Weekly Bulletin for St Mary's and the Villages

Collect for All Saints’ Day

Almighty God, 

you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns ….

Additional Collect for All Saints’ Day

God of holiness, your glory is proclaimed in every age:
as we rejoice in the faith of your saints, inspire us to follow their example
with boldness and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect for the week

Almighty and eternal God, 

you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love, that, 

as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship; through….
Or
God of glory, touch our lips with the fire of your Spirit,
that we with all creation may rejoice to sing your praise; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Today: All Saints Day
Principal Readings:

Revelation 7.9-end; Psalm 34.1-10; 1 John 3.1-3; Matthew 5.1-12  

Barton

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist 

6.00 All Souls' Tide Requiem Eucharist

Villages

11.00 Eucharist at Bonby

Monday

9.30-11.30 Toddler Time (St Mary's Hall)
Wednesday

9.30 Eucharist (St Mary's)

7.00 Ladies’ Group (St Mary's Hall)

Thursday

2-4 Sewing Bee (St Mary's Hall)

Friday
7.00 Choir Practice (St Mary's Hall)

Next Sunday: 3 Before Advent/ Remembrance

Principal Readings:

Wisdom of Solomon 6.12-16 ;1 Thessalonians 4.13-end Matthew 25.1-13  

Barton

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist Trinity Altar
11.00 Together@11
11.30 Town Remembrance Service
6.00 Evening Prayer

Villages

Remembrance services across each village - please check back for details

Reflection: ‘Let us now praise famous men…’

...and Ecclesiasticus (also called ‘Sirach’ in some Bibles*) being a work of its time, that famous passage probably did think in terms of men’ – did women have any written input into the Scriptures? We don’t men’ to t ‘people’ there’s still an unhelpful focus on celebrity, fame and public adulation – none of which help us with appreciating All Saints’ Day.

Most Christians probably know that Luke, writing for non-Jews, draws attention to the folk without much clout in Jewish society – pagans, Samaritans, and (notably)women. Matthew, though, seems to be writing for Jewish followers of Jesus, and appears less concerned about these invisible types– there’s not much about non-Jews, and it’s all about Joseph, not Mary, when it comes to the Nativity. If Luke turns the world upside down, making the people on the edges, central characters, Matthew seems to be all about the ‘in crowd’. 

Or does he? Scratch the surface, though, and it looks a bit different.

In today’s Gospel reading, ‘the Beatitudes’ from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims the blessedness of folk who, viewed from any sensible point of view, appear anything but –  the mourners, the ignored, the powerless.

However, ‘Blessed’ is a funny word, with overtones of ‘You’ll get your reward in heaven’ (but forget it down here).English versions of the Bible tend to have it here, I don’t know why, but Matthew and Luke don’t use the Greek word for ‘Blessed’. Instead, it’s ‘makarioi’, ‘Happy’. In the Bible version closest to Jesus’ own Aramaic language, the poor, mourners and the rest are almost to be envied.

So why are they happy and enviable? Perhaps, because unlike the powerful, the influential, the movers and shakers, these folk – the moved and the shaken – know what it’s really all about. They may not always realise it, but they share with God a true vision of the world and of life. 

Matthew isn’t as obsessed as we think with Respectable Jewish Men. Pagan astrologers making the long journey to Bethlehem while the folk in Jerusalem, high and low, stay at home. ‘This was the Son of God’ says the Centurion at the cross (after Respectable Jewish Men had allowed themselves to be whipped up into a frenzy to demand Jesus’ execution). Those who don’t run off and hide, who are present at Jesus’ death and are first witnesses of the Resurrection are women . At the Last Judgement, the parable of the Sheep and the Goats reminds us there will be many in the Kingdom surprised at who else is there – and who isn’t. Matthew shows God at work within those whom polite Jewish society would find insignificant, unclean, or worshippers of false Gods.

