|
You can see all our live streamed services here
Service sheets are here Latest Cross and Crown is here Parish Magazine is here Music for the month is here Your daily bible quotation
|
From the Vicar, Fr. Bernard
Dear All, I'm a bit later than I meant to be with this message today: apologies to Richard if it makes things difficult! But I hope this finds everyone well and coping with the grey weather here and the gloom in the news. This Sunday is the sixth Sunday of Easter, and it is also known as 'rogation Sunday', which comes from the Latin verb 'rogare', or 'to ask', apparently. In the middle ages, parishes would process around their borders (also called 'beating the bounds') praying for God's blessing as they did so, and asking Him to ward off evil, and bless their fields. They would pray for fruitful growth, and a good harvest later in the year. Like a lot of Christian rites, the idea comes from pagan spring practices in the Roman Empire and elsewhere, adopted by the Church in the spirit of the Incarnation, when God takes what is good in this world, and transfigures it. We will not be formally processing this year. However, we are going to have Evensong on Sunday up at St Mary's, as we have done in the past, and Michael and Lynda are going to walk up to St Mary's for that, and invite others to join them. I attach Michael's notes and route map to this email for those thinking of doing so. Evensong will begin at St Mary's at 6 pm, so there will not be an evening service at St Barnabas on Sunday. On the subject of St Mary's, the usual work party that meets there on the first Saturday of the month will not be happening on saturday the 4th of June because of the Jubilee celebrations. However, John Tigg will be going up to St Mary's on Saturday the 28th of May, and invites others to join him for some mowing then if they are free! Rogationtide is always followed by Ascension Day on Thursday. There will be a said Eucharist at 10 am and a sung Eucharist at 7:30 pm. I hope the latter will be live streamed. I should also remind you of the Bible Book Club on Friday this week at 7 pm. We will be looking at the Acts of the Apostles. Also, on Wednesday this week we have our monthly Julian Meeting for silent prayer at 4 pm in the Lady Chapel. Lastly, another reminder about the summer Fair coming soon: Grand Draw tickets are now on sale! In Rogationtide, we ask for God's help and protection. We ask for his blessing on the places and people we love. On Ascension Day, we remember that although we are only aware of this 'ordinary' world, we live in a creation that extends into realities beyond our normal experience. The Ascension reminds us that our 'everyday' world is inextricably linked with spiritual realities, with the world that is to come, with heavenly realms, and with realities for which we might have words, but which we cannot really understand. We say that Jesus is the Great High Priest who ascends to heaven to pray for us. We cannot really know what that means, but we do believe that in Jesus the reality we experience every day, with its ordinary human mixture of joy and pain, is now somehow incorporated into the worlds of heavenly glory and of eternal, transfiguring, timeless beauty. Jesus, fully human, now reigns as Priest and King in glory. We are all fulfilled in Him, and in Him we find our vocation to be His priests here on earth. We bring our world into His glory in our worship, our prayer, and our lives. God bless, Fr Bernard The Rev'd Dr B Minton Team Vicar of Linslade Ouzel Valley Team |