‘Spirit of God unseen as the wind’ (Hymn 386) … sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig near Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
These intercessions were prepared for use on Day of Pentecost, 31 May 2020, in the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes. However, the churches have been closed temporarily because of the Covid-19 pandemic:
Christ is Risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Let us pray on this Day of Pentecost:
‘May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works’ (Psalm 104: 33):
Loving Father,
may we rejoice in your care for us,
in body, mind and spirit.
Comfort those who are isolated and alone;
sustain and protect frontline workers;
enlighten the minds of those working
to contain the spread of Covid-19
and those searching for a vaccine;
Give hope to schools and places of education,
to teachers and lecturers,
to students and pupils,
to parents and staff;
Give wisdom to the government,
guide all who make difficult decisions,
help us to protect our communities and ourselves.
Give wisdom to people in America
this weekend crying for justice,
condemning racism,
seeking peace.
Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
Lord Jesus Christ:
no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’
except by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12: 3):
We pray for the Church,
that we may share that life generously and in abundance.
We pray for churches that are closed this morning,
that the hearts of the people may remain open
to the love of God, and to the love of others.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray this week
for the Anglican Church of Melanesia
and the Most Revd Leonard Dawea,
Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia and Bishop of Temotu.
In the Church of Ireland, we pray this month for
the Diocese of Connor and the Bishop-elect, George Davison.
We pray for our Bishop Kenneth;
In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer,
we pray for Growth, unity and the service of Christ’s church
in our dioceses.
Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Holy Spirit,
you are poured out on all flesh (Acts 2: 17):
We pray for ourselves and for our needs,
for healing, restoration and health,
in body, mind and spirit.
We give thanks for new life …
We give thanks for the birth of Verity Rebecca …
and ask for your blessings on her parents, Amy and Damien …
her grandparents, Jennifer and Niall …
her great-grandmother, Ruby …
We pray for one another,
for those who are alone and lonely …
for those who are sick, at home or in hospital …
Alan ... Ajay … Charles …
Lorraine … James … Terry …
Niall … Linda ... Basil …
We pray for those who have broken hearts …
for those who live with disappointment …
We pray for all who are to be baptised,
We pray for all preparing to be married,
We pray for those who are about to die …
We pray for those who mourn and grieve…
for Michelle, Ian, and the Shorten and O’Riordan families …
for Lynn and the O’Gorman, Hodge and Latchford families …
for those who mourn PJ and who mourn Sherry …
may their memories be a blessing …
We pray for those who have asked for our prayers …
and for those we have offered to pray for …
Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
A prayer on the Day of Pentecost,
in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG,
United Society Partners in the Gospel:
Loving God, on this day of Pentecost, give us a
fresh appreciation for the diversity that we enjoy in
the Body of Christ through your Holy Spirit.
Merciful Father, …
31 May 2020
‘The doors of the house
where the disciples had
met were locked for fear’
‘The doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear’ (John 20: 19) … locked doors at Easter in the side streets of Panormos, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Patrick Comerford
Sunday 31 May 2020,
The Day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday)
The Parish Eucharist
The Readings: Acts 2: 1-21; Psalm 104: 26-36, 37b; I Corinthians 12: 3b-13; John 20: 19-23.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
‘The Day of Pentecost’ or ‘The Descent of the Holy Spirit’ by Titian in the Church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The Day of Pentecost in the Church calendar is the Birthday of the Church and the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.
This morning we hear two accounts of the gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church. In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke associates the gift of the Holy Spirit with the great festival of in-gathering, Pentecost, 50 days after Passover.
On the other hand, in Saint John’s Gospel, we hear too that the Holy Spirit is the gift of Christ’s resurrection, on the Day of the Resurrection itself.
Yes, of course, both accounts are true.
Early on Easter morning, Mary Magdalene finds that body of Jesus is missing from the tomb. She assumes that the man standing nearby is the gardener, but when he speaks to her, she recognises him as Christ. She has told the disciples: ‘I have seen the Lord’ (verse 18).
Now, in this morning’s Gospel reading (John 20: 19-23), the Risen Christ now appears to his disciples. He bears still the marks of his passion and crucifixion, yet can pass through doors; he is truly alive.
Earlier, he has said ‘[my] peace I leave with you’ (John 14: 27). Now he now sends out the disciples, and the Church, to continue his work (verse 21). To early Christians, the exaltation of Jesus, his appearances and the giving of the Holy Spirit all become one event.
