rhianprime

Aug 2, 20207 min read

Sunday Worship 2nd August 2020

Croeso! Welcome to you all this Sunday morning.

Please do make yourself known to me if you are popping in or if I can help in any way.

Yn enw'r Tad,

a'r Mab,

a'r Ysbryd Glan.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

Our opening hymn today is:

Heavenly Father, all hearts are open to you.

No secrets are hidden from you.

Purify us with the love of your Holy Spirit

That we may love and worship you faithfully,

through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen

Lord, have mercy Lord, have Mercy

Christ, have mercy Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy Lord, have mercy

Heavenly Father,

we have sinned in thought, word and deed,

and have failed to do

what we ought to have done.

We are sorry and truly repent.

For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ

who died for us, forgive us all that is past,

and lead us in his way

to walk as children of light. AMEN

May God our Father,

who by the Lord Jesus Christ

has reconciled the world to himself

and forgives the sins of all who truly repent,

pardon and deliver us from all our sins,

and grant us the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

The Gloria.

Glory to God in the highest

and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,

Almighty God and Father,

we worship you, we give you thanks,

we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God,

you take away the sin of the world:

have mercy on us;

you are seated at the right hand of the Father:

receive our prayer,

For you alone are the Holy One,

you alone are the Lord,

you alone are the Most High,

Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit,

in the glory of God the Father. AMEN

Collect : Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,

we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern us

in the ways of your laws

and the works of your commandments;

that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,

we may be preserved in body and soul;

through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. AMEN

Reading St Matthew 14 13-21

The Gospel of Christ according to S Matthew

Glory to you. O Lord.

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

This is the Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you, O Christ.

Homily

Last week in the blog I shared some thoughts about picnics. Picnics are lovely sociable occasions and minus sand in the sandwiches, or wasps pestering about, most people enjoy them and are a real sign of Summer and warmer days. My Mum always enjoyed a picnic Summer or Winter though, I don't think my Dad was as keen, I remember countless trips up Llangynidr Mountain in all weathers to share a flask of tea and a sarnie. We would gaze over Llangors lake and hear the tales of their growing up in Brynmawr and their walks over the mountain, as a courting couple.

I recently had as a 60th birthday gift a book "Summer," liturgical resources from Eastertide to Pentecost and beyond by Ruth Burgess. It is part of a collection, a series and I certainly know Jude and Rick share at least one of the series. It is really a useful resource. Well in glancing through it I discovered It describes, a dialogue fictional about a young boy and his Mum, following his not eating the picnic lunch she had provided him with on a day out. the young lad had met with Jesus and followed him, and responded when Christ had asked if anyone had any food to share. The miracle happened all the people were fed as we heard in our Gospel this morning and end up with Mum saying the boy was like Jesus as he was sharing what he had with others and following Jesus.

In the Gospel, we find that the writer of Matthew has shortened the earlier writings of Mark setting the scene of this miracle in the Spring presumably with the grass, being fit to sit upon. These are minor details really but help set the scene. It was getting on in the day and the time for supper had passed and they were in the vicinity of various villages where food could be available. Jesus isn't for this, the disciples can certainly sort out and meet the need which was present. It is an example of a generous sharing. The five loaves and 2 fishes were brought to Jesus and were blessed and used to feed the crowd.

How many times have you been on a picnic and realised that the food has been left behind, sitting in the bag by the front door, or the milk flask isn't with you and no-one likes black tea! There can be a bit of a catastrophe! In these days of Coronavirus it has been for so long impossible to meet for a picnic to be a party of a group or family together. Jesus had a big crowd listening to him and then nothing to eat, we in turn have been isolated with our nearest and dearest or on our own and at times may be also short of food.

The miracle teaches us much, but today let us simply concentrate on the notion of generous sharing with each other. Often we are good at this, ensuring we support the food bank or helping those who are homeless, or providing for the hygiene bank, we offer support with tasks when we are able, or lend money to those whose need is greater than our own. We do share of course, helping our brothers and sisters in Christ. We would share our food if we had been at the miracle site, of course we would. But how good are we at sharing the deep things within us with our fellow Christians, the positive thoughts, the sharing of emotions, the sharing of our faith and where we are at on our journey. How good are we at sharing times of worship or enabling all to receive the Eucharist when churches are functioning again. Do we want what we want, and forget about sharing and hearing what other peoples' needs may be.

The congregation at St Cattwg Llanmaes, have made a decision for now, that they will not open the church for private prayer or worship, until everyone can worship together there as they have always done. This is not selfish, but really taking sharing to a new level which emcompasses the whole of the Christian family in that place. It si a generous action. It is a sacrifice made for the greater good of all Christians there and who would normally worship there.

The message today from the Gospel isn't just about Jesus' power as in the creating of sufficient food, but rather in the interpretation of it, as sharing, uniting us together through thick and thin, through the days of this pandemic and the times when we gather to break bread together.

Intercessions and Lord's Prayer

Everlasting God, may the worship of your Church throughout the world be attentive and expectant, ready to be set on fire again and again with the outrageous foolishness of loving, without exceptions and without limits.