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Praying Together 12th May 2024

Praying Together 12th May 2024

by | May 11, 2024 | Pray Together, St Patrick's Church Kenmare News

sun shining through the trees

Collect for Easter 7

God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: Grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 5: 9-13

John 17: 6-19

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 

‘And what is Truth?’, said Pilate. Of all the world’s most cynical sayings, Pilate’s is one of the worst. His whole life has known betrayal and lies. He speaks from experience of intrigue and political deception in search of power. We don’t know how many bribes it took to land him the position of Governor – what we do know, from his actions, is that he was weak and eager to please both his Roman superiors and the Jewish religious hierarchy in order to maintain a fragile accommodation of his role and position.

‘And what is truth?’. Pilate’s philosophical position is what we would today call ‘post-modernism’ – the denial that there is any absolute reality. ‘Truth’, for him, is relative and changeable according to prevailing circumstances.

For others, ‘Truth’ may be whatever the majority of people are led (fooled) to believe – a weakness that many unscrupulous aspiring leaders manipulate. Hitler’s rise to power – and that of others since – was dependent on that naivete. So long as the lie is big enough, and repeated often enough, people will believe it.”

Or ‘Truth’ may be personalised – truth is whatever I want to believe. Whatever is most convenient and useful to me personally.

For some, ‘Truth’ may only be found in a particular tradition or culture, denying the value of other experiences and driving sectarianism.

On ethe other hand, Secularists would say that ‘Truth’ can only be defined by what can be scientifically ‘proven’ – but the more science discovers, the more we find out that we don’t actually know much (Actually, Socrates said that first). When confronted by the unpredictability of subatomic particles, Albert Einstein, who wanted absolute certainty, never found it – but he continued to seek it, in his frustration insisting ‘God does not play dice’.

No. He doesn’t.

In our secular, physical, world, we can search for absolute truths and look to prove them on the basis of ‘facts’. Good luck with that…

But in Christ, a much more reliable ‘Truth’ can be found. Truth in the ‘Logos’ – the Word. The Word made flesh. We find truth in Him – and the proof is the existence of that strange God-given thing called love. Undefinable, irrational, self-denying, unexplainable, unconditional love

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Praying Together 28th April 2024

Praying Together 28th April 2024

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

bullying and taunting a lone person

Collect for Easter 5

Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him:
Grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honour, glory and might, now and in all eternity.

1 John 4: 7-21

John 15: 1-8

The rules of grammar define that a conditional statement takes the form ‘If P, then Q’. In other words, if something is true, then something else is also true. No buts, no exceptions.

Today’s Epistle reading from 1 John ends with such a conditional statement.

‘If you love God, then you love your brothers and sisters’. You cannot have one without the other. If you do not love your brother and your sister, you cannot claim that you love God. No exclusions.

It is essential to understand and accept this, in particular that there are absolutely no limits to the definition of ‘brother and sister’. Who is my brother and sister? Paul answers in Galatians 3:28. ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female: for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Which makes it difficult – impossible – to explain why, for two thousand years, some (but certainly not all) who claim to be ‘Christian’ have persecuted people who are different because of race, culture, tradition or anything else. From the Crusades, through slavery, pogrom. sectarianism, the denial of civil rights and ongoing racial hatred to this day when parents see their children die in war and those who seek refuge from injustice and threat are turned away as unwanted immigrants. Closer to home, we see the growing need for food banks; and we are only just becoming aware of the frightening level of domestic violence in our society.

Loving brother and sister is not just saying the right words – it demands both practical and economic help, even to the point of discomfort and changes to personal status quo. We must stand up against any failure to love, in ourselves, our church, our community – and so doing won’t make us popular in an increasingly populist social agenda. We are the bleeding-heart liberal targets so disdained by the gutter press.

Those on the political extremes of society – increasingly at the moment the extreme right – search for justification of their prejudice. They disparage anyone who tries to exercise love in action using the term ‘political correctness’, or the neologism ‘woke’ – the actual definition of which is ‘being alert to injustice and discrimination in society’. Yes, sometimes the pressure for equality and inclusivity goes to ridiculous lengths which are beyond that definition, such as denial of platforms for those with whom they disagree and the Bowdlerism of ancient hymns, songs and poems; but before dismissing them it is always illuminating to place oneself in a situation of personally silently experiencing that discrimination for years. How would you feel if you were marginalised and/or excluded through the use of careless language, even if unintentional?

People say ‘Yes, that’s all very well, but when does ‘loving brother and sister’ go too far?

Ask the man nailed to a cross.

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Praying Together 21st April 2024

Praying Together 21st April 2024

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

sheep grazing on a golden evening

Easter 4

Collect for Easter 4

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
Raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above, where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

1 John 3: 16-24

John 10: 11-18

Some facts about sheep.

