The Archbishop has requested that we ring the bell every day at noon and say this Angelus prayer together

Angelus

God Bless the world
Give it wisdom at this time
Grant us relief and release
Be with those who are ill
And bless the carers fighting this pandemic

For Jesus Christ sake.
Amen

St Philip and St James

Today we commemorate the lives of St Philip and St James.
The Apostle Philip was one of Christ’s first disciples, called soon after his master’s baptism in the Jordan. The fourth Gospel gives the following detail: “The next day Jesus was about to leave for Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him: “Follow Me.” St. James a brother of the Apostle Jude, was of Cana of Galilee. When he refused to deny the Divinity of Christ, the Jews cast him down from the terrace of the temple and clubbed him to death. They suffered and were persecuted, but they placed their confidence in God and now they rejoice in heaven. We too must have confidence in God and not be troubled in our adversities. In our Father’s house, there are many mansions, and if we follow the way indicated by Him, Christ will come at the end of our life and take us to Himself.

Collect

Eternal Father the apostle’s Saint Philip and Saint James knew your Son to be the true and living way: grant that we may follow them along that way which leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eucharist Readings:

Proverbs 4:10-18      Psalm 84        1 Corinthians 12:4-13         John 14:1-14

Friends, I would think all of us are familiar with the ‘Humpty Dumpty’ story and if you know the song, please do sing it now (we could all do with some lightheartedness) but we also know what happened to

“Humpty Dumpty, sat on a wall, he had a great fall and couldn’t be put together again.”

Now sometimes we also have our walls to climb, sometimes we are at the bottom and the wall look so big, high, and it sometimes makes us even tired by just looking at it, sometimes our walls are in the form of relationships to be restored, our financial situation, friendships, jobs, health, or maybe this invisible common enemy the Coronavirus, etc. Sometimes we are on top of the wall and we feel like jumping or somebody is maybe trying to push us, some of us may already have fallen, and perhaps in broken pieces and feel that we cannot be put together again.

But my friends you see our story does not have to end like the one of ‘Humpty Dumpty.’ We can be put together again because this morning Jesus is giving us that promise. The gospel reading of this morning is one of the prescribed readings (John 14:1-6) for a funeral service to encourage those who are left behind, heartbroken, who endure pain, and maybe this morning it means something different for us. Set your troubled hearts at rest. Whatever our walls might be, Trust in God always, trust also in me. God is our hope and our refuge. God can turn our despair into hope, our pain into joy, all we need to do is trust in God. (Verse 13). Anything you ask in my name I will do, and sometimes we ask so little of God, God can do wonders and miracles in our lives! All we need to do is to give it to God. Sometimes we underestimate what God can do for us, create your own story with God, make your story have a happy ending. Allow God to put the pieces together because you see my dear friends God can be anyone we want Him to be; your Saviour, your Redeemer, your Creator, your Mighty Warrior, your Deliverer, Comforter, and your Stronghold.

Like St Philip and St James, we too must have confidence in God and not be troubled in our adversities. May you have a blessed and wonderful time creating your ‘Humpty Dumpty’ story with God but with a twist.