Weekly Email – Trinity 3
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Dear Friends
I am sorry that I shall not be with you in church this Sunday. I was invited several months ago to be in Oxford this weekend to deliver the University Sermon for St John the Baptist’s Day.
The sermon takes place at Magdalen College and is delivered from an outside pulpit in its front Quad. How prescient of our medieval forbears to think of the requirements of COVID regulations, which, of course means that the sermon can go ahead entirely unhindered by restrictions as it is outside and delivered in the open air!
Our gospel reading for this Sunday depicts a clash between two opposing forces: those of chaos and terror represented by the storm which brews up on the Sea of Galilee; and the forces of peace and calm, represented by Jesus and his command of the elements.
The Hebrew scriptures frequently conceive of expanses of water as the place where evil dwells. The storm described here embodies that ancient fear of the deeps as the boat comes to the verge of sinking.
As the narrative proceeds, the disciples come to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. He is not just a wise teacher or charismatic leader, but the very embodiment of all that is the opposite of chaos and disorder.
At the end of the incident the disciples say, “…even the wind and the sea obey him.” We detect in those words echoes of other stories in the Jewish imagination in which the wind and the sea obey God, such as the Exodus, and the story of Creation itself, which the Book of Job mentions in our first reading. Just as creation recognises its creator in those Old Testament narratives, so the apostles increasingly come to recognise Jesus as the incarnate embodiment of the God of Israel.
Fr Peter
Opportunities for theological formation through the next year
A number of events, talks and study days with guest speakers will take place over the next year which are an opportunity for us to grow in our understanding of the Christian faith. Do put these dates in your diaries.
Study Day
Ravenna: the history of a city and the art of theology
Speakers: Prof Judith Herrin; The Revd Dr Anders Bergquist; The Revd Dr Peter Anthony
Friday 29th October 2021 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Advent Quiet Day
“Standing by the Cross, Born into life as a human being”
Led by The Revd Prof John Behr
Saturday 27th November 2021
Lent Lecture
“St Augustine and the formation of the Western mind”
The Revd Dr Dominic Keech
Friday 8th April 2022 at 7.30 pm
Parish visit to “Thomas Becket: murder and the making of a saint” at the British Museum
Friday 2nd July 5.30 pm – followed by dinner
I am pleased to be able to report that one of the curators of the Becket exhibition, Dr Lloyd de Beer, has agreed to meet us and offer a few words of introduction to our group. This means we will now meet at 5.30 pm at the Information Desk in the Great Court.
All tickets for the exhibition which we bought are now gone, but places remain for the dinner. If you would like to join us for dinner at 7.30 pm at Le Beaujolais, the cost is £36. You can book at asms.uk/becket
Fr Peter
Monthly Requiem
Tomorrow our monthly Requiem Mass will be celebrated: please let Fr Michael have names of those you’d like remembered at that Mass.
Links for Sunday
The link for the Propers for Trinity 3 is at the top of this email.
And click here for the YouTube live stream.
Evensong and Benediction at 6pm is not live-streamed. This Sunday the music includes Gibbons Short Service, Byrd Praise our Lord, Fischer O salutaris, and Palestrina Tantum ergo.
Flowers
The flowers on Sunday have been given by Hilary Rodger in thanksgiving for the 3 Nuns and 6 Oblate Sisters of the Sisters of the Love of God who have died in the last 18 months.
If you would like to make a donation for flowers, please contact Shawn on 07988 287 663 or shawnwilbe@outlook.com or speak to Chris Self.
Prayer list
Prisoners and captives
Nazanin Zhagari-Ratcliffe, Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, Nasrin Sotoudeh
Maira Shabhaz
Rohingya Christians in Pakistan and Karen Christians in Burma
The sick
David Fettke, Joan Cooper, Vallery Tchukov, Sara Vice, Katherine Lee, Lorna Smith, Beth Klausing, Hilary Porter, Bruce Ross-Smith, Benjamin Woolf, James Shrimpton, Tony Rodger, Rachel Pereira, Fr Michael Gudgeon, Chris and Carole Radley, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Rosemary Orr, Andrew Roger, Martin Berka, Barbara Schiefer, Joan Anna SLG, Phil Gibbs, Poppy Harris, Sheila Wood, Jennifer Spreckley, Sue Yesnick, Elizabeth Lyon, Rosina Sargon Eskrya, Fr Charles Cloughen, Malcolm Brown, Fr Pip Bevan, Tim Knight, Alixe Bainbridge-Spring, Hillary Rodger, Geoff Vardy, Fr John O’Brien
Those known to us recently departed
Isaiah al-Makari, Joan Halley
Anniversaries of death
16th – Jo Cox
20th – Dom Michael Warner, Michael Pearson Pr
21st – Hugh Douglas-Hamilton, Beverley Brentnall, Philip Bennett, Roderick Bowie Pr
22nd – Francis Swanton, Stanley Harland, Percy Mortimer-Smith, Mary Tilley
23rd – Alfred Webb Pr, Henry Ewer, Arthur Golightly Pr, Andrew O’Connor Dn
24th – John Allcock, Jean-Paul Myers, Friedemann Golka
25th – Tony Mason, Tedd McWhinney
26th – Dorothy Jordan, Leslie Moses, Margaret Jervis, Sandra Allan, Hugo Gralka, Divine Kabasele
Supporting All Saints
Parish Giving Scheme
You can set up a regular donation to All Saints here.
We use the Parish Giving Scheme, which allows contributions to be anonymous and deals with GiftAid, saving our office a lot of time. You can read about how the scheme works here.
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 no. 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).