PARISH OF ST. PETER IN THANET
19 April 2020 – Pew Sheet
The Collect for The Second Sunday of Easter
Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Intercessory Prayers
Almighty God we thank you for the blessings you shower upon us and pray for those less fortunate around the world. We pray for governments as they struggle to balance the demands of national leadership and pastoral care of those for whom they bear responsibility in this time of pandemic.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our Prayer
Father we pray for your Holy Church throughout the world as it too wrestles with appropriate ways to hold in tension the national call to ‘stay at home’ with the received vocation to worship together in community. We pray for our Vicar and all within our community with the care of others on their hearts.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our Prayer
Lord we lift before you our families and friends, those from whom we are separated by time or distance. We pray for those we find it difficult to love. Bless them all and keep them safe in this time of country and worldwide sickness. Calm their fears and strengthen those faith is weak or who have no faith.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our Prayer
Almighty God we pray for all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit; for those in hospital or nursing home; for those awaiting surgery. We pray for those with COVID19 and know it and especially for those who are frightened by the prospect of death. Whatever our future, give us strength to face what is ahead.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our Prayer
Lord of all life we pray for those we have loved and lost, those who have died and now rest with you in eternal life. We pray for those with no-one to mourn their passing, for those who die alone. Gather them in your loving arms and when our time comes grant us, with them, a share in your Eternal Kingdom.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our Prayer
Finally, Father we pray for ourselves, you know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking, fulfil in us that which is well pleasing in your sight, keep us strong in our Faith in You.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
In your prayers please remember
Prayers for healing – Alexander Tate; Gordon Burley; Tony Bridges; Sybil Warner; Ernie Turner; Mandy Winters; John Cox; Nick Biggs; Betty Lockwood; Johnathan Aitken; Andrew Cox; Sophie Woodin; Keith Evans….and those whose names have been entered in the book for prayers in St. James’ Chapel.
Those who have died recently – Denise Haynes; Cliff Haynes…..and all those relatives and friends who are mourning the loss of their loved ones.
Please do keep in touch with one another. There will be many who are feeling very isolated, afraid and vulnerable, so a friendly phone call will make all the difference.
Homily
The Vicar asked me to write a homily. What is a homily? A dictionary offers the following; “a commentary that follows a reading of scripture…”; “a religious discourse which is intended primarily for spiritual edification…”; “a tedious moralizing lecture…”. I guess you, the reader will decide which, if any, is appropriate for what follows. It is not, and not meant to be, a sermon, in my opinion a sermon is for the moment, like a meal!
This second Sunday of Easter, after the high of Easter Day celebrations is sometimes referred to as ‘Low Sunday’. A difficult title for those who regard every Sunday as celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The readings set for the day can be understood to reflect the meaning of Jesus resurrection, within the minds of the various writers, within their context and at the time of writing, to those for whom the words are intended. A string of caveats yes, but not meant as a warning, more as a reminder that Holy Scripture needs to be approached with, as in so much of life, an enquiring mind. The rewards in proportion to the effort expended. Hopefully each reader of the passages will have a broadly similar understanding. None will be the same, indeed a few may be significantly different. What follows is my offering for your consideration.
Luke’s recollection, translated and recorded in Acts, describes Peter’s first sermon in which he tries to share with his audience, in terms he expects that they should understand, the amazing, mind blowing, events of Jesus life, death and resurrection.
Is this Peter the writer of the first epistle that bears his name? Written in Rome after the fire, during persecutions by Nero, the traditional view is yes, later scholarship casts doubt on this view. What seems beyond doubt is that the writer is endeavouring to reassure the reader that although suffering various trials, Faith will see them through. Faith in Him whom you cannot see, but in whom you Believe. A sentiment echoed in the reading from John’s Gospel, Jesus words to Thomas” Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Like the Christians of the persecution times we cannot gather publicly to worship. Our forbears kept the faith and we are, in part, beneficiaries of that strength of faith. I Pray our faith will bear such fruit.
God Bless you all. Rev’d Brian.
And below two News Items:-
The Monday Home Group is now meeting virtually at 2:30 pm!
With Covid-19 preventing us meeting face-to-face, would you like to join a group which meets “virtually” once a week to share encouragement about God? If you are even half-familiar with an iPad, a tablet, or computer, it’s really easy! Currently, seven of us who used to meet as a Home Group are now doing this – and we’d welcome anyone who’d like to join us. We “meet” for approximately 40 minutes briefly to exchange news, and then share thoughts on the Bible Readings which in normal times would have been heard the previous day in church. We are using a free program called Zoom, which is so simple to set up. If you are interested, please phone me for details. Michael Cooke (01843 863293)
Tomato and Strawberry Plants for Christian Aid
The plant stall for Christian Aid will sadly not be able to take place this year. However, there are tomato and strawberry plants needing a good home and we are hoping to make these available in a manner which complies with current restrictions including no unnecessary journeys and which will also raise some money for Christian Aid.
Jean and Edward Hawkeswood have tomato plants (Gardener’s Delight and Moneymaker) which, in exchange for a donation to Christian Aid, they would deliver to anyone within the St Peters area while doing their daily exercise walk. If you are interested, please phone them on 868195. Sue Barker, who lives in Stanley Road, has strawberry plants. Unfortunately she is not able to deliver these, but is happy to make them available to collect if you live near enough to do so. Please ring her (07887361249) to arrange to collect what you need and to leave a donation to Christian Aid. I also have some Gardeners Delight tomato plants which I could deliver on foot within a mile of Dumpton Park Drive during my daily walk. Please phone me on 863293 if you are interested. Elspeth Cooke
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