Quite often we think the gift of the Holy Spirit is something to consider only at ordination or at confirmation, or it is just left as a gift for Charismatic Evangelicals to talk about. But the gift of the Holy Spirit does not stop being effective the day after confirmation, the day after ordination, the day after hearing someone speaking in tongues, or the day after Pentecost.
How many people in America this morning, as they turn to those words in the Gospel describing how Christ breathed on the disciples, how many must think of George Floyd’s dying words on the street, as a policeman squeezed his neck, ‘I can’t breathe’?
For the gifts that Christ breathes on his disciple this morning are the gifts of life, the gifts of the Spirit, the gift of peace, the gift of forgiveness, but also the gift of calling people to account for their sins.
In America today, divided by racism and violence, we see a society that is so in need of those Pentecost gifts where ‘young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams’ (Acts 2: 17). Instead, the one old man who is charged with dreaming dreams is giving oxygen to bigotry and violence, while young people on the streets wonder who has a vision for justice and truth.
The gift of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning, the birthday, of the Church. And this is a gift that does not cease to be effective after Pentecost Day. The gift of the Holy Spirit remains with the Church – for all times.
In both Pentecost stories this morning, the disciples are found locked away in fear, behind shut and bolted doors, afraid to go out into the world, afraid of what may be waiting for them out there.
They have been there for ten days, since the Day of Ascension. Had they been locked away for ten weeks, many of us going through this Covid-19 pandemic lockdown would fully identify with their isolation and their fears.
But Christ never leaves us on our own, so that we may fade away in fear and isolation on the one hand or, on the other, soar into spiritual fantasy and relish the prospects of more magic and more religion.
‘Little Gidding,’ the fourth and final poem in the Four Quartets, is TS Eliot’s own Pentecost poem, written after his visit to Little Gidding on Ascension Day 1936 (21 May 1936), ten days before Pentecost that year (31 May 1936).
‘Little Gidding’ begins in ‘the dark time of the year,’ when a brief and glowing afternoon sun ‘flames the ice, on pond and ditches’ as it ‘stirs the dumb spirit’ not with wind but with ‘pentecostal fire.’
At the end of the poem, Eliot describes how the eternal is contained within the present and how history exists in a pattern, and repeating the words of Julian of Norwich, he is assured:
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
I have no doubts that the Holy Spirit works in so many ways that we cannot understand. And I have no doubts that the Holy Spirit works best and works most often in the quiet small ways that bring hope rather than in the big dramatic ways that seek to control, in little ways dispel fear when we most feel isolated and alone.
Sometimes, even when it seems foolish, sometimes, even when it seems extravagant, it is worth being led by the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit may be leading us to surprising places, and, surprisingly, leading others there too, counting them in when we thought they were counted out.
Our task as disciples is to prepare to go out into the world, to bear fruit, to let the seed sown in death rise to new life. What matters is life and love.
This account of the first Day of Pentecost is a sharp reminder that Pentecost is for all. The Holy Spirit is not an exclusive gift for the 12, for the inner circle, for the believers, or even for the Church.
The gift of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning, the birthday, of the Church, so perhaps champagne is the right image as we celebrate the birthday of the Church. But this is a gift that does not cease being given after Pentecost.
God never leaves us alone. This is what Christ promises the disciples, the whole Church, as he breaks through the locked doors and breaks through all their fears.
We need have no fears, for the Resurrection breaks through all the barriers of time and space, of gender and race, of language and colour.
Because of this gift, the Church is brought together in diversity and sustained in unity..
As we affirm our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed, as we say ‘We believe in the Holy Spirit,’ do we really believe in the Holy Spirit as ‘the Lord, the giver of life’?
Pentecost promises hope. But hope is not certainty, manipulating the future for our own ends, it is trusting in God’s purpose … no matter how difficult that is in these days of pandemic ‘lockdown.’
The gift of the Holy Spirit remains with the Church – for all times.
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
‘Come Holy Spirit’ … the holy water stoup in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Acts 2: 1-21 (NRSVA):
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.’
‘The doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear’ (John 20: 19) … locked doors on Princelet Street in the East End of London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
John 20: 19-23 (NRSVA):
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
‘ … all shall be well and / All manner of thing shall be well’ (TS Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’) … sunset seen from the Sunset Taverna in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Liturgical colour: Red (Pentecost, Year A)
Greeting (from Easter until Pentecost):
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Penitential Kyries:
Great and wonderful are your deeds,
Lord God the Almighty
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You are the King of glory, O Christ.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
By the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Introduction to the Peace:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.
