29 October 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
This morning we almost had to swim to church because the rain that has fallen this week meant that the roads were full of big puddles, some of which met in the middle of the carriageway! However quite a few people did make it for our Parish Eucharist. Father Chris was the Celebrant and the Gospel Story this week was a follow on from past week, when the Jews asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment. In his Sermon Father Chris told us that the Jews have hundreds of instructions for living a good life recorded in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Jesus summarised God's instructions into 2 commandments, Love God and love your neighbour! He spoke about the need to love everyone, even those who are for any reason difficult to love, as this is the Christian way.
The Choir sang 'Ave Verum' in the setting by W.A. Mozart as the anthem.
A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,
to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho,
and the Lord showed him the whole land:
Gilead as far as Dan,
all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh,
all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,
the Negeb, and the Plain—
that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—
as far as Zoar.
The Lord said to him,
‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying,
“I will give it to your descendants”;
I have let you see it with your eyes,
but you shall not cross over there.’
Then Moses, the servant of the Lord,
died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command.
He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab,
opposite Beth-peor,
but no one knows his burial place to this day.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died;
his sight was unimpaired and his vigour had not abated.
The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days;
then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.
1 Thessalonians2:1-8
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
that our coming to you was not in vain,
but though we had already suffered
and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi,
as you know, we had courage in our God
to declare to you the gospel of God
in spite of great opposition.
For our appeal does not spring from deceit
or impure motives or trickery,
but just as we have been approved by God
to be entrusted with the message of the gospel,
even so we speak, not to please mortals,
but to please God who tests our hearts.
As you know and as God is our witness,
we never came with words of flattery
or with a pretext for greed;
nor did we seek praise from mortals,
whether from you or from others,
though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.
But we were gentle among you,
like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.
So deeply do we care for you
that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God
but also our own selves,
because you have become very dear to us.
Matthew 22:34-46
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together,
and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’
He said to him,
‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together,
Jesus asked them this question:
‘What do you think of the Messiah?
Whose son is he?’
They said to him,
‘The son of David.’
He said to them,
‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’ ”?
If David thus calls him Lord,
how can he be his son?’
No one was able to give him an answer,
nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
22 October 2023
We reach the fourth Sunday in October and the 20t in Trinity. Despite storms and rain we arrived today on a beautiful sunny autumn morning.
Father Chris was the Celebrant and he gave the sermon, discussing the Gospel story of Jesus and the Pharisees debating whether to pay taxes ! We give to the civil authority what we are owen, but we ourselves are made in the image of Gog and give him our hearts and souls.
The Choir sang the anthem 'A new Commandment' written by Peter Nardonne.
The Children came back from their session with bird feeders they had made.
Advance notice that on November the 2nd there will be a Requiem service for All Souls day if you would like to have a loved one remembered at this service please add the name to the list in Church.
A reading from the book of Exodus.
Moses said to the Lord,
‘See, you have said to me,
“Bring up this people”;
but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.
Yet you have said,
“I know you by name, and you have also found favour in my sight.”
Now if I have found favour in your sight,
show me your ways,
so that I may know you and find favour in your sight.
Consider too that this nation is your people.’
He said,
‘My presence will go with you,
and I will give you rest.’
And he said to him,
‘If your presence will not go,
do not carry us up from here.
For how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight,
I and your people, unless you go with us?
In this way, we shall be distinct,
I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.’
The Lord said to Moses,
‘I will do the very thing that you have asked;
for you have found favour in my sight,
and I know you by name.’
Moses said,
‘Show me your glory, I pray.’
And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you,
and will proclaim before you the name,
“The Lord”;
and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
But’, he said, ‘you cannot see my face;
for no one shall see me and live.’
And the Lord continued,
‘See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock;
and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock,
and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by;
then I will take away my hand,
and you shall see my back;
but my face shall not be seen.’
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
We always give thanks to God for all of you
and mention you in our prayers,
constantly remembering before our God and Father
your work of faith and labour of love
and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God,
that he has chosen you,
because our message of the gospel
came to you not in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction;
just as you know what kind of people we proved to be
among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
for in spite of persecution
you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,
so that you became an example
to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you
not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but in every place where your faith in God has become known,
so that we have no need to speak about it.
For the people of those regions report about us
what kind of welcome we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols,
to serve a living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead—
Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
Matthew 22:15-22
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jeus Christ according to Matthew.
When the chiesf priests and Pharisees had heard the parables,
they realised that Jesus was speaking about them.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted
to entrap him in what he said.
So they sent their disciples to him,
along with the Herodians, saying,
‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere,
and teach the way of God in accordance with truth,
and show deference to no one;
for you do not regard people with partiality.
Tell us, then, what you think.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said,
‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin used for the tax.’
And they brought him a denarius.
Then he said to them,
‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’
They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’
Then he said to them,
‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.’
When they heard this, they were amazed;
and they left him and went away.
