One of the many things I love about the cathedral is its beautiful chapels, sculptures and memorials. So painstakingly thought through and designed; and such an inspiration when, often in conversation with visitors, you encounter someone who actually had a hand in making them or one of their relatives did! The lunchtime eucharist is often taken in the Lady Chapel; a wonderful place in itself and such an honour to celebrate there at the altar…..the best seat in the house! Yesterday should have been a Sunday when we offer the ministry of healing. A small team of us offer such ministry in pairs, with prayers and anointing for those coming forward asking for healing. Healing in all its senses of the word, no restriction is put on what situation a person brings forward for prayer – for themselves or for others. A very important ministry at the present time – and so disappointing that it and the ultimate of healing ministry, the Eucharist, can’t take place right now in our cathedral. But when it does, the members of the healing ministry team gather in the Lady Chapel for prayers before hand – and that aspect of the ministry did take place yesterday, albeit online using videoconferencing facilities, as suggested by one of our members. Brilliant idea; strange sensation; comforting and reassuring – certainly a new way of doing things, but nonetheless still the same precious time together, to pray in confidence for individuals who ask for prayers, for those who are ill at present and especially for those friends and families grieving the loss of loved ones by this terrible situation. Healing is needed in all of its senses at present, for such situations. Many of us were gathered together using the technology, some prayed ‘alongside’ at the same time in their own space – all of us, full in the knowledge that the voice of prayer is never silent whether we pray individually or are gathered together physically or virtually. And when the cathedral does reopen again, and we can gather once more in the Lady Chapel, what a blessing it will be. Praying in the wonderful space, alongside memorials like the one shown in my (poor!) photo above, taken nearly six months ago when I was preparing for the honour of preaching at our Remembrance Day service. It is the memorial to the Nurses of Liverpool. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott himself and dedicated in May 1929 during the annual Nurses’ service to the 20 nurses who gave their lives in WWI. Sculpted by David Evans in Nebrasina Marble, it shows a nurse tending to a wounded soldier. Who would have thought that within six months or so, we would go from remembering the nurses who gave their lives in the world wars….to praying for and supporting those now fighting on the frontline itself? We pray for them and all caring for others now. With my love and prayers for you all; stay safe…. Canon Mike 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.
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Our cafe-style informal worship continues in a virtual cafe on Facebook. Hre you can get a flavour of this great community connecting with Go. Find out more about www.facebook.com/welcometozone2/ Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter, the Sunday that completes the Easter Octave. Last Sunday, Easter Sunday drew to a close in the evening when Jesus appeared to the disciples who had locked themselves away behind closed doors. Jesus broke through the locked doors, and suddenly they too knew the power of the Easter resurrection. But you will remember that not all the disciples were there. Thomas had gone missing, and Thomas refused to believe the account that the others gave to him. Thomas needed to see for himself. Today's Gospel reading (John 20: 19-31) tells us what happened on the Easter Octave. The disciples were there once again, but this time Thomas was with them. Thomas saw and Thomas believed. Now the Easter story is complete. The Second Sunday of Easter is 'commonly called Low Sunday' as set out in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. That name puzzled me when I was a curate, and I remember being told then that it was called Low Sunday because the numbers were down after Easter Sunday and because the vicar was away on holiday leaving the services in the hands of the curate. But that is not the best explanation of the name Low Sunday. A better explanation is that Low is a simple corruption of the Latin laudo (the verb to praise). The Easter Octave is the Sunday when the Easter celebration reaches its climax in praise to God for the good news of the resurrection, good news that has not only reached Thomas, but in the words of John's Gospel has reached all those 'who have not yet seen and yet come to believe'. The note of Low Sunday or Praise Sunday may be particularly poignant this weekend, the weekend when we have been told that we have another three weeks of lockdown. We have a choice now as to whether we respond to that news in the spirit of Low Sunday or in the spirit of Praise Sunday. What the good news of the Easter resurrection does is to assure us that the darkness and the lockdown of Holy Week and of Good Friday, through the grace of God, leads us into the release and resurrection of the Easter season. As we step out into this new week launched by Praise Sunday, amid the fear and lockdown of Covid 19, the Church encourages to keep on our lips the greatest of Christian hymns of praise: We praise you, O God, we acknowledge you to be the Lord (Te Deum Laudamus). Please join in our praise of God this morning here: If you would like to follow along with the order of service for the liturgy, you'll find it here (in addition to the subtitles at the bottom of the screen):
