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Praying Together 11th February 2024

Praying Together 11th February 2024

by | Feb 10, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

a tree growing on a rocky slope

Sunday next before Lent

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 and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

2 Kings 2: 1-12

2 Corinthians 4: 3-6

Marks 9: 2-9

‘He ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen’

… and perhaps Peter then said ‘Why not? Of course I should tell people what I’ve seen and heard!’

‘You will’ said Jesus. ‘But not yet. You’ll have to be patient. If you tell people now, at best, they’ll ask for evidence – some will dismiss you as deluded – and at worst, they will arrest you for lies and Blasphemy.’

Peter is to be the rock on which the Church is built – but he needs the full story before he is going to be capable of so doing. He has seen miracles. He has heard Jesus explain about the Kingdom of Heaven. He has experienced teaching about the coming Messiah. And now, he is present at the fulfilling of the prophecy of Elijah’s return before the day of the Lord arrives. All of these are things of wonder – but tempered by Jesus’ continuing to talk of His death. If Jesus is to die, how would Peter maintain his belief in the one who he proclaimed to be the Christ? It would erode just as the memory of Jesus would erode, and He would simply become understood as another in the long line of Jewish prophets.

The story has to be complete for Peter’s faith become integral to his very being – if Jesus dies and that is the end of it, so what? But resurrected, that’s what. It’s not the end. It’s the beginning of new covenant for all God’s created people. In the knowledge of Jesus alive and the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, Peter does now have the whole story and is equipped to be that rock.

It’s the same for us – we cannot build our faith on just one or two aspects of Jesus’ story. The fundamental truth we need to accept that He is risen from the dead and He is Lord, alive. Unless we believe that with our whole heart and mind, our faith is fragile. If we do believe – there is nothing we cannot do in His name.

 

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Praying Together 4th February 2024

Praying Together 4th February 2024

by | Feb 4, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

group of people crowded around the camera

Second Sunday before Lent

Collect

Almighty God, you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image: Teach us to discern your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things, now and for ever.

Colossians 1: 15-20

John 1: 1-14

We probably know the Gospel passage well – it forms the finale of most of the traditional carol services, and is the foundation of our understanding of incarnation – God’s only Son is born as a human child with human earthly parents while also being the one who will bring light to a dark world.

We say that familiarity breeds contempt – and I don’t think we are too guilty of ‘contempt’ – but we are, I do think, in danger of missing the earth-shattering significance of the event in the midst of all the other wonderful Christmas stories. Paul tries to make sure we don’t.

‘in him all things in heaven and on earth were created’

ALL things, animal, vegetable, mineral. Me, you, him, her; earth, sky , sea; mountains and valleys, dogs, cats, elephants, apples, brussels sprouts. And even in the light of the immensity of all these, the most important, amazing truth is that right from the beginning, from the very, very, very beginning, He knew your face and loved you enough to be born to die for you so that you might live in light.

Imagine someone risked their life to save you from being killed, even though you had hurt them deeply in the past – you would go to great lengths to thank them and try to make amends. Yet we have to ask ourselves, do you go to those same lengths to thank the Lord Jesus? Or do we often take Him for granted? He asks for no reward, save that of loving His creation, His Father and our neighbours (all of them) as He loves – do we even do that?

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Praying together 28th January 2024

Praying together 28th January 2024

by | Jan 27, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

hot toast with butter

Epiphany 4

Creator God,
who in the beginning
commanded the light to shine out of darkness:
We pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
may dispel the darkness of ignorance and unbelief,
shine into the hearts of all your people,
and reveal the knowledge of your glory
in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mark 1: 21-28

1 Corinthians 8: 1-13

Food will not bring us close to God.’ Says St. Paul. Clearly, in his day, there was no such thing as hot chips on buttered white bread with a generous lacing of salt and malt vinegar – otherwise known as the nectar of the Gods. * If there had been, he might have chosen another metaphor rather than food to explain that no amount of what we eat – or perform any other ritual – can get us closer to God. Only our faith in Jesus Christ can do that.

Paul is trying to explain that in continuing to consider physical food as a holy object, remembering when they offered it as a sacrifice with ‘magical’ properties for the giver, they get themselves in a bind. If they stop eating that food they used to offer as sacrifice to idols, they turn it into something more than it was. And if they carry on eating it as a gesture of faith – what we might call ‘signalling’ that they attach no importance to it – they do the same thing.

Food is just food. There is no such thing as pleasing to an ‘idol’. The only sacrifice God asks is that of a broken heart hungry for the closeness of truth and faith in the Saviour of us all. So, says Paul, eat or don’t eat. Stop making a fuss over things that don’t matter, and get on with loving your neighbour.

*Or even better, crispy smoked bacon on a toasted teacake eaten for breakfast on a windy morning on Southport beach.

