Thoughts from The Vicarage with Passiontide, palms and a prayer
Greetings in this Cheltenham week! Please find Pews News attached.
Thank you to all those who came along and helped make the Lambourn Valley Mothering Sunday posies which were gratefully received. I wonder if anyone else received the paper flower of last week – or was I the only one!
This Sunday – the fifth Sunday of Lent begins the final push towards Easter as a ‘season within a season’: Passiontide runs these next two weeks until Easter Sunday.
How has Lent been treating you? Has it been a time of learning new things about yourself and God? At this point in Lent, I think that many people get tempted to give up on the whole thing! Others may think it doesn’t make much difference anyway and carry on as normal. Whichever way we are marking it (or not) this season is moving on!
For your Passiontide diary:
March 24th Palm Sunday
9.00 Blessing of palms and Holy Communion All Saints
10.30 Blessing of palms and Eucharist St Michael & All Angels
March 25th Monday of Holy week
7.00 Said Holy Communion with reflection St Michael & All Angels
March 26th Tuesday of Holy Week
7.00 Said Holy Communion with reflection St James
March 27th Wednesday of Holy Week
7.00 Said Holy Communion with reflection All Saints
March 28th Maundy Thursday
7.00 Communion and Stripping of Altars St Michael & All Angels
March 29th Good Friday
10.00 Walk of Witness St Michael & all Angels and Stations of the Cross Sacred Heart
11.00 Veneration of the Cross
12.00 Good Friday Liturgy St James
7.30 Good Friday Concert Faure Requiem St Michael & All Angels
March 30th Holy Saturday
7.00 Easter Vigil St Michael & All Angels
March 31st Easter Day
9.00 Easter Communion East Garston
10.30 Easter Communion St Michael & All Angels
10.30 Easter Communion St James
6.30 Festal Evensong St Michael & All Angels
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday March 24th is Palm Sunday when we receive Palm crosses and hear the story of how Jesus came into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey a few days before his death. The crowds waved palms and cheered him as a king. We will act this out walking into church with palms and songs of welcome to Jesus – come and join in either in Lambourn or at East Garston!
Finally, a prayer we will use in church this Sunday:
Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do also for you:
give us the will to be the servant of others
as you were the servant of all,
and gave up your life and died for us,
but are alive and reign, now and for ever. Amen
God bless
Julie