Today is the third Sunday of Advent when we light the pink candle that adorns the Advent wreath. The Advent theme of keeping watch, keeping awake, keeping ready for the Lord’s coming is now well established. Last Sunday on the Second Sunday of Advent the Gospel reading from Mark’s Gospel introduced John the Baptist, the messenger, the forerunner, the one who came crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ Last week when we lit the second purple candle on the Advent wreath we thought of John the Baptist stepping out into the limelight to prepare the way for Jesus. This Sunday, on the third Sunday of Advent, the Gospel reading from John’s Gospel keeps attention on John the Baptist, but today the emphasis is more clearly placed on defining the relationship between John and Jesus. Today John’s message is clear that he is not the Messiah. Moreover, John’s role was not to draw attention to himself, but to draw attention to the one to whom he points. Today as we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath, we think of John stepping back into the shadows, leaving the light to shine on Jesus. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of making presents. The image reminded us that John’s job was to direct attention away from himself and toward the one who comes after him. This was John’s present to Jesus, as he stepped into the background to bring Jesus into the foreground. In today’s picture, in their book The Present, Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear wrap the present that they have made with bright ribbon. Next Sunday, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Gospel theme turns attention to Mary as she prepares for the birth of Jesus. The image to help us prepare for the fourth Sunday of Advent is the Nativity stable. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to Nelson.Pike@liverpoolcathedral.org.uk. If you’d like to learn more about Teddy Horsley and his writings, visit his website: https://teddyhorsley.org/, or his page on the website of St. Mary’s Centre: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html. We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear send their Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie
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On December 10 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations, at its General Assembly. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that sets out the rights which everyone is entitled to as human beings – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status (www.un.org). The document has been translated into more than 500 languages. This year, the theme for today’s Human Rights Day is: Recover better – Stand Up for Human Rights. The theme has been developed to take account of the COVID 19 pandemic and the implications of the pandemic for the most vulnerable and poor in our society and in our world. As we are aware the pandemic has shown how the most vulnerable in our world have been affected. The elderly in our own country and the care offered to them have been affected deeply as COVID 19 spread through our care homes and deaths among the elderly rose. Likewise people from the Black and Asian community have been badly affected as we saw COVID 19 take the lives of many Black and Asian frontline workers. Those who live in poverty, who don’t have the basic necessities, have also been badly hit as the numbers of people using Foodbanks has risen and deaths have occurred among the poorer parts of our country in disproportionate numbers in relation to the rest of the country. The United Nations clearly states on their web-site (www.un.org) that human rights must be at the centre of the post COVID 19 world: Human Rights must be at the centre of the post COVID-19 world The COVID-19 crisis has been fuelled by deepening poverty, rising inequalities, structural and entrenched discrimination and other gaps in human rights protection. Only measures to close these gaps and advance human rights can ensure we fully recover and build back a world that is better, more resilient, just, and sustainable.
As Christians we cannot but agree with the UN’s call for Human Rights to be at the centre of a post COVID 19 world. We are called by God to respect the Human Rights of all people. We are also called to address the inequalities in our world and to respect every living creature created by God. As is stated in the letter to the Galatians: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Dean Sue While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. ‘Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you; Will you join the dance?’ - Reflection by Canon Nick8/12/2020 When our fabulous Director of Music very kindly invited me to choose the music for my installation as a Lay Canon, alongside Canons Saro and Mike, my mind immediately turned to a carol anthem which has resonated with me since the first Christmas I spent as a volunteer in the Music Department nearly thirty years ago: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day; I would my true love did so chance To see the legend of my play, To call my true love to my dance; Christmas at Liverpool Cathedral has always held a special place in my heart as a result of that Christmas all those years ago, my first duty as a Music Department volunteer was making endless egg buns and heating sausage rolls (under the tutelage of the much loved and missed Music Department Administrator, Eleanor Wright), for the annual reception for the choir community after the Christmas Recital, as it was then, and so began my journey with generations of musicians, singers, and of course, the children and their families, many of whom I now rate as the people I most value and trust in my life. We have always been very proud of the way we celebrate Christmas at Liverpool Cathedral; using the ceremonies established by Dean Dwelly in the 1930s and 1940s, with his now well documented liturgical creativity, the lighting of the tree and blessing of the crib (not the other way round, as is sometimes said!) and the Holly Bough Carol Service, both now preceded by the dramatic, Darkness to Light Advent Procession, so well designed by Ian Tracey and Dean Walters in the 1980s, is a tradition we can all be rightly proud of. Of course Christmas 2020 will be slightly different and the music community are desperately sad not to be looking forward to singing to the usual thousands of people whom we welcome to the many Christmas concerts and services during Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Choristers across the land can’t believe Christmas will be Christmas without accompanying hundreds or thousands of people singing that famous section which means Christmas really has begun….. A very wise priest once said to me that it’s alright to play with tradition, as long as you understand that tradition, and we can take comfort from this as we look forward to reinstating our usual way of ‘doing Christmas’ in 2021 whilst possibly having learnt new ways of making Christmas real to our communities through live steaming and online worship amongst other things. Possibly as a result of that carol anthem, I have always been drawn to the analogy of life as a dance, the Christian life more so; a later interpretation of this in verse and music of course comes in Sidney Carter’s now famous words: Dance, then, wherever you may be For I am the Lord of the dance, said He And I'll lead you all wherever you may be And I'll lead you all in the dance, said He In a dance, a formal one at least, each participant knows their steps, their moves, their place, their role in the dance, and so it can be in life, and the Christian life in particular; 2020 of course has seen our dance changed beyond all