Six weeks ago our lectionary journey through Mark’s Gospel reached the end of Chapter 6. For five weeks our attention has been on John’s discourse concerning the bread of life. Now today’s Gospel reading picks up Mark’s narrative at the beginning of chapter 7. Jesus’ radical attitude toward the Jewish law had already brought him into open conflict with the Pharisees on several occasions. In chapter 2 the Pharisees accused Jesus of disregard for the sabbath when his disciples plucked ears of grain. Now the Pharisees accuse Jesus of disregard for the ritual laws of washing. Jesus replies that a clean heart is more important than attention to the ritual laws of washing.
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of washing. In today’s picture, from his book, Water, Teddy Horsley reflects on the physical and spiritual significance of washing. Lord Jesus Christ, you call your people to pure and holy lives. Wash from us all that defiles that we may serve you with clean hearts; now and always. Amen. Next Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark presents Jesus’ remarkable conversation with the Gentile woman who came to him seeking help. The image to help us prepare for next Sunday’s theme is dogs. 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 [email protected]. You are warmly invited to join us in worship online. We are livestreaming our 10:30am service on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. To stream the service on Facebook, follow this link to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolCathedral. To stream the service on YouTube, follow this link to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiverpoolCathedral/videos. Canon Leslie
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Today’s Gospel reading is the last of a series of five readings drawn from chapter 6 of John’s Gospel. In this chapter John has developed a clear progression of thought from feeding the five thousand, to Jesus as the bread of life, to Jesus giving his flesh for the life of the world, and to the bread and wine of the eucharist. Now John draws that progression of thought to its conclusion. ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood’, says Jesus, ‘abide in me, and I in them... Whoever eats me will live because of me... The one who eats this bread will live forever.’ This is the guarantee of new life in Christ, fed on the eucharist. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of festival flowers. In today’s picture, from their book, Easter Family Service, Aled and Sian are helping to arrange a festival of seasonal flowers in their church. Thank you Lord Jesus, for sharing bread with the five thousand when they were hungry. Thank you Lord Jesus, for sharing bread with your disciples before you suffered death. Thank you Lord Jesus, for sharing bread with your people in the communion service. Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen. Next Sunday the Gospel reading returns to our journey through Mark’s Gospel, picking up the narrative in chapter 7. Here Jesus is coming into conflict with some Pharisees over the matter of ritual purity. The image to help us prepare for next Sunday’s theme is washing. 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 [email protected]. To learn more about Easter Family Service aand for more adventures with Aled and Sian in the Christian Special Places series, check out this page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/christianspecialplaces.html. You are warmly invited to join us in worship online. We are livestreaming our 10:30am service on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. To stream the service on Facebook, follow this link to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolCathedral. To stream the service on YouTube, follow this link to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiverpoolCathedral/videos. Aled and Sian send their Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie Today’s Gospel reading is the fourth of a series of five readings drawn from chapter 6 of John’s Gospel. In this chapter John has developed a clear progression of thought from feeding the five thousand, to Jesus as the bread of life, and to Jesus giving his flesh for the life of the world. Now in verses 52-58 John leaves us in no doubt that this progression of thought is driven by the church’s experience of the eucharist. Now the two elements of the bread and the wine are linked as Jesus proclaims, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’ For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of communion cup. In today’s picture, from their book, Bread, Aled and Sian are with their friends Peter and Mary. Peter and Mary’s mother (who is priest in the local Anglican church) has baked a special loaf of bread for the Sunday communion service. Here Aled and Sian are placing that loaf of bread alongside the eucharistic paten and chalice. Lord Jesus Christ, you teach your people to share your bread and to drink your cup. Come and stand among us when the bread is broken and when the wine is poured, that we may know your presence; for you are the Bread of Life. Amen. Next Sunday concludes the series of five readings from chapter 6 of John’s Gospel. The image to help us to prepare for next Sunday’s theme is festival flowers. 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 [email protected]. To read the story, Bread, in its entirety, follow this link to the resource on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why%20Series/Bread/Bread%20Short%202016%20WEB.pdf. To learn more about the Exploring Why series and more adventures with Aled and Sian, follow this link to the appropriate page under the Resources section of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why.html. You are warmly invited to join us in worship online. We are livestreaming our 10:30am service on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. To stream the service on Facebook, follow this link to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolCathedral. To stream the service on YouTube, follow this link to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiverpoolCathedral/videos. Aled and Sian send their Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie Today’s Gospel reading is the third of a series of five readings drawn from chapter 6 of John’s Gospel. This chapter begins with John’s account of Jesus feeding the five thousand people. The feeding leads into Jesus teaching that he is the bread of life. Now this teaching about the bread of life is linked directly to the church’s experience of the eucharist or communion. Jesus says, ‘Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of communion bread. In today’s picture, from their book, Bread, Aled and Sian have been helping their friend’s mother (who is priest in the local Anglican church) to bake a special loaf of bread for the Sunday communion service. Lord Jesus Christ, you feed your people in the eucharistic feast. Come and stand among us when the bread is broken and when the wine is poured, that we may know your presence; for you are the Bread of Life. Amen. Next Sunday continues with a further reading from John’s Gospel that links the feeding of the five thousand even more clearly with the Church’s experience of the eucharist. The image to help us to prepare for next Sunday’s theme is communion cup. 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 [email protected]. To read the story, Bread, in its entirety, follow this link to the resource on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why%20Series/Bread/Bread%20Short%202016%20WEB.pdf. To learn more about the Exploring Why series and more adventures with Aled and Sian, follow this link to the appropriate page under the Resources section of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why.html. You are warmly invited to join us in worship online. We are livestreaming our 10:30am service on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. To stream the service on Facebook, follow this link to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolCathedral. To stream the service on YouTube, follow this link to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiverpoolCathedral/videos. Aled and Sian send their Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie Last Sunday the Gospel reading was John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand. Today and the next three Sundays, the Gospel readings reflect deeply on that event. In John’s Gospel the feeding of the five thousand opens the way for Jesus to teach about himself as the bread of life. In this teaching Jesus contrasts the need for physical food with the need for spiritual food. The followers whom Jesus desires to attract are those who have seen through the physical feeding to its spiritual significance. Jesus exhorts them, ‘Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.’ For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of sell-by-date. In today’s picture, from their book, Bread, Aled and Sian are captivated by the freshly baked bread in the shop window. Lord Jesus Christ, you taught your people to work for the things that last. Give us grace to follow your teaching, that we may share with you the things that really matter; for you are the Bread of Life. Amen. Next Sunday continues with a further reading from John’s Gospel, in which Jesus says, ‘Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever’. The image to help us to prepare for next Sunday’s theme is communion bread. 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 [email protected]. To read the story, Bread, in its entirety, follow this link to the resource on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why%20Series/Bread/Bread%20Short%202016%20WEB.pdf. To learn more about the Exploring Why series and more adventures with Aled and Sian, follow this link to the appropriate page under the Resources section of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why.html. You are warmly invited to join us in worship online. We are livestreaming our 10:30am service on both our Facebook and YouTube pages. To stream the service on Facebook, follow this link to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolCathedral. To stream the service on YouTube, follow this link to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/LiverpoolCathedral/videos. Aled and Sian send their Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie |
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September 2022
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Prayer for Liverpool
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