All Saints Margaret Street.

Trinity Sunday

We celebrate God the Holy Trinity this Sunday because we have just passed through our liturgical celebration of the great mysteries of our salvation, from Holy Week to Pentecost. Today we pause a moment and celebrate, quite simply, God, in perfection and beauty, God’s own self and being. That is why we sing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty’ on Trinity Sunday. That hymn does not merely articulate a focus on the Holy Trinity: it describes that focus for us as primary worship, something to which we are drawn and which we rightly enjoy. Other hymns, such as ‘Bright the vision that delighted’ (with its triple use of the Holy, Holy Holy’ formula from Isaiah 6) and ‘Immortal, invisible, God only wise’, do not spell out the Trinitarian doctrine of God: they express it through the worship of God in glory, rather like some psalms of praise or the liturgical canticles in Revelation. That focus on worship is a vital key to the truth and importance of this feast and doctrine.

Fr Austin Farrer wrote:The disciples who were present at the Supper saw and heard Jesus making eucharist to the Father over the bread and the cup. They were faithful witnesses of the intercourse between the Eternal Son and his Eternal Father. Mortal ears and eyes at that moment perceived the movement of speech and love which passes in the heart of the Godhead; human minds entered into that converse of the Divine Persons which is the life and happiness of the Blessed Trinity. Belief in the Trinity is not a distant speculation; the Trinity is that blessed family into which we are adopted. God has asked us into his house, he has spread his table before us, he has set out bread and wine. We are made one body with the Son of God, and in him converse with the eternal Father, through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

With his usual clarity and concision Farrer illustrates how Eucharistic theology and Trinitarian theology meet and make a crucial connection in Christian life. That connection is made for us first in our baptism, just as the Trinity is revealed in the gospel accounts of the baptism of the Lord, then nourished at Mass and in the other sacraments of the Church.

Geoffrey Wainwright, the great Methodist liturgical scholar, called one of his books about theology and liturgy ‘Doxology’, which means ‘speaking praise’ or ‘talking of glory’. That should remind us of a further simple liturgical expression of worship in which the Trinity is praised, which we call ‘the’ doxology and use often in the daily office. As we contemplate how and why the Trinity is at the heart of any encounter between our human lives and God and is not mere philosophical speculation, it is especially good to pray this simple prayer of praise and thanksgiving:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be; world without end. Amen.

Keep well.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Michael Bowie

_______________________________________________

LENT APPEAL TOTAL:

Many thanks to all who generously supported our Lent appeal. The outcome has been extremely good, especially given the odd circumstances this year.

The total so far received is £5262 and the funds will be distributed at the end of this month.

I hope to publish responses from the three beneficiaries soon after that.

Fr Michael

_______________________________________________

Trinity Sunday: Sung Mass at Noon

Propers, Motet and hymns :

COLLECT:

Almighty and everlasting God,

you have given us your servants grace,

by the confession of a true faith,

to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity

and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:

keep us steadfast in this faith,

that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;

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.

FIRST READING: Isaiah 40.12-17, 27-end

A reading from the book of Isaiah

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a

measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or as his counsellor has instructed him?

Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way

of understanding?

Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.

Lebanon would not provide fuel enough, nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering.

All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’?

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow

weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;

but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they

shall walk and not faint.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Daniel 3.52-56

Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.

Blest your glorious holy name.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest in the temple of your glory.

You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest who gaze into the depths.

You are blest in the firmament of heaven.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 13.11-end

A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Corinthians

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.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

HYMN

All hail, adorèd Trinity;

All praise, eternal Unity;

O God the Father, God the Son,

And God the Spirit, ever one.

Three Persons praise we evermore,

One only God our hearts adore;

In thy sweet mercy ever kind,

May we our sure protection find.

O Trinity, O Unity,

Be present as we worship thee;

And with the songs that angels sing

Unite the hymns and praise we bring.

ALLELUIA

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; the God who is, who was, and who is to come.

GOSPEL: Matthew 28.16-20

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

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

Glory to you, O Lord.

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.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ!

SERMON

CREED

INTERCESSIONS

OFFERTORY MOTET: Hymn to the Trinity Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

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,

Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide thee,

Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

Only thou art holy, there is none beside thee

Perfect in power, 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, Hallelujah! blessèd Trinity!

FINAL HYMN

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, blessed 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,

Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide thee,

Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee

Perfect in power, 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, blessed Trinity!

VOLUNTARY: O Lux beata Trinitas (primus versus in organo pleno)

Weckman (1616-1674)

_________________________________________________________

THIS WEEK’S PRAYER DIARY

Those who are sick or distressed or for whom our prayers have been asked:

Prisoners and captives: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, Mayshee Eyob.

The work of the London Prisons Mission.

The sick:

David Fettke, Joan Cooper, Vallery Tchukov, Sara Vice, Lenore Kimbrough, Fr Ron Swan, Katherine Lee, Chris Gudgeon, Nicky Yeo, Lorna

Smith, James Shrimpton, Tim Knight, Beth Klausing, Hilary Porter, Jane Bolam, Philip Hirsch, Keith Peers, Geoffrey Turner-Mutch, Joyce

Morris, Marg Ferguson

Those known to us recently departed:

Christopher Hopkins Pr

Beaumont Brandie, Pr

Richard Hodds

Nora Nettey

Charles Cruse

Audrey Cramp

June Snoxhill

Anniversaries of death this week:

7th – Doris Daw, James Binnie, Denise Gerard

8th – Kenneth Ross Pr (eighth vicar of All Saints), Andrew Blackband, Russell Miller

9th – Mark Seymour-Taylor

10th – Hilda Sheppard, Reginald Rawll

11th – Olwen Hajdu, Daphne Marsh, Norah Sweeney

12th – Wilfred Jennings Pr, Percy Rees, Philip Sparrow, Alison Hack Pr, Naomi Shaw, Michael Keelan, Iris Podmore

13th – Karl Bekker, Philip Harland

PARISH GIVING SCHEME

A regular visitor to All Saints wrote recently to ask how she could support us financially during this period when she couldn’t put cash or

envelopes in the collection plate.

Our Treasurer suggests that the preferred option (from the parish’s point of view) is to sign up to the Parish Giving Scheme: it makes

contributions completely anonymous and deals with GiftAid, which saves our office a lot of time.

If you would like to do that online you can register at

https://parishgiving.org.uk/register/

The Parish Code, which you need to register, is

230623075.

If you don’t want to do this online please let us know and the forms can be posted to you.

Please consider joining the scheme even if you already give by Standing Order. It is a huge help administratively.

Donations for general Church purposes: To give by BACS please use the following details, advising the Administrator to collect Gift Aid:

PCC All Saints (Charity # 1132895)

Sort Code 60-09-15.

A/C # 04559452

Parish Legacy Policy We are always delighted to hear from anyone who wants to support us with a donation. Our PCC Legacy Policy

encourages people to leave bequests specifically to one of our two related charities to be used for purposes of lasting value (rather than

day to day costs):

All Saints Choir & Music Trust (Charity # 802994) or

The All Saints Foundation (Charity # 273390).