Weekly Bulletin for St Mary's and the Villages

Collect

O God, 

the strength of all those who put their trust in you, 

mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature 

we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace, 

that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed; 

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who….

Additional Collect,

God of truth, 

help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son.  

Today: First Sunday after Trinity

Principal Readings 

Hosea 5.15 - 6.6 Psalm 50.7-15 Romans 4.13-end Matthew 9.9-13, 18-26  

Barton

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist

6.00  Sung Evensong

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)
7.00 Ladies’ Singing Group (St Mary's Hall)
Thursday

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

Next Sunday: The Second Sunday after Trinity
Principal Readings 

Exodus 19.2-8a Psalm 100 Romans 5.1-8 Matthew 9.35 - 10.8 [9-23]  

Barton

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist
11.00 Together@11

6.00  Evening Prayer

Villages

9.30 Morning Worship at Worlaby

11.00 Holy Communion at Ferriby

Reflection: Getting knotted

When Francis of Assisi shed his fine clothes and embraced poverty, he put on a shapeless peasant’s tunic and, for a belt, knotted a handy piece of rope round his waist. In the fulness of time, the knotted rope gained a bit of extra significance beyond simplicity, so should you ever see a fully-paid up Franciscan Friar or Sister, you’ll spot three decorative knots in the rope girdle, reminders of the vows of embracing holy poverty and chastity but, first of all, obedience.

‘Obedience’ has a dubious reputation nowadays, especially since the ‘I was only obeying orders’ of the Nuremberg war trials. Submission to unexamined authority – ‘blind obedience’  - isn’t good. By contrast, Monastic obedience remembers that the word comes from the Latin audire, ‘to hear, to listen’. It’s about listening for the voice of God and responding to it, - from a Superior, from a Community, from the Scriptures - and from the unexpected visitor at the gate.

Benedictine Religious don’t generally get knotted (the Rule just mentions a belt), and another promise comes above obedience, ‘stabilitas,’ ‘stability’ – getting on with the job wherever God has put you. Though the other three vows will follow, first and foremost for a Benedictine is the promise to commit to where you are and the people you are with.

So here we are on the first of twenty-one Sundays after Trinity, and apart from a handful of festivals which may or may not fall on a Sunday, an unbroken tide of green Ordinariness spreads out before us from now until late October. Seven months of major seasons and festivals and days of reflection give way to – well, it’s a bit like having spent half a year amidst mountains and waterfalls and dark caves and valleys, then finding your exploring limited to a municipal park, with only an occasional fish-pond, rockery or bandstand to liven things up.

Many experiments with both intelligent apes and humans, their primitive relatives, show how we love big, noisy, exciting New Experiences, even scaring ourselves silly with horror films and extreme fairground rides. The religious journey isn’t immune, and after all the big, emotional ups and downs of the Church year, we hit Ordinary Time and stop getting all those highs. Few want to miss out  on Advent and  Christmas, and Lent, Holy Week and Easter have a pull all of their own. Miss out on more than a week or two and you feel you’re getting behind with the story - but Ordinary Time? There’ll be another Sunday after Trinity along soon enough, and it’s not as if we’re going to miss much.

If hearing what God’s trying to say to us is ever easy, it’s more likely to be at the great Highs and Lows of the Christian year. Whether we’re weeping at the Cross or rejoicing in the Upper Room we often find it a bit easier to get a hint of what God’s saying. 

However, the monastic discipline of obedience is about learning to hear what God’s saying in the less obvious – in the stranger at the gate, in the ordinary business of life, while doing the washing up or re-booting the laptop. That takes practice, and it takes patience, and an ability to keep going without a supply of spiritual lollipops. It’s what being faithful in Ordinary Time looks like. Stickability and listening.

Stories from two different spiritual traditions may help. 

