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Praying together 29th September 2024

Praying together 29th September 2024

by | Sep 29, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

white rose and it's shadow

Collect

LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

James 5:13 – 20

Mark 9: 42 – 48

‘if anyone among you wanders from the truth’…

‘And what is truth?’, said Pilate, before walking away from it, quoted in John 18:38

‘To say of what is that it is, or of what is not that it is not, is true.’ That’s Aristotle.

‘Truth is what I say it is’ according to politicians and dictators through the ages

‘Er, search me’ said quite a lot of wise philosophers.

Do we have to define something to understand what it means in our daily lives? I would suggest that while a definition certainly often helps – but a definition isn’t always necessary. As an example, to survive. we have to breath something called ‘air’ – but we don’t have to know its chemical formula in order to do so. There is much more to life than hard facts, and in them, truth will exist in spirit.

What is important is that we perceive, accept and believe ‘truths’ in order to frame our decisions and actions. We base our lives on what we believe to be truth, and for us as Christians, Jesus’ word is all the truth we need to live in Him and act as His body on Earth. His truth is simple – it is Love. Love of God and Love of neighbour.

‘My word is truth’, said Jesus in John 17: 17. Pilate was afraid of the consequences of belief. Thankfully, we need not be.

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Praying Together 22nd September 2024

Praying Together 22nd September 2024

by | Sep 21, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

brown goat outdoors

Trinity 17

James 3:13 – 4:3, 7, 8a – Two kinds of Wisdom

Mark 9: 33 – 37 – Who is the Greatest?

Who’s the GOAT?

That question is guaranteed to provoke endless argument, the claimed candidate being dependent on personal allegiances, age, culture and experience. The GOAT we’re talking about here though isn’t Billy, as pictured here.

It stands for Greatest Of All Time.

Although probably based on questions of sport, usually football (George Best or Colin Bell?) (No contest, IMHO), the appellation ‘GOAT’ is now applied to people in all walks of life. For me, I guess the top candidates in various other disciplines are:

Politicians: Abraham Lincoln or Nelson Mandela?

Cricketers: Don Bradman or Gary Sobers?

Guitarists: Clapton or Hendrix?

Artists: Picasso or Van Gogh?

Racing Drivers: Fangio or Senna?

Authors: Dickens, Lawrence or Joyce?

Disciples: James, John or Peter?

In truth, you’d have to question whether they were really the greatest or simply just the best known. The answer according to Jesus is actually many who we’ve never heard of, those who were happy to be servants of the smallest child despite the cost to themselves. That’s the challenge.

Whereupon, perhaps the GOAT could even be (should be?) You.

Better learn how to Bleat.

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Praying Together 15th September 2024

Praying Together 15th September 2024

by | Sep 14, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

people walking towards a light

Trinity 16

Collect 

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever,

James 3: 1-12 – Taming the Tongue

Mark 8: 34 – 38

‘Let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’

Jesus makes it very clear that following him appears costly – if you measure it in human terms. The call to self-denial would seem to be the complete opposite of the animal instinct of survival of the fittest – that life is a competition for food, comfort and power that only the strongest can win. Although the proponents of what is called a ‘Prosperity Gospel’ would subscribe to such a way of life, it doesn’t look to be ‘self-denying’ – ‘self-important and self-centred’ would be closer to the case.

On the other hand, typically, as humans tend to do, the exercise of self-denial is often taken to the extreme, becoming self-punishment. Extended fasting, Hair shirts, self-mortification and suchlike are seen as ways to purge a sinful nature – the more self-deprived, the closer to God. Except that, in a way, that too can be equally self-centred – you might call it ‘competitive humility’.

I believe that what Jesus is asking is the recognition of equality with all His people – with the consequence that the needs of others are to be placed before ones own. Essentially, following Jesus – denying oneself – is living in servanthood. And true servanthood isn’t painful at all – it offers a different kind of life altogether, one I which the only ‘cost’ is a release from the constant (and ultimately unfulfillable) pressure to achieve ‘success’ in an increasingly material and competitive world.

History from the dawn of time proves that victory is impossible to achieve through force and domination over others. Perhaps it is time for the world to try Servant Love – love of our neighbour, whoever she or he may be. After all, that’s what Jesus asks of us – the reward being a closer walk with Him.

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Praying Together 8th September 2024

Praying Together 8th September 2024

by | Sep 7, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

old compass

Trinity 15

Collect 

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: Grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel; that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam and Eve left the garden – Genesis 3: 23-24

The LORD God sent Adam forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

Abram left home to create a nation – Genesis 12:1

The LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

A man left home to build a family – Ephesians 5:31

A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.

A King comes to us – Luke 1:30, 31

The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.

