Benefice Bulletin, Sunday next before Lent, 14th February 2021

Dear Brothers and Sisters

As a friend of mine said recently, ‘I have given up enough this past year, I am not giving anything else up for Lent.’ I think we can all sympathise with this point of view. Our lives have been curtailed in so many ways that the thought of cutting something else out of our lives, even on a voluntary basis, seems hard to take. But Lent, which starts on Wednesday, isn’t about fasting and giving stuff up (well it is a bit) it is really about preparing for Easter. That is the key thing. We spent last Easter in lockdown, This Easter ( 4^th April) we all hope that our lives will be starting to get back to normal.

Giving something up may be a hard ask but do something between now and Easter Day. Help someone, raise some money for charity, say more prayers, read the Bible, whatever you do think about doing something to make your life better.

We didn’t get enough takers for a Benefice Rhythm of Life Lent course but a few of us have joined the Diocesan course which runs on Wednesday evenings from 24^th February or on Thursday mornings from 25^th February. Both run for six weeks. There is still time to join one of these groups. If you would like to please let me know and I will send you the link.

As I mentioned last week our Ash Wednesday service will be a Phone Church service. Details on how to access this along with the Order of Service are attached to this mailing.

We continue to stop at 6pm. each evening to pray for the Nation and to remember those who have died.

Sunday Readings

A Reading from the Second book of the Kings

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I know; keep silent.’ Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?’ And he answered, ‘Yes, I know; be silent.’ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’ He responded, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’ As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

(2:1-12)

The Gospel according to Mark

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead (9:2-9)

Ash Wednesday 17^th February

Phone Service 7pm.

Services for Sunday 21^st February

Farnley 9.30am
Denton 11am.

Services for Sunday 28^th February

Leathley 9.30am.
Fewston 11am.
Weston 2.30pm.

Please remember in your prayers: Give thanks for all working so hard to make our national vaccination programme work. Give thanks for all who serve their local communities.Pray for our Government, praying for wisdom, and fortitude. Our children and all who care for them. All working in Education and social Care. The homeless and those who cannot feed their families. Our friends and neighbours and all who live in this Benefice. The sick, and the dying. Those who have died and all who mourn.

God bless you all. Stephen

Ash Wednesday Phone Service

Joining Instructions (you can use landline or mobile)

Dial 0333 0164 757

If you can put your phone on ‘speaker’ or ‘handsfree’ it will be more comfortable for you.

You will hear a woman’s voice saying ‘Welcome to Whypay (and a short marketing message)’ then, ‘Please enter your conference room number followed by the hash key.’ Using your keypad type in:

79423538 #

The same voice will then say ‘Please enter your Guest pin followed by the hash key.’ So type in:

2661 #

If you are the first person online some music will play, when someone else arrives you will hear a tone, just say hello and when everyone has arrived we will begin.

The Gathering

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

The Greeting

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

and also with you.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting. By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.

The Trisagion

Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.

The Collect

Let us pray for grace to keep Lent faithfully.

Silence is kept.

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:

create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we,

worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,

perfect remission and forgiveness;
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.

The Liturgy of the Word

A reading from the prophecy of Isaiah

Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practised righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’ Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in. (58:1-12)

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’ (8:1-11)

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

The Liturgy of Penitence

Self-examination and Confession

Let us now call to mind our sin, and the infinite mercy of God.

God the Father, have mercy on us.

God the Son, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Trinity of love, have mercy on us.

Most merciful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

we confess that we have sinned

in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

Lord, have mercy.

We have been deaf to your call to serve,
as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ.

We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Lord, have mercy.

We confess to you, Lord …

all our past unfaithfulness:
the pride, hypocrisy and impatience of our lives.

Lord, have mercy.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people. Lord, have mercy.

Our anger at our own frustration

and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves.

Lord, have mercy.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts

and our dishonesty in daily life and work.
Lord, have mercy.

Our negligence in prayer and worship
and our failure to commend the faith that is in us.

Lord, have mercy.

Accept our repentance, Lord …
for the wrongs we have done,
for our blindness to human need and suffering,

and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgements,
for uncharitable thoughts towards our neighbours

and for our prejudice and contempt
towards those who differ from us.
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation
and our lack of concern for those who come after us.

Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us.

Favourably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,

that we may show your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,

bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Silence is kept.

We have not loved you
with our whole heart.
We have not loved
our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy
forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.

Though we are not being physically marked with the sign of the Cross today we listen to the words that send on into the wilderness on our Lenten journey.

Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.

The Lord enrich you with his grace,

and nourish you with his blessing;

the Lord defend you in trouble and keep you from all evil;

the Lord accept your prayers,

and absolve you from all your offences

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Amen.

Intercessions (ending with the Lords Prayer)

Lord Jesus, remember us in your kingdom, and teach us to pray.
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.

Final Responsory

This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son.

He is the sacrifice for our sins, that we might live through him.

If God loves us so much we ought to love one another.

If we love one another God lives in us. (cf 1 John 4.12)

The Dismissal Gospel

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.

Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. (15.4-7)

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ

Blessing

Christ give you grace to grow in holiness,to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him; and the blessing of God almighty….
Amen.