recognition and this Christmas we will remember all those whose dance has been affected by the pandemic, and especially those whose dance continues on another shore and in a greater light; that place to where all our dances are ultimately called. Maybe you know someone this Christmas who has lost their place in the dance, forgotten their steps, or just never been part of the dance; if so, invite them back into the dance, it might just mean 2020 will be the year someone’s life is changed forever as mine was that Christmas so many years ago. Sing, oh! my love, oh! my love, my love, my love, This have I done for my true love. In the meantime, and on behalf of the choristers, musicians and all the music community, may I wish you all a happy and blessed Christmas when it comes and a much happier and healthier dance throughout 2021. Canon Nick Basson While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. Last Sunday, Advent Sunday, marked the beginning of the Church’s new year, and started Year B of the Church’s three-year lectionary cycle. This is the year when most of the Sunday Gospel readings come from Mark’s Gospel. The liturgical colour for advent is purple. Purple marks a serious season of penitence, as God’s people prepare the way for the coming of their Lord. The Gospel readings for Advent set the theme of keeping watch, keeping awake, keeping ready for the Lord’s coming. Last week, on Advent Sunday, the Gospel reading from Mark 13 was simple and direct. The clarion call was ‘keep awake!’ Today on the Second Sunday of Advent the Gospel reading from the opening chapter of Mark’s Gospel introduces John the Baptist, the messenger, the forerunner, the one who came crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!’ Last Sunday we lit the first purple candle on the Advent wreath. Today we light the second purple candle on the Advent wreath, and in doing so we think of John the Baptist stepping out to prepare the way for Jesus. These days running up to Christmas are busy days for all of us. There is a lot to do, a lot to get ready, and a lot to think about. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of Christmas adverts. Christmas adverts remind us of the priorities that are being set in the world all around us and challenge us to shape our own priorities in a way that allows room for the Advent theme to shape our lives. In today’s picture, from their book Christmas Crib Service, Aled and Sian are exploring the Advent tree in their local church. Next Sunday, on the third Sunday of Advent, the Gospel theme stays with John the Baptist, but this time draws on John’s Gospel. The image to help us prepare for the third Sunday of Advent, whether offline in the cathedral or online at home, is making presents. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to Nelson.Pike@liverpoolcathedral.org.uk. To find out more about Christmas Crib Service and other adventures with Aled and Sian, please visit the following page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/christianspecialplaces.html. We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: Aled and Sian send their Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie Thanksgiving Day in the United States is among my favourites. Primarily because of the imperative of stuffing one’s self silly with turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie. And while my father usually takes over the television for the traditional watching of the (American) football games, I can happily digest dinner and have a break from life for a long weekend, or spend time with any visiting relatives we may have around. The holiday was invented rather late--by President Abraham Lincoln around the time of the Civil War—in order to provide a fractured nation the opportunity to focus on the unified ideal of the United States’ birth with the arrival of the Separatist Puritan Colonists in 1620 sharing a meal with the Native American tribes who had befriended and helped the European arrivals. I don’t think we should use Thanksgiving as a celebration of the utopian inevitability of the United States. The holiday’s establishment is testament to a peaceful meal shared on Plymouth Plantation that day, but the peace lasted about fifty years before bloody conflict would claim many lives, among the first in a long history of betrayal, abuse, violence, and murder of Native Americans by white Europeans. Instead, Thanksgiving can be a time for the actual giving of thanks for the abundance that many have. I am incredibly thankful for my newfound UK family and friends that I’ve been able to make here. (And you can see the dinner that my housemate Ian, his girlfriend Catherine, and I were able to cook up last week in the photo above)! Most importantly, the holiday ought to be used for a moment of national humility. To engender an attitude of repentance for the atrocity committed by and in the name of the United States of people of colour, especially Native populations, as I have argued elsewhere (https://www.theolafmessenger.com/2017/thanksgivings-history-must-be-acknowledged-2/). If Thanksgiving were to signify a time of national humility, repentance, and reconciliation, we might have on our hands a holiday worth the fuss: if it can be the catalyst for helping those who need help, the sick treated, and the naked clothed, and the hungry fed. That would be a holiday to be thankful for. Nelson Residential Tsedaqah Community Member While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. There is an old saying that goes:’ How do you make God laugh? – Tell Him your plans!’ If you are like me you will be having difficulty trying to work out what will or will not be allowed from Wednesday and then what the rules may be when it comes to gathering together at Christmas. In my life that includes our immediate family (thankfully all living in tier two areas) as well as here at the Cathedral and at St Margaret’s. In all aspects of life we are trying to plan for what the possibilities are, knowing that they could change at any time. For most of us, in this country at least, this is a completely new experience. Normally at this time of year arrangements are being made for the next month or so, in the knowledge that the same family rituals will unfold as always. The usual tensions will be evident and the familiar embarrassments will have to be endured. Now however we are discussing who is in what bubble and when and whether we will be able to travel. That of course is made all the more complicated if one of our relatives is resident in a Nursing Home. There has been much hard work going on in the background here as to what Services will be able to take place and what will be a safe number of people able to attend. Even then there are the challenges presented by ‘Eventbrite’ to overcome! With all this in mind I would urge you to see this as an opportunity to give God a good laugh. Make plans for yourselves and your families and look forward to the different opportunity this Christmas and New Year will bring. It may be that some plans will need to be shelved or postponed but it is looking to the future with hope and expectation that should mark the season of Advent. May God’s Blessing be upon you and all your plans. Canon Bob While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. |
supporting you during these uncertain times AuthorLiverpool Cathedral is a place of encounter. Built by the people, for the people, to the Glory of God Archives
September 2022
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Prayer for Liverpool
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Liverpool Cathedral is a place of encounter.
Built by the people, for the people, to the Glory of God www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk |