Spiritual Communion for Trinity Sunday

7^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

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty

Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God almighty!

Early in the morning
our song shall rise to thee;
holy, holy, holy!
merciful and mighty!
God in three persons,
blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy!
all the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns
around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim
falling down before thee,
which wert, and art,
and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy!
though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye made blind by sin
thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy,
there is none beside thee,
perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name,
in earth, and sky, and sea;
holy, holy, holy!
merciful and mighty!
God in three persons,
blessèd Trinity!

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.  

Silence is kept.

Prayers of Penitence

Kyrie Eleison

      Father, you come to meet us when we return to you:
      Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

      Jesus, you died on the cross for our sins:
      Christ, have mercy.

All: Christ, have mercy.

      Spirit, you give us life and peace:
      Lord, have mercy.

All: Lord, have mercy.

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.
 

      ​​​​​​​  Holy God,
      ​​​​​​​  faithful and unchanging:
      ​​​​​​​  enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,
      ​​​​​​​  and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,
      ​​​​​​​  that we may truly worship you,
      ​​​​​​​  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
      ​​​​​​​  one God, now and for ever.

All: Amen.

¶  The Liturgy of the Word

New Testament Reading

2 Corinthians 13:11-end

Final Greetings and Benediction

Jesus said: ‘Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.’

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

At the end:

      This is the Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hymn

Thou, whose almighty word

Thou, whose almighty word
chaos and darkness heard,
and took their flight;
hear us, we humbly pray,
and where the gospel day
sheds not its glorious ray,
let there be light.
 

Thou, who didst come to bring
on thy redeeming wing,
healing and sight,
health to the sick in mind,
sight to the inly blind,
O now to all mankind
let there be light.

Spirit of truth and love,
life-giving, holy Dove,
speed forth thy flight;
move on the water’s face,
bearing the lamp of grace,
and in earth’s darkest place
let there be light.

Holy and blessèd Three,
glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, Love, Might;
boundless as ocean’s tide
rolling in fullest pride,
through the earth far and wide
let there be light.

Gospel Reading

Matthew 28:16-20

      ​​​​​​​  Alleluia, alleluia.
      ​​​​​​​  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
      ​​​​​​​  one God, who was, and who is, and who is to come,
      ​​​​​​​  the Almighty.  

All: Alleluia.

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

All: Glory to you, O Lord.

The Commissioning of the Disciples

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore 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 I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

At the end:

       This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All:   Praise to you, O Christ.

Reflection

Revd Sally

The doctrine of the Trinity is spelt out for us in the words of the Nicene Creed, but can still be hard to understand. One God = three equal ‘persons’!

There is an alternative to the Gloria, which I have found helpful:

Glory to God, Source of all being,
Eternal Word and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever.

So, it is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit that we baptize new Christians, as Jesus commanded us to do. God, the source of life; God, the Word made flesh; God, the Spirit who inspires and sustains us in our faith.

Fr Christopher and I, along with about 165 others from our Diocese, attended a webinar on Tuesday, hosted by Bishop Graham. Under the title “Living in the truth: thinking about prayer and action together”, the morning was led by Dr Rowan Williams.

I’d like to proffer some of what Archbishop Rowan shared with us. Asked about what makes Christian prayer distinct, he said that we are brought to stand where Jesus stands. We are caught up in the relationship between the eternal Son, the eternal Father and the eternal Spirit.

Prayer, he said, is never private. Even when we pray alone, it is communal, as we are members together of the Body of Christ. Whether we choose to pray with Scripture, through the Sacraments, or in a less structured way, our prayer leads us to action – or witness. We join in the Spirit’s work, tying us in with all those caught up in Christ’s self-offering to God the Father.

Archbishop Rowan then gave us the following analogy: try as I might, I cannot see the back of my head. If I want to know what the back of my head looks like, I need someone else to see it and tell me. Similarly, we cannot see the ‘back’ of our souls. However self-aware we may think we are, we need others – a spiritual companion maybe - to help us to explore those parts of our being that may be ‘out-of-sight’.

But what of ‘living in the truth’; what does that mean?

Archbishop Rowan took his analogy of ‘seeing’ partially one step further: only the whole Church knows the whole Truth.  I was reminded of St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (13:12, KJV):

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

All of this has certainly given me much spiritual food to inform my own prayer. A final thought that I am often reminded of when we do come together in our church buildings, whose very stones seem to be steeped in the prayers of all those who have gathered to worship there. As we pray, we are caught up in that great cloud of witnesses, past and present, who have been brought to stand where Jesus stands.

Every Blessing,

Sally

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.

      We come boldly to the throne of grace,
      praying to the almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
      for mercy and grace.

All: We plead before your throne in heaven.

      Father of heaven, whose love profound
      a ransom for our souls has found:
      We pray for the world, created by your love,
      for its nations and governments…
      Extend to them your peace, pardoning love, mercy and grace.

All: We plead before your throne in heaven.

      Almighty Son, incarnate Word,
      our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord:
      We pray for the Church, created for your glory,
      for its ministry to reflect those works of yours…
      Extend to us your salvation, growth, mercy and grace.

All: We plead before your throne in heaven.

      Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
      the soul is raised from sin and death:
      We pray for families and individuals, created in your image,
      for the lonely, the bereaved, the sick and the dying…
      Breathe on them the breath of life
      and bring them to your mercy and grace.

All: We plead before your throne in heaven.

      Thrice holy! Father, Spirit, Son,
      Mysterious Godhead, Three in One:
      We pray for ourselves,
      for your Church, for all whom we remember before you…
      Bring us all to bow before your throne in heaven,
      to receive life and pardon, mercy and grace for all eternity,
      as we worship you, saying,

All: Holy, holy, holy Lord,
      God of power and might,
      heaven and earth are full of your glory.
      Hosanna in the highest.
      Amen.  

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

How great Thou art

Text and arrangement in copyright

Here is a link to a YouTube version [based on Psalm 8: 1-9]

Closing Prayer

        Almighty and eternal God,
      you have revealed yourself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
      and live and reign in the perfect unity of love:
      hold us firm in this faith,
      that we may know you in all your ways
      and evermore rejoice in your eternal glory,
      who are three Persons yet one God,
      now and for ever.

All: Amen.

Virtual Blessing & Dismissal

Revd Sally

      The Lord bless you and keep you:

All: Amen.

      The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
      and be gracious to you:

All:   Amen.

      The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
      and give you peace:

All:   Amen.

      The Lord God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
      the holy and undivided Trinity,
      guard you, save you,
      and bring you to that heavenly city,
      where he lives and reigns for ever and ever.

All:   Amen.      

Norman Johnson

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All: Amen.

 Voluntary

Director of Music: James Lilwall