This is for the whole Parish to read and use. Please let me know if you'd like to be a contributor.

The Beatitudes

01-11-2019, 07:31beatitudes, WitnessPermalink

Matthew 5: 1-12

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill.  There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. 

Then he began to speak.  This is what he taught them:

‘How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

'Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage. 

'Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted. 

'Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied. 

'Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. 

'Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God. 

'Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God. 

'Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

'Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.’

St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

Remember the Poor

29-09-2019, 08:09blessings, poor, WitnessPermalink
Luke 16:19-31
 
In the developing world our brothers and sisters have immense needs.  Jesus came to “preach the good news to the poor” (cf Matthew 11:5, Luke 7:22).  How can we fail to lay greater emphasis on the Church’s preferential option for the poor and the outcast?
 
Indeed, it has to be said that a commitment to justice and peace in a world like ours, marked by so many conflicts and economic inequalities, compels us to raise our voice on behalf of the poor.  
 
Thus, in the spirit of the book of Leviticus (25:8-12), we should out loud on behalf of all the poor of the world.
 
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

The Faith of the Centurion

17-09-2019, 07:24faith, healing, WitnessPermalink
Luke 7:11-17
 
Some of the most powerful and moving things Jesus said were connected with grief and loss.  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”. (Matt. 5:4).  When faced with the grief of Mary and Martha, John informs us that “Jesus wept”.  
 
How moving it must have been to see Jesus, himself the Resurrection and the Life, weep freely and openly (John 11:35).  We meet the same heartfelt and profoundly compassionate response in today’s encounter with the widow: “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and she said, 'Don’t cry’ “ (v. 13 NIV).  His reaction teaches ius that Gpd’s heart is full of kindness and compassion for the human condition and predicament.
 
Grief strips us bare, but God is close to all those who have suffered loss, who are broken-hearted and grief-stricken.
 
Lord, your kindness, mercy and compassion are deeper thant the ocean, wider than the sea and extend from heaven to earth.
 
 
 
 
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

Love – Do good – Give

13-09-2019, 07:17forgiveness, love, WitnessPermalink
Luke 6:39-42
 
Love, do good, give; the moral and ethical teaching of Jesus can be summed up in these four words.
 
The Church draws on thousands of years of teaching and human experience, much of it rooted in the dark alleys of confusion, darkness and sinfulness of its sons and daughters, clergy and lay people alike.  
 
But the wisdom of the Church resides first in the wisdom of Christ.  She is wise because Christ is wise; we are wise because Christ is wise.  True wisdom is learning daily to live life in the Spirit, learning to listen to the Spirit and to give witness to the fruits and gifts of the Spirit.
 
In the midst of this endeavour we must live alongside people and learn to relate to them.  The Christian faith should help us to master living alongside our fellows in fraternal love and affection.  We learn not to judge others but to be quicker to judge ourselves.
 
”If you judge other people you have no time to love them.”  St Mother Teresa of Calcutta
 
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

How and Whom we should Love

12-09-2019, 07:15love, WitnessPermalink
Luke 6:27-38
 
The Greeks had four forms of love, according to C S Lewis (The Four Loves); of these agape love is the most challenging, perhaps.  To get to grips with agape  love, pray and reflect on today’s Gospel.  
 
Jesus tells us that it it not those who are good to us whom we should love, but those who take active steps to do us harm: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (vv 27-28).  
 
We are called to love our enemies and those for whom we have no natural liking.  Think about someone whom you cannot stand and reflect on the truth that this is exactly the person whom Jesus is call you to love, to do good for, bless and pray for.
 
This is hard teaching, but it is clear and unambiguous from Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus’s love is the sort of love that transforms the world, as well as our lives.
 
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

God's ways, not ours. His will, not mine

21-08-2019, 07:01parable, WitnessPermalink
Matthew 20:1-16
 
The point of today’s parable is that in the kingdom the blessings and rewards of God are received out of God’s goodness and love, not on the basis of our merit or the length of our service.  Many years ago St Teresa of Avila wisely commented: :We should forget the number of years we have served him.  The  more we serve him, the more deeply we fall in his debt."
 
God’s ways – the way he thinks, the way he acts, the way he moves – are so different from our ways.  God allows his sun to shine on both the righteous and the unrighteous, and we impose our own thinking on God’s kingdom at our peril.  
 