If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5: 22
Preface:
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
according to whose promise
the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us,
making us your children,
and giving us power to proclaim the gospel throughout the world:
Post Communion Prayer:
Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal:
Open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing:
The Spirit of truth lead you into all truth,
give you grace to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and to proclaim the words and works of God …
Dismissal (from Easter Day to Pentecost):
Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!
‘Spirit of God unseen as the wind’ (Hymn 386) … sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig near Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Hymns:
386, Spirit of God unseen as the wind
310, Spirit of the living God
296, Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire
293, Breathe on me, Breath of God
‘Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire’ (Hymn 296) … sunset on the beach at Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
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
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
This sermon was prepared for a united group celebration of the Parish Eucharist in the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes on the Day of Pentecost, 31 May 2020, and was part of a celebration of the Eucharist in Saint Mary’s Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick
‘And the fire and the rose are one’ (TS Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’) … a candle and a rose on a dinner table in Minares on Vernardou Street, Rethymnon, in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
Sunday 31 May 2020,
The Day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday)
The Parish Eucharist
The Readings: Acts 2: 1-21; Psalm 104: 26-36, 37b; I Corinthians 12: 3b-13; John 20: 19-23.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
‘The Day of Pentecost’ or ‘The Descent of the Holy Spirit’ by Titian in the Church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The Day of Pentecost in the Church calendar is the Birthday of the Church and the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.
This morning we hear two accounts of the gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church. In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke associates the gift of the Holy Spirit with the great festival of in-gathering, Pentecost, 50 days after Passover.
On the other hand, in Saint John’s Gospel, we hear too that the Holy Spirit is the gift of Christ’s resurrection, on the Day of the Resurrection itself.
Yes, of course, both accounts are true.
Early on Easter morning, Mary Magdalene finds that body of Jesus is missing from the tomb. She assumes that the man standing nearby is the gardener, but when he speaks to her, she recognises him as Christ. She has told the disciples: ‘I have seen the Lord’ (verse 18).
Now, in this morning’s Gospel reading (John 20: 19-23), the Risen Christ now appears to his disciples. He bears still the marks of his passion and crucifixion, yet can pass through doors; he is truly alive.
Earlier, he has said ‘[my] peace I leave with you’ (John 14: 27). Now he now sends out the disciples, and the Church, to continue his work (verse 21). To early Christians, the exaltation of Jesus, his appearances and the giving of the Holy Spirit all become one event.
Quite often we think the gift of the Holy Spirit is something to consider only at ordination or at confirmation, or it is just left as a gift for Charismatic Evangelicals to talk about. But the gift of the Holy Spirit does not stop being effective the day after confirmation, the day after ordination, the day after hearing someone speaking in tongues, or the day after Pentecost.
How many people in America this morning, as they turn to those words in the Gospel describing how Christ breathed on the disciples, how many must think of George Floyd’s dying words on the street, as a policeman squeezed his neck, ‘I can’t breathe’?
For the gifts that Christ breathes on his disciple this morning are the gifts of life, the gifts of the Spirit, the gift of peace, the gift of forgiveness, but also the gift of calling people to account for their sins.
In America today, divided by racism and violence, we see a society that is so in need of those Pentecost gifts where ‘young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams’ (Acts 2: 17). Instead, the one old man who is charged with dreaming dreams is giving oxygen to bigotry and violence, while young people on the streets wonder who has a vision for justice and truth.
The gift of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning, the birthday, of the Church. And this is a gift that does not cease to be effective after Pentecost Day. The gift of the Holy Spirit remains with the Church – for all times.
In both Pentecost stories this morning, the disciples are found locked away in fear, behind shut and bolted doors, afraid to go out into the world, afraid of what may be waiting for them out there.
They have been there for ten days, since the Day of Ascension. Had they been locked away for ten weeks, many of us going through this Covid-19 pandemic lockdown would fully identify with their isolation and their fears.
But Christ never leaves us on our own, so that we may fade away in fear and isolation on the one hand or, on the other, soar into spiritual fantasy and relish the prospects of more magic and more religion.
‘Little Gidding,’ the fourth and final poem in the Four Quartets, is TS Eliot’s own Pentecost poem, written after his visit to Little Gidding on Ascension Day 1936 (21 May 1936), ten days before Pentecost that year (31 May 1936).
‘Little Gidding’ begins in ‘the dark time of the year,’ when a brief and glowing afternoon sun ‘flames the ice, on pond and ditches’ as it ‘stirs the dumb spirit’ not with wind but with ‘pentecostal fire.’
