Once again a service to say at home for those of you preferring still to worship using our website. This one a \u2018special\u2019 for Fathers\u2019 Day, whether we remember with love our own fathers or want to concentrate on the fatherly (motherly?) love of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With every blessing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary Tucker<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opening Litany<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the beginning God made the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n Made it and mothered it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shaped it and fathered it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Filled it with seeds and signs of fertility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Filled it with love and its folk with ability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All that is green, blue, deep and growing<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s is the h<\/strong>a<\/strong>nd th<\/strong>a<\/strong>t cre<\/strong>a<\/strong>ted you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All that is tender, firm, fragrant and curious<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s is the h<\/strong>a<\/strong>nd th<\/strong>a<\/strong>t cre<\/strong>a<\/strong>ted you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All that crawls, flies, swims, walks or is motionless<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s is the h<\/strong>a<\/strong>nd th<\/strong>a<\/strong>t cre<\/strong>a<\/strong>ted you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All that speaks, sighs, cries, laughs or keeps silent<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s is the h<\/strong>a<\/strong>nd th<\/strong>a<\/strong>t cre<\/strong>a<\/strong>ted you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All that suffers, lacks, limps or longs for an end<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s is the h<\/strong>a<\/strong>nd th<\/strong>a<\/strong>t cre<\/strong>a<\/strong>ted you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The world belongs to the Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n The earth and all its people are his<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Prayer of <\/strong>A<\/strong>pproach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the world began when everything was shapeless you were there<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hovering over chaos<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planning the texture, the taste, the sight and the sound of things<\/p>\n\n\n\n Balancing the opposites<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weaving the rainbow<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning the random into the real<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And for this we pr<\/strong>a<\/strong>ise you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we began when in the womb, we were shapeless<\/p>\n\n\n\n You were there<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calling us your own<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planning the nature and novelty in us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weaning our potentials<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making us unique<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning the random into the real<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And for this we pr<\/strong>a<\/strong>ise you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And even now when we dream dreams<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or puzzle over the future<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, when our ideals are challenged<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the second best becomes attractive<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are there<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upsetting our easiness<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contradicting our compromises<\/p>\n\n\n\n Replacing our narrow vision<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the sight and sound and taste of a better life<\/p>\n\n\n\n Picking up the loose stitches of our devotion<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning the random into the real<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And for this we pr<\/strong>a<\/strong>ise you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And it always will be so<\/p>\n\n\n\n For you did not say you were the answer<\/p>\n\n\n\n You said you were the way<\/p>\n\n\n\n You did not ask us to succeed<\/p>\n\n\n\n You asked us to be faithful<\/p>\n\n\n\n You did not promise us paradise tomorrow<\/p>\n\n\n\n You said you would be with us to the end of the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning the random into the real<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And for this we pr<\/strong>a<\/strong>ise you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now and for ever<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Word of God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Readings from the 15th<\/sup> chapter of Luke and the 4th<\/sup> chapter of Mark<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Parable of the Lost Son<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 11 <\/strong><\/sup>Jesus continued: \u201cThere was a man who had two sons. 12 <\/strong><\/sup>The younger one said to his father, \u2018Father, give me my share of the estate.\u2019 So he divided his property between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13 <\/strong><\/sup>\u201cNot long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 <\/strong><\/sup>After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 <\/strong><\/sup>So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 <\/strong><\/sup>He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17 <\/strong><\/sup>\u201cWhen he came to his senses, he said, \u2018How many of my father\u2019s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 <\/strong><\/sup>I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 <\/strong><\/sup>I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.\u2019 20 <\/strong><\/sup>So he got up and went to his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus Calms the Storm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 35 <\/strong><\/sup>That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, \u201cLet us go over to the other side.\u201d 36 <\/strong><\/sup>Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 <\/strong><\/sup>A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 <\/strong><\/sup>Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, \u201cTeacher, don\u2019t you care if we drown?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 39 <\/strong><\/sup>He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, \u201cQuiet! Be still!\u201d Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 40 <\/strong><\/sup>He said to his disciples, \u201cWhy are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 41 <\/strong><\/sup>They were terrified and asked each other, \u201cWho is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thoughts on the Word of God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first of our readings today is part of one of the most famous of Jesus\u2019 parables commonly known as \u2018The Prodigal Son\u2019 but one I think would be more appropriately titled, \u2018The Unconditionally Loving Father\u2019 and this of course makes it particularly appropriate for today, not only because we are celebrating the best of human fatherhood but also because this is a parable where Jesus explains to us, in the simplest of terms, what our Father, God, is like. In fact I would go so far as to say that it is only with this picture of God in our mind that we can make sense of our faith – for it is the story of an unconditionally loving father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The picture of God it gives us is of one who welcomes us in whatever we have done, is waiting for us, arms outstretched, not even letting us say the words we\u2019ve prepared about how unworthy we are, but who grabs us, embraces us, kisses us and before we can even raise our worried eyes to his welcomes us into the rooms prepared for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now some of us, many of us I hope, will have had experience of a loving father, husband, brother, friend, and the best of them will have offered (as well as they could being only human) unconditional love. Unconditional love, not depending on what people deserve but freely given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem of belief in an unseen God is that we need help to understand what this person, spirit, being, is like. Jesus was well aware of our difficulty. He knows how hard it is to believe things that cannot be seen or proved, how difficult it is just to have faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One way he helped the people of his day was through stories like this the most famous of his parables. The picture it gives us of the character of God is of a God looking out for us from the roof top, waiting for us and finally gathering us in, even though we may not feel we deserve it, because he loves us –<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unconditionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However whilst we can begin to accept this as a picture of God, down here in the real world as we live it every day it can be tough being a parent or a carer or a grandparent. And the unconditional love, that ideal to which we can aspire, may be a challenge even in the most well-regulated of families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There must have been some of us who, whilst we accepted gladly this parable\u2019s truth as a picture of<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s fatherhood, parenthood, felt totally inadequate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our second reading may touch another nerve and one that is particularly the preserve of men and Dads and husbands in particular. And that is the, still common, expectation that in any situation, however disastrous, difficult or dangerous, the man will sort it, the man will know what to do. He will be tough but calm and everything will be all right!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the boat on that stormy sea we see normal men, not this unrealistic macho image though they must have been physically strong and tough, they were, after all, fishermen in an age before modern the gadgetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus, of an age with many of them, possibly younger than several, had however become a father figure, one to be turned to in a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One wonders how this had come about. Though carpentry no doubt calls for good muscles and a life on the road, such as they had been living, isn\u2019t one for wimps, the picture we have painted for us of Jesus in scripture is not one of an obviously mighty hero, or not in human terms, Yet something about this man inspired confidence and meant that in the moment of greatest fear, greatest danger, it was he they turned to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their fear at the storm was a very rational fear. In that time, on that lake, in that boat, there was a very good chance that they might not make it. However their fear of the storm is not the fear that Jesus is referring to when he finally wakes, calms the sea and wind and asks them, \u201cWhy are you afraid?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the weather conditions that have just abated that would have been a foolish question. What Jesus sees now is a fear, mixed with amazement and possibly terror. The fear of men who realise, basically, that they are in a boat with God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the parable of the Son, Jesus gave them and us a helpful picture of what God is like. Now these rough fishermen are faced, not with a picture, but with the real thing. He who has seen Jesus has seen God. She who has seen the power of Jesus, who commands the very elements, has seen the sheer power of the God they worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are not surprised at their shock and fear, but with the hindsight of two millennia, we come to Jesus as a human version, picture, of what God is like and see, I hope not with fear but with joy and perhaps relief, the power at his and our disposal. His trustworthiness in every situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So – relax Dads, don\u2019t panic men, and everyone else who is put in a position of parental type care. Trust in this unconditionally loving Father, in this powerful friend and it is he who will bring us through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He does not have unrealistic expectations of our ability to be the hero in every situation but what he brings out in us may surprise us as much as it surprises anybody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prayers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Heavenly Father<\/p>\n\n\n\n You entrusted your son Jesus the child of Mary<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the care of Joseph, an earthly father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bless all fathers and step fathers as they care for their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Give them strength and wisdom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenderness and patience;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Support them in the work they do,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protecting those who look to them,<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we look to you for love and salvation<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through Jesus Christ our rock and our defender<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord hear us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord graciously hear us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We give thanks for fathers all around the world. Lord hear us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord graciously hear us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We pray especially for fathers Lord hear us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord graciously hear us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We pray, too, for fathers who cannot care for their families Lord hear us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord graciously hear us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord hear us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord graciously hear us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We pray for all who are missing Fathers today,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Particularly for those whose fathers have died<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently or long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bring comfort in loss<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joy in remembering<\/p>\n\n\n\n And healing to broken hearts<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord hear us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord graciously hear us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You who give life and give it abundantly, Amen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Closing Responses and Blessing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For all that God can do within us<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all that God can do without us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks be to God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For all in whom God lived before us<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all in whom God lives beside us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks be to God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For all the Spirit wants to bring us<\/p>\n\n\n\n For where the Spirit wants to send us<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks be to God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ has promise to be with us<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the world as in our worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the blessing of God Almighty Amen, we go to meet him.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once again a service to say at home for those of you preferring still to worship using our website. This one a \u2018special\u2019 for Fathers\u2019 Day, whether we remember with love our own fathers or want to concentrate on the fatherly (motherly?) love of God. With every blessing Mary Tucker Opening Litany In the beginning … <\/p>\n
Bless these men for their hard work, their caring,
for their generosity and their loyalty to their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
who are struggling to care for their children
because of economic or other crises.
Fathers who have been laid off, who are looking for work,
who are in despair about keeping a secure roof over their families\u2019 heads
in this country and in countries around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
because they are ill, or because they are separated from their children by marriage break up or divorce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We pray for the millions of fathers who are imprisoned,
who are immigrants, refugees or displaced persons,
who have experienced violence and are wounded, in body and soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Son of our heavenly Father,
be with all fathers this day,
and grant them your grace and your healing
so they may live out their vocation
with dignity, strength, and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Be with you all
Those you love and those you pray for
Today and for ever<\/p>\n\n\n\n