Today is the Second Sunday of Epiphany. The Gospel reading is from John’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. On the previous day Andrew had followed Jesus and told his brother Simon. Today Philip follows Jesus and tells Nathanael. When Andrew followed Jesus he said, ‘We have found the Messiah.’ When Nathanael followed Jesus he said, ‘You are the Son of God.’ To both men the true identity of Jesus has been revealed. As Messiah and as Son of God Jesus becomes the way of communication between God and men and women. Jesus is like a ladder between heaven and earth along which the angels (God’s messengers) travel. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to reflect on the image of ladders and to envisage Jesus as a ladder between heaven and earth along which the angels (God’s messengers) travel. In today’s picture from his book Christmas time with Teddy Horsley, Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear talk with the angel. Next Sunday, the Third Sunday of Epiphany, turns attention to the way in which Jesus was revealed to the wedding guests at Cana when the jars filled with water produced rich wine. The image to help us prepare for next Sunday is making wine. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to [email protected]. To read Christmastime with Teddy Horsley, follow this link to the relevant page of his website: https://teddyhorsley.org/other-stories/christmas-time-with-teddy-horsley. You can also find out more about him and other stories on his page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html. We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: Teddy Horsley sends his Epiphanytide greetings to all. Canon Leslie
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Photo by Suzy Brooks on Unsplash This week has seen the first anniversary of the first Covid 19 death in Wuhan. Looking back who would have imagined the devastation that Covid 19 would have created across our world. So much pain and hurt has been seen in this past year through Covid as people mourn the death of loved ones and as people come to terms with long term illness as a result of Covid. All of us have suffered in one way or another over the past year. What has been challenging for all of us is the lack of freedom that we have experienced as our world has got smaller. Loss of freedom for many has been hard. When we look back over this Covid year we realise through the Black Lives Matter campaign that many people do not have freedom because of the colour of their skin. Next Monday in the United States is Martin Luther King Day. It is a holiday and the day celebrates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Martin Luther King Day is a tribute to King for his non-violent protest for social justice and civil rights for black people. Throughout our world people are oppressed and lack freedom. Many live under unjust regimes, many live on less than five dollars a day, many are persecuted because of their race and religion. Remembering Martin Luther King gives us the hope of a better world: a world of peace, a world of justice, a world of respect for all, a world of non-violent protest. So as we wait in lockdown for our freedom to return, it is worth pausing and taking time out to remember those for whom freedom may never come, and to give thanks for all who work for freedom and justice. Dean Sue While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. One of the Micah principles is to love kindness (in some translations of the Micah 6.8 verse this is mercy). Kindness has become even more crucial to our all of lives during the last 12 months - Indeed kindness has become the glue that has held community together, kindness has given us opportunities to reach out and kindness has enabled us to become close to people even when we can’t hug or hold hands. Covid may have separated us physically but kindness has brought us together to speak out for those who cannot speak and defend the rights of those who are in particular need. During the winter The Cathedral social justice charity Micah https://micahliverpool.com/ has worked with another charity called Together Liverpool https://togetherliverpool.org.uk/ (this is a diocese wide charity that shares similar principles and has begun a project called the Network of Kindness). For both Micah and Together Liverpool Kindness is not just about being nice – kindness is about how we engage in social action in ways that are ethical, generous, compassionate and caring. One of the ways Micah and Together Liverpool are sharing kindness is through the Winter Boost project that has been funded through Feeding Liverpool http://www.feedingliverpool.org/ . This project enables various foodbanks to recieve a supply of fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the winter. We have also been able to purchase a van – we have named the van Terri the Transit. Terri is a shared resource for Together Liverpool and Micah and other charities to use to ensure fresh food is collected, shared and delivered across the city. If you see Terri the white transit van parked in the cathedral carpark or driving around the city delivering fruit and veg (we are awaiting logos for the van so you’ll soon be able to spot it more easily) please do take this as an opportunity to pray for the work of Micah and Together Liverpool. If you’d like to support either of these charities please do get in touch with me: [email protected]. I pray that 2021 will be a year filled with kindness. Canon Ellen While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. Today is the First Sunday of Epiphany when the Church is celebrating the Baptism of Christ. The Gospel reading today is Mark’s account of the Baptism of Jesus. In this account, Mark presents John dressed like Elijah in the Old Testament. Dressed like this, John’s vocation is to anoint Jesus as God’s Messiah. The Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ means the ‘anointed one’, ‘the King’. For Jesus, John’s anointing is confirmed by ‘the Spirit descending like a dove’ and by the divine voice. The words ‘You are my son’ echo Psalm 2, a Psalm used to celebrate the anointing of the king. