14 June 2009

Welcome to  St Alban's Anglican Church       

Today's Scripture   :   Ezekiel 17: 22-end                    2 Corinthians 5: 6–17               S. Mark 4: 26-34

Today: 8.35 a.m. Matins; 9.00 a.m. Ch /Script Study;  9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist;    6.00 p.m. EP. This Week: Tues-Fri 12.30 p.m. Midday Prayers. Sat 10 a.m. Prison Ministry (Northward)

1^st Sunday after Trinity

O God, the strength of all them that put their trust in thee, mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping of thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

FAITH IN FOCUS: ON MEDICINE FOR LIFE

There can be nothing sadder than listening to someone who believes that they are not good enough to go to communion. They feel that they are unworthy and they simply stay put in their seat when the rest of the congregation gets up to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ during the celebration of Mass.

Of course none of us is good enough. That’s why we say, “Lord, I am not worthy…” just before we approach the altar. We realise that we mere human beings cannot presume to receive such a gift without acknowledging our unworthiness. Communion is not for good people. It’s not for saints. It’s for people who are not very good, who are sinners but who want to get better. Communion is not a reward but a medicine.

When we eat and drink Christ’s body and blood we are signing up to be better. Some of the Church’s early hymn-writers used a lovely phrase to describe the eucharist: they called it food for the journey. An ancient hymn (O, Esca Viatorum: O, Food of Travellers) makes it clear that the eucharist is not some celebratory picnic on the journey but is the survival rations, the staff of life.

At the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the eucharist he commanded us to eat and drink and to do this in memory of his death and resurrection. God has made an agreement (a covenant) with us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He will be our God and we will be his people by ratifying the covenant: by eating and drinking in memory of Jesus.

The eucharist is our way of signing-up again and again to the promises of God, showing our renewed commitment and gratefully receiving God’s gift. Saint Ignatius of Antioch called the eucharist “the medicine of immortality, the antidote which prevents us from dying so we can live forever in Jesus Christ.” On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ we share in communion here on earth, and we pray that one day we may be found rejoicing together at the everlasting meal of heaven.

 

WORD OF GOD

The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.

(Psalm 115:13)

 

WORD FOR TODAY

Contrary to popular thought, going to Communion is not a sign that we are good. It’s a sign that we need to be better. Eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ is the spiritual medicine that helps us stay close to our God.

 

WHAT YOU SEE is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice the Blood of Christ. ... How is the bread his Body? And the chalice, or what is in the chalice, how is it his Blood?   Those elements, brethren, are called sacraments, because in them one thing is seen, but another is understood. What is seen is the corporeal species, but what is understood is the spiritual fruit. ... “You, however, are the Body of Christ and his members.” If, therefore, you are the Body of Christ and his members, your mystery is presented at the table of the Lord, you receive your mystery. To that which you are, you answer: “Amen”; and by answering, you subscribe to it. For you hear: “The Body of Christ!” and you answer: “Amen!’” Be a member of Christ’s Body, so that your “Amen” may be the truth.  (Augustine of Hippo)

 

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS        

Mon: Job 13, Rom 7: 1-6, Luke 12: 1-12

Tues: Job 14, Rom 7: 7–end, Luke 12: 13-21

Wed: Job 15, Rom 8: 1-11, Luke 12: 22–31

Thurs: Job 16:1 – 17:2, Rom 8: 12-17, Luke 12: 32-40

Fri: Job 17: 3-end, Rom 8: 18-30, Luke 12: 41–48

Sat: Job 18, Rom 8: 31-end, Luke 12: 49-end

NEXT SUNDAY and Patronal Festival: Job 38: 1-11, 2 Corinthians 6: 1–13, S. Mark 4: 35-end