Spiritual Communion for Ordinary Time

14^th June, 2020

¶  Preparation: You may wish to find a space for prayer in front of a cross, a candle, or a special place.

      In the name of the Father,
      and of the Son,
      and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.      

      The Lord be with you

All: and also with you.           

Hymn

All my hope on God is founded

Music in Copyright: Herbert Howells, d.1983

All my hope on God is founded;
he doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance he guideth,
only good and only true.
God unknown,
he alone
calls my heart
to be his own.

Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray his trust;
what with care and toil he buildeth,
tow’r and temple, fall to dust.
But God’s pow’r,
hour by hour,
is my temple and my tow’r.

God’s great goodness aye endureth,
deep his wisdom, passing thought:
splendour, light and life attend him,
beauty springeth out of naught.
Evermore,
from his store,
new-born worlds rise and adore.

Still from earth to God eternal
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Christ doth call
one and all:
ye who follow shall not fall.

Prayer of Preparation

       Almighty God,
      to whom all hearts are open,
      all desires known,
      and from whom no secrets are hidden:
      cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
      by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
      that we may perfectly love you,
      and worthily magnify your holy name;
      through Jesus Christ our Lord.
      Amen.  

Prayers of Penitence

Kyrie Eleison

      Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
      So let us turn away from our sin and turn to Christ,
      confessing our sins in penitence and faith.

Silence is kept.

      Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

      Christ, have mercy.

All: Christ, have mercy.

      Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

      Blessed is the Lord,

All: for he has heard the voice of our prayer;

      Therefore shall our hearts dance for joy

All: and in our song will we praise our God.

Gloria in Excelsis

All: Glory to God in the highest,      
       and peace to his people on earth.
       Lord God, heavenly King,
       almighty God and Father,
       we worship you, we give you thanks,
       we praise you for your glory.

       Lord Jesus Christ,
       only Son of the Father,
       Lord God, Lamb of God,
       you take away the sin of the world:
       have mercy on us;
       you are seated at the right hand
       of the Father:
       receive our prayer.

       For you alone are the Holy One,
       you alone are the Lord,
       you alone are the Most High,
       Jesus Christ,
       with the Holy Spirit,
       in the glory of God the Father.
       Amen.

The Collect

      Let us pray:

      A period of silent prayer is kept.
 

      O God,
      the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
      mercifully accept our prayers
      and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
      we can do no good thing without you,
      grant us the help of your grace,
      that in the keeping of your commandments
      we may please you both in will and deed;
      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.

All: Amen.

¶  The Liturgy of the Word

New Testament Reading

Romans 5:1-8

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

At the end:

      This is the Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hymn

Love Divine, all loves excelling

(Tune: Blaenwern)

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heav’n, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter ev’ry trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
into ev’ry troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit,
let us find thy promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning,
Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve we as thy hosts above;
pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory,
till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Gospel Reading

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

All: Glory to you, O Lord.

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

At the end:

       This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All:   Praise to you, O Christ.

Reflection

Norman Johnson, Benefice Reader

“When he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion to the depths of his being, for they were bewildered and dejected, like sheep who have no shepherd.”

It is very apposite that when translating from the Greek, the translators have used the phrase “moved with compassion”. The original Greek word when literally translated would be the word “pity” in English, but it would be the type of pity that reaches down into the very core of our souls. However, pity to me is a word that can be misconstrued in how we use it, for example the phrase “I pity their situation”. I’m not sure if that expresses any real concern. However, “compassion” is a much stronger word that has an active expression of love and concern.

In the New Testament, apart from its use in parables told by Jesus, compassion is used only for Jesus and even then very sparingly, which makes its use even stronger. An example is found in Matthew 14 verse 14 where he  was moved with compassion for the sick, in Matthew 20:34 for the blind and for those being possessed by demons in Mark 9:22. These make it clear how much he was concerned about the world’s pain. As William Barclay puts it “He could not bear to see a sufferer without longing to ease their pain”

There have been many examples over the last 50 years of others who have been so moved with compassion for the suffering that they have felt compelled to do something. Bob Geldof with LIveAid in 1984, Mother Teresa in Calcutta and others such as Comic and Sports Relief.

Other examples in the New Testament show Jesus being moved with compassion for the world’s sorrow, hunger and loneliness and as shown in this example the bewilderment and dejection evoking the shepherd image that we associate so much with Him.

What he saw was the common people looking for God, but the religious leaders of the day - the supposed pillars of orthodox worship - were unable to offer anything to them. There was no comfort, no guidance or strength from them. Those leaders who should have been giving their people the strength to live, were too taken up with the subtleties of the law which gave the people no comfort. Is it possible that we today can be accused of the same thing?

I am currently reading a book by Jonathan Herbert an Anglican Priest who lives in the Hilfield Community of The Society of Saint Francis. He contends that accompaniment is a compassionate way of dealing with people. It involves being beside people in need in a non-judgemental way, to listening without asking and not jumping in with suggestions of how it can be sorted out. How many of us could do that?

I would like to leave you with this thought. We as Christians should remember that our faith requires us to be supportive and not dismissive of others. We should encourage them. Not lay them with burdens and with the help of the Holy Spirit become the “Wind beneath their wings”

Affirmation of Faith

All:    We believe and trust in God the Father,
           source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist.

        We believe and trust in God the Son,
           who took our human nature, died for us and rose again.

        We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit,
           who gives life to the people of God
           and makes Christ known in the world.

        This is the faith of the Church.

           This is our faith.

      ​​​​​​​     We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Prayers of Intercession 

      Pray for the needs of the world, for our local communities, our loved-ones and our friends.

The Lord’s Prayer

     
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us:

All: Our Father, who art in heaven,
      ​​​​​​​  hallowed be thy name,
      ​​​​​​​  thy kingdom come,
      ​​​​​​​  thy will be done,
      ​​​​​​​  on earth as it is in heaven.
      ​​​​​​​  Give us this day our daily bread.
      ​​​​​​​  And forgive us our trespasses
      ​​​​​​​  as we forgive those who trespass against us.
      ​​​​​​​  And lead us not into temptation;
      ​​​​​​​  but deliver us from evil.
      ​​​​​​​  For thine is the kingdom,
      ​​​​​​​  the power and the glory,
      ​​​​​​​  for ever and ever.
      ​​​​​​​  Amen.

Hymn

O Thou, who camest from above

[Tune: Hereford]

O thou who camest from above
the fire celestial to impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart.

There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return
in humble prayer and fervent praise.
 

Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire
to work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire
and still stir up the gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make the sacrifice complete.

Closing Prayer

      ​​​​​​​  Eternal Father,
      ​​​​​​​  we thank you for nourishing us
      ​​​​​​​  through worship, prayer and service:
      ​​​​​​​  may our communion together strengthen us in faith,
      ​​​​​​​  build us up in hope,
      ​​​​​​​  and make us grow in love;
      ​​​​​​​  for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Virtual Blessing & Dismissal

        The peace of God,
      ​​​​​​​  which passes all understanding,
      ​​​​​​​  keep your hearts and minds
      ​​​​​​​  in the knowledge and love of God,
      ​​​​​​​  and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
      ​​​​​​​  and the blessing of God almighty,
      ​​​​​​​  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
      ​​​​​​​  be with you, and all those whom you love, today and always.

All:   Amen.      

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All: In the name of Christ.
      ​​​​​​​Amen.

 Voluntary