Christ
Church Anglican Church Woodburn
1307
Woodburn Rd.,
Hannon,
On.
L0R
1P0
Phone
905 692 3781
Reverend
Trev Jones 289 649 0309
revtrev.jones@gmail.com
Greetings.
Please use the following for personal worship, as desired.
It has been suggested that we all try to begin our
reading and consideration of this abbreviated form of service, Sunday at 10.00
am. We will then be Christ Church together in prayer.
If you are not too far away, you may hear our bells
rung at 10.00 am.
In normal times we have met in the Parish Hall,
where we have received our palms had them blessed and a prayer, and have processed
from the hall singing the hymn Ride on Ride on in Majesty and
into church proper.
A bit of a challenge has arisen in that by
processing into church in this way you may not get the seat where you usually
sit.
And that’s not so bad, since we do need to get out
of our comfort zone sometimes, and the more often, the better.
The following is an attempt to try and kindle some
of the sense of Palm Sunday in our home.
Palm Sunday:
Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest
Dear
friends in Christ,
during
Lent we have been preparing
for
the celebration of our Lord’s paschal mystery.
On
this day our Lord Jesus Christ
entered
the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph.
The
people welcomed him with palms and shouts of praise,
but
the path before him led to self-giving, suffering, and death.
Today
we greet him as our King,
although
we know his crown is thorns and his throne a cross.
We
follow him this week from the glory of the palms
to
the glory of the resurrection
by
way of the dark road of suffering and death.
United
with him in his suffering on the cross,
may
we share his resurrection and new life.
Matthew 21:1-11
21:1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had
reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
21:2 saying to them, “Go into the village
ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her;
untie them and bring them to me.
21:3 If anyone says anything to you, just say
this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.”
21:4 This took place to fulfill what had been
spoken through the prophet, saying,
21:5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look,
your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the
foal of a donkey.”
21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had
directed them;
21:7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and
put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.
21:8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on
the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and
that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
21:10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole
city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
21:11 The crowds were saying, “This is
the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
This is the Gospel of Christ
Let us Pray.
It
is right to praise you, almighty God,
for
the acts of love by which you have redeemed us
through
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
The
Hebrews acclaimed Jesus as Messiah and King,
with
palm branches in their hands, crying,
Hosanna
in the highest.
May
we also, carrying these emblems, go forth to meet Christ
and
follow him in the way that leads to eternal life;
who
lives and reigns in glory with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
Ride
on Ride on in Majesty
The Passion.
Let
us pray.
Almighty
and ever living God,
in
tender love for all our human race
you
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to
take our flesh
and
suffer death upon a cruel cross.
May
we follow the example of his great humility,
and
share in the glory of his resurrection;
through
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who
is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Psalm 31:9-16
31:9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in
distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my
years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste
away.
31:11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a
horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see
me in the street flee from me.
31:12 I have passed out of mind like one who
is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
31:13 For I hear the whispering of many–
terror all around!– as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take
my life.
31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say,
“You are my God.”
31:15 My times are in your hand; deliver me
from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
31:16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according
to Matthew.
27:11 Now Jesus stood before the
governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus said, “You say so.”
27:12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not
answer.
27:13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they
make against you?”
27:14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the
governor was greatly amazed.
27:15 Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for
the crowd, anyone whom they wanted.
27:16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas.
27:17 So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want
me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
27:18 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him
over.
27:19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him,
“Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a
great deal because of a dream about him.”
27:20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for
Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.
27:21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to
release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
27:22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called
the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!”
27:23 Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted
all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
27:24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was
beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying,
“I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
27:25 Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our
children!”
27:26 So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him
over to be crucified.
27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s
headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him.
27:28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
27:29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head.
They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
27:30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.
27:31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes
on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
27:32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they
compelled this man to carry his cross.
27:33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a
Skull),
27:34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it,
he would not drink it.
27:35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among
themselves by casting lots;
27:36 then they sat down there and kept watch over him.
27:37 Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is
Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
27:38 Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his
left.
27:39 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads
27:40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three
days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
27:41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and
elders, were mocking him, saying,
27:42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel;
let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
27:43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said,
‘I am God’s Son.'”
27:44 The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
27:45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
27:46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,
lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?”
27:47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is
calling for Elijah.”
27:48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put
it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.
27:49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to
save him.”
27:50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.
27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to
bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.
27:52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
asleep were raised.
27:53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy
city and appeared to many.
27:54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over
Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said,
“Truly this man was God’s Son!”
This is The Gospel of Christ.
We Could Start With Today.
You know, this Sunday we
share the joy that people felt when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, as we joyfully
sing ” Ride on Ride on, in Majesty ” – and then later we share the sadness in his
death by crucifixion.
We walk alongside a
triumphant Jesus, and then we stand at the cross and see his humiliation.
What are we supposed to
feel today? Happiness or sadness?
Are we supposed to feel
an affinity with a Messiah, a winner, someone who will conquer those things
that oppress us, or feel kinship with a man who dies on the cross, humiliated?
Make a choice!
In the Eastern Church,
the Orthodox Church crucifixes tend not to have the figure of Jesus on them.
