Remembrance Sunday
A Reflection provided by the Revd. Barbara Irrgang-Buckley
God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46.1)
I lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121.1-2)
What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8 )
We commit ourselves to work in penitence and faith for reconciliation between the nations, with our neighbour and with ourselves that all people may, together, live in freedom, justice and peace.
We pray for all who in bereavement, disability and pain, in displacement, distress, poverty and with little hope continue to suffer the consequences of fighting and terror.
We remember with thanksgiving and sorrow those whose lives, in world wars and conflicts past and present, have been given and taken away.
REMEMBERING
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
We keep two-minute silence
Ever living God, we remember those whom you have gathered
from the storm of war into the peace of your presence;
may that same peace calm our fears,
bring justice to all peoples and establish harmony among the nations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God of peace, you teach us that in returning to you we shall be saved:
By the power of your Spirit lift us to your presence, where quietness and confidence shall be our strength;
and where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect of the third Sunday before Advent
Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the king of all:
Govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Reflection
REFLECTING ON REMEMBERANCE DAY
Increasingly I find it hard to celebrate this occasion in the traditional way. This idea that war was done away with, that service people paid the ultimate price for peace for generations to come. Looking at today’s world,it isn’t that simple. War is happening around us, again service people, men and women, and serving in many ways are suffering and dying again. But not only that, peace doesn’t seem in any way nearby. The idea of loving each other rather than hating, uniting people rather than separating and looking at humans as global citizen with great interdependency and as part of creation, is called ‘left’, ‘woke’, or simply ignored. Make peace, not war? A slogan we haven’t heard a lot recently. So what did we remember and learn for all the years from the great wars?
Who will pay the price of present time wars, or rather, who is paying it already? Not only army personnel, but also civil service providers such as paramedics, firefighters, rescuers, volunteers of all kinds. And civilians. Men, women, children. Whole communities, economies and societies. And the environment, not to forget, including all creatures depending on it.
Us, more at the margins of war, feel the effects creeping in, not only in price hikes, increasing anxiety die to warnings and bad news, but even more directly as refugees have arrived in recent years, and this will continue, and by the effects of hybrid warfare. What is going on with humanity?
And another observation of recent time is, that Christianity is used in all this to justify injustice, terror, destruction and war.
It is important to remember all the lives lost in past wars, and to keep reminding ourselves of those terrible historical events and their consequences.
But it is also very important to keep our focus on the profound teachings we have in the scriptures, of Jesus’ preaching and lived example.
Todays readings give us so much we need to not forget.
What does God offer us instead of eternal death? Read the first reading again.
Who is blessed? Read the canticle (second reading) again.
What is the commandment, THE commandment that Jesus, our Lord gave us and keeps giving us? Read todays gospel again.
Focussing on God’s Kingdom News which is given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to healing, peace and reconciliation.
Let us never forget the price Jesus paid, and let evil, destructive forces not distract and mislead us from our journey towards and with Christ.
Music
Hymn 666: Be still my soul
PRAYING TOGETHER
Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict, and ask that God may give us peace:
for the service men and women who have died in the violence of war,
each one remembered by and known to God;
May God give peace.
for those who love them in death as in life,
offering the distress of our grief and the sadness of our loss;
May God give peace.
for all members of the armed forces who are in danger this day,
remembering family, friends and all who pray for their safe return;
May God give peace.
for civilian women, children and men whose lives are disfigured by war or terror,
calling to mind in penitence the anger and hatreds of humanity;
May God give peace ,
for peace-makers and peace-keepers, who seek to keep this world secure and free;
May God give peace.
for all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership, political, military and religious;
asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve in the search for reconciliation and peace.
May God give peace.
O God of truth and justice, we hold before you those whose memory
we cherish, and those whose names we will never know.
Help us to lift our eyes above the torment of this broken world,
and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm.
As we honour the past, may we put our faith in your future;
for you are the source of life and hope, now and for ever.
Amen.
Jesus said: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world
gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
We remember the sacrifice of all during wars past and present in the words of the Kohima Epitaph:
(inscription on the memorial of the 2nd British Division on the cemetery of Kohima, East India)
When you go home
tell them of us and say,
for your tomorrow
we gave our today.
Now let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service.
We will strive for all that makes for peace.
We will seek to heal the wounds of war.
We will work for a just future for all humanity.
Merciful God, we offer to you the fears in us that have not yet been cast out by love:
May we accept the hope you have placed in the hearts of all people,
and live lives of justice, courage and mercy;
through Jesus Christ our risen Redeemer.
Amen
FINAL PRAYER and THE GRACE
God grant to the living grace,
to the departed rest,
to the Church, the nations and to all people,
unity, peace and concord,
and to us and all God’s servants,
life everlasting.
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all, evermore. Amen.
Music: Benjamin Britten: War Requiem (a little bit long, but worth listening to)
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