Friday, August 27, 2021

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ, 29 August 2021

 

St Barnabas Anglican Church,  Warrington, New Zealand

Pastoral Letter in time of Covid Δ

2021  29 Aug       Trinity 13



Basil Ireland died on Monday.  He lived to see, but not enjoy, the birthday he had been so looking forward to.  May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

 

By a series of unplanned events, I was able to be there.  I was in the hospital for work and should have finished about 1pm, but although everything was on schedule at 12, two things happened at once to delay it and it was 3 before I was packing up to go.  So I was still in the hospital when I got a message from Rosalie to say her dad was dying, and could I go?  I went up to the ward and the nurses didn’t hesitate in letting me in.  I sat with Basil and we said the prayers for the dying.  Sadly, Basil passed away before Carolyn got there.

 

The restrictions of lockdown are incredibly hard for families at this time.  They are separated from their loved ones, unable to grieve properly, unable to be together as family, and unable to arrange the funeral we all wish to give Basil.  My heart breaks for them.

 

Basil was one of the most remarkable people any of us will ever meet.  He has kept the grounds of St Barnabas since 1968, the year I went to high school.  It is a length and depth of service to Christ that seems to belong to a previous age.  No one else I have met has worked so long and so hard at their mission.  Basil’s life was his mission.  His Christian service wasn’t just about grounds and buildings.  I went to a number of meetings outside of St. Barnabas with Basil and while it would be fair to say, generally speaking, that I only understood a little of what Basil said, at these meetings he was always clear.  Our work is about the love of Christ, nothing else is as important.  In faith and works Basil was the most solid person you will ever meet.  Once I was walking behind him, when he stopped suddenly and walked into him.  I’m not sure he noticed.  As solid in life as in Faith.

I’ve been searching for a photo of Basil.  He appears in lots:  always in the background, except when there was work being done.  In photos, as in life.

 

Blessings and prayers for Hilary, Rosalie, Carolyn, Claire, Kieran and Casey and the greater Ireland family.

 


Readings:

Song of Sol 2:8-13

Ps 45:1-2, 6-9

James 1:17-27

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15,21-23

7  Now when the Pharisees and some of the  scribes who had come from Jerusalem  gathered around him, ² they noticed that  some of his disciples were eating with defiled  hands, that is, without washing them.  ³ (For  the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat  unless they thoroughly wash their hands,  thus observing the tradition of the elders;  ⁴ and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also  many other traditions that they observe, the  washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)  ⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him,  “Why do your disciples not lived according  to the tradition of the elders, but eat with  defiled hands?” ⁶ He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it  is written,  ‘This people honours me with their lips,  but their hearts are far from me;  ⁷ in vain do they worship me,  teaching human precepts as doctrines.’  ⁸ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” 

 

¹⁴ Then he called the crowd again and said  to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:  ¹⁵ there is nothing outside a person  that by going in can defile, but the things that  come out are what defile.” 

 

²¹ For it is from within, from the human heart,  that evil intentions come: fornication, theft,  murder,  ²² adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.  ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” 

 

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

Grace and peace to you from God.

I’ve been told the Lectionary is always appropriate to the occasion.  In these times of heightened hygiene, this is certainly topical but I wouldn’t want any of you to think that less than 20 seconds of hand washing is needed.  I find if I say the Lord’s Prayer slowly, that’s about right.  Sadly, so much of the list in verse 22 is also appropriate to our times.

 

With us all separated, and in the limbo of lockdown, I am unsure how we can best mark Basil’s passing, and our great loss.

I hope these prayers will help, until we gather, and until we can celebrate Basil’s life together.

 

Jesus said,
'I am the resurrection and the life; even in death, anyone who believes in me, will live.'
John 11:25

 

God is with us;
God's love unites us,
God's purpose steadies us,
God's Spirit comforts us.

Blessed be God forever.

 

Merciful and compassionate God, we bring you our grief in the loss of Basil and ask for courage to bear it.  We bring you our thanks for all you give us in those we love; and we bring you our prayers for peace of heart in the knowledge of your mercy and love, in Christ Jesus.
Amen.

Father of all,

We pray to you for those we love but see no longer,

We thank you for the peace and light you bestow upon them;

In your loving wisdom and almighty power

Continue to work in them

The good purpose of your perfect will,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

The Song of Simeon Nunc Dimittis

Lord now you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation:
which you have prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations:
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

 

Psalm 27
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom then shall I fear? ¤

The Lord is the strength of my life;

of whom then shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes,

came upon me to eat up my flesh, ¤

they stumbled and fell.

3 Though a host encamp against me,

my heart shall not be afraid, ¤

and though there rise up war against me,

yet will I put my trust in him.

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord

and that alone I seek: ¤

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

5 To behold the fair beauty of the Lord ¤

and to seek his will in his temple.

6 For in the day of trouble

he shall hide me in his shelter; ¤

in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me

and set me high upon a rock.

7 And now shall he lift up my head ¤

above my enemies round about me;

8 Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation

with great gladness; ¤

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

9 Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call; ¤

have mercy upon me and answer me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

 

Romans 8:31b-39

If God is for us, who is against us?  ³² He who did not withhold his own Son, but  gave him up for all of us, will he not with him  also give us everything else ? ³³ Who will bring  any charge against God’s elect?  It is God who  justifies.  ³⁴ Who is to condemn?  It is Christ  Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is  at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.  ³⁵ Who will separate us from  the love of Christ?  Will hardship, or distress,  or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or  peril, or sword?  ³⁶ As it is written,  “For your sake we are being killed all day  long;  we are accounted as sheep to be  slaughtered.”  ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor  things to come, nor powers,  ³⁹ nor height, nor  depth, nor anything else in all creation, will  be able to separate us from the love of God in  Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

We commend Basil to God, as he journeys beyond our sight.  God of all consolation, in your unending love and mercy you turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life.

Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by dying for us, conquered death,

and by rising again, restored life.

May we not be afraid of death but desire to be with Christ, and after our life on earth, to be with those we love, where every tear is wiped away and all things are made new. We ask this through Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Gathering all our prayers into one, as our Saviour has taught us, we pray

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.             Amen.

 

Now to the One who can keep us from falling and set us in the presence of the divine glory, jubilant and above reproach, to the only God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, might and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all time, now and for evermore.
Amen.

God’s blessing to you all, and to all in need at this time.

 

Jeremy

 

Rev Dr JJ Nicoll,                                            0274 361 481

Priest-in-Charge

St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

 

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