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The Priory and Parish Church of St James, Deeping
Scripture readings for Sunday
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We apologise for the incomplete nature of this month's Priory On-Line, and for it's late appearance, both due to the Vicar's incapacity following recent surgery, and to technical problems with the computer. Both are now hopefully on the mend and normal service should resume soon!
Ask people what we celebrate at Easter, and many will be slightly puzzled, believing that it is Jesus' death on the cross which is the event commemorated at Easter. Jesus' death is, of course, a very significant part of the whole holiday, but cannot be the reason for wishing one another a Happy Easter! Neither, on its own, is it Good News.
The event behind the Alleluia is his resurrection and the significance which that astounding reality gives to his life and death, and this is the amazing Good News and real cause for great joy. For the resurrection shows (though it cannot prove) that Jesus' teaching and work are approved by God, and that the way to eternal life is the way of self-giving love which was the way of Christ himself.
In this sense the cross is the symbol of perfect love and of its victory over sin. The sin, the separation from God, which has blighted humanity from the beginning, has been conquered by God himself in what he has done in Christ, and the cost has been paid so that we might enjoy the eternal life that is God's purpose for us.
Alleluia!
Happy Easter!
4th, Easter Day:
10am: Colossians 3: 1-4; John 20: 1-18
6pm: Song of Solomon 3: 2-5; 8: 6-7; Revelation 1: 12-18
11th, 2nd Sunday of Easter:
10am: 1 Peter 1: 3-9; John 20: 19-31
18th, 3rd Sunday of Easter:
10am: 1 Peter 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 13-35
25th, 4th Sunday of Easter:
10am: 1 Peter 2: 19-25; John 10: 1-10
2nd May, 5th Sunday of Easter:
10am: 1 Peter 2: 2-10; John 14: 1-14
6pm: Zechariah 4: 1-10; Revelation 21: 1-14
Our Lord promises his disciples, and through them the Church, that in his name, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we they will do even greater things than he did himself. He is clearly speaking of the "signs" of the Kingdom of God, which will not necessarily be more spectacular (his own resurrection would be hard to beat!), but will be greater signs becasue, presumably, lots of us will be doing them all over the world.
The philanthropic, peace-making and justice-forging which have marked the life of good Christians down the ages are clearly such signs, but the healing of the sick is an area in which we feel less confident in many respects. Western medicine is firmly based upon the Christian imperative to heal the sick and to relieve suffering, and yet we have largely forgotten this and have relegated one of our greatest terasures to secular science. Prayer for the sick is for many of us, just listing them before God in private or public prayer. Such prayer has its value and ought not to cease, but it does need supplementing with the comfort of visiting, and specific prayer with and for the sick, in their presence and with the traditional symbols of the laying-on of hands and some cases anointing with oil.
Each year on Maundy Thursday or thereabouts the Bishop blesses oil and sets it aside for this purpose and the Vicar is always pleased to come and pray with and/or anoint the sick and administer Holy Communion in appropriate circumstances. From this spring we shall also be holding regular services of healing in church on one Sunday evening per month, and full details will appear in next month's Priory News. The service will be a Eucharist at which those who wish may come forward to receive the laying-on of hands for their own healing or on behalf of someone close to them. It is being planned in consultation with those already involved in prayer for the sick in this parish and will be a valuable addition to what we already do, and hopefully a sign of Christ's rule among us.
Mark Warrick
29th, Monday:
9.30 am Holy Communion
30th, Tuesday:
7.30 pm Holy Communion
31st, Wednesday:
9.30 am Holy Communion
1st April, Maundy Thursday:
7.30 pm Sung Eucharist with Stripping of the
Altar and
Footwashing
2nd, Good Friday:
9.30 am Children's Service
10.30 am The Good Friday Liturgy
3rd, Easter Eve:
8.30 pm The Easter Vigil
4th, Easter Day:
8.00 am Holy Communion
10.00 am Sung Eucharist
6.00 pm Festal Evensong
If you would like to receive Holy Communion this Easter but are prevented from coming to Church by sickness or infirmity please do let Mark or Sonia know as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made to visit you.
A joint venture of the Deepings churches to be held on the weekend 31st July/1st August will include open gardens and other floral activities and attractions. If you would like to open your garden or be involved in some other way, please contact Judy Robinson on 343383 or Judy@georgians.demon.co.uk
Ingredients, for biscuits:
- 175g (6oz) plain flour
- 75g (3oz) butter
- 75g (3oz) caster sugar
- 50g (2oz) currants
- 15g (½oz) candied peel
- Pinch of mixed spice
- 1 egg yolk
- For glazing
- 1 egg white, Caster sugar
Method:
Cream the butter, add the sugar and beat the mixture until fluffy. Add egg yolk, spice, fruit and flour and mix to a stiff dough with the milk. Roll the dough out thinly. Cut into rounds and place them on a greased baking sheet.
Bake in a moderate oven (180ºC/350ºF Gas 4) for 15 to 20 minutes. After 10 minutes brush with egg white and sprinkle them with caster sugar, then return to the oven.
Up to the age of 16 years I lived in the heart of London and I thought that was crowded, so crowded that Margaret used to be very apprehensive when visiting my parents. But it was nothing compared with the parts of India that I saw. I would go as far as to say that the clearest space I saw was a cricket pitch (a national passion) with only the players on it. I read that the population of the country is expected to exceed one billion persons in the year 2000, most of whom will be concentrated in the major towns and cities.
Hyderabad, where I was based, is the sixth largest city in India and is really two towns joined together, Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Hyderabad is predominantly the cultural and commercial centre with Secunderabad mainly a huge military barracks that was built by the British in the days of the Raj.
No matter where you go or at any time there are people, people walking, people driving, all seeming to have somewhere to go, and sad to say, people dying in the streets. Certainly I saw several people lying at the side of the roads resembling a pile of rags. It was the Indians that I was working with who told me about the poor who are left to die wherever they are at the time.
I must emphasise that I was working with what might be described as the normal working men as well the managerial class. The class and caste system is very much in evidence and in conversation each sentence ending in 'Sir' especially if the conversation is between different levels of class.
In general, I found that the Indian people are very devout in their worship to their own gods and they are very willing to talk about their beliefs and also learn about others. I was surprised to hear that the rootof their religion is that, like our own Christianity, they believe in one almighty God. I was asked on many occasions about the Western religions and was even asked to explain the Holy Trinity on one occasion, a task that I did find difficult. Another surprising fact was that some of, what I am now proud to call my friends, would feel quite comfortable worshipping in a Christian church.
On top of the highest hill in Hyderabad is the magnificent marble temple dedicated to Sri Venkateshwara, pictured above. Inside the edifice is an idol of the deity that is almost 10 ft tall, made of granite and is constantly attended by two priests. No matter what your opinion, one cannot help but admire the sheer magnificence of the statue and its surroundings. On the evening that I visited we had to queue for almost 30 minutes to enter the temple and this was only to walk slowly past the idol whist being, not too politely, encouraged to move along by security guards. This is apparently quite a normal occurrence and I was told of a temple to another of their deities which is situated some one day's train journey away that attracts some 20 to 30,000 people on its feast days and the more devout pilgrims will find any method of getting to the gathering.
(to be continued)
We welcome to the Lord's Family
We commend to God's keeping:
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.
Back issues are available on line as follows:
November 1997;
December 1997;
January 1998;
February 1998;
March 1998;
April 1998;
May 1998;
June 1998;
July 1998;
August 1998;
September 1998;
October 1998;
November 1998;
December 1998;
January 1999;
February 1999;
March 1999.