18 April 2010

Welcome to  St Alban’s Anglican Church  

Today's Scripture: Acts 9: 1-20                      Revelation 5: 11-end                 S. John 21: 1-19

Today: 8.35 a.m. Matins; 9.00 a.m. Church School; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist; 6.00 p.m. EP. This Week: Tues-Thurs 12.30 p.m. Midday Prayers; Fri (S. George) 5.00 p.m. H Communion

Next Sunday: 8.35 a.m.; 9.00a.m. Church School; 9.30 a.m. Holy Eucharist ; 6.00 p.m. EP

2^nd Sunday after Easter

Almighty God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

FAITH IN FOCUS: BREAKFAST BY THE LAKE

When someone says the word “Eucharist” what springs to mind?

Oddly enough, if you go to Greece you’ll hear the word “eucharist”, though pronounced in a slightly different way, every few minutes. That’s because it’s the Greek word for “thank you”. So the Eucharist is really the action of giving thanks to God for creation and redemption.

If you take a look at the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection, you’re bound to notice that food plays a great part in them. From the first appearance on Easter Sunday evening with the disciples on their way to Emmaus where he breaks bread, to the final appearance in today’s gospel where they have a fish breakfast on the lake shore, being with Jesus is associated with eating and drinking. Could the gospel writers be trying to give us a clue?

The Eucharist is the action of the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit by which we praise and thank God for the wonders he has worked for us and those he is still doing today. By the Holy Spirit blessing and sanctifying the bread and wine we become partakers of the body and blood of Christ. By the Spirit’s blessing and sanctifying us, in sharing communion we too are built into the Body of Christ that is the Church. In other words, we become what we eat.

We meet Christ in the words that are proclaimed from scripture, for they convey the message that his life embodied. We meet Christ in the faces of those whose paths cross ours daily, especially those in need. We meet Christ in those who minister God’s love to us through the sacraments. We meet Christ in his body, the Church, when we gather together with two or three or more to worship in his name.  But most of all, and in a special way, we meet the risen Christ in Eucharist where he invites us to eat and drink in the consummate act of thanksgiving that seals us in God’s love.

WORD OF GOD

Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught; come and have breakfast.” (John 21:10-12)

 

WORD FOR TODAY

The disciples met the risen Lord over a simple meal. Today we meet Jesus in many guises, in words and events, in faces that look to us for love and in those in need. And we meet Jesus when we form part of his body, the Church, which gathers to eat his body and drink his blood.

 

WHO’S THE GREATEST? (April 21st)

St Anselm was an Italian Benedictine who lived from 1033-1109 and spent the last sixteen years of his life as Archbishop of Canterbury. But it is chiefly as a philosopher and theologian that he is remembered. He famously described theology as “faith seeking understanding”   and he is most often quoted for one of his arguments for showing the existence of God in which he said that God is “that than which nothing greater can be thought”. In other words, he is a being so great that one cannot so much as conceive of a being who would be greater than God.        This is a prayer written by Anselm:

My God, I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you. And if I may not do so fully in this life let me go steadily onto the day when I come to that fullness .Let me receive that which you promised through your truth, so that my joy may be full. Amen.

 

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS

Mon: Exod 19, Luke 1: 1-25, Ephesians 1: 1-14

Tues: Exod 20: 1–21, Luke 1: 26-38, Ephes 1: 15–end

Wed: Exod 24, Luke l: 39–56, Ephesians 2: 1-10

Thurs: Exod 25: 1-22, Lk 1: 57–end, Ephes 2: 11-end

Fri (S. George): Revelation 12: 7–12, 2 Tim 2:3-12, John 15: 18–21

Sat: Exod 29: 1-9, Luke 2: 21-40, Ephes 3: 14-end

NEXT SUNDAY : Acts 9: 36-end, Revelation 7: 9–end, S. John 10: 22–30