12 November 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
This morning we held our Eucharist and act of Remembrance starting at 10 am. The service included a short drama recounting the story of Pilot Officer Basil Fisher, who was shot down and killed on the 15th of August 1940 during the Battle of Britain in the sky above Sidlesham. One of two brothers he was 23 when he died. In the re-enactment the Fisher brothers were played by Sam and Freddie Merritt (Aged 11 and 9 years) and the Narrator was Anna Swain, the words of Winston Churchill were read by Michael Allistone. We are very grateful to Sarah Warren Librarian at Eton College Berkshire who looks after the Basil's grave at Eton and provided lots of information and photographs. We also thank Goodwood Spitfires who allowed us to take photos of the boys with a real spitfire at their headquarters at Goodwood aerodrome. Photos were taken by Sam Brading.
We were delighted to welcome Basil's great niece and her husband to the occasion.
The Choir sang the anthem ,So they gave their bodies to the Common wealth, Words by Perecles and setting by Peter Aston.
After the 2 minutes silence at 11 am we moved to the War Memorial and wreathes were laid by the Community Organisations.
It was a moving and very well attended service.
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Wisdom 6:12- 16
A reading from the book of Wisdom
Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,
about those who have died,
so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so, through Jesus,
God will bring with him those who have died.
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will by no means precede those who have died.
For the Lord himself, with a cry of command,
with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet,
will descend from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up in the clouds
together with them to meet the Lord in the air;
and so we will be with the Lord for ever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Matthew 25:1-13
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
Jesus spoke this parable to the disciples:
‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this.
Ten bridesmaids took their lamps
and went to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;
but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
As the bridegroom was delayed,
all of them became drowsy and slept.
But at midnight there was a shout,
“Look! Here is the bridegroom!
Come out to meet him.”
Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish said to the wise,
“Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”
But the wise replied,
“No! there will not be enough for you and for us;
you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.”
And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came,
and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet;
and the door was shut.
Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying,
“Lord, lord, open to us.”
But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”
Keep awake therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.