At the end of the poem, Eliot describes how the eternal is contained within the present and how history exists in a pattern, and repeating the words of Julian of Norwich, he is assured:
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
I have no doubts that the Holy Spirit works in so many ways that we cannot understand. And I have no doubts that the Holy Spirit works best and works most often in the quiet small ways that bring hope rather than in the big dramatic ways that seek to control, in little ways dispel fear when we most feel isolated and alone.
Sometimes, even when it seems foolish, sometimes, even when it seems extravagant, it is worth being led by the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit may be leading us to surprising places, and, surprisingly, leading others there too, counting them in when we thought they were counted out.
Our task as disciples is to prepare to go out into the world, to bear fruit, to let the seed sown in death rise to new life. What matters is life and love.
This account of the first Day of Pentecost is a sharp reminder that Pentecost is for all. The Holy Spirit is not an exclusive gift for the 12, for the inner circle, for the believers, or even for the Church.
The gift of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning, the birthday, of the Church, so perhaps champagne is the right image as we celebrate the birthday of the Church. But this is a gift that does not cease being given after Pentecost.
God never leaves us alone. This is what Christ promises the disciples, the whole Church, as he breaks through the locked doors and breaks through all their fears.
We need have no fears, for the Resurrection breaks through all the barriers of time and space, of gender and race, of language and colour.
Because of this gift, the Church is brought together in diversity and sustained in unity..
As we affirm our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed, as we say ‘We believe in the Holy Spirit,’ do we really believe in the Holy Spirit as ‘the Lord, the giver of life’?
Pentecost promises hope. But hope is not certainty, manipulating the future for our own ends, it is trusting in God’s purpose … no matter how difficult that is in these days of pandemic ‘lockdown.’
The gift of the Holy Spirit remains with the Church – for all times.
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
‘Come Holy Spirit’ … the holy water stoup in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Acts 2: 1-21 (NRSVA):
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.’
‘The doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear’ (John 20: 19) … locked doors on Princelet Street in the East End of London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)
John 20: 19-23 (NRSVA):
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
‘ … all shall be well and / All manner of thing shall be well’ (TS Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’) … sunset seen from the Sunset Taverna in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Liturgical colour: Red (Pentecost, Year A)
Greeting (from Easter until Pentecost):
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Penitential Kyries:
Great and wonderful are your deeds,
Lord God the Almighty
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You are the King of glory, O Christ.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
By the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Introduction to the Peace:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.
If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5: 22
Preface:
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
according to whose promise
the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us,
making us your children,
and giving us power to proclaim the gospel throughout the world:
Post Communion Prayer:
Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal:
Open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing:
The Spirit of truth lead you into all truth,
give you grace to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and to proclaim the words and works of God …
Dismissal (from Easter Day to Pentecost):
Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!
‘Spirit of God unseen as the wind’ (Hymn 386) … sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig near Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Hymns:
386, Spirit of God unseen as the wind
310, Spirit of the living God
296, Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire
293, Breathe on me, Breath of God
‘Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire’ (Hymn 296) … sunset on the beach at Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
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
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
This sermon was prepared for a united group celebration of the Parish Eucharist in the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes on the Day of Pentecost, 31 May 2020, and was part of a celebration of the Eucharist in Saint Mary’s Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick
‘And the fire and the rose are one’ (TS Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’) … a candle and a rose on a dinner table in Minares on Vernardou Street, Rethymnon, in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
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Praying in Easter with USPG:
50, Sunday 31 May 2020
‘Come Holy Spirit’ … the holy water stoup in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
Today is the day of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter Day and the last day of the Easter Season.
I have been using the USPG Prayer Diary, Pray with the World Church, for my morning prayers and reflections throughout this Season of Easter. USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice. It was founded in 1701.
The theme of the USPG Prayer Diary for this week (31 May to 6 June 2020) is ‘Each one heard them speaking in the native language of each (Acts 2: 6).’ The Rev’d Dr Hugo Adan, Rector of Holy Trinity with Saint Matthew, Southwark, London, introduces this theme in the Prayer Diary this morning:
‘When we read Chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles, two things immediately come to our minds: the fact that the Gospel was proclaimed in every language and that everybody understood the message. The text doesn’t say Peter spoke in all the different languages mentioned; it just says that people understood in their own language.
‘We all come to faith with our own backgrounds. We all have a culture; a context that gives us a framework from which we understand the world. The fact that we are Christians and/or priests, lay leaders, missioners or evangelists doesn’t make our cultural framework any less active. This is why inculturation (the theological reflection about culture and the Gospel) is important in our global context today.
