Weekly Bulletin for St Mary's and the Villages

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people, 

that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; 

through….  

Additional Collect

Almighty God, send down upon your Church the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace;

through….

This Sunday: The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Principal Readings 

Zechariah 9.9-12 Psalm 145.8-15 Romans 7.15-25a Matthew 11.16-19, 25-end   

Barton

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist
6.00  Evening Prayer

Villages

11.00 Holy Communion at Bonby 

Monday

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

Tuesday

2.00-4.00 Bereavement Group (St Mary's Hall)

Wednesday

9.30 Eucharist (St Mary's)
7.30 Ladies’ Singing Group (St Mary's Hall)
Thursday

11-1.00 St Mary's visit by Pocklington U3A

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

7.00 The Life and Times of Clarissa the Clock - 

with cheese and wine (Worlaby)

Next Sunday: The Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Principal Readings 

Isaiah 55.10-13 Psalm 65.[1-7] 8-13* Romans 8.1-11 Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23 

Barton

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist
11.00 Together@11
6.00 Choral Evensong (see below)

Villages

9.30 Morning Worship at Worlaby

11.00 Holy Communion at Horkstow (BCP)

Reflection: There’s no pleasing some people

If the famous episode from ’The Life of Brian’ has a single starting-point in Scripture, it’s probably here. If you know the story not, then it revolves around a chap whom Jesus has healed, and, far from being delighted, the healed man is peeved that his livelihood as a beggar has been taken away from him. There’s just no pleasing some people,’ observes Brian. ‘That’s just what Jesus said, sir,’ shouts the ex-beggar.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has upset people by refusing to fit in with their contradictory ideas of what what the Messiah should look like. Like contrary children, folk criticise him for not doing what they want, not fitting into their scheme of things, not realising that, not only do they want a puppet for God’s Anointed, they want that puppet to be two different things at the same time. They don’t want him to take this religion stuff seriously, like (say) John the Baptism did, leading and preaching a lifestyle of self-denial – ‘A Religious Nut’ we might say these days – but at the same time, they don’t want someone who, reaches out to those on the edges of society.

In the end, though, this masks something which goes beyond childish behaviour in the market place. Inside the demand, ‘Be what we want you to be’ lies a most interesting bit of reading.

In – I think – The Hobbit – an observation’s made about Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarfs, that broadly speaking they were reliable and trustworthy, just as long as you didn’t expect too much of them. In those few words, Tolkien draws a splendid picture of the human race – we’re reasonably OK as long as you don’t expect too much of us.  

If we apply this to this morning’s Gospel, we see what’s going on. Jesus’ listener are reasonably OK sorts of folk – as long as you don’t ask too much of them. And that’s precisely what both Jesus and John the Baptist have done.

John, by his preaching, by his lifestyle, by his round condemnation of the religious élite itself, has made the fairly upright majority feel uncomfortable. Unused to being seen as sinners and reprobates, they suddenly find themselves lumped in with all the people they looked down on. John must be stark, raving daft to suggest that people like usare no better than all those dubious characters we tut about.

And then along comes Jesus, and, well, he’s not like John – but he’s no better, for this time instead of recognising them as superior and the sorts of folk that he should be spending his time with, he has the audacity to treatthe low life as if they were worth the same to God as their sensibly God-fearing selves.

Jesus comes as the one who makes the comfortable feel just that little bit less sure of themselves and their position in God’s pecking-order. John or Jesus, it doesn’t matter in the end, for both are suggesting that there’s really only one type of person – confused, weak and prone-to-getting-it-wrong humanity.

Once we let that sink in a bit, it’s both encouraging and disturbing at the same time. Encouraging because if we fear that somehow everyone else but us is ‘in’ in the human race, Jesus tells us otherwise. Like everyone else, were both saint and sinner, and often both at the same time, an old insight of the Lutheran Church. And disturbing because every time we’re being told to push some group of people into the ‘not like us’ bin, Jesus invites us to look more closely – then think again.