15 October 2023
This morning we had TWO services at 10am!! In Church we had our regular 3rd Sunday Matins service with Father Roger, meanwhile in the Church Hall Farther Chris held a 'Crafty Mass' with the Sunday school children and some of their families. This allowed Father Chris to spend some time with the children and young families, while the more traditional congregation enjoyed the sung Matins in church.
There was coffee after the services,
Notices were given out at both services.
Exodus 32:1-14
A reading from the book of Exodus.
When the people saw that Moses
delayed to come down from the mountain,
the people gathered around Aaron
and said to him,
‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us;
as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has become of him.’
Aaron said to them,
‘Take off the gold rings
that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters,
and bring them to me.’
So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears,
and brought them to Aaron.
He took the gold from them,
formed it in a mould,
and cast an image of a calf;
and they said, ‘These are your gods,
O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’
When Aaron saw this,
he built an altar before it;
and Aaron made proclamation and said,
‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’
They rose early the next day,
and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being;
and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
The Lord said to Moses,
‘Go down at once!
Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt,
have acted perversely;
they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them;
they have cast for themselves an image of a calf,
and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said,
“These are your gods,
O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ’
The Lord said to Moses,
‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.
Now let me alone,
so that my wrath may burn hot against them
and I may consume them;
and of you I will make a great nation.’
But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said,
‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with great power and with a mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians say,
“It was with evil intent that he brought them out
to kill them in the mountains,
and to consume them from the face of the earth”?
Turn from your fierce wrath;
change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants,
how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them,
“I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have promised
I will give to your descendants,
and they shall inherit it for ever.” ’
And the Lord changed his mind
about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Philippians 4:1-9 (8am only)
A reading from the letter of Paul tot he Philippians.
My brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for,
my joy and crown,
stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
Yes, and I ask you also,
my loyal companion, help these women,
for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel,
together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers,
whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
The Lord is near.
Do not worry about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved,
whatever is true, whatever is honourable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing the things that you have learned
and received and heard and seen in me,
and the God of peace will be with you.
Matthew 21:1-14
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Once more Jesus spoke to the chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying:
‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king
who gave a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his slaves to call those
who had been invited to the wedding banquet,
but they would not come.
Again he sent other slaves, saying,
“Tell those who have been invited:
Look, I have prepared my dinner,
my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered,
and everything is ready;
come to the wedding banquet.”
But they made light of it and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business,
while the rest seized his slaves,
maltreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged.
He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers,
and burned their city.
Then he said to his slaves,
“The wedding is ready,
but those invited were not worthy.
Go therefore into the main streets,
and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.”
Those slaves went out into the streets
and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad;
so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
‘But when the king came in to see the guests,
he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe,
and he said to him,
“Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?”
And he was speechless.
Then the king said to the attendants,
“Bind him hand and foot,
and throw him into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
For many are called, but few are chosen.’
08 October 2023
Our Sunday 10 am service for this, the 18th Sunday after Trinity, was a Choral Eucharist celebrated by Father Chris. The Children left us after the first hymn for their own session in the rooms and in the churchyard.
The reading from St Mathews Gospel followed the theme of the vineyard as a metaphor for the Nation of Israel, and Its relationship with God, and in his sermon Father Chris took up this idea pointing out that to grow good grapes (and make good wine!) the plants need to be fed, water and nurtured to produce high quality grapes, so we ned to tend and nurture our Christian faith to produce a good Christian way of life.
The Choir sang 'Teach me o Lord' by Thomas Attwood as the anthem.
The children re-joined us at communion and told us about the bunches of grapes they had made to represent this work in God's Vineyard.
Next week, the 15th of October which will be the third Sunday, we are having a slightly different arrangement. As usual the service in Church will be Mattins this will be taken by Father Roger. In the Church Hall Father Chris is holding a 'Crafty Mass' service for the children and their families, allowing him some more time with the youngsters than on other sundays. Come to which ever service best fulfills your spiritual needs and you will be most welcome.
On the 28th October we are planning our traditional Requiem Eucharist for All Soul's Day. The setting for this will be the Faure Requiem used liturgically. We welcome any one who would like to sing the Faure setting to a rehearsal at 3:30 and the service itself will be at 6pm. Please come and sing!
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
A reading from the book of Exodus.
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery;
you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol,
whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is on the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God,
for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
For six days you shall labour and do all your work.
Honour your father and your mother,
so that your days may be long in the land
that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
You shall not covet your neighbour’s house;
you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife,
or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey,
or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning,
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking,
they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance,
and said to Moses,
‘You speak to us, and we will listen;
but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’
Moses said to the people,
‘Do not be afraid;
for God has come only to test you
and to put the fear of him upon you
so that you do not sin.’
Philippians 3:4b-14
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh,
I have more:
circumcised on the eighth day,
a member of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew born of Hebrews;
as to the law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;
as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Yet whatever gains I had,
these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.
More than that, I regard everything as loss
because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things,
and I regard them as rubbish,
in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but one that comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God based on faith.