‘At St Matthew’s, we try to be aware of our cultural context. We are a bilingual parish (English-Spanish) and every day we experience that the language of love (God) is universal – but this is expressed through our own particular languages, which are not always universal. The ability to come out of our comfort zones and value our encounters with the ‘other’ are essential parts of the way we try to live the Gospel.’
Sunday 31 May 2020 (Pentecost):
Loving God, on this day of Pentecost, give us a
fresh appreciation for the diversity that we enjoy in
the Body of Christ through your Holy Spirit.
The Readings:
Acts 2: 1-21 or Numbers 11: 24-30; Psalm 104: 26-36, 37b; I Corinthians 12: 3b-13 or Acts 2: 1-21; John 20: 19-23 or John 7: 37-39.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
By the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Post Communion Prayer:
Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal:
Open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Series Concluded
Patrick Comerford
Today is the day of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter Day and the last day of the Easter Season.
I have been using the USPG Prayer Diary, Pray with the World Church, for my morning prayers and reflections throughout this Season of Easter. USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice. It was founded in 1701.
The theme of the USPG Prayer Diary for this week (31 May to 6 June 2020) is ‘Each one heard them speaking in the native language of each (Acts 2: 6).’ The Rev’d Dr Hugo Adan, Rector of Holy Trinity with Saint Matthew, Southwark, London, introduces this theme in the Prayer Diary this morning:
‘When we read Chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles, two things immediately come to our minds: the fact that the Gospel was proclaimed in every language and that everybody understood the message. The text doesn’t say Peter spoke in all the different languages mentioned; it just says that people understood in their own language.
‘We all come to faith with our own backgrounds. We all have a culture; a context that gives us a framework from which we understand the world. The fact that we are Christians and/or priests, lay leaders, missioners or evangelists doesn’t make our cultural framework any less active. This is why inculturation (the theological reflection about culture and the Gospel) is important in our global context today.
‘At St Matthew’s, we try to be aware of our cultural context. We are a bilingual parish (English-Spanish) and every day we experience that the language of love (God) is universal – but this is expressed through our own particular languages, which are not always universal. The ability to come out of our comfort zones and value our encounters with the ‘other’ are essential parts of the way we try to live the Gospel.’
Sunday 31 May 2020 (Pentecost):
Loving God, on this day of Pentecost, give us a
fresh appreciation for the diversity that we enjoy in
the Body of Christ through your Holy Spirit.
The Readings:
Acts 2: 1-21 or Numbers 11: 24-30; Psalm 104: 26-36, 37b; I Corinthians 12: 3b-13 or Acts 2: 1-21; John 20: 19-23 or John 7: 37-39.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
By the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Post Communion Prayer:
Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal:
Open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Series Concluded
The Victorian ‘slum priest’
who has left his mark on
the streets of Tamworth
The Co-operative shops in Tamworth are the lasting legacy of the Revd William MacGregor (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
It is impossible to walk around Tamworth or to write about Tamworth without becoming impressed by the life of the Revd William MacGregor (1848-1937) who was, without doubt, Tamworth’s ultimate ‘champion of the poor.’
His name keeps on coming up as I read about Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth Castle, Bolehall Manor or Tamworth’s architectural and social history. He was the very embodiment of the Victorian ‘slum priest’ and throughout his life he remained faithful to his beliefs and morals.
The Revd William MacGregor (1848-1937) … the Victorian ‘slum priest’ who loved the people of Tamworth
The Revd William MacGregor was born in Liverpool on 16 May 1848 into a wealthy shipping family. His Scottish grandfather had made a fortune as a merchant and banker, while his father owned a thriving Liverpool iron foundry.
William went to school at Rugby in Warwickshire, then went to Exeter College, Oxford, where he proposed to study law, but instead turned to theology. He graduated BA 1871 and MA in 1874, was ordained Deacon in 1872 and Priest in 1873 at Lichfield Cathedral.
He was a curate in Hopwas, outside Tamworth, in 1872-1876, and then Vicar of Saint Matthias’, Liverpool, in 1877-1878. But he returned to the Diocese of Lichfield when he was appointed Vicar of Tamworth in 1878 at the age of 30.
Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth … William MacGregor was Vicar of Tamworth in 1878-1887 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
In Tamworth, MacGregor was respected as a godly man with immense faith who devoted his life to the people of the town. He brought in two curates to help him and personally financed their ministry.