Please also join the Breakfast and the Bible group in their reflection on today's New Testament reading by engaging with this document:
If you want to continue to reflect on today’s themes, then please do use ‘Exploring the Sunday Gospel at Home.’ The aim of ‘Exploring the Sunday Gospel at Home’ is for people and families to look at the Sunday Gospel in advance of Sundays and to prepare themselves for the coming Sunday worship. So do please look out for next Sunday’s material from tomorrow onwards. You’ll find the “Exploring the Sunday Gospel at Home” documents on the “Prayer Resources” page and under the “Worship” column: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. You will also find Children’s activities from the Cathedral Education Team on the “Prayer Resources” page of this website under the “Education” column: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. Have a good Low Sunday. Dean Sue
I have lived by the cathedral for four years. Getting in and out of the carpark, through barriers and into our parking space means we have to negotiate the Queens Walk on a daily basis - and it’s not always an easy negotiation! A combination of carpark, walk-through and meeting spot the Queens Walk is always busy - A hive of activity. Well, it has been until the last few weeks. Now it is very quiet. The space has been handed back to pedestrians, cyclists, and those who make their way walking to work from Toxteth to town. The only cars that are here are those who belong to residents, the few people left working here and ambulance/NHS staff who are receiving extra training at the community college. There is a pleasant peaceful sense of stillness out on the Queens Walk. But, I can’t help but think it misses the hubbub. I miss the hubbub. I miss the people who park here to go to work in town. The shoppers. The students. Those staying in the local hotels. People who go to see a show in the evening, who are going out for a meal, or to a concert at the Phil. I miss people who pop into the cathedral bookshop and only stay for 20 mins. I miss those who park up overnight and come back to get their cars the next day. I miss the Sunday congregation who come for the services and some who stay all day and come to everything. I miss the parents of children who attend LIPA primary. I miss St Mellitus students and staff. I miss people who park here for the many events that take place at the cathedral – concerts, big services, exhibitions, celebrations. I miss the vans that bring in food, equipment and deliver essential items. I miss the staff that park here every day and wave to me as they exit. It is quiet on the Queens Walk without you. I miss you. So, today I am giving thanks for the peace and quiet and also acknowledge the sadness I feel about missing the everyday hubbub. I pray for everyone who is missing being here – who miss going about their everyday business on the Queens Walk. Canon Ellen 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. A notable feature of the current crisis and lockdown has been the number of posts on-line of virtual choirs and ensembles. I’m certainly impressed by the creative contributions that I’ve seen, and also am in awe of the techy folk who know how to stitch and ‘sync’ it all together. Mention should obviously also be made of those ‘off-line’ acts of community cooperation where people have stood outside their homes to join their individual efforts into one corporate one. Many of us have participated in the Thursday evening clap. I’ve also heard of on-street dancing, the ‘Sing Resurrection’ initiative on Easter morning and (and I think winning my vote for the most creative) the ‘Belper Moo’ at 6.30pm each day. (If you haven’t a clue what that is you will have to Google it.) One of the relaxing pleasures that I have discovered in recent months is joining the Maghull Wind Orchestra, and re-connecting with my flute-playing. Sadly, it has been rather neglected for several decades, ever since I left a job in engineering (with evenings generally free) and turned my shirts around to become a priest (with evenings generally filled with meetings). So it’s been such a gift to be able to head up to Maghull and spend Tuesday evenings tooting along with a very enthusiastic and friendly bunch of local people who love making music. Naturally, the MWO is on hold for the moment – it’s very hard to practise social distancing when everyone’s blowing through their instruments and sharing germs around! I was delighted, therefore, to receive an email recently from them, inviting me to take part in a ‘virtual windband’ recording of a special piece of music. Following the instructions, I downloaded the ‘dots’ and located the link to a keyboard accompaniment and a ‘click-track’ (my new word for the week) to play along to. All good fun. Although we are all stuck in our homes, and very much not an ‘ensemble’ in the literal sense we can nevertheless, with a bit of help from technology, bring many ‘voices’ to sound as one voice. It reminds me of one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith; that the church is one body but many members. The church may have many different expressions of faith and practice throughout the world, but we still proclaim, in the Nicene Creed, that the church is ‘one holy catholic and apostostolic’. St. Paul, writing to the church in Corinth nearly 2000 years ago – a church which was clearly riven with splits – reminds his readers, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12). Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion held up bread at the Last Supper and said, “This is my body”. Then he broke it and shared it with his disciples to show that they too were invited to be part of his body, his brokenness and his resurrection. St. Paul, elsewhere in his first letter to the Corinthians says, “The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16b-17). Christians have always believed that, wherever and whenever the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, by a great and mysterious act of God, we are all somehow part of the one body, and that body is Christ’s. Surely, at this time of all times, we need to hold on to that truth? We may be unable physically to gather for worship in our church buildings but, if we take Scripture at face value, we are still part of the one body. It’s as if some divine process has ‘synched’ us all together, blended our many offerings of individual worship into one great paeon of praise and adoration. It may not feel like that from your lounge or kitchen on an April morning in England, but in cosmic terms, that is what is happening! Like so much in our faith, we cannot begin to comprehend it, but perhaps it is something for which to give thanks to God this day as we seek to live out what it means to be ‘Christ’s body’ in these uncharted waters? We can surely also look ahead to the time when we can be visibly and tangibly ‘one body with many members’ as we meet to break bread together in this Cathedral and in other places of worship. Well, if you’ve managed to stick with my blog this far, you may just be wondering what special piece of music it is that the Maghull Wind Orchestra had asked us to record? It’s a piece that is so significant for Liverpool, and with a particular poignancy at this time of year. It’s one that has the potential to speak to us in a fresh and powerful way as we chart our solitary journeys through the crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus. It contains a deep promise and one worth holding on to. As you may have guessed, it was “You’ll never walk alone!” And by a complete coincidence (honest, it is!), the video was released last night in a special broadcast for the Liverpool University Hospitals Trust as a ‘thank you’ to the NHS. You can view it here: I so look forward to the day when I will once again be able to travel up to Maghull on a Tuesday evening to toot my flute in company with lots of fellow music-makers. I suspect that, when we do so, and play ‘You’ll never walk alone’, there will not be a dry eye in the house. Canon Neal 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. I have begun to call Thursdays ‘Thankyou Thursday’. It’s the day when we remember and give thanks for all those on the front line in the NHS and those care workers working in hospices and nursing homes. It is also the day when we should be thinking about those who have the responsibility for delivering our food to the supermarkets, for those who continue to empty our bins and so many other people who are keeping the infrastructure of society going. Last Thursday, as you can see from the photograph, Stella Barnes organised and designed a thank you from the Cathedral Car Park. She got some of the residents in the close to add their own contribution to the thankyou at specific times during the morning so that we kept the Government rules on social-isolation. The whole experience brought fun and laughter to us all, so improving our mental health. As the weeks go on I think it is becoming harder to keep ourselves isolated form others. I have tried different ways of engaging with my friends. I have regular catch ups with my friends through FaceTime or Teams, when we have a drink together, me in front of my screen and my friends in front of theirs. It does work, but I have to say I miss the physical contact of the greeting, the hug, the hand shake or the kiss. So when I think about Jesus and his resurrection I can quite understand Thomas who does not believe until he sees or touches Jesus. I think I too will not believe in the resurrection from Covid 19 until I can sit with my friends and have a face-to-face conversation in person. Or until I feel that kiss of peace or hug of welcome. So on this ‘Thankyou Thursday,’ as we physically use our hands to clap, let us hope and pray for an end to this pandemic. Let us be grateful and say thankyou to all who offer the healing touch in our hospital and care homes. Let us be grateful for all who supply our basic needs. And let us pray for and give thanks for the physical touch of our family and friends that we so long for. 