25 May 2008

Welcome to St Alban’s Anglican Church 

Today's Scripture (HC) : Levit 19: 1-2, 9-18,   1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-end    S. Matt 5: 38-end

Today's Liturgy: 8.35 a.m. BCP Matins;    9.00a.m. Scripture Study Prep;    9.30a.m. Holy Eucharist ;    EP 6.00 p.m.

St. Mary’s, Cayman Brac Holy Eucharist 7.30 p.m.

Tues to Fri 12.30 p.m. Midday Prayer.

1^ST 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: EUCHARIST: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

PAST: 2,000 years ago on a Thursday evening Jesus ate what was probably a Passover meal with his disciples in the Upper Room. This meal was a memorial of how God had freed the Jewish people by liberating them from slavery and providing them with a promised land. During his meal Jesus told the disciples that from now on they were to eat this meal not in remembrance of Moses and the Exodus but in memory of him. For the bread that they would eat was his body that the next day would be nailed to the cross, and the wine that they would drink was his blood that on the same Friday would be shed on Calvary.

PRESENT: Today we Christians have a living memorial of that saving action of Christ. It is the Eucharist. Over the centuries Christians have never ceased to follow that command of Jesus at the Last Supper. They have gathered together, listened to God’s word in the scriptures and then, when they have taken, blessed and broken the bread, they have shared communion by eating and drinking what Christ tells us is his body and blood. In this sacrament of the Eucharist Jesus is really present to those who receive him. His flesh is real food and his blood is real drink because both of them nourish, they sustain us and keep us spiritually healthy. As we eat and drink from the one bread and cup the Eucharist becomes a sign of the unity that we share and at the same time it also makes us one in Christ.

FUTURE: The Eucharist is food for our journey, medicine for our health and strength for our future. Not simply about the past and present it directs us towards two futures. The first future means that the Eucharist is a sign of our commitment to building up the kingdom of God here on earth. So receiving the Eucharist is not just an act of devotion; it commits us to action. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit we pledge ourselves to playing our full part in the Church’s work of bringing about justice, peace and holiness here on earth. And the second future is in the afterlife. The Eucharist is a pledge of the heavenly banquet that God has promised to those who listen to the voice of his Son. What we experience in the food of the Eucharist is a foretaste of an eternal feast with God.

RECEIVE COMMUNION OFTEN; very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing.

(St Theresa of Lisieux)

LORD JESUS, let my heart never rest until it finds you, who are its centre, its love, and its happiness. By the wound in your heart pardon the sins that I have committed, whether out of malice or out of evil desires. Place my weak heart in your own divine heart, continually under your protection and guidance, so that I may persevere in doing good and in fleeing evil until my last breath. Amen. (St Margaret Mary Alacoque)

IF CHRIST DID NOT WANT to dismiss the Jews without food in the desert for fear that they would collapse on the way, it was to teach us that it is dangerous to try to get to heaven without the Bread of Heaven. (St. Jerome)

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS:

Mon: Joshua 14, Luke 12: 1-12, Rom 7: 1-6

Tues: Joshua 21:43 - 22:8, Luke 12:13-21, Rom 7: 7-end

Wed: Joshua 22: 9-end, Luke 12: 22-31, Rom 8:1-11

Thurs: Joshua 23, Luke 12:32-40, Rom 8:12-17

Fri : Joshua 24:1-28, Luke 12:41-48, Rom 8:18-30

Sat : Joshua 24:29-end, Luke 12: 49-end, Rom 8:31-end

NEXT SUNDAY : Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28, Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-31, S. Matthew 7: 21-end