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of coronation. In his baptism Jesus was anointed to reign over God’s people. In today’s picture from his book, Water, Teddy Horsley is looking at the baptism window in his church where John the Baptist is anointing Jesus and the Spirit is descending on him like a dove. Next Sunday, the Second Sunday of Epiphany, the Gospel reading from the beginning of John’s Gospel pictures Jesus as the link between heaven and earth. The image to help us prepare for that reading is ladders. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to [email protected]. To find about more about Teddy Horsley’s book, Water, as well as other Teddy Horsley adventures, check out his page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html, or his own website here: https://teddyhorsley.org/. We warmly invite you to join us in worship today here: Teddy sends his Sunday greetings to all. Canon Leslie When the first lockdown began last March, I had little or no experience of ‘blogging’. I had never written such a thing, and had only ever glanced at one or two I happened to come across through the Internet. Dean Sue suggested that we clergy might produce one each day on ‘Prayer for Liverpool,’ and I agreed to cover Thursdays each week. I might have shown a bit more reluctance had I realised how long all this was going to last! Thursdays started to come round all too frequently. We should not look for a reward, but there was one of sorts. All sorts of people got in touch, by email, text or in person, to say how much they appreciated what each of us wrote. The blogs clearly touched people quite deeply and were valued by many of those who sought out ‘Prayer for Liverpool’ at a time when many were longing to find comfort and hope, just to keep going. Looking back, the blog I shall treasure is the very first one, entitled ‘Stones crying out.’ It came to me as I took my daily exercise along Upper Parliament Street and Hope Street and back again. There stood the Cathedral, silent and still, in a city which was also as silent as I have ever known it. There was little or no traffic, and in those earliest days of lockdown, hardly anyone on foot. Canon Neal was able to take delight in all the sight and sounds of nature as Spring unfolded. I merely felt the silence all around. I write this on the day after the Prime Minister told us for the third time of asking that we must stay at home. While there are very good reasons for this, in order to save lives and preserve the life and work of NHS, I wondered if it might lead to the same dark depression, and for some, despair, which was felt by many last March. Thankfully, the roll-out of vaccines, delivered to us with incredible speed, points in a different direction, and, although the time scale must remain uncertain, it allows us to hope for the future, which as people of faith, we trust that God longs for people to share. Those of us whose privilege it is to worship within the walls of our great Cathedral church will continue to pray each day that God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and no longer a distant dream, that ‘there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ (Revelation 21) Canon Myles While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. This time last year I had never contemplated writing anything that could even loosely be described as a ‘Blog’ any more than I could have guessed that I would have become competent at ‘live – streaming’ Morning Prayer from the Lady Chapel! Blog wise I have done a little research and discovered that this is my eighteenth and as is traditional at this time I am going to take the opportunity of reviewing this last remarkable year. Pauline and I are still walking which, if I am honest, has become something of an obsession. We have averaged over thirty miles a week for the last ten months adding up to more than 1,200 miles which means we soon could make Paris and back! In the summer I grumbled that during our walks we had to negotiate joggers and cyclists little knowing that the real enemy would be electric scooters. In an early blog I paid tribute to members of the Diocesan cricket team of the 1980s and 90s. Sadly old age and illness have continued to take their toll in 2020 notably with the death of Jonathan Anders. Jonathon was a great supporter of the team in many ways not least when he and Elsie opened up St Anne’s vicarage as a venue for our annual dinners. He was a fine and gentle vicar and an outstanding Christian man. Throughout last year the need for calm and clear leadership of diocese and cathedral could not have been more important or challenging. I believe that in Liverpool we could not have been better served. Our Cathedral building, subject to changing rules and regulations has continued to inspire and stands as a symbol of hope. The intimate Ordination Services in September will live long in the memory as will the recent Christmas ones as we have worshipped together in greater numbers. On a personal note we acquired yet another grandchild in October which meant that on Christmas Day in 10 Lady Chapel Close there were (legally!) six adults and four children the eldest of whom was three! Thankfully Santa saw the sign and stopped. All of the above seems to indicate that there are reasons to be thankful as well to lament and there is no doubt that the memories we have will in some ways shape the way we approach the future. In an earlier blog I disclosed that Myles and I attended the same school and so we have known each other in one way or another for over fifty years. As he retires, in my role as Chair of the House of Clergy, I would like to send him my best wishes and the thanks of hundreds of ordinands who have benefitted from his care, kindness, and support and who are now flourishing in ministry. So we stand at the beginning of another year with all its hopes and fears and I wish you all God’s blessing. Canon Bob While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. Today is the Second Sunday of Christmas and the Church is anticipating the Feast of the Epiphany, brought forward from 6 January. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the journey of the magi (the wise men) who followed from their home in the East the star that they observed at its rising. It is Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus that offers this rich tradition concerning the magi that contains many important images. One of these images is the Christmas journey. According to the tradition, the magi undertook a long and arduous journey in order to find the Christ child. The journey brought them to Jerusalem where they came face to face with King Herod, with the chief priests, and with the scribes of the people. But their journey did not end in Jerusalem. Their journey ended when the star led them to the place where they found the child for whom they were seeking. There they knelt down, paid him homage, and opened up their treasure-chests. On the Feast of the Epiphany we are invited to share in their journey. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of the Christmas journey. In today’s picture from their book, Christmas time with Teddy Horsley, Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear have followed in the footsteps of the magi to bring their treasures to place before the Christ child and to worship him. Today we are invited to join them in this act of homage. Next Sunday, the First Sunday of Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Christ. In Mark’s Gospel the Baptism of Jesus is clearly presented as his anointing. Jesus is the anointed one, the Christ, the Messiah. At his anointing the divine voice announces the words ‘You are my son’ from Psalm 2, a psalm used to celebrate the anointing of the King. The image to help us prepare for the Baptism of Jesus is coronation. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to [email protected]. To find out more about and to read Christmas Time with Teddy Horsley, please follow this link to the story on the Teddy Horsley website: https://teddyhorsley.org/other-stories/christmas-time-with-teddy-horsley. To find out about more Teddy Horsley stories, follow this link to his page on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html. We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear send their Epiphany greetings to all. Canon Leslie This last day of 2020 gives us the opportunity to reflect on the past year. You may say that we do not need to reflect as the year has been dominated by the Covid 19 pandemic. That of course is true, but while there have been significant challenges and sadness to the year, there have also been some positives, although sadly the positives get forgotten in the negatives. The leader of the Jesuit religious community, St Ignatius of Loyola, recognised this and so each evening he encouraged his followers to undertake what he called the Examen. St Ignatius thought that the Examen was a gift from God, and wanted it to be shared as widely as possible. There are five steps to the Examen: 1. Give thanks Spend a few moments in gratitude for the gifts and blessings of the day. 2. Ask for Light Ask God to enlighten you, showing where God has been at work and present in your day through events, people and places. 3. Examine the Day Review the moments of the day, noticing what led to consolation (goodness that leads to God) and what had led to desolation (not good, when we are wrapped up in ourselves) and the reactions within you to these events, people and places. 4. Seek forgiveness Ask God’s forgiveness for the times when you have acted, spoken or thought contrary to God’s Grace and calling for you. 5. Resolve to change Decide what in your behaviour or attitude you will try to improve tomorrow. (www.jesuitsinstitute.org) In the Cathedral over the past month we have been doing a form of the Examen at our weekly diary meeting so that people can see that, although a lot of what we planned was cancelled due to Covid and the restrictions placed upon us, we did so much more than we realised and that God was in all our plans. As we look over the year we have seen so much sadness with so many deaths from Covid, and so much sadness in relation to the lack of respect and human dignity towards black people and elderly people. While we rightly lament this, we have also seen the kindness of strangers as people have respond to the situation by giving selflessly of themselves as front line workers. We have also seen how humanity cares for humanity through the Black Lives Matter campaign and the raising of funds for charity. We only have to think of Sir Captain Tom, Marcus Rashford, Kevin Sinfield and hundreds of others who have raised millions of pounds to help others. As a New Year dawns, do please undertake the Ignatian Examen and reflect on where you have seen God’s hands at work in our world. Dean Sue While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. One of my favourite Christmas stories comes from Mexico. I’ve no idea if it’s true, but I so want it to be! It concerns a little girl called Pepita, who lived in a village in that country, many years ago. It was Christmas Eve, and the residents of the village were on their way to the church to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It was their tradition to place flowers at the Crib on their way into church. People would buy large and bright floral arrangements, usually spending a lot of money. But Pepita had no money at all, let alone money to spend on flowers. She was sad as she walked along the road to the church. She had nothing to lay at the Crib and offer as her ‘thank you’ to Jesus. Her brother suggested that she collect some of the weeds by the roadside – it was better than nothing. Being the middle of winter, none of the wild plants appeared to be in flower so she picked a bunch of greenery. Unbeknown to her, amongst the greenery were some stems of a plant that the Aztecs called ‘cuetlaxochitl’. It had dark green leaves and the tinest white flowers – barely visible. Pepita laid her bunch of ‘weeds’ at the Crib, trying to do it without being noticed whilst everyone else proudly placed their grand bunches of showy, colourful flowers. Then she and everyone else went into the serivce. Pepita felt better in the service, singing hymns of praise to Jesus and hearing again the wonderful story of that first Christmas. When it was time to leave the church, she noticed that a crowd of people had gathered excitedly around the Crib. They were looking at her ‘bunch of weeds’. Except that, far from being a handful of greenery, it was resplendent with colour! One of the stems of cuetlaxochitl had developed pure and bright white leaves at the top. The other had the most vivid scarlet leaves. They outshone all the other bunches of flowers. The priest proclaimed it as a miracle! He said that the white leaves were there to remind them of the star of Bethlehem and the light of the world that came to earth that first Christmas in the form of a baby. The red leaves were to represent the blood of Jesus, that he would shed at the end of his earthly life on that first Good Friday. So Pepita’s humble bunch of weeks became the most precious offering of flowers at the Crib that Christmas in Mexico. As you have probably guessed by now, the cuetlaxochitl of the Aztecs is the plant that we know as the Poinsettia. [For the horticulturally-minded among you, it is a type of Euphorbia.] As I say, I’d love that story to be true! It does, however, explain how we come to have poinsettias in many of our homes at Christmas time. In Mexico, they are known as the ‘Flores de Noche Buena’ – the ‘Flowers of Holy Night’. The story is really about love: of the love of God the Father in sending Jesus to earth to bring about his rescue plan for all humanity; of the love of Jesus in being willing to come to earth as a baby, and to die as a man so that the we could be brought back into a beautiful relationship with our Creator. It is surely also about the love of Pepita for Jesus. She brought the best that she could offer to Jesus that evening, as her way of showing her devotion and gratitude. Her loving actions blessed many other people by reminding them of the true message of Christmas. That message is love; self-giving love which flows out of the love of God, when we respond in adoration and worship and then allow that love to move us in action to pass it on to others. What we may regard as the ‘weeds’ of our life can, when offered whole-heartedly to God, be taken by him and transformed into something that makes a real difference. At Liverpool Cathedral, we seek above all things to allow people to encounter the God who knows them and loves them. And to give them space to respond to his love in whatever way seems appropriate and right to them. As we come to the end of this year of very alien experiences and emotions, that vision has not dimmed. The desire for all of us to encounter God’s love is still there, front and centre, through crises caused by a global pandemic, and in the good times too. It will be a vision which will carry us on into 2021, whatever that may bring. In the meantime, why not take a few moments to gaze at a poinsettia, either in the picture or at a real plant if you have one in your home, and to give thanks for the ‘Flores de Noche Buena’?! Canon Neal While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. Today is both the First Sunday of Christmas and the Feast of John, Apostle and Evangelist. The Gospel reading at today’s service for the Feast of John is taken from the very last verses of John’s Gospel (John 21: 19b-end) that speaks of ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. The background to today’s service is also shaped by the Gospel for Christmas Day, Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus that gives prominence to the shepherds. The birth of Jesus went neither unnoticed nor uncelebrated, because the shepherds were there to pay homage. In the Christmas tradition, the shepherds have come to represent the ordinary people of first century Palestine, people whose lives the Saviour was born to change. For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for the service on Christmas Day and for the service on the First Sunday of Christmas, I invited you to focus on the image of the shepherds. As we place the shepherds around the manger and around the Christ child in our own homes, we see ourselves standing there among the shepherds, having travelled with them to Bethlehem and with the song of the heavenly host, praising God, ringing in our ears: Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom God favours! In today’s picture, from their book Christmas crib service, Aled and Sian have brought their sheep with them to Bethlehem to worship the Christ child. Next week on the Second Sunday of Christmas we are anticipating the Feast of the Epiphany. It is Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus that draws the magi (often translated as the wise men) to worship the Christ child. The image to help us prepare for the Feast of the Epiphany this year is Christmas journey. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to [email protected]. To find out more about Christmas Crib Service and other adventures with Aled and Sian, please visit the following page of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/christianspecialplaces.html. We warmly invite you to join us in worship with our service for Christmas Day: Aled and Sian send their Christmas greetings to all. Canon Leslie |
supporting you during these uncertain times AuthorLiverpool Cathedral is a place of encounter. Built by the people, for the people, to the Glory of God Archives
September 2022
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Prayer for Liverpool
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Liverpool Cathedral is a place of encounter.
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