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Looking to the gospel’s centre
Looking to the gospel’s centre
by Andrew Pratt
Looking to the gospel’s centre, put away all selfish pride, knowing love is God's whole answer for the ones we would deride. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: MERTON (Monk), ALL FOR JESUS Metre: 8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 11/8/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.s…
Persistent God, your gracious understanding
Persistent God, your gracious understanding
by Andrew Pratt
Persistent God, your gracious understanding returns the love that often we with-hold. When met with our resistance and denial you greet with peace and draw us from the cold. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: HIGHWOOD; INTERCESSOR Metre: 11.10.11.10 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 27/3/2…
Questions whirling wind around us
Questions whirling wind around us
by Andrew Pratt
Questions, whirling wind around us, probe, disturb, unsettle thought; undermine secure perception that our simple faith has caught. Verses 2-3 follow © Andrew Pratt 18/9/2012 Tune: COME REJOICE (Noel Tredinnick, Jubilate Hymns); LAUS DEO (Redhead) Metre: 8.7.8.7 Please include on…
Where the spirit wafts or blows
Where the spirit wafts or blows
by Andrew Pratt
Where the spirit wafts or blows we will never know, sometimes we will see the signs, let the spirit grow. Yet we never have control, God will make the choice, where to rest, or when to move, give the Word a voice. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: TAKE THIS MOMENT; ST AIDAN (Popple) Metre:…
Great Christian Thinkers - 26 St. Leo The Great
Great Christian Thinkers - 26 St. Leo The Great
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Leo The Great Continuing our journey through the Fathers of the Church, true stars that shine in the distance, we next encounter a pope who, in 1754, Benedict XIV proclaimed a Doctor of the Church: St. Leo the Great. As the nickname soon attributed to him by tradition suggest…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 10 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 10 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 10 Isaiah 55.10–13 Romans 8.1–11 Matthew 13.1–9, 18–23 Why is God so profligate? With the second half of today’s reading from Matthew, the emphasis switches from God’s action to our response; but the first half of the story is …
John The People's Commentary - Destroy This Temple
John The People's Commentary - Destroy This Temple
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
Destroy This Temple It is not only in his placing of the temple incident at the start of Jesus’ ministry that John differs from the other gospels. He also has this story concerning a saying of Jesus about the destruction of the temple…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Story of Vashti
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Story of Vashti
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Story of Vashti The first female character the book of Esther introduces is Vashti the queen, the wife of Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus summons her to appear before his court in the midst of a wild drinking party, in order that he may show off her beauty…
journeying with John - 3 Lent
journeying with John - 3 Lent
by SPCK - Woodward, Gooder and Pryce
3 Lent JOURNEYING WITH JOHN John’s Gospel differs from the other three Gospels in many ways, but in terms of style one of the most striking differences is the inclusion of what scholars call ‘discourses’, which are lengthy or formal discussions of a subject…
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 14 Essay 2 Sex (cntd)
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - 14 Essay 2 Sex (cntd)
by SPCK-Kenneth E. Bailey
Essay 2 Sex The structure of this apostolic homily is similar to the homily that precedes it in 4:8-16. The one structural difference is that in the previous homily the stand-alone cameo is at the end. Here it is in the beginning. Otherwise the two homilies have the same structur…
Echoing the Word - Prayers at the preparation of the table
Echoing the Word - Prayers at the preparation of the table
by SPCK - Paula Gooder & Michael Perham
4 Prayers at the preparation of the table Are there suitable words that help prepare the worshipper for the great Eucharistic Prayer? The pre-Reformation Church thought so and provided prayers that spoke of offering. The Reformation swept these away and instead gave Bible sentenc…
Prayer/Reflection: Of whom shall I be afraid?
Prayer/Reflection: Of whom shall I be afraid?
by Marjorie Dobson
Prayer/Reflection: Of whom shall I be afraid? ‘The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? Tell that to the sufferers of domestic violence; to the children neglected or abused; to the women raped by men with guns; to the families left homeless by floods; to…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Sixth Sunday of Easter Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Sixth Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Sixth Sunday of Easter John 15:9-17 Gaze on a page of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from around ad 800; study the Celtic knots and intricate spirals that adorn it. See the way the threads twist and loop together without end or beginning, how hard it is to unrav…
Great Christian Thinkers - 33 St. Isidore of Seville
Great Christian Thinkers - 33 St. Isidore of Seville
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Isidore of Seville Saint Isidore of Seville was a younger brother of Leander, archbishop of Seville, and a great friend of Pope Gregory the Great. Pointing this out is important because it enables us to bear in mind a cultural and spiritual approach that is indispensable for …
Great Christian Thinkers - 47 St. Anselm
Great Christian Thinkers - 47 St. Anselm
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Anselm The Benedictine abbey of Sant’Anselmo (St. Anselm) is located on the Aventine Hill in Rome. As the headquarters of an academic institute of higher studies and of the abbot primate of the Confederated Benedictines, it is a place that unites within it prayer, study, and …
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 8c Local and global initiatives
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 8c Local and global initiatives
by SPCK - Sebastian C.H. Kim and Jonathan Draper
Local and global initiatives But like all apocalyptic visions, painting this picture, which depicts a real threat, undermines the need to create a different future. There are new technologies that can help to make that different future possible. Denmark already gets 20 per cent o…
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 8b Changing contexts