Dear Friends,
Known as Laetare (Rejoicing) Sunday, Mid-Lent Sunday, this Sunday is seen as a bit of a relaxed moment on our journey through Lent, fasting is put on hold & a bit of feasting is enjoyed. It is also Mothering Sunday & a couple of the attachments are loosely around that theme.
Another, ‘Lead us on our Journey’, is encouragement on our way through Lent.
Our Lent course continues – Mondays at 7pm – lasting under an hour – never too late to join! There are two more sessions. The link is
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89606042539?pwd=MVRsK2dZYUxXcVpNTWZEYXV5MVE4UT09
The blessing this week is ‘A Celtic Blessing’ from Light in our Darkness.
Looking ahead to Holy Week: there will be ‘zoomed’ reflections on Maundy Thursday at 5.30, Good Friday at 7pm and Holy Saturday at 10am.
There will also be a ‘live’ Reflection in Blessed Sacrament Church on Holy Saturday as usual at 11.30. All are welcome to all or any of these.
Love to you all
Fast from hostility; Feast on non-resistance.
Fast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; Feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; Feast on eternal Truth.
The Image of God
Young mothers
Old mothers
Grandmothers
ALL MOTHERS ARE MADE
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Childless women
Menopausal women
Lesbian women
ALL WOMEN ARE MADE
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Fathers
Gay men
Childless men
ALL Men ARE MADE
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Divorced people
Married people
Single people
ALL PEOPLE ARE MADE
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Ruth Burgess
You father and mother us
John Harvey
Loving God,
you father us & mother us
all our days.
Even before we acknowledged you
you loved us;
you laboured to bring us to birth,
new birth,
and how joyful for you that birthing.
In the secret places of our lives
you nourish us,
offering us the feeding
that we need
to grow as human beings.
No matter how often
we desert you
you never turn your face away from us,
and your abiding concern
is always for our good.
You weep with us,
you laugh with us,
you rejoice in our successes
and are in anguish at our pain.
Yours are the arms
reaching out to cradle us
when we collapse in death.
Loving, mothering God,
strong & tender, tried and true,
we worship you today.
Lead us on our Journey
Take us on our journey
from where we are to what you want us to be;
so that we can become a community
where all are welcomed & no-one is excluded,
all are valued & no-one is made to feel inadequate,
all are forgiven & no-one is ashamed to belong,
all are encouraged and no-one is too hurt to come among us.
Lead us on our journey
from who we are to who you want us to be;
so that patience is built into us,
kindness is assumed in us, gentleness is part of us,
compassion flows from us,
truth is second nature to us,
and the commitment of love is part of us.
Let us go gladly on the journey towards Easter –
the journey towards death and resurrection.
Let us journey in the peace and power of the Spirit.
Ruth Harvey