He gave Saint Editha’s Church a major facelift, had its bells re-cast, and built two churches, at Glascote and at Hopwas, where named the church Saint Chad’s. This brick and timber-framed ‘chocolate-box,’ church, praised by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘an ingenious and entertaining building,’ is on Hopwas Hill in the shadow of Hopwas Hayes Wood. It was designed in 1879-1881 by the architect John Douglas (1830-1911) of Chester and is a Grade II listed building.
MacGregor also served occasionally as a magistrate. On one occasion a young boy was brought before him for playing football on the road. The boy told him there was nowhere else to play so William MacGregor bought a plot of land near the railway arches and gave Bolehall Park – now MacGregor Park – to the young people of the town.
He started a branch of the Mother’s Union in Tamworth and employed a home nurse to visit and help poor mothers with infants at home. He then started a girls’ club where they could not only learn needlework and religion but also have a place to read and socialise.
He spent the first ten years in Tamworth visiting the poor and squalid homes where typhoid was often rampant. He campaigned tirelessly for every home to have clean water and sanitation despite the strong opposition from the town’s wealthy inhabitants.
He exposed landlords for the squalid state of the homes of their tenants. He mediated between miners and colliery bosses when wages were cut drastically. He took children out of workhouses and put them into family homes. He took orphans from the slums to holiday in his own home.
He started a free library and a coffee house for teetotallers and established a workingmen’s club in Bolehall. He founded and financed Tamworth’s first hospital at his own expense in 1880 and acted as honorary secretary for many years, and his interest in the hospital never waned.
The Church Street Baths and Institute in 1891 (Photograph © Historic England Archive ref: BL10877)
The Church Street Baths and Institute were among MacGregor’s many gifts to the town. They were built in a timber-framed Tudor style in 1885 to a design by the architect John Douglas, who also designed Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, for MacGregor.
The building had a façade designed to harmonise with the 15th and 16th century timer-framed buildings on Church Street. There was a jettied gable and oriel window on one side, and the institute was on one side, with swimming baths on the other, while the School of Art occupied the first-floor rooms.
The poor people of Tamworth appealed to MacGregor to help them start a Co-operative Society where they could buy food cheaply at fair prices and share in the profits. He sourced the premises in Colehill in 1885 and acted as guarantor.
The local shopkeepers were enraged and feared that this cut-price Co-op would affect their livelihoods. MacGregor was abused in the street, and damned in letters sent to him, to the Tamworth Herald and to the bishop. Some parishioners even stopped going to church in protest.
Within a year he had resigned as the Vicar of Tamworth. An editorial he wrote in the parish magazine in December 1886 sums up his distress at the bad feeling surrounding him. He describes his first eight years in Tamworth as giving him some anxiety but also ‘much happiness.’ He then explains why the ninth year has opened ‘under a cloud’: ‘My connection with the Co-operative movement, which is about to get a footing in Tamworth, is an offence to many who have hitherto worked cordially with me, and whom I have valued highly as friends and helpers.’
As much as he regretted the ill-feeling that had developed, he could not hold himself back from helping a movement ‘calculated to benefit morally, socially and politically a large number of people.’
Although MacGregor resigned as Vicar of Tamworth in 1887, he continued to live in Tamworth, faithful to his beliefs and morals, held in esteem by ordinary working men and women.
Tamworth Castle … William MacGregor helped ensure the castle was bought for the people of Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
When Lord Townshend decided to sell Tamworth Castle, MacGregor started the fund to buy Tamworth Castle for the town, and had a deep, practical commitment to the maintenance of the Castle. It was purchased from by the Borough of Tamworth to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, and was officially opened in 1899 as the borough’s museum.
MacGregor addressed the 350 invited guests at an official lunch in the Tamworth Assembly rooms in 1899 to celebrate the purchase of Tamworth Castle:
‘In my public life, which has not been a short one, I have known no moment of supreme satisfaction than when the auctioneers’ hammer fell on Whit Tuesday night two years ago in the Town hall, Guy built for us, and the auctioneer announced that the ancient Castle of Tamworth, with its history dating from 775, had become the property of the Mayor and Corporation of Tamworth in the name of the people.
‘It will be to us a centre of light and life, a centre of the history of our town and England and we shall gather there in the course of time, collections, scientific and artistic, of interest to us.
‘I can only trust that as the young men and women of Tamworth grow up here and see their Castle rising in the midst of them, their minds will be carried back to the story of England’s history, that they will feel that history is a real and living thing. The people of Tamworth are the trustees of the Castle for the people of England.’
A serious lung illness later life caused him to convalesce in Egypt in 1885. He continued to visit Egypt regularly, developed his interests in Egyptian archaeology and excavations and became an eminent Egyptologist. He amassed a private collection that he housed in a special museum in his house at Bolehall Manor in 1903.
