15 November 2020
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT
Dear Friends
The readings that we would have heard this Sunday during Mattins (Zephaniah 1:7, 12-end and Matthew 15:14-30) both focus upon the theme of imminent judgement. Zephaniah, a contemporary of the young Jeremiah, denounced the ethical and cultic sins which had derived from the reign of Manasseh (687-642BCE), when, as a vassal of the Assyrians, the king had permitted pagan cults, divination and magic to flourish, even within the Temple itself, and human sacrifice to be practised. Around 610BCE, however, Assyria’s dominance began to wane, and Judah became by default a free country, with a new young king, Josiah, who was keen to reinstate the Jewish Law and purify the Temple worship. But then the Babylonians began to threaten Judah, and Zephaniah was among those prophets who called Judah to further, and deeper, repentance, so that, in the ‘day of the Lord’, God could save a faithful remnant from judgement.
In the parable of the talents, Jesus tells the story of a rich man whose ‘advent’, or surprise return, also calls to judgement those servants whom he had entrusted with sums of money. The amounts involved were prodigious – one talent would sustain a person for fifteen years at subsistence level. To preserve what was entrusted to him, each servant had to take risks since maintaining the status quo was not adequate. Just as God has taken a risk with his creation, ultimately sending his Son to live in it as a human being, so courageous and faithful stewardship, and even an element of risk, are required of those to whom much has been entrusted.
As Rosalind Brown notes in her commentary on today’s readings (in Fresh from the Word, published by Canterbury Press, 2016), there is an urgency about both, which helps to prepare us for the theme of judgement, and the call to holiness, which resonate throughout Advent. Our God is coming with the joy of salvation, but also in judgement, especially for those who have been given much. The Collect for this Sunday (provided below) provides material for prayerful reflection – and also, perhaps, action.
Fr Stephen
Collect for Second Sunday before Advent
O God, whose blessed Son was manifested
that he might destroy the works of the devil
and make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
grant us, we beseech thee, that, having this hope,
we may purify ourselves, even as he is pure,
that when he shall appear again with power and great glory
we may be made like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom:
where with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Spirit,
he liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Zephaniah 1:7 and 12-end
A reading from the book of the prophet Zephaniah
Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests.
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people who rest complacently on their dregs,
those who say in their hearts,
"The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm."
Their wealth shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.
The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there.
That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast
and battle cry against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord's wrath;
in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed;
for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Matthew 25:14-30
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mathhew.
Jesus said to his disciples:
The kingdom of heaven is as if a man, going on a journey,
summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;
to one he gave five talents,
to another two,
to another one,
to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.
The one who had received the five talents
went off at once and traded with them,
and made five more talents.
In the same way,
the one who had the two talents made two more talents.
But the one who had received the one talent
went off and dug a hole in the ground
and hid his master's money.
After a long time the master of those slaves came
and settled accounts with them.
Then the one who had received the five talents came forward,
bringing five more talents, saying,
"Master, you handed over to me five talents;
see, I have made five more talents.'
His master said to him,
"Well done, good and trustworthy slave;
you have been trustworthy in a few things,
I will put you in charge of many things;
enter into the joy of your master.'
And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying,
"Master, you handed over to me two talents;
see, I have made two more talents.'
His master said to him,
"Well done, good and trustworthy slave;
you have been trustworthy in a few things,
I will put you in charge of many things;
enter into the joy of your master.'
Then the one who had received the one talent
also came forward, saying,
"Master, I knew that you were a harsh man,
reaping where you did not sow,
and gathering where you did not scatter seed;
so I was afraid,
and I went and hid your talent in the ground.
Here you have what is yours.'
But his master replied,
"You wicked and lazy slave!
You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow,
and gather where I did not scatter?
Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers,
and on my return
I would have received what was my own with interest.
So take the talent from him,
and give it to the one with the ten talents.
For to all those who have,
more will be given, and they will have an abundance;
but from those who have nothing,
even what they have will be taken away.
As for this worthless slave,
throw him into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
11 November 2020
Lesley Bromley has been working on a project to find the stories about the people listed on the Sidlesham war memorial who died in World War II. The results of her project can now be seen on the websites 'Our History Page'.
09 November 2020
Although St Mary's has no formal remembrance services this year due to government restrictions. The children from Sunday school have been commemorating in their own way.
On Sunday afternoon (8 November 2020), the children from 2 families who are in the same school and Sunday School bubbles laid the wreath for St Mary’s Choir (Junior Chorister, Maggie Turner) and Harry, Charlie and Jack Lawson together with Bertie and Dorothy Turner laid the wreaths for Sidlesham C.P.School and for St Mary’s Sunday School.
Home made poppies?