1. Sheep form deep bonds with their offspring which last for years
2. Sheep are more intelligent than you give them credit for. They support each other, and grieve when they are bereaved. They are as intelligent as dogs.
3. They have wonderful memories – they can remember 50 faces (Both other sheep and human) for years
4. They have amazing peripheral vision – twice as good as humans
5. They are quick learners
6. They are social animals – they flock together
7. They seek a leader to follow, for protection and guidance – they become stressed and disoriented in the absence of a recognised shepherd. Unfortunately, they trust without discernment, and as such are open to being deceived and manipulated.

So its not necessarily an insult when Jesus compares His followers to sheep needing a shepherd (much better than being called a goat – sheep are safety-motivated – goats are appetite-driven and will risk their own safety to eat). In fact, He is demonstrating His care, not just for a majority, but recognising the threat to, and value of, each and every one, and is prepared to risk His life to protect them.

The false shepherd is different – they seek to lead for their own purposes, not for the sake of those who follow. If it suits them, they will abandon their flock.

We only have to watch the TV news to see the various people who would offer themselves as plausible leaders and solicit our support. Some of them are no doubt genuine – some of them are certainly corrupt. It’s sometimes difficult to know. There is only one leader who invites us to follow of whom we can be sure – the one who is prepared to lay down His life.

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Praying Together 14th April 2024

Praying Together 14th April 2024

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

man standing in the dark, shielding himself from light

Easter 3

Collect for Easter 3

Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord: Give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 3: 1-7

Luke 24: 36b-48

“Ghosts don’t eat fish.”

Luke describes three events when the disciples hear about Jesus’ resurrection. Once when the women – Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Mary the mother of James report what they have seen – but the disciples consider them to be talking nonsense. Next, they hear about His appearance to Simon, and then the two disciples who had met Him on the road to Emmaus describe their own realisation of His accompanying presence in the breaking of the bread. The disciples are talking about these events when He comes to stand among them – but in their confusion, the only thing they can imagine is that they are seeing His ghost. – they long for Him to be real, but still they can’t believe – this is something that goes against everything they have experienced. So Jesus once and for all establishes the reality of His bodily resurrection – he asks for, and is given, a fish supper. And He eats it. Which ghosts can’t do.

They can’t now deny it – and so, to them, He proclaims the fulfilment of the scriptural prophesy of the coming of the Messiah, and the challenge that presents to those who have seen Him.

It is easy, with hindsight, to criticise the disciples for their incredulity. But we have to ask ourselves what we would do in their place. I suspect that our reaction would be pretty much the same; and given that we weren’t there to see what happened for ourselves, it is actually more difficult for us to believe. We need evidence – but if we look, it is there in so many ways. The disciples changed from fearful into fearlessness. How? The evidence of changed lives throughout scripture. What? The amazing acts and subsequent history of a people worldwide who have been convicted of the truth in the power of the Spirit. Why? And most of all, our own experience of the times when we have acted in ways that the world would consider as nonsense, but in following His challenge and commission, have seen Him at work in ourselves. Here and Now. And we must respond – we have no choice. So what is our missionary task?

In a time when the world appears to be on the threshold of widening conflict and increased violence, we need to be mindful of those places where people are at war, where people are living with daily injustice, where children are starving and families destroyed, where leaders of Nations and Communities are self-serving rather than serving those they lead, we are conscious that are hope lies only in You. And when we see the need, we do whatever we can, be it large or small.

Dear Father, we pray that you bring peace on earth – and let it begin in each and every one of us, trusting in Your promise.

We pray together Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

a single small lamb standing alone

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Praying Together 7th April 2024

Praying Together 7th April 2024

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

a woman walking towards a golden light the end of a tunnel

Easter 2

Collect for Easter 2

Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise again for our justification: Grant us so to put away the leaven
of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth;
through the merits of your Son.

1 John 1: 1-4

John 20: 19-29

Witnesses to the resurrection

Mary Magdalene in the garden John 20:18 ‘I have seen the Lord’

Disciples on the road to Emmaus Luke 24:31 ‘Their eyes were opened and they recognised Him’

Disciples on the beach. John 21:7 ‘It is the Lord’

In the locked upper room John 20: 20 ‘ On seeing the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed’

Thomas 20:28 ‘My Lord and my God’

On the road to Damascus Acts 9:4,5 Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’

Stephen the martyr (Acts 7:56): But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’

You and me: John 20:29 ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

We can take lessons from Thomas and Stephen

From Thomas: to see the Lord on our own terms – what proof do we need in order to believe?

From Stephen: after the Resurrection, in the Power of the Spirit

We are challenged to decide what we need to ‘see’ to believe – and then to seek it in the power of the Holy Spirit. And when we have seen, ‘to go 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 He has commanded us. And remember, He is with us always, to the end of the age.’ Matthew 28:19, 20

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