The Saviour left to be with His Father – John: 10-13

All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

Matthew 28: 18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Comings and Goings

Life is a process of continual change – some gradual, some more dramatic. Perhaps marriage, parenthood, retirement, serious illness, facing the inevitability of growing old. However excited and confident we may feel, deep down, there is always too a slight sense of uncertainty as we approach any significant lifestyle change. And this is the time of the year when many young people are stepping out into a new chapter of life – first day at school or college, perhaps a first job – and as parents, we try to disguise our feelings of concern as we realise that we have to trust them to the Lord and let go.

Scripture is full of stories of coming and going – life-changing journeys that affect each one of us everyday. We each have our own stories of departures – some joyous, some sad (Often both at the same time!). We learn that whenever we go to somewhere new, we run the risk of getting lost unless we take a map, and, like Theseus, make sure we have a way to find the way back home to security in case we’ve taken a wrong turning.

Fortunately, we do have a map. We have a compass We have learned from our experiences. We are taught by our memories. We have a home with the light left burning. We have our Bible. We have our counsellor. We have a home in Heaven. We have Jesus.

As we move on, we do so in In Him, with faith, hope and love. And thus all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

So, a song for all the Mothers, Fathers, Grandmas and Grandads who are waving a farewell and praying God speed as they watch their children step out in excitement and hope at their new beginning. May the Lord Bless them and keep them safe. And you too, in your journeys.

mary-black-bless-the-road

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Praying Together 25th August 2024

Praying Together 25th August 2024

by | Aug 24, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

medieval warrior

Trinity 13

Collect 

Almighty God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: Help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the cross, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Ephesians 6: 10-17

John 6: 56, 60 – 69

“Therefore take up the whole armour of God”

I looked on the Internet for an image relevant to Paul’s instructions on defending against the spiritual forces of evil. Ther are many of them. They invariably depict a warrior clad in medieval armor (sic), a modern-day Ivanhoe ready to fight a holy war. Dramatic. But completely missing the point.

Victory in battle may be temporarily won by military might. But in the longer term, force rarely (if ever) sustains. Napoleon Buonaparte was well aware of that. “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.”

Violence achieves nothing towards bringing in the Kingdom of God. All it does is engender more violence. God wins the War through sacrifice – the sacrifice of His Son.

Paul uses the metaphor of armour – but he isn’t talking about the weapons of violence. Instead, he calls for Truth. Righteousness. Peace. Faith. Salvation. The word of God. And through these, the War is won.

Funny kind of Victory

A short battle, it was;
no flags and no trumpets,
not a fair fight.
One naked man with outstretched arms
against chain mail and spears.
They gave Him thorns,
gave Him whips,
gave Him sour wine and their spittle,
gave Him nails… but gave Him no honour.
It’s over now.
He dies alone, and the quiet is hard to bear.
Even the banter of the soldiers is hushed;
only the sound of the wind and the aching world,
bound and fearful for so long,
waiting for its freedom.
Funny kind of battle, it was;
one man against legion.
Funny kind of victory
when the victor dies.
I wonder if the loser knew;
I wonder if the shaking of the earth
or the tearing of the curtain distracted him?
Or did he see, and despair to see,
the Christ-blood
washing the earth beneath the cross?
Funny when a victory’s won by seeming loss.

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Praying Together 18th August 2024

Praying Together 18th August 2024

by | Aug 18, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

female friends embracing in a warm greeting

Trinity 12

Collect 

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray and to give more than either we desire, or deserve: Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask save through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

Galatians 3: 24-29

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

*****

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews 13:2

John 6: 51

You will notice that Jesus tells the inquisitorial Jews that He doesn’t differentiate between anyone who confesses His name. ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide I me, and I in them’. All those. Whoever.

Paul expands on the same theme in Galatians 3:28 ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’

No ifs or buts. We are all one. Whoever, wherever. One family in Christ, even those who are not of the sheepfold, and those who unknowingly offer food, drink, clothes to the needy in His name.

It is certainly true that showing apparent never-ending hospitality is difficult in an environment where there are increasing numbers of refugees, and people of goodwill are understandably concerned. However there are also those – even some who loudly claim that they profess a faith – who clearly seek to foster hate and broken relationships, usually for their own ends. Yet scripture makes it clear that there is no place in the Kingdom for any who would wish to exacerbate division.

Yes, immigration is an issue. But the issue should be about how to make it possible for people under threat to find safety. There is no getting away from the fact that we are clearly commanded to welcome the stranger, the outcast, and doing so will probably have an effect on our lifestyle. But I can find nowhere in Scripture that suggests that my own comfort should take priority over offering help and support to those in need.

It’s no good saying ‘There’s no room’. Even if true (which it actually isn’t), we’d make plenty of space if it were our children who had no place of safety. Or even, perish the thought, if it were we ourselves seeking shelter.

The challenge of Emma Lazarus’ sonnet ‘The New Colossus’ is not restricted to the plaque on the Statue of Liberty – it applies to all of us, and it is not too long ago when the Irish ourselves found it to be a promise of hope in its expression of welcome in the face of famine and injustice.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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