He is said to have buried at least two of the mummies he brought back from Egypt in the grounds of Bolehall Manor as they began to deteriorate.
Bolehall Manor, now Bolehall Manor Club … for decades the home of William MacGregor
He was also a noted authority on Greek pottery and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
As he grew older, he donated some of his collections to Tamworth Castle, but he sold most of his collection privately. The MacGregor collection of 8,000 pieces was sold by Sotheby’s in 1921. The sale catalogue describes him as ‘one of the most important collectors of Egyptology.’
MacGregor sat on Warwickshire County Council from 1888 to 1917 and was Chairman of the Tamworth Herald from 1906 to 1928. He was 89 when he died on 26 February 1937 at Bolehall Manor, and he was buried at Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas.
His baths on Church Street, Tamworth, were demolished in December 1966. But many of the objects from his private collections can be seen in museums, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the British Museum in London.
A blue plaque at Bolehall Manor Club commemorates Macgregor’s legacy, Bolehall Boys School was renamed William MacGregor School in his honour, and he has given his name MacGregor Park (formerly Bolehall Park), MacGregor Crescent at Glascote, and the MacGregor Tithe sheltered housing complex on the site of Tamworth General Hospital. His chair with his engraved initials is still in the office of the chief executive of the Tamworth Co-operative Society.
The Revd William MacGregor continues to be remembered with pride in Tamworth
Patrick Comerford
It is impossible to walk around Tamworth or to write about Tamworth without becoming impressed by the life of the Revd William MacGregor (1848-1937) who was, without doubt, Tamworth’s ultimate ‘champion of the poor.’
His name keeps on coming up as I read about Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth Castle, Bolehall Manor or Tamworth’s architectural and social history. He was the very embodiment of the Victorian ‘slum priest’ and throughout his life he remained faithful to his beliefs and morals.
The Revd William MacGregor (1848-1937) … the Victorian ‘slum priest’ who loved the people of Tamworth
The Revd William MacGregor was born in Liverpool on 16 May 1848 into a wealthy shipping family. His Scottish grandfather had made a fortune as a merchant and banker, while his father owned a thriving Liverpool iron foundry.
William went to school at Rugby in Warwickshire, then went to Exeter College, Oxford, where he proposed to study law, but instead turned to theology. He graduated BA 1871 and MA in 1874, was ordained Deacon in 1872 and Priest in 1873 at Lichfield Cathedral.
He was a curate in Hopwas, outside Tamworth, in 1872-1876, and then Vicar of Saint Matthias’, Liverpool, in 1877-1878. But he returned to the Diocese of Lichfield when he was appointed Vicar of Tamworth in 1878 at the age of 30.
Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth … William MacGregor was Vicar of Tamworth in 1878-1887 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
In Tamworth, MacGregor was respected as a godly man with immense faith who devoted his life to the people of the town. He brought in two curates to help him and personally financed their ministry.
He gave Saint Editha’s Church a major facelift, had its bells re-cast, and built two churches, at Glascote and at Hopwas, where named the church Saint Chad’s. This brick and timber-framed ‘chocolate-box,’ church, praised by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘an ingenious and entertaining building,’ is on Hopwas Hill in the shadow of Hopwas Hayes Wood. It was designed in 1879-1881 by the architect John Douglas (1830-1911) of Chester and is a Grade II listed building.
MacGregor also served occasionally as a magistrate. On one occasion a young boy was brought before him for playing football on the road. The boy told him there was nowhere else to play so William MacGregor bought a plot of land near the railway arches and gave Bolehall Park – now MacGregor Park – to the young people of the town.
He started a branch of the Mother’s Union in Tamworth and employed a home nurse to visit and help poor mothers with infants at home. He then started a girls’ club where they could not only learn needlework and religion but also have a place to read and socialise.
He spent the first ten years in Tamworth visiting the poor and squalid homes where typhoid was often rampant. He campaigned tirelessly for every home to have clean water and sanitation despite the strong opposition from the town’s wealthy inhabitants.
He exposed landlords for the squalid state of the homes of their tenants. He mediated between miners and colliery bosses when wages were cut drastically. He took children out of workhouses and put them into family homes. He took orphans from the slums to holiday in his own home.
He started a free library and a coffee house for teetotallers and established a workingmen’s club in Bolehall. He founded and financed Tamworth’s first hospital at his own expense in 1880 and acted as honorary secretary for many years, and his interest in the hospital never waned.