Here, in the Catholic tradition, we have crucifixes with the
“corpus,” the body of Christ
on them
The first emphasizes the
resurrection, the latter the crucifixion.
So the church is divided
East and West on which reality to focus. .
But maybe we don’t have
to choose one or the other as a guide
to faith.
Maybe the tension is
between, on the one hand, praising Jesus, as a winner, and then deserting him
as a loser. Praising him and then
condemning him. Because make no mistake about it we do condemn him in some of
the things we do in life.
I remember when I was in
elementary school. I was perhaps eight years old. I saw some of my friends
gathered around a boy who was a year or so younger. I asked what was happening,
and I was told that you only had to pull a face at this kid and he would break
into tears.
So I did. I grimaced at him and sure enough he started
crying. It was funny.
It wasn’t funny for him.
But we soon got tired of it and left him alone.
We all have a share in
driving the nails.
A punishment for
thievery, in Medieval England was to be placed in the stocks. The stocks were a
wooden frame with holes for the legs, and the head, and for the hands too, and
a thief would be locked into the stocks and left there for a few days. And
anyone going by could throw vegetables, fruit, mud, even stones, at the poor
unfortunate victim. It was expected. Considered the duty of all law-abiding
citizens.
Even people who didn’t
know the miscreant or his crime, would take a shot.
In Biblical times and in
recent years in Afghanistan when the Taliban ruled for a period, and stoning was reintroduced, everyone
watching was expected to take up a stone and throw it,
You share the punishment.
You share the blame.
But we have all thrown
stones, haven’t we?
Passing on gossip. Condemning people without really knowing
them.
We have all hurt someone
at some time.
We have all taunted
Jesus.
What?
Wait a minute, how did
Jesus get in there?
“What you do to the least of these my
brothers or sisters, you do unto me.”
That’s how!
I wonder if we get into a
certain way of doing things, that it becomes
habitual, and we don’t realise we are doing it.
Like Sunday we are good
Christians, but other days we are not so good?
at work.
Like when there is
nothing at stake, we are good Christians, but if rules need to be bent, or when
acting as a Christian would make doing
our job difficult, we aren’t?
I have seen commercials
advertising a great deal on an automobile – so much down and a ridiculously low
monthly lease amount, which looks really good at a glance, but the small print
which by law has to be there, mentions
that the lease is a reduced mileage lease – 10,000 kilometers only.
You are not going to take
the reduced lease of course, but it gets you into the showroom.
Or the store manager who
marks up the prices of the furniture on the floor, by ten percent and then
holds a sale featuring ten per cent off.
And he has no problem
coming to church on a Sunday, never even thinking about the contradiction in
his Sunday behaviour and his weekday behaviour.
It’s what he has always
done.
Its normal marketing
behaviour.
Nothing wrong with it.
I wonder if the marketing
person who thought up that scheme is a Christian.
If he or she is, then
they are doing something that is at odds with what they do on Sunday, aren’t
they? If they did this, then they
probably have done other slightly misleading things too.
Because you kind of get
into the habit of it.
The point I am trying to
get to is that if that is the case with us, then we need to bring both sides of
our lives into line with each other.
Live our Sunday life,
Monday to Saturday.
Break old habits.
Habits can be dangerous.
I read about a man who was
a creature of habit.
He followed a strict and precise routine
every morning. His alarm went off at 6.30 a.m. He rose briskly, shaved and
showered, ate his breakfast, brushed his teeth. Picked up his briefcase, drove
to the nearby ferry landing, parked his car, rode the ferry across to the
downtown business area, got off the ferry, walked, hung up his coat, spread his
papers out on his desk, and sat down in his chair at precisely 8.00. Not 8.01,
not 7.59. Always 8.00 on the dot.
He had followed this same
routine for nearly eight years.
Until one morning, his
alarm did not go off, and he slept fifteen minutes late.
When he did awake, he was
panic stricken. He rushed through his shower, nicked himself when he shaved,
gulped down his breakfast, only halfway brushed his teeth, grabbed his
briefcase, jumped into his car, drove to the ferry landing, jumped out of his
car and looked for the ferry. There it was out in the water a few feet from the
dock.
He said to himself, “I think I can make it.” And he ran down the
dock towards the ferry at full speed. Reaching the edge of the pier he gave an
enormous leap out over the water and miraculously, landed, with a loud thud on
the deck of the ferry.
The captain rushed down
to make sure he was alright, and said, “Man that was a tremendous leap, but if
you would have waited just another minute we would have reached the dock, and
you could have walked on.”
Every year at this Palm Sunday
service, we break the routine a bit don’t we? Instead of sitting squashed up in
the back five or six pews, we have to meet in the hall, then process into the church in a sort of
mixed up order.
And we are just a bit
worried that someone will have taken our seat – the one we have occupied
every Sunday for the past umpteen years.
And we are reminded that
going with the flow, doing things without thinking about them, taking the easy
way, is what condemned Jesus.
Not everyone in that
crowd that yelled out, “Crucify him,” really wanted to have that man
hung on a cross, but they went with the flow.
Some of them had even
welcomed him when he rode into Jerusalem, shouting Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of
the Lord! Hosanna in the highest
heaven!”
If our life is like that,