Patrick Comerford
We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Fourth Sunday after Trinity (3 July 2023).
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (6 July 2023remembers Thomas More, Scholar, and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Reformation Martyrs, 1535.
Before this becomes a busy day, I am taking some time this morning for prayer, reading and reflection.
Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:
1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass window in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The Priory Church of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, York:
Holy Trinity Church at Goodramgate in York, which I was looking at yesterday, should not be confused with the similarly-named Priory Church of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, the only pre-Reformation monastic building still in use in York.
Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, is on the west bank of the River Ouse inside the walled city of York. The church building is a complex structure incorporating parts of the fabric of a mediaeval priory church dedicated to the Holy Trinity and a mediaeval parish church dedicated to Saint Nicholas.
Holy Trinity is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086 as one of five great northern churches, alongside York Minster.
The church was re-founded ca 1089 as a Benedictine priory, and for over 500 years this church was part of a large and important Benedictine monastery. It may be that a ‘double church’ was built at the end of the 11th century, with one half, Holy Trinity, providing a place of worship for the monastic community and a second, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, used by the parish.
The Benedictines created a large monastic complex, covering some seven acres, with a magnificent priory church at its heart.
The Priory Church of the Holy Trinity is the only monastic building to have survived as a place of worship in the city.
Today, the parish includes the former parishes of two neighbouring churches, Saint John and Saint Martin in Micklegate, both now redundant and with other uses. Holy Trinity is a living, inclusive church.
The Revd Simon Askey, former Dean of Undergraduate Law, University of London, and Honorary Assistant Curate of the Benefice of Walworth, Saint John in the Diocese of Southwark, was licensed as Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, York, earlier this year (22 January 2023). The Sunday Eucharist is at 11 am each week.
Matthew 9: 1-8 (NRSVA):
1 And after getting into a boat he crossed the water and came to his own town.
2 And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ 3 Then some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ 4 But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ — he then said to the paralytic — ‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ 7 And he stood up and went to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
Today’s Prayer:
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘FeAST – Fellowship of Anglican Scholars of Theology.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Canon Dr Peniel Rajkumar of USPG.
Find out more HERE.
The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (6 July 2023) invites us to pray:
We give thanks to all who have answered your call to ministry and all who educate and support them to shape them for your service. May you challenge and nurture them with your Word.
Collect:
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion:
Eternal God,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
No comments:
Post a Comment