Dear All,
Another big feast for us this weekend, that of Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body & Blood of Christ. The Gospel chosen for Sunday’s Eucharist (Lk 9. 11-17) is an account of the miracle of that five loaves of bread & the two fish being more than enough to feed the five thousand men (&, presumably, a good number of women & children). In fact when I looked at it this time I was particularly struck by the introduction to this story in verse 11:
‘Jesus made the crowds welcome, & talked to them about the Kingdom of God; & he cured those who were in need of healing’.
So, rather than focus of the huge picnic, we have chosen for our reflections this week the words ‘Welcome’, ‘Kingdom of God’ & ‘Healing’ which are some kind of preparation for the main story. We hope one or other will have meaning for you.
The blessing is ‘The Peace of God be with you’ from Heavenly Peace – may it bring us all more of God’s peace, love, joy, strength & beauty in our hearts.
The peace of Christ be with you,
The love of Christ enfold you,
The joy of Christ inspire you;
The strength of Christ uphold you,
And the beauty of Christ be within you,
All the days of your life.
Amen.
With our love & prayer for a good week
Welcome
Hospitality
Joyce Rupp
As we gather round the table of friendship,
we come with profound thanksgiving
for the countless times
we have been welcomed by the Holy One
dwelling in another person.
Because of open minds & hearts
we have been received with warmth & kindness.
We bring our intention to continue our efforts
to accept those with whom we have differences.
We welcome those who live among us
whom we would rather not welcome.
We pray to grow stronger & live more fully
the vital qualities of hospitality: kindness, non-judgement,
understanding, generosity, acceptance & good cheer.
The Kingdom of God
St Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which he looks
With compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good
Yours are the hands,
With which He blesses all the world
Yours are the hands,
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His body
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
With compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth
But yours.
The Kingdom of God 2
Ripples
FRM
I have a stone.
I throw it in the pond of the world
and watch the ripples spread out.
The stone is my prayer,
my God working through me.
The stone is my inspiration from God.
The Spirit helps me throw it.
Other stones are thrown
into the pond of the world, as well as mine,
other people’s prayers & inspirations.
The ripples from their stones & mine
spread out & meet –
sometimes uniting,
sometimes bouncing off each other
to form more complicated patterns.
In this pond of the world
our ripples spread out & interact
and together, with our God,
we build up the kingdom.
Healing:
Help from our Friends.
Joyce Rupp
How blessed we are if there has been
someone who cared enough not to give up on us.
How thankful we can be if they somehow
brought us to Jesus for greater healing & wholeness.
Great Healer, thank you for all
who brought me to you
in my times of need & hurt.
May I do the same for others
when they are longing to be healed.