Service and Readings for the week - Trinity 8
Sunday Link Supplement : 2nd August 2020
Sunday Trinity 8.
Readings; Roman 9: 1-5 = Katy Matthew 14: 13-21 = Brendan Prayers=Simon
(If anyone would like to receive the daily readings please let Simon know).
Hymns:
Will you come and follow me
Go forth and tell
Collect for Trinity 6 - Sunday
Almighty Lord and everlasting God, we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of your laws and the works of your commandments; that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen
Thought for the Day
There are many accounts in the Gospels of Jesus seeking peace and quiet away from the crowds that were following him day after day but perhaps we often ignore those comments because we are drawn into the event or parable surrounding them and miss little gems of wonder and awe – and maybe today’s Gospel passage is one of them.
In his humanity, there are frequent times recorded, when Jesus needed rest and In today’s Gospel reading we know he was grieving the death of John, and he knew the time was drawing ever nearer when he would have to return to Jerusalem and complete his God given mission here on earth and so he ‘withdrew …in a boat to a deserted place to be by himself.’
But when he arrived on the far shore of the lake seeking to be alone with his Father, he discovered the crowds had walked round the top of the lake and were waiting for him. He could probably have stayed in the boat, to have some rest but when he saw the people, he did not turn them away but we are told: ‘he had compassion on them and began to cure their sick.’
As the day drew to a close and the people were hungry with little or nothing to eat and the disciples came asking Jesus to send them away, but again Jesus had compassion on them and provided not only enough food to feed them all but more than enough, for 12 baskets of broken bits were gathered up when all had been fed – and all from just five loaves and two fishes. BUT I think it unlikely that those people would have followed Jesus round the lake without taking some food with them –enough to feed themselves but not to feed others, and so maybe they were not prepared to share it, but when they saw Jesus look up to heaven and say a blessing which every Jewish family used, praising God and thanking him for all his blessings poured upon them and upon us – they turned from their selfish ways and shared what little they had and there was enough to feed many. This is just a thought but for me, either way it is a real miracle– if the loaves and fishes became enough to feed 5,000 or the people turned from being selfish to being generous, it was the compassion Jesus showed them that surely really matters.
We are all living through a difficult and painful time at the moment when we, like those first disciples, often feel helpless with little to offer; but Jesus has compassion for us too – he waits for us to come to him with what little we can offer – and is ready to open our hearts and hands and minds that they may be filled to overflowing with that same compassion even in small ways like a phone call or a letter or email to show we care.
It may seem strange to say that in these days when many of us have more than enough time to be still and quiet with God, it is not always easy; but often our minds tend to wander and we drift away but even then God has compassion for us and generously acknowledges and loves us just as we are, in all our failings and weaknesses and most importantly he knows and understands the deepest longings of our hearts, hears our prayers and waits patiently for us to respond.
So let us pray for God’s grace to be still and to look and see the little gems of his presence in each day, to open our hearts to his presence and to hear his still small voice of calm.
Amen
Judi Clarke