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. As some of you know, prior to last summer, I had spent the last two decades in Hull as a Vicar. Although I cannot claim to have been the most active of footie fans of Hull City, nor of Hull FC or Hull KR for rugby league, I did tend to follow the results fairly closely. It is always a good tactic, as a Vicar, to know when at least some members of our congregations would be bouncing off the walls with elation or in the depths of despair because of another defeat. Back in 2016, Hull City had just about stayed up in the Premier League and, in September of that year, headed down the M62 to play Liverpool at Anfield. For the record, Liverpool thrashed Hull 5-1, but it was a match that sparked other headlines both in Liverpool and Hull. One of the life-long Hull City fans who travelled across to the match, Ian Abey, was wearing a Tigers shirt with the number 96 on it and the words ‘Never ever forget’ – his tribute as a football fan to the 96 Liverpool fans who had lost their lives as a result of the events at the Hillsborough Stadium on 15th April 1989. As was reported in the Liverpool Echo and the Hull Daily Mail at the time, the gesture was deeply appreciated in Liverpool. Mr. Abey told the media that he remembers being utterly shocked on the day of the Hillsborough disaster as he watched the scenes on the TV. As he turned up for the fixture at Anfield he was quoted as saying, “I know what it’s like to lose somebody and to lose 96 people, for their families to watch them go to a football match and not come back, it’s just, there are no words for it. And it’s something you never know is going to happen. It could happen to anybody, head along to a football match and just not come home.” Following the warm reactions of the Liverpool fans he went on to say, “I realised football is all about family, and Liverpool that day was a family for me.” It is one of many tributes to the 96 that has been offered over the years from football fans from many other clubs, including fans from Everton. Some of them, of course, lost family members and friends on that tragic day. I cannot begin to imagine the feelings of those whose lives were blighted by the loss of loved ones 31 years ago today, nor the impact of the exhausting processes of the quest for truth and justice that have dragged on all these decades. I can, however, stand in solidarity with them and ‘Never ever forget’ as we pray for those who work to ensure that such a disaster shall never happen again. I guess that I feel something of the same whenever I have conducted acts of remembrance for those who have died in the service of freedom for their country. I have done that many times over the last two decades and I cannot begin to imagine what is going through the minds of those veterans who have put their lives on the line and seen comrades fall in battle. But I can stand quietly beside them and say truthfully, ‘We will remember them’. When on Thursday evenings, we have been joining in with the communal ‘clap’ for those working in the NHS, for carers and anyone on the front line of the fight against Covid-19, many of us cannot begin to imagine what it is like for them physically and emotionally. But we can stand and remember and say ‘thank you’. The shortest verse in the Bible records the fact that ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35). He was moved by the grief he saw on the faces of those who had known a man called Lazarus, both family and friends, and who now mourned his untimely death. From deep within the humanity of Jesus welled up an overwhelming and empathetic response of solidarity. Moments before this, he had proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.” The people around Jesus who heard him say this probably didn’t really understand it but, looking back after the resurrection, the disciples of Jesus were able to see this prophecy of Jesus working out in changed lives. Many of the followers were to die for their faith as martyrs, but did so knowing that physical death, as a result of that first Easter, is no longer the end. We all have lost to death ‘those whom we love but see no longer’ as the Funeral Service puts it, but as Christians, we do believe that there will be a reconciliation one day in God’s eternity. It is a mystery that is far too deep for us to fathom – but then that calls for faith. Faith for the future starts, however, with remembering the past, which is what Christians do every time we break bread and drink wine at the Eucharist or Communion – together or (at present) virtually – so that every day might be a celebration of Easter and of Christ’s victory over death. To that end, at the heart of the Eucharistic Prayer is the ancient chant, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!” Remembering is what we do today for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough Disaster and their families and friends in that ‘new normal’ which has been its aftermath. At the two Cathedrals in Liverpool, over the years, we have been pleased to respond to the requests from the families of the Hillsborough victims to hold an annual Hillsborough Memorial Service, alternating between the two places of worship. Sadly, we cannot offer that this year given the current restrictions. So in our ‘virtual prayers’ as a ministry team, we will nevertheless join many today in pausing to remember those who were unlawfully killed 31 years ago today. We will also hold up in prayer all those whose lives remain blighted by the loss of their loved ones, and the mental scars of what they witnessed and experienced on that day. Let us “Never ever forget”. Canon Neal 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. It is now three weeks since the lockdown began. When it first started, my initial thought was that it would be more or less impossible to keep the rest of Lent and Holy Week with anything beyond saying Morning and Evening Prayer privately each day. My next thought was what a sad impoverishment this would be, not just for me, but for all who