I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection
and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,
if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this
or have already reached the goal;
but I press on to make it my own,
because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own;
but this one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on towards the goal
for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 21:33-46
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
‘Listen to another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it,
and built a watch-tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.
When the harvest time had come,
he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.
But the tenants seized his slaves
and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Again he sent other slaves, more than the first;
and they treated them in the same way.
Finally he sent his son to them, saying,
“They will respect my son.”
But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to themselves,
“This is the heir;
come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.”
So they seized him,
threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
Now when the owner of the vineyard comes,
what will he do to those tenants?’
They said to him,
‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death,
and lease the vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’
Jesus said to them,
‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?
Therefore I tell you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;
and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they realized that he was speaking about them.
They wanted to arrest him,
but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
01 October 2023
This has been a busy weekend at St Mary Our Lady as we have had our Harvest Thanksgiving!
On Saturday morning the church was decorated with flowers and produce by the Flower Team which as you can see in the photos has all kinds of people helping!! After several hours the church was transformed! In the evening at 6pm there was an opportunity to see the displays and to hear a local young singer Mia perform some of her songs. This was accompanied by drinks and canapes and was a splendid occasion.
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On Sunday Morning we had our Harvest thanksgiving Eucharist at 10 am. We started by admitting two new members to the Junior Choir, Annabel and Bella. Then the Junior Choir sang their song for Harvest 'Badgers and Hedgehogs' by Andrew Carter.
We then proceeded with the Eucharist, and Father Chris, who is back from holiday, was celebrant and preacher. We thought about saying thank you, and how we do this, with flowers or chocolates, or letters or just saying "thank you"! So today we say thank you to God for all the gifts we receive from the earth and from God's grace. During the offertory the gifts were bought up to the altar and they will be distributed through out the village on Monday morning.
The Choir sang 'Thou Visitest The Earth' by M Greene as the anthem, Dr Platts sang the solo.
There was coffee after the service.
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| The completed decorations. |
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| The Junior Choir singing "Badgers and Hedgehogs Bless the Lord!" |
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| The admission of Annabel and Bella to the junior Choir |
At 3.30pm we had a Choral Evensong as the finish to the Harvest Thanksgiving. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis were in D major by Charles Wood and the anthem "Ye Shall Dwell In The Land" by John Stainer with the solo sung by Mr Walker. Afterwards in true St Mary's tradition, there were tea, coffee and cakes (and also some warm savouries) in the Parish rooms. We were having such a good time we we loathe to leave!
Lots of things coming up this Autumn with the Churchyard family working morning next Saturday, the Alpha Course starts on the 17th October, more information in Church, and we will be having our traditional Eucharist for All Souls, during which the Faure Requiem will be sung Liturgically, on the 28th of October. If you would like to sing the Faure, all are welcome, there will be a rehearsal on the Saturday afternoon and the service will be at 6pm. This is a beautiful service in which to take part and remember those we love but no longer see here on earth.
A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,
a land with flowing streams,
with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills,
a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive trees and honey,
a land where you may eat bread without scarcity,
where you will lack nothing,
a land whose stones are iron
and from whose hills you may mine copper.
You shall eat your fill
and bless the Lord your God for the good land
that he has given you.
Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God,
by failing to keep his commandments,
his ordinances, and his statutes,
which I am commanding you today.
When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them,
and when your herds and flocks have multiplied,
and your silver and gold is multiplied,
and all that you have is multiplied,
then do not exalt yourself,
forgetting the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
who led you through the great and terrible wilderness,
an arid waste-land with poisonous snakes and scorpions.
He made water flow for you from flint rock,
and fed you in the wilderness with manna
that your ancestors did not know,
to humble you and to test you,
and in the end to do you good.
Do not say to yourself,
‘My power and the might of my own hand
have gained me this wealth.’
But remember the Lord your God,
for it is he who gives you power to get wealth,
so that he may confirm his covenant
that he swore to your ancestors,
as he is doing today.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each of you must give as you have made up your mind,
not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance,
so that by always having enough of everything,
you may share abundantly in every good work.
As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures for ever.’
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your seed for sowing
and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity,
which will produce thanksgiving to God through us;
for the rendering of this ministry
not only supplies the needs of the saints
but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God
by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ
and by the generosity of your sharing with them
and with all others,
while they long for you
and pray for you
because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Luke 12:16-30
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus told the people a parable:
‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
And he thought to himself,
“What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?”
Then he said, “I will do this:
I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,
and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul,
Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years;
relax, eat, drink, be merry.”
But God said to him,
“You fool!
This very night your life is being demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves
but are not rich towards God.’
He said to his disciples,
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
For life is more than food,
and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens:
they neither sow nor reap,
they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.
Of how much more value are you than the birds!
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that,
why do you worry about the rest?
Consider the lilies, 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,
how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
And do not keep striving
for what you are to eat and what you are to drink,
and do not keep worrying.
For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things,
and your Father knows that you need them.
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