Weekly Bulletin for St Mary's and the Villages

Collect

Almighty Father, 

whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross:
give us grace to perceive his glory, 

that we may be strengthened to suffer with him
and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; 

who is alive and reigns with you,…

Additional Collect

Holy God, you know the disorder of our sinful lives:
set straight our crooked hearts, 

and bend our wills to love your goodness and your glory 

in Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Collects for Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who....

Holy God, our lives are laid open before you:
rescue us from the chaos of sin
and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole
in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Today: Sunday Next before Lent

Principal Readings: 

Exodus 24.12-end Psalm 2 or Psalm 99 2 Peter 1.16-end Matthew 17.1-9
Barton  

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist
6.00 Evening Prayer 

Villages

9.30 Morning Worship at Bonby

11.00 Eucharist at Horkstow (BCP)

Monday

9.30 Toddler Time (St Mary's)
Ash  Wednesday

9.30 Eucharist with ashing (St Mary's)

2.00 MU Meeting (St Mary's Hall)
7.00 Eucharist with ashing (St Mary's)
7.30 Ladies’ Group (St Mary's Hall)
Thursday

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

Next Sunday: Lent 1

Principal Readings: 

Genesis 2.15-17; 3.1-7 Psalm 32 Romans 5.12-19 Matthew 4.1-11
Barton  

8.00 Said Eucharist
9.30 Parish Eucharist
6.00 Said Eucharist with hymns

Reflection: The Dry January Imposter

“From Easter until the Calends of November let the same number of Psalms be kept as prescribed above; but no lessons are to be read from the book, on account of the shortness of the nights.”
(Rule of St Benedict, Chapter 10)

I know that looks a bit random, but that apparently nit-picking paragraph might give us a clue about how to approach Lent in a spirit that might actually do us a bit of good.  

Some folk seem to think that God enjoys our being uncomfortable, hungry, sleep-deprived and so on. Such people might have expected Benedict to rejoice at the shorter nights of summer stopping the Community from getting proper sleep, all to the greater glory of God. But no: he says instead ‘If it comes to choosing between a shorter service and not getting enough sleep, you shorten the  service.’

Christian use of Scripture is a fascinating – and sometimes depressing – thing to study. Recent votes in the CofE’s General Synod highlight how passages are selected or ignored to serve a particular cause, ignoring completely some important texts when they’re ‘inconvenient’. 

One of them is Jesus’ observation that ‘The Sabbath was created for people, not people for the Sabbath,’ a quote carefully avoided by the dour souls who chained up  playground swings on Sundays or frowned on playing music on the Lord’s Day. Benedict’s obviously onto this trick, because he’s making it clear that the monk is there, not to be a slave of the Church’s worship calendar, but to be supported and enriched by it.  

As we enter Lent this Wednesday, Benedict’s compassionate and wise calling to mind of the Lord’s words is worth bearing in mind. As he says in his prologue, ‘And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome.’ For human beings weren’t called into life to observe Lent: Lent was created to help us live well, to be something which schools us gently into the life of God.

Gone immediately are visions of Christians gazing suspiciously at anything which looks remotely appealing, or creating misery (for themselves or another) in the belief that this will somehow make God happier – a God, we’d then have to believe, who regretted creating anything at all pleasurable. Instead, we’re being given a far more grown-up task, to live out our lives gently, without placing a burden on others, neither as fearful misers nor as reckless partygoers. How do we live joyfully, as a blessing to ourselves and to others?

No amount of abstaining from chocolate or brown ale is going to bring that about, and quite possibly the opposite. Jesus warned against falling for the old trap of going around with long faces so we look holy: it’s not a good advert for God and it’s hardly likely to make our neighbours feel uplifted either. The inevitable grumpiness of the person giving up smoking isn’t going to help anyone else through Lent, though I suppose it gives family and friends a bit of practice in being tolerant.

Lent is supposed to be a (quietly) joyful season – in some ways even more joyful than Advent – a chance to delve a bit deeper into the richness of what God is calling us to be. If (as Benedict says) it involves a certain amount of self-discipline, at least it’s got a point to it, in that at the end of it all we come out with something new and more insightful – certainly better than ‘Dry January’, that pale imitation of Lent we’re offered at the most gloomy time of the year. 

As part of our Christian journey we’re invited these next six weeks to chisel out a bit of extra time for ourselves. Time for reading a book which might broaden our imagination instead of soullessly doom-scrolling (Benedict instructs that taking time to read in Lent is part of the package). Time for appreciating better those around us rather than disappearing into social media and ignoring those around us. Time to reflect on the blessings and possibilities of the life  and love we’ve received. Time to be a sign of hope to others. Time to rediscover ourselves, and in doing so, stumble across where God’s already hard at work. Time to let our guard drop a bit and welcome God in.  

Or, to quote the seventeenth century poet Robert Herrick:

Is this a fast, to keep
The larder lean?
And clean
From fat of veals and sheep ?

Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish ?

Is it to fast an hour,
Or ragg’d to go,
Or show
A downcast look and sour ?

No ;  ‘tis a fast to dole
Thy sheaf of wheat,
And meat,
Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife,
From old debate
And hate ;
To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent ;
To starve thy sin,
Not bin ;
And that’s to keep thy Lent.

For our prayers

Church:

The Church of the province of the Indian Ocean.

The Churches of the Middle East. 

Archdeacon Eleanor and Bishop Jean Burgess 

as they begin their ministries here.

Our Lenten journey
 

World: 

Those in authority. 

Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, Sudan. 

Peacekeepers and Peacemakers. 

Those leading in the protection of our planet 

and the resolution of the issues surrounding migrancy.

Our Community: 

Parish cycle of prayer: 

Our schools and colleges, their students and staff.
St. Peter’s C of E. School. 

Those studying away from home.
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: The Hospitality Industry.

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.

Ash Wednesday 

Please note there are Eucharists at St Mary's at 9.30 and 7, where those who wish may receive the imposition of ash.

MU Meeting is this Wednesday at 2 in St Mary's Hall

Lenten reading.
Fans of CS Lewis, Tolkien and Co may be interested in Wardrobes and Rings: Through Lenten Lands with the Inklings –a recently released daily-reading-through-Lent sort of book, with contributors like Malcolm Guite, the poet-priest. I bought a copy, made the mistake of opening it, and found myself in the middle of Lent before I realised that perhaps I could leave it a few weeks. Lucy at the Hessle Bookshop may well have a copy in stock.

Barton Area Foodbank

Valerie Howitt from St Mary’s writes:

This month my shopping on behalf of the foodbank has totalled £1,700, and I’m not the only person doing the necessary purchasing of stock. It’s now a battle to keep the shelves at the warehouse sufficiently stocked for us to be able to support the large numbers of clients we are getting each week.

Any donations of tins or packets will help, or alternatively you might consider making a donation of money (either a one-off or a regular payment) to help us plug the gaps in our supplies. We are a registered charity, so donations may be gift-aided, which increases their purchasing power by 25%.  

If you’d like some information on how to make a regular donation, have a word with one of the members of the Foodbank team up at Tofts Road or email bartonareafoodbank@gmail.com

Diocesan Strategy Meeting

You may recall this was postponed because of a bad weather forecast. It will now be held in St Mary’s Hall at 7 on March 16th.