This brings us to the heart of All Saints. The signs of God being up to something are more likely to be in small or insignificant places, among unexpected people – those whom the Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber calls ‘accidental saints.’  

The Jewish faith itself is founded on that understanding –‘A wandering Aramean was my father’ Deuteronomy 6.5 begins, and it forms a sort-of creed which acknowledges that they were insignificant, that they were slaves, and any greatness they had was something to do with the mystery of God at work.

All Saints’ points us away from the loud, from the celebrity and the ‘influencer,’ and towards the local, the small and the (apparently) unimportant, away from ‘the famous men’ who always seem to demand praise (and in extreme case, worship). All Saints is about the art of being faithful servants where we are in the present, making ourselves available to God now, not in some dreamed-of future where we’ll have the clout to change things.

Moreover, this is the story of all the Saints, great and small. They’re just responding to the Divine niggle. Francis of Assisi felt called to a life of simple abandonment to God. Hugh, plucked from a life of prayer and dumped in England’s largest diocese, rebuilt a shattered Cathedral, defended the vulnerable and rebuked the powerful; Edward King’s wish was just to be a good shepherd, Teresa of Calcutta saw poverty and tried to relieve it.. They all tried to be obedient to God’s promptings in the place in which God had put them . That’s our story, too.

Benedict said ‘Do not seek to be called holy until you really are.’ Thérèse of Lisieux recalled her sister explaining (using a small and a large glass full of water and asking, ‘Which Is the more full?’) how being holy is to be as full of the Holy Spirit as we can be, never mind anyone else. Such are the lessons of All Saints’.

Oh, and that bit about ‘praising famous men’? If you read all of Ecclesiasticus 44.1-15, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Much more…..

*Some Bibles, the NIV in particular, don’t contain Sirach, which is part of the Apocrypha.

For our prayers.
Church: 

The Anglican Church in Central America. 

At All Saints’, those who have inspired us on our journey of faith.

World: 

Those in authority. 

Those who seek to sow division and mistrust. Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Yemen and all the lands of the Middle East. Ukraine. Sudan. 

Our Community:
Parish cycle of prayer: The mission of our parish and benefice. Our Deanery.
Diocesan cycle of prayer: Animal Care   

Those in need.
Especially, please pray for:

All who are fleeing war, poverty or climate change. 

People living under the shadow of fear, deprivation or illness; 

the anxious, the lonely and mourners. 

Those struggling to make ends meet. The homeless. 

Those in hospital or who watch with them. 

The Departed. 

Notices.

All Souls Requiem Eucharist
This Sunday's 6.00 service at St Mary's  will take the form of our annual Requiem. 

Remembrance Sunday

Villages

Remembrance services will take place across the villages on November 8th. Note in particular that at Ferriby, instead of the usual 11.00 Eucharist there will be a service of Remembrance at 10.45

Barton
Please note that the billed time for next week’s Remembrance Service in Church, 11.30, does run very close to the end of Together@11. Please be sensitive if arriving for 11.30 of the family activities which may still be going on.

It’s unlikely that the Remembrance Service will start ‘on time’ – over the years it’s been more like 11.45 before everyone’s made it back from the War Memorial, and this year the Reading of the Names will take place at Barrow Road, which is likely to push timings back even further. 

If you’re going up to the War Memorial first, be prepared for a longer act of Remembrance up there, and things won’t start in Church till everyone’s had chance to get back to St Mary’s.

Bereavement group.
From next meeting on 10th November will be at a member’s house. Please check with Valerie Howitt or Sue Page-Chestney for details. 

St Mary's Not Quite Christmas Fair. 21st November
This is fast approaching. We will be happy to receive donations of bottles , chocolates, crafts , cakes , plants, raffle prizes. Box for items at back of church.

St Mary's Christmas tree festival
This is running from 21st to 28th November. On 28th we will be part of the town Christmas Market. We’ll be looking for more cakes on this day so we can offer refreshments to  visitors.