look to us in our churches and Cathedrals to help them walk the way of the Cross and to discover once again the joy of Easter. My third thought was that, unusually for the Precentor, there wasn’t going to be much to do. On all three counts, how wrong I was! I am by no means the most technically gifted of people, but I failed to reckon with the knowledge and talents of my colleagues. Within a day or so, the clergy were saying Morning and Evening Prayer virtually, which has allowed us to continue our daily round of prayer, supporting one another and praying for those who have asked us to do so for them. We also began work to produce services for Holy Week for the Cathedral Company and anyone else to share. We soon had services for Palm Sunday, for the Diocesan service for the Renewal of Commitment to Ministry, for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and for Easter Day. All of these have been produced within our homes, and from the comments received, they have helped to meet the spiritual needs of many during these difficult days of social distancing and isolation. May I take this opportunity to thank those colleagues who have given their expertise, their time, and - bearing in mind that they were having to deal with clergy - let’s not forget their patience too! I write on the morning of Easter Day. Shortly, at the time the Cathedral Eucharist would normally begin, the clergy will meet to celebrate the Eucharist together, virtually of course. Wherever you are spending this challenging time for all of us, please know that within the shadow of Liverpool Cathedral, a place of encounter, we are not ceasing to pray for you. We ask that Christ’s Easter victory may be shared throughout our world, that darkness and despair will be defeated, and that the Risen Lord will continue to walk beside his people, especially those who are suffering and all whose front line work is enabling them to bring badly needed help and hope to those in distress. May God, who out of defeat brings a new hope and a new future, fill us with his risen life. Canon Myles 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.
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed; Alleluia! A Happy Easter to you all, from all of us at Liverpool Cathedral. Although, I can safely say it has been one of the strangest of Holy Weeks and the Triduum leading to the celebration of our Lord conquering death for all of us on Easter Day….nonetheless, the fact, the joy, the message is as strong and resolute as ever. Jesus died and rose from the dead for us – that we might have eternal life. Jesus enabled that to happen – by his own sacrifice; he built that bridge for us – by his own sacrifice. And in my strange scientific brain, one in which I like to create images and structures to help me ‘see’ concepts, I picture that that’s exactly what happened on Easter day….a bridge was built which enabled us, any of us, to have eternal life with the Father. An amazing hope through faith that we can all have; one helping us through everyday lives….for me, for anything and everything in life, through the power of prayer. One that can help us through the most difficult of crises – like the present one. Many of us will now have experienced this – the loss of a loved one or dear friend through COVID-19. For me, it was last week, through the loss of a lifelong friend, just a few years older than myself; a loving husband and father; a talented GP and musician; a faithful Christian. Such shock and grief – as much in the suddenness and the inability for the family to be with each other, just to hug each other in consolation. There is much to mourn, and much to celebrate in the gift of his life, when we are able to. But he has crossed that bridge now – the one to be with the father in heaven in his glorious kingdom. And for that hope of being with him once again in glory, our faith enables us to get through now, in just some small way. But other bridges are also being built – ones through necessity in the current circumstances, ones which in hindsight, when we are back into ‘normality’, that we should revisit and keep. Bridges built into new ways of working; some of which have been there for quite some time and we’ve never either thought of crossing or indeed had the courage to do so. Now, forced into doing so, we see new perspectives – to complement previous ones. New ways of connecting with people; of helping each other; of understanding, above all, the commonality of our frailty and fragility as one humanity across the world and how Jesus’ new commandment rings so true these days; one which emerges as being the most obvious thing needed at times like this. The one given at his last supper with his disciples – that we must love one another, as he loved us. For that is happening through these new bridges of hope and help that we are building as we continue to stay home, protect the NHS and save the preciousness of life. May we continue to do so with faith and hope….in Jesus’ name. With my love and prayers for you all; stay safe…. Canon Mike 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. As an afternoon devotion on this most holy day, we invite you to take advantage of the final reflection, for Easter, that that our Choir has produced. Many thanks to them and everyone who has made this week possible and such a prayerful experience for us all. Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! |
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 |