Service at Home for Sunday 9 May 2021

Introduction

At the heart of the Gospel message is love, and our readings today celebrate the Spirit of God’s love in the Church and in the whole world.

Confession and Kyrie

Jesus tells us, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” Let us ask his mercy for the times when we have failed him.

Lord, you heal the hurt in our lives, especially the hurt of sin. Lord, have mercy.

Lord, you died for the guilty that we might live with a clear conscience. Christ, have mercy.

Lord, you raise us to new life in the Spirit. Lord, have mercy.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

Gloria in excelsis

Glory to God in the highest,

and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,

almighty God and Father,

we worship you, we give you thanks,

we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ only Son of the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God,

you take away the sin of the world:

have mercy on us;

you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,

you alone are the Lord,

you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit, 

in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Collect

God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy; through the same Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

First Reading Acts: 10:25-26. 34-35. 44-48: Christ has revealed that God’s love extends to everybody.

Psalm 98: 1-4. The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.

Second (Epistle) Reading 1 John 4:7-10: John insists that the more fully and completely we know God, the more the reality of God’s love dawns on us. We are called to love one another as God has loved us.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.’

Alleluia!

Gospel John: 15:9-17: Jesus spends his last hours with his closest companions, speaking of love – abiding in love, living each day with joy, and bearing the fruits of that love and joy.

Reflection

In today’s first reading (throughout Eastertide from Acts,)a group of Gentiles had an intense experience of being loved by God when the Holy Spirit came upon them in power, and such was their joy that they burst into praise. St. Peter and the Jewish Christians who were with him understood then that the love of God is universal, extending beyond their own nation to embrace the whole world: all of us are loved by God. For as today’s second reading from John’s first epistle tells us, God is love.

It is Jesus who makes God’s love visible and tangible because he is God. Jesus is that divine person who has assumed a human nature like ours so that through this sacred humanity God himself can love us in a way that we can see and hear and feel and touch and understand. Jesus fully reveals the extent of God’s love for us in his sacrifice on the cross which is offered for each one of us personally and individually. And we are to imitate the love of Jesus, which is the love of God, by loving one another with the same self-sacrificial love with which he loved us. Jesus says to his disciples, and that means to you and me: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down their life for their friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

The laying down of life for love, then, is the theme of today’s Gospel, also from John. In these final weeks of Eastertide we listen once again to the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Loving as Jesus loved will require sacrifice. Love is not just a sentimental, warm, fuzzy feeling: it’s a conscious decision to share ourselves with others, to give of ourselves for the sake of another, to focus our full deep attention on them.

Perhaps, most of us are not going to be challenged to lay down our lives for another, but none of us knows what lies ahead. From the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers risked their lives working on the frontline treating patients with Covid-19 and many of them did die. In the UK, and in other countries, people showed their appreciation with public displays of support for healthcare workers. But that appreciation could easily be forgotten as we move forward to a less restricted society. And as we have seen, there are those who have chosen to ignore the seriousness of the pandemic, and to risk the lives of others by their behaviour.

But we, as followers of Christ, are called to love ourselves and others outside our own circle. We are called to reflect and share the divine love by loving one another with the same self-sacrificing love with which Jesus loves us. By our own strength, of course, it is impossible. But nothing is impossible for God. Looking forward to Whitsun then, when the Holy Spirit comes he will bind us to Jesus, and empower us to live the same kind of self-sacrificing life that Jesus lived: empower us to love God and neighbour.Following his own example, Jesus taught us to reach out to those who are poor, excluded and marginalized. So we need to carry on breaking barriers to reach out to others. Jesus teaches us not just to love to those who love us, but to love our enemies too. It takes great courage and conviction to act on our understanding that we must love one another as Jesus loves us. For we are called to care for the whole human community: all things and all people are connected and united in God’s love.

Credo The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Intercession

See notice sheet + Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Covid pandemic cases and deaths vaccination programmes. Pray for India – and for those parts of our world where western Aid is being cut back as a result of the pandemic. Pray for WaterAid.

THE CHURCH The unity of all Christians. Our bishop Christopher, and Karowei, Bishop of Woolwich.

THE WORLD Members of governments in every land. Those living in the midst of war and violence, especially Myanmar All refugees and asylum seekers. NATO and the crisis for Ukraine. – Fallout from elections Scotland, Wales, And local govt in England – Future of the Union. Those who have lost their jobs and those whose jobs are at risk. - Leadership and the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland facing threats to the peace achieved by the Good Friday Agreement. All G.P.O. employees - We pray for all women affected by or lost to violence. This week: Scottish and Welsh and local govt elections.

THE PARISH AND LOCAL COMMUNITY Those working for the emergency services and all risking their lives in the service of others

THE BEREAVED, THE SICK AND THOSE IN NEED AND THE DEPARTED. see weekly sheet.

Sanctus.

Lord’s Prayer.

Agnus Dei.

Spiritual Communion

            “Spiritual Communion” is recommended at any time we cannot physically receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood. It means that God gives us the grace of the sacrament in response to our real desire to receive it. This does not mean that we can get on just as well without receiving Holy Communion, but rather, if the opportunity of receiving it is denied to us for whatever reason, God will not withhold its grace and blessing from us. Here is a form of prayer we can use.

Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits you have given me, for all the pains and insults you have borne for me. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me:

Body of Christ, save me:
Blood of Christ, invigorate me:
Water from the side of Christ, wash me:

Passion of Christ, strengthen me:

Cross of Jesus, protect me:

Good Jesu, hear me:

Within your wounds, hide me:

Never let me be separated from you:

From the deadly enemy, defend me:

In the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to you
that with all your saints I may praise you
for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer

God our Father, whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life:
may we thirst for you, the spring of life and source of goodness,
through him who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen.

Final Blessing

May God the Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life; and may almighty God bless us, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Copyright notice: As well as my own words I have drawn on material from internet sources including websites of The Church of England and The Dominican Friars, electronic sources including those of Redemptorist Publications, and on printed sources including Days of the Lord The Liturgical Press, Minnesota and This is the word of the Lord Bible Reading Fellowship . Some Copyright material is included from Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000) and The Christian Year: Calendar, Lectionary and Collects(1997, 1998, 1999) copyright © The Archbishops’ Council.