08 November 2020
‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – THIRD SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT – REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
Paul-Alexandre Protais (1826-1888), ‘The Morning before the Attack’,
The Condé Museum, Chateau de Chantilly*
Dear Friends
Although not set for today, the reading from the second book of Maccabees (2 Maccabees 12:32-45) has echoes of Remembrance, particularly in the second half. The passage describes how Judas Maccabaeus and his army had just fought an engagement in one of the many battles for Jewish independence from Hellenistic forces and rule. He and his men were wondering why, although they had won the battle, so many of their comrades had died.
We have to understand the mindset of those days in order to interpret the passage correctly. There was a superstition that, if their cause was good and right, they should have been protected from such severe casualties. However, the reason is revealed – under their tunics many of the soldiers had been carrying idols, looted during the aftermath of a previous battle. Instead of bringing them luck, as they hoped, the reverse had happened. The Jewish law forbade the carrying of such items and this, it was assumed, was the reason why the men had perished. To make amends, Judas took up a collection and sent it to Jerusalem as an expiation for the ‘sins’ of the fallen, and the passage notes that this action, which is described as ‘altogether fine and noble’ was ‘prompted by his belief in the resurrection’. Judas, in other words, expected the dead to rise again and therefore it was neither superfluous nor foolish to pray for them so that they might be ‘released from their sin’ and gain the ‘splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end’.
We see in this passage from the inter-testamental period one of the first explicit references to the resurrection occurring within the Judaeo-Christian Scriptures. It was on the basis of this passage (and others, of course, from the New Testament) that the Catholic practice of praying for the dead, and of conducting requiem masses, developed. By 1928 it was proposed that the Church of England, too, should conduct up to three services of Holy Communion for the war dead on each All Souls’ day, as a response to the terrible carnage of the Western Front, which had resulted in so many families being unable to bury their loved ones, who were ‘missing, presumed dead’.
The passage from the Gospel of John contains the famous statement which is usually read on Remembrance Sunday: ‘No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends’. Within the context of the day, this is taken particularly to refer to the sacrifice of the fallen for their friends and fellows, but it should, of course, also be understood as referring to Jesus’ supreme and saving sacrifice for the whole of humankind, both living and departed.
Fr Stephen
Collect for the Third Sunday before Advent (Remembrance Sunday)
Almighty Father, whose will it is to restore
all things in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule,
who is alive and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-end
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 diesd.
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 forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Matthew 25:1-13
Hear the gospel of our Lord according to Matthew.
Jesus spoke this parable to his 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.
Unfortunately due to the current lock down, there will be no service at the War Memorial this year.
John 15: 12-14
"This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
07 November 2020
In these times of Covid 19 many of St Mary's regular givers have not been attending church, either because they are shielding or due to government restrictions. Events such as the Summer Fete and Christmas Fete have been cancelled. Unfortunately although these sources of funding have been severely curtailed our costs are still the same.
One solution that you may wish to consider, if you are not part of it already, is the Parish Giving Scheme(PGS) that St Mary's is affiliated to. Using PGS means that the church gets your contribution whether you attend or not.
The PGS organisation reports that they have experienced a significant level of growth over the summer, despite the enormous challenges under which parishes and Dioceses are currently operating.
In August, it reached a milestone of 3,000 churches/parishes actively receiving funds through PGS. In September, they processed just over 52,000 regular gifts, with a total value of £4,874m (including Gift Aid) remitted to parishes – an increase of 8% since March 2020.
If you wish to consider contributing by using PGS please contact one of the church wardens who can give you more information and provide the application forms. Thankyou.
01 November 2020
This morning we had our Family Communion at 10 am and as it was All Saints Day we had an excellent presentaton from Mrs Field about one of the lesser known saints Saint Fiacre. He is the patron saint of gardeners, florists and taxi drivers! Originally from 7th century Ireland, where he was brought up in a monastery where he later became a monk, he planted and tended a beautiful garden, He moved to France and again planted a herb and vegetable garden he gave away the produce, and founded a hospice for travellers. he was also a famous healer. He is associated with taxi drivers and in the 17th century they drove special carriages called fiacre after the saint. Our music reflected the day, we sang 2 hymns, 'Oh happy band of pilgrims' and 'For all thy Saints' In addition we used the setting for the service by Darke, and sang a motet 'Let us now Praise Famous Men' setting by Ralph Vaughn Williams, and during Communion Ave Verum setting by William Byrd.
At 6pm we had a requiem service, a said communion service for All Souls Day. A list of the names of the departed was placed on the altar during this service. It is at this service that we would normally sing the Faure Requiem, but this was not possible under current covid restrictions. This was our final service for the immediate future.
 |
| The Sunday School have been working at home here is their work on saints |
Matthew 5:1-12
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.
Collect
Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so as to follow tour blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may coe to those inexpresible joys
that you have prepared for those who truely love you;
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 forever.
Amen.
Unfortunately this will be the last communion service until December as the advice currently stands. The church will be open from 9am to 5pm approximately to allow personal prayer, but there will be no more formal services after the Requiem this evening.
God bless you all and keep you safe in our time of trouble.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