Chapter 66 of the Rule of Benedict, appoints someone to act as ’porter,’ a doorkeeper at the monastery. This apparently unglamorous calling is simple - to sit attentively, alert and ready to be called upon:

At the gate of the monastery let there be placed a wise old woman, who knows how to receive and to give a message, and whose maturity will prevent her from straying about. This porter should have a room near the gate, so that those who come may always find someone at hand to attend to their business. And as soon as anyone knocks or a poor person hails her, let her answer "Thanks be to God" or "A blessing!" Then let her attend to them promptly, with all the meekness inspired by the fear of God and with the warmth of charity.   

And the other is from Zen Buddhism:

“A disciple asked the Elder, ‘Holy One, is there anything I can do to make myself enlightened?’ 

And the Holy One answered, ‘As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.’

‘Then of what use,’ the surprised disciple replied, ‘ are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?’

‘To make sure,’ the elder said, ‘that you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise.’”

Enough excitement. From now until autumn our job’s simply to refrain from wandering off in search of distraction– and learn to wait and listen for God in the humdrum ordinariness of life.

For our prayers

Church:

The Church in Scotland

Christians in the Middle East. 

World: 

Those in authority.
Those who seek to sow division and mistrust.

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

Ukraine, Sudan. 

Peacekeepers and Peacemakers. 

Those leading in the protection of our planet 

and the resolution of the issues surrounding migrancy.

Our Community: 

Those taking important examinations.
Parish cycle of prayer:  Baptism candidates and those preparing for marriage.
The Parish Administrator and all who assist in parish administration.

Diocesan cycle of prayer: Farming

The world’s half-forgotten troubled lands:

Afghanistan, Myanmar.

Those in need. 

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. 

Especially, please pray for: 

Those on our Parish prayer boards

The Departed. 

Notices.

Afternoon Tea at St Mary's, July 4th 2.00
Fuller details on the poster on the 'landing page', tickets £15.

Facing the Music
As many of you know, Alan is retiring from St Mary's choir - though certainly not from ministry - on 12th July.

On that date there will be a Choral Evensong, followed by "a bit of a do" in recognition of all Alan has done to build up St Mary's musical reputation in the diocese, and to enhance our worship here over more than fifty years. The choir members are keen to continue, and indeed to recruit, and we're delighted that Fiona Tannock has offered to take on the role from September.

As part of this change, we're intending to update our hymn books. We've had our present blue "Common Praise" books for over twenty years and some have become very tatty. They're also showing their age in other ways, with some of the best more recent hymns not included, which is a pity because there are some very good ones we're missing out on. The plan is to buy the most recent edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern, which includes Hymns and Songs for Refreshing Worship. It includes all out traditional favourites, as well as having the best more recent hymns, and should give us more choice.

This is a significant outlay and we'll be doing some fundraising, but if anybody would like to sponsor  a copy - or more than one - perhaps in memory of a loved one, the cost of a single congregational copy is £15. Kathy is probably the best person to speak to, if you'd like to help. We hope to have the new books for our new start in September. Watch this space!

Canon Liz

Barton and District Foodbank -Tesco Collection–  25-27 June

Important notice regarding receiving the chalice

We have received clear instructions from Lincoln that we must not "dip" the wafer into the chalice if we feel unable to drink from the common cup. The reason for this is to protect anybody who has a strong reaction to gluten, and who could suffer an allergic reaction if they drink wine which has been in contact with the wafer.

We recognise that there are a variety of reasons why some people feel they can't drink from the chalice, but if this applies to you, please just receive the wafer and don't attempt to dip it in the chalice. There are certain medical conditions  which mean that some people are unable to receive the wafer or the wine, and who therefore only receive one or the other. In that case you have still received Holy Communion fully. It's acceptable to receive just the wine, just the wafer, or both, so please don't feel you've been "short changed" or excluded.

When we come to the altar, we do so as guests at God's table, so please help us to make sure that all our brothers and sisters can share in this sacrament safely. If you have any worries about this, please speak to me or one of the other clergy, who will be happy to help.

Canon Liz