
and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.’
When he heard this,
he was shocked and went away grieving,
for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!’
And the disciples were perplexed at these words.
But Jesus said to them again,
‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’
They were greatly astounded and said to one another,
‘Then who can be saved?’
Jesus looked at them and said,
‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God;
for God all things are possible.’
Peter began to say to him,
‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’
Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you,
there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or fields,
for my sake and for the sake of the good news,
who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—
houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields,
but with persecutions—
and in the age to come eternal life.
But many who are first will be last,
and the last will be first.’
06 October 2024
We had a busy Harvest Weekend, with the church being decorated on Saturday morning, Janet Harland receiving the St Richard's Medal from Bishop Will in the afternoon and in the evening an opportunity to see the flowers, enjoy some canapes and wine and hear our guest singer .
On Sunday we had our parish eucharist at 10 am and the children were in church with us. There was a baptism during the service. The choir, Adult and Junior together, sang 'Look at the World' by John Rutter as the anthem.
In the Afternoon we had Choral Evensong, and at this service the choir sang 'thou visitest the earth' by \Maurice Green as the anthem and the setting was Stanford in B flat.
A reading from the book of the prophet Joel
Do not fear, O soil;
be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things!
Do not fear, you animals of the field,
for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit,
the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
1 Timothy 6:6-10
A reading from the first letter of Paul to Timothy
There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;
for we brought nothing into the world,
so that we can take nothing out of it;
but if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with these.
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation
and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires
that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many pains.
Matthew 6:25-33
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to his disciples:
Do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air;
they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
And can any of you by worrying
add a single hour to your span of life?
And why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you—
you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry,
saying, “What will we eat?”
or “What will we drink?”
or “What will we wear?”
For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things;
and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
29 September 2024
This was the fifth sunday in September, so we had a Parish Eucharist, celebrated by Father Chris. he children are already preparing for Autumn as they made Prayer pumpkins in Sunday school and bought them into church to show us!
The choir sand Jesu Joy of Mans Desitring as the anthem.
There was coffee after the service.
next week is Harvest, with A Celebratory Eucharist, and Choral Evensong on Sunday.
COme and see the Church decorated for harvest and enjoy food, wine and live music on Saturday Evening!
We are also pleased to announce we have been given the Bronze award as an Eco CHurch by A Rocha UK as acknowledgement for our care of God's Earth
A reading from the book of numbers.
The rabble among them had a strong craving;
and the Israelites also wept again, and said,
‘If only we had meat to eat!
We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing,
the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
but now our strength is dried up,
and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families,
all at the entrances of their tents.
Then the Lord became very angry,
and Moses was displeased.
So Moses said to the Lord,
‘Why have you treated your servant so badly?
Why have I not found favour in your sight,
that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
Did I conceive all this people?
Did I give birth to them,
that you should say to me,
“Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child”,
to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors?
Where am I to get meat to give to all this people?
For they come weeping to me and say,
“Give us meat to eat!”
I am not able to carry all this people alone,
for they are too heavy for me.
If this is the way you are going to treat me,
put me to death at once—
if I have found favour in your sight—
and do not let me see my misery.’
So the Lord said to Moses,
‘Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel,
whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them;
bring them to the tent of meeting,
and have them take their place there with you.
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord;
and he gathered seventy elders of the people,
and placed them all around the tent.
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him,
and took some of the spirit that was on him
and put it on the seventy elders;
and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied.
But they did not do so again.
Two men remained in the camp,
one named Eldad, and the other named Medad,
and the spirit rested on them;
they were among those registered,
but they had not gone out to the tent,
and so they prophesied in the camp.
And a young man ran and told Moses,
‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’
And Joshua son of Nun,
the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said,
‘My lord Moses, stop them!’
But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets,
and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’
James 5:13-20
A reading from the letter of James.
Are any among you suffering?
They should pray.
Are any cheerful?
They should sing songs of praise.
Are any among you sick?
They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them,
anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
The prayer of faith will save the sick,
and the Lord will raise them up;
and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to one another,
and pray for one another,
so that you may be healed.
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being like us,
and he prayed fervently that it might not rain,
and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
Then he prayed again,
and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
My brothers and sisters,
if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,
you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering
will save the sinner’s soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins.
Mark 9:38-50
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
After Jesus had finished teaching his disciples,
John said to him,
‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,
and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’
But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him;
for no one who does a deed of power in my name
will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.
Whoever is not against us is for us.
For truly I tell you,
whoever gives you a cup of water to drink
because you bear the name of Christ
will by no means lose the reward.
‘If any of you put a stumbling-block
before one of these little ones who believe in me,
it would be better for you
if a great millstone were hung around your neck
and you were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off;
it is better for you to enter life maimed
than to have two hands and to go to hell,
to the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off;
it is better for you to enter life lame
than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.,
And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out;
it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye
than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
‘For everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good;
but if salt has lost its saltiness,
how can you season it?
Have salt in yourselves,
and be at peace with one another.’
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