As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you. Isaiah 66.13
Pray
O Lord,
bless our household;
grant us
health and peacefulness,
fun and
friendship,
and a warm
and welcoming spirit.
Bless the
working, the relaxing,
the loving
and the sharing
and may the
Spirit of Christ rest on us
now and
always. Amen.
God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself: strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow we may know the power of your presence to bind together and to heal; 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. Amen
Readings for Today: Exodus 2: 1 -10
New
Testament Reading
As
God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if
anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord
has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with
love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed
you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude
in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you
do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God the Father through him.
Gospel Reading
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was
being said about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary,
‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and
to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be
revealed - and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
Post Communion Prayer
Loving God, as
a mother feeds her children at the breast, you feed us in this sacrament with
the food and drink of eternal life: help us who have tasted your goodness to
grow in grace within the household of faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
TAIZÉ
SERVICE
for Passiontide
Sunday, March 25th 8.00 pm
St. Mary’s Long Crendon
Taizé
worship is simple,
uses a lot of silence, short biblical readings for meditation, short meditative
prayers and prayerful chants that are easy to sing but penetrate deep into the
soul.
A Devotional
Service on
Palm Sunday
A Service of Choral Music, Readings and Hymns.
Featuring the music of Byrd, Bach, Mozart and Walford-Davies.
St. Mary’s Church, Long Crendon, 6pm Sunday 29th
March.
Everyone welcome, retiring collection.
Annual Parochial Church Meetings
Sunday March
29th 11.00am Chearsley
Sunday, April
26th 12.00pm Long Crendon
Sunday April
26th 6.00pm Nether Winchendon
How can you serve your church? By offering yourself for the
Parochial Church Council. Your presence could make all the difference. Leave it
to others or get involved?
Mothering Sunday
The fourth Sunday in Lent is called Mothering Sunday. There
are traditions associated with Mothering Sunday in England which date back as
long ago as the 16th century. It is told that this was the day when people were
encouraged to return to worship in their ‘mother church where they had been
baptised. People who usually attended the local parish church, would make a
longer journey to the ‘mother church’ or cathedral of the Diocese. Girls in
domestic service would bake to show their mothers their new skills in the form
of a gift, traditionally a simnel cake. On this day many girls who were in
service were allowed time off from domestic chores to visit their mothers and
their family.
Today Mothering Sunday is a popular day when Christians
choose to use the occasion to think about all things which concern motherhood.
We give thanks for the Church as Mother, the Virgin Mary as the mother of
Jesus, we remember that God cares for us like a mother and last but not least
we give thanks for our own mothers.
Prayer
God our Father, we ask you to bless all who live
alone, those who have lost their partner in marriage, those who have never
married, those whose families are grown up and away from home and those who
have outlived other members of their families and many of their friends: Be
with them to assure them of your love and of their value to you every moment of
their lives, and enable them to rejoice in the fellowship of your Church on
earth and in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
May God inspire all parents and grandparents, teachers and
carers who nurture our children. May we all by our Christian conduct provide
good examples which may lead them to follow Christ.
For any who have suddenly known fear;
For any suddenly covered with shame;
For any involved in an accident;
For any faced with a serious medical report;
For any in hospital for the first time;
For any so ill that recovery is in doubt;
For any with a disease that baffles the specialists;
For any who have sinned against society,
and are now before the court.
Hold all such needy ones in your love, O Lord.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Thank you for the love of our mothers:
thank you God for their care and concern;
thank you God for the joys they have shared with us;
thank you God for the pains they have borne for us;
thank you God for all that they give us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Thought
In the fourteenth century Julian of Norwich, the first woman
to write in modern English, experienced and understood the motherhood of God in
her visions. Mothering Sunday is a good day to share her vision and recognise
that although we are distinguished by our gender, God is not. Instead God is
both mother and father to us. ‘As truly as God is Father, so just as truly is
she our mother.’ Julian of Norwich.
It is
important for parents to live the same things they teach.
Anyone who
sleeps like a baby hasn't got one.
In loco
parentis = Latin for ‘children drive their parents crazy’.
Parenthood
has two stages: when your children ask all the questions, and when they know
all the answers.
Exasperated
father: ‘When Winston Churchill was your age he worked hard all day and studied
his books at night’
Teenage son:
‘Yes, and when he was your age he was Prime Minister’.