Remember that the poor thief crucified alongside Jesus, who, it is fair to assume, had not lived a very good life, was promised paradise on that very day.  We must resist limiting God’s work or actions and insisting on our view of the world, of people or of situations.
 
God sees what we do not see and his goodness and mercy have no bounds.
 
Lord please help us not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we will be able to discover your good, pleasing and perfect will.
 
Chris

 
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

What must I do, Jesus?

19-08-2019, 07:41God, living, WitnessPermalink
Matthew 19:16-22
 
Faith is an action word.  As James writes of Abraham, “Faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works.” (Jas. 2:22).  Jesus’s prescription to the young man, “go, sell . . . give,” paves the way for what comes: entering into and enjoying a continuing love-relationship with Jesus.  
 
For the young man, wealth was a barrier to surrender; for us the barrier may be something else: fame, comfort, pleasure, approval . . . Let’s ask, as the young man did:”Lord, what must I do?"
 
What we do with Jesus’s reply determines whether we go away sorrowful or stand rejoicing.
 
"All to Jesus, I surrender,
All to him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live."
(Weeden and Van DeWinter)
 
Chris

(from Bible Alive)
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

Avoid our hearts becoming hardened

20-07-2019, 10:02love, prophesy, WitnessPermalink
Matthew 12:14-21
 
Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved, the favourite of my soul. 
I will endow him with my spirit,
and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations. 
He will not brawl or shout,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 
He will not break the crushed reed,
nor put out the smouldering wick
till he has led the truth to victory:
in his name the nations will put their hope.
 
Isaiah 42:1-4
 
One of the ways that we can guard against our hearts becoming hard is by reading the Scriptures with the focused aim of drawing from them a deeper insight into the mystery of Christ.  This is what Matthew was doing in today’s reading: he was drawing deeper insight from the writing of the prophet Isaiah.  He saw that Jesus was latent in the Old Testament and was able to recognise those Scriptures which testified about him (as above).
 
Chris

(from Bible Alive)
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

Evangelise

09-07-2019, 06:18gospel, WitnessPermalink
Matthew 9:32-38
 
The Gospel is essentially a message, the kerygma.  It involves us witnessing to the truth that Jesus, who suffered, died and rose again from the dead, is the Lord of history and the Lord of our lives; and that in believing in him and accepting his lordship we are born again, and through baptism we enter into Christian life.
 
The Lord wants to equip us to be effective workers in the harvest field so that we can have the freedom and the confidence to lead others to Christ.
 
Lord, teach me not to be afraid to witness to my faith.  Teach me never to be ashamed of the Gospel but to be proud of the message which can transform not only people’s lives but the whole of culture, society and the world.
 
Chris

(from Bible Alive)
St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments

Collaboration

06-07-2019, 15:11church, disciples, WitnessPermalink

Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Earlier, in Luke’s Gospel Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to heal disease and teach about God’s kingdom. Here he sends out a much larger group, ahead of Himself in pairs to every town and place He himself intended to grow. Being sent in pairs reminds us of the value of team work . In order for communities to grow and flourish the gifts of many are needed. Synergy is needed. This happens when individual talents and harvested and aligned as in the beauty of a choir singing in perfect harmony, or a sports team at the peak of their performance.

Synergy is like a power of the Spirit that rewards collaborative efforts. It is when we can dream and strive for the possibility of things before they happen. Synergy promotes collaboration, not competition or exclusion.

Jesus gathered his followers around him, men and women, who were enthused by his vision. He sends his followers out in pairs so that they can support each other. In all our different roles we too are sent out ahead of him as parents, ministers of various kinds, politicians, educators, social workers, nurses.....

In any team, a parish council, a ministry group, a choir we need a kind of synergy. We are all responsible for our Church, not just a select few. We all have different roles to play, we all have responsibilities. When we promote collaborative teams and strive for synergy, we embrace each others' stories and work for the common good. Then exciting things are possible.

Jane Mellett

St Peter's Parish, Biggleswade
Comments
RSS Feed 

This site uses cookies. Some of the cookies we use are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but parts of the site may not work. To find out more about cookies on this website, see our Privacy Policy.