He’s a tricky customer is this Jesus. Always raising a quizzical eyebrow when we try to get inflated ideas about ourselves, but at the same time always ready to haul us back onto our feet, dust us down and speak words of encouragement when we’ve fallen flat on our faces. So which way’s it gong to be – disappointment when he doesn’t behave like we want him to? Or maybe relief, because we’ve tried our own despairing, divisive ways – and need someone to show us a different way of looking at the world.

For our prayers

Church:

The Church in Southern America 

World: 

Those in authority. 

Those who seek to sow division and mistrust.  

Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, Israel and all the lands of the Middle East. 

Ukraine. Sudan. 

Our Community: 

Parish cycle of prayer: Those who care for our Church buildings
Diocesan cycle of prayer: Construction Industry

Those in need.
Especially, please pray for:
The people of Venezuela

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.

From the Priest-in-Charge Designate….
I'm delighted to be able to tell you that my licensing as priest-in-charge of Barton and the Low Villages will take place in St Mary's on 20th July at 7pm. The service will be led by our Archdeacon, Ven. Eleanor Robertshaw, and will be followed by refreshments.

I know I've been around for a while now, but it's important to mark this next stage in our journey together.  Over the past few months I've been very touched by the welcome I've received from all the parishes, and I feel very privileged to serve in this benefice and with Barrow and Goxhill. It will be lovely to have the chance to share a celebration with the whole new group. Please do come if you can.
Canon Liz

Clarissa the Church Clock July 9th 7 pm at Worlaby Parish Church

A chance to learn about the intricacies and history of Worlaby's magnificent church clock, with a spot of (sometimes hair-raising) video, all accompanied by cheese and wine. Tickets £5 in advance, £6 on the door, more details on the landing page poster

Alan Wright’s Swan[Even]Song. July 12 6.00

As you all know, Alan’s finally hanging up his choirmaster’s gown after fifty-some years in the job. We’ve been hugely blessed at St Mary's for his enthusiasm and hard work over the decades, and it’s right and proper that he goes out with a bang, so to speak.

The evening service on Sunday week, July 12th, will be a full-blown choral evensong (music of Alan’s choosing (and, in part, composing), which will be followed by refreshments in the hall. Do come along and express our appreciation and gratitude to him for the huge amount of time, effort and love he’s put into St Mary’s musical tradition over the decades.

Receiving Communion – a reminder.
At Communion, please remember that wafers should not be dipped in the chalice in order to protect those with a gluten allergy. If you do not wish to receive the chalice, please receive the wafer only.

Thankyou!

A huge thank you to everybody for your generosity in making donations towards St Mary's new hymn books.  Amazingly, we have more than covered the cost of them, and they have been  ordered, ready for our "new term" in September.

As you know, Kathy has been receiving the pledges/donations, which means she has a very long list! In order to make her job a bit easier, when you give Kathy the money, could you also make clear who it's actually from, rather than just putting it in an envelope, so that she can tick them off on her list. If you're able to Gift Aid, please use one of the Gift Aid envelopes at the back of church, which will make the donation considerably larger at no extra cost to the giver. Once again, thank you all so much. Many of the new books have been given in memory of a loved one, and these will all have  bookplates with those details inside.

Canon Liz

Fletcher DuBois RIP

As most people at St Mary's will know, Amy Dubois' brother, Fletcher, died earlier this year.

Fletcher lived and worked in Heidelberg, which is where his funeral was held. Amy was unable to attend the funeral, but we will be holding a requiem for Fletcher on Tuesday 21st July at 12.30pm, and there will be coffee and cake afterwards.

It would mean a great deal to Amy if as many people as possible could attend this service and the gathering afterwards. Fletcher had a great fondness for St Mary's and for Wilderspin School, of which he was a patron. He would doubtless be both pleased and, as a very modest person, possibly surprised that he is being remembered here, as well as in the city he called home. Please do keep the date in your diary and come along if you can.