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Praying Together 21st January 2024

Praying Together 21st January 2024

by | Jan 20, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

a horse and plough in a field

Epiphany 3

Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
Renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 7: 29-31

Mark 1: 14-20

 

Last Thursday marked the beginning of the week of Christian Unity. In Kenmare, members of our three Churches met for a time of Praise, Prayer and Pizza in the Gateway Methodist – and we were additionally blessed by the presence of a number of our Ukrainian friends, who happily joined in the signing and the time of open prayer. Our togetherness was a real-life example of the unity we experience at a personal level.

But It did make me wonder if Christian Unity simply means once-a-year worship and prayer together outside the constraints of tradition or denomination. It must surely mean more than that. We need to stop using our energy on idle debating the differences between us – nothing is likely to result in change (at least in the short-medium term). Instead we must regard unity as a challenge – that in collectively accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, we are obliged to join in active service of His creation, using our combined resources to address the real problems of the World – and goodness knows there are plenty of them. Homeless families. Unwelcome refugees. Revenge exercised upon children. Self-serving political ‘leadership’. Prejudice against those who are ‘different’. And many others.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of His God-given message of the service asked of us in His name: to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, release to the prisoners. And by so doing proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

So as we celebrate this week of Christian Unity, let us consider what service we could offer together, that we wouldn’t be capable of achieving on our own – the whole being much greater than the parts.

And then rather than talking about it, let’s make it happen.

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Praying Together January 14th 2024

Praying Together January 14th 2024

by | Jan 13, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

a horse and plough in a field

Blessing of the Plough

Plough Sunday has its roots in medieval times, when the parish church was often used to store a communal plough in the winter months, then being decorated and blessed before the rhythm of the agricultural season begins once more on Plough Monday.

Collect for Epiphany 2 (Plough Sunday)

Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new: Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Almighty God, with whom we can do everything,
Without whom we can do nothing:
Open our eyes that we may see thee:
Open our lips that we may praise thee:
Open our hearts that we may know thee:
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

An Epiphany Poem

Spring ends when the ‘Back to School’ signs go up in shop windows
Summer ends when they start selling Christmas cards
Christmas ends when Tesco puts Easter Eggs on the shelves.
And Winter ends when the veil is torn in two.

Heaven and Earth – The Message Bible translation

milky way in the night sky

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

God spoke: “Light!”
   And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
   and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
   he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning— Day One.

God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;
   separate water from water!”
God made sky.
He separated the water under sky
   from the water above sky.
And there it was:
   he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning— Day Two.

God spoke: “Separate!
   Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
Land, appear!”
   And there it was.
God named the land Earth.
   He named the pooled water Ocean.
God saw that it was good.
God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
   of seed-bearing plants,
Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”
   And there it was.
Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
   all varieties,
And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
   God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning— Day Three.

God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
   Shine in Heaven’s sky!
Separate Day from Night.
   Mark seasons and days and years,
Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”
   And there it was.
God made two big lights, the larger
   to take charge of Day,
The smaller to be in charge of Night;
   and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
   to light up Earth
And oversee Day and Night,
   to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.

God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
   Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales,
   all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
   God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
   Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.

God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
   cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was:
   wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
   God saw that it was good.
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
   reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
  the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
   and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
   he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
   He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
   “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
   for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Then God said, “I’ve given you
   every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
   given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds,
   everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”
   And there it was.
God looked over everything he had made;
   it was so good, so very good!
It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Instead of a sermonette this week, here’s Psalm 148. On a day when we celebrate God’s creation, there’s nothing I could add…

Psalm 148 – Praise for God’s Universal Glory 

Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host!

Praise him, sun and moon;
   praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
   and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD,
   for he commanded and they were created.
He established them for ever and ever;
   he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

Praise the LORD from the earth,
   you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
   stormy wind fulfilling his command!

Mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle,
   creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and women alike,
   old and young together!

Let them praise the name of the LORD,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
   praise for all his faithful,
   for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the LORD!

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Praying Together 7th January 2024

Praying Together 7th January 2024

by | Jan 6, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

reflection of a girl in a glass window

Collect for the Epiphany

Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit: Grant to us, who are born of water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Genesis 1: 1-5

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Luke 1: 68-79

John 8: 1-12

 

Darkness isn’t actually something in itself. It is the absence of something – the absence of light. Which is why, as God’s first act of creation, He commands light to be. Without a light source, nothing can be seen. God’s light shines so that the beauty of creation can be seen. Without light, there is nothing.

However our eyes aren’t equipped to look at light directly, it’s just too bright. What we actually see is reflected light, light that shines from a source – in daylight, the sun – reflected by the people or place we are looking at.

That principle allows us to take photographs. In daylight, the sunlight hits a subject and its image is reflected back into the camera. If there’s no sun (like County Kerry since October!) the light comes from a flashbulb. Imagine, then, that people are like cameras. When they  look at us, what they see is God’s light reflected in us. Through us, His light shines into the world, destroying the darkness. If we let it. For we do have a choice not to. God gives us the freedom to reflect it or smother it.

So the question we ask of ourselves is this. When the world looks at us, sees our actions, our life, do we reflect the light of Christ, and further His Kingdom? Or do we deepen the darkness?

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