The Church Street Baths and Institute in 1891 (Photograph © Historic England Archive ref: BL10877)
The Church Street Baths and Institute were among MacGregor’s many gifts to the town. They were built in a timber-framed Tudor style in 1885 to a design by the architect John Douglas, who also designed Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, for MacGregor.
The building had a façade designed to harmonise with the 15th and 16th century timer-framed buildings on Church Street. There was a jettied gable and oriel window on one side, and the institute was on one side, with swimming baths on the other, while the School of Art occupied the first-floor rooms.
The poor people of Tamworth appealed to MacGregor to help them start a Co-operative Society where they could buy food cheaply at fair prices and share in the profits. He sourced the premises in Colehill in 1885 and acted as guarantor.
The local shopkeepers were enraged and feared that this cut-price Co-op would affect their livelihoods. MacGregor was abused in the street, and damned in letters sent to him, to the Tamworth Herald and to the bishop. Some parishioners even stopped going to church in protest.
Within a year he had resigned as the Vicar of Tamworth. An editorial he wrote in the parish magazine in December 1886 sums up his distress at the bad feeling surrounding him. He describes his first eight years in Tamworth as giving him some anxiety but also ‘much happiness.’ He then explains why the ninth year has opened ‘under a cloud’: ‘My connection with the Co-operative movement, which is about to get a footing in Tamworth, is an offence to many who have hitherto worked cordially with me, and whom I have valued highly as friends and helpers.’
As much as he regretted the ill-feeling that had developed, he could not hold himself back from helping a movement ‘calculated to benefit morally, socially and politically a large number of people.’
Although MacGregor resigned as Vicar of Tamworth in 1887, he continued to live in Tamworth, faithful to his beliefs and morals, held in esteem by ordinary working men and women.
Tamworth Castle … William MacGregor helped ensure the castle was bought for the people of Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
When Lord Townshend decided to sell Tamworth Castle, MacGregor started the fund to buy Tamworth Castle for the town, and had a deep, practical commitment to the maintenance of the Castle. It was purchased from by the Borough of Tamworth to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, and was officially opened in 1899 as the borough’s museum.
MacGregor addressed the 350 invited guests at an official lunch in the Tamworth Assembly rooms in 1899 to celebrate the purchase of Tamworth Castle:
‘In my public life, which has not been a short one, I have known no moment of supreme satisfaction than when the auctioneers’ hammer fell on Whit Tuesday night two years ago in the Town hall, Guy built for us, and the auctioneer announced that the ancient Castle of Tamworth, with its history dating from 775, had become the property of the Mayor and Corporation of Tamworth in the name of the people.
‘It will be to us a centre of light and life, a centre of the history of our town and England and we shall gather there in the course of time, collections, scientific and artistic, of interest to us.
‘I can only trust that as the young men and women of Tamworth grow up here and see their Castle rising in the midst of them, their minds will be carried back to the story of England’s history, that they will feel that history is a real and living thing. The people of Tamworth are the trustees of the Castle for the people of England.’
A serious lung illness later life caused him to convalesce in Egypt in 1885. He continued to visit Egypt regularly, developed his interests in Egyptian archaeology and excavations and became an eminent Egyptologist. He amassed a private collection that he housed in a special museum in his house at Bolehall Manor in 1903.
He is said to have buried at least two of the mummies he brought back from Egypt in the grounds of Bolehall Manor as they began to deteriorate.
Bolehall Manor, now Bolehall Manor Club … for decades the home of William MacGregor
He was also a noted authority on Greek pottery and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
As he grew older, he donated some of his collections to Tamworth Castle, but he sold most of his collection privately. The MacGregor collection of 8,000 pieces was sold by Sotheby’s in 1921. The sale catalogue describes him as ‘one of the most important collectors of Egyptology.’
MacGregor sat on Warwickshire County Council from 1888 to 1917 and was Chairman of the Tamworth Herald from 1906 to 1928. He was 89 when he died on 26 February 1937 at Bolehall Manor, and he was buried at Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas.
His baths on Church Street, Tamworth, were demolished in December 1966. But many of the objects from his private collections can be seen in museums, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the British Museum in London.
A blue plaque at Bolehall Manor Club commemorates Macgregor’s legacy, Bolehall Boys School was renamed William MacGregor School in his honour, and he has given his name MacGregor Park (formerly Bolehall Park), MacGregor Crescent at Glascote, and the MacGregor Tithe sheltered housing complex on the site of Tamworth General Hospital. His chair with his engraved initials is still in the office of the chief executive of the Tamworth Co-operative Society.
The Revd William MacGregor continues to be remembered with pride in Tamworth
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