The Trinity St Mary Abbots 180508

The Trinity
In the Bible

The Word of God has always been!
190 AD Clement Of Alexandria "When [John] says:
'What was from the beginning [1 John 1:1],' he touches upon the generation without beginning of the Son, who is co-equal with the Father. 'Was,' therefore, is indicative of an eternity without a beginning, just as the Word Himself, that is the Son, being one with the Father in regard to equality of substance, is eternal and uncreated. That the word always existed is signified by the saying: 'In the beginning was the Word'

In Our Prayers

Many of the Prayers since Pentecost are prayers of the Trinity
Orthdodox
ONE God: Three persons
Bishop Tom Wright
We are called to hold firm to trinitarian monotheism in the face of neopaganism, and thus to become the people through whom the one God makes his love, holiness, healing, and justice known in his world. If the love of God is our message, the love of God must also be our breath of life. Prayer such as this can become a means to this end, equipping the renewed church to face the new God-given tasks.

In the Sacraments

Baptism - -Love of the Father, Blessing of the Son, Work of the Spirit
Eucharist


In Our Lives

The doctrine of the Trinity is the affirmation that self-giving is characteristic of Being, that mutuality of self-giving love belongs to God’s perfection and the self giving of God towards his creatures is possible because of the glory which the Father has with the Son in the love of the Spirit eternally
Michael Ramsey

20th April StMA Retrospective Texts

Evening address on John 5

Looking at how the scriptures change in light of the resurrection.

Thought for the Day 19th April

Copyright BBC

TFTD 19th March
Pope Visit
Rob Marshall

Good morning
After listening intently to Pope Benedict XVI’s first speech on US soil this week, Mr.Bush, unaware that a TV microphone would catch what he said, warmly congratulated the Pope on his awesome speech. The relaxed exchange has set the tone for a significant visit.

A Papal visit of the kind we are currently observing in the United States is unusual because it is attracting a level of analysis and comment which is out of sink with the media’s usual claim that whilst faith is of great interest to many people – organised religion and Mass attendance is on the wane.

But here we have the direct successor of St Peter, flying from city to city, riding in a pope mobile, attracting huge crowds and filling baseball stadiums; he has held talks with business and community leaders and was at the United Nations in New York yesterday.

Several newspaper columnists have got my goat in recent days writing sulkily that only America could greet a Pope in this way – doing justice in their writing neither to the office of Pope nor to the integrity of the American people.

When John Paul II came to the United Kingdom several decades ago, I went to one of the open air masses and it really was quite extraordinary to behold: why, I asked myself, could the church not learn something quite basic from this excitement – this sense of a great event.?

But the one thing which will be remembered above all after the visit of this very different Pope to the United States is the simple word “sorry”. The Holy Father recognised that there was no way he could celebrate the essence of his own faith amongst new friends without first offering a deep and profound apology for previous wrongs- and particularly to the victims of terrible abuse by representatives of his own church in former times.

The protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults is now a massive priority for any organisation working with and for them. And whilst the putting in place of stringent measures to protect children in the future is admirable – we cannot forget those who have suffered terribly in the past and who still bear the scares of previous wrongdoing.

By saying sorry so openly and unequivocally, Pope Benedict’s confession and appeal for forgiveness has obviously rallied many Americans behind him and given millions of Christians a basic reminder of how true repentance can lead to a fresh start. There’s no room for complacency but there’s certainly an opportunity to live out perhaps the most famous prayer of all: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those have trespassed against us.

Thought For The Day: Radio 4 12th April

Copyright - BBC

12th April 2008
Rob Marshall.
Good morning.
The price of wheat has doubled in the past year. The price of rice has risen an astonishing 75% in the last two months.

People are drawing a connection between affordable food and social stability. Food riots have already broken out in Haiti, India and Mexico. There are chronic food shortages in many countries.

The President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick (Zellick), says that “while many worry about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs.” The fight against poverty has been put back 7 years.

Assessing Britain’s economic downturn against an international backdrop of widespread hunger and malnutrition is both sobering and challenging. Can it really be true that we actually throw away one third of the food we purchase every week – mainly because we buy too much in the first place and then let it go out of date?

I felt appalled by this statistic. I next opened my fridge in shame. Realising that I really was seduced by elaborate packaging, special offers and was locked into a culture of purchasing without thought which suddenly seemed enormously naive – yes, even disgraceful.
In the Old Testament, a famine is always a suggestion that things are not right in creation: that imbalances need to be sorted out. Faith responds by focussing on the common good rather than on individual greed; on the will of God rather than the priorities of wayward humanity.

James Martin, in his recent book, The Meaning of the 21st Century, urges political and financial initiatives to build up food reserves to tide populations over during dry and difficult spells. This, he refers to, as food security.

Achieving food security on a global scale can be tackled at many different but equally important levels. It starts, of course, with an individual acknowledgement that this is a serious issue which we should all be aware of and respond to accordingly.

As the World Bank and the IMF meet in Washington this weekend, there’s an urgency in finding the political and financial will to deal with the escalating numbers hungry people and the misery of poor.

In about the 8th Century BC, the prophet Isaiah surveyed the miserable imbalances in society and conveyed God’s message which is just as appropriate today: “What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the face of the poor?” It remains a fair question.

Never Forget - The Musical : Wimbledon Theatre

Yes - I went!

Can't quite believe it.

On it's way into the West End this exhuberant, brilliant night out has all the ingredients of naffness and energy which goes to make a completely harmless and thoroughly enjoyable evening!

Relight my fire! :)

Small Change by Peter Gill

First visit to the Donmar Warehouse for quite a few years to see the very first night of their newest production - Small Change, by Peter Gill.

The story of two mothers and two sons with the inevitable often conflicting themes of childhood, marriage, boredom, frustration, homosexuality and the "unsaid".

Sue Johnstone, whose decade in Brookside and amazing performances in the Royal Family and too many TV productions to mention gives the evening focus and purpose. Her confidence and experience add authority to an otherwise slightly light evening.

There are few surprises and a sense of "these themes have been tackled so many times that nothing new has really been added here" but Johnstone's immense talent redeem the journey home.

St Mary Abbots 6th April I Corinthians 3

Marvellous passage.

Paul tells the Christian body to stick together and not to be divided.

One body. One Church. Force of the Resurrection.

Reminds us
the foundation stone is Jesus himself

We need to build something strong and resilient on that foundation.

We are God's temple - sanctuary - God dwells in us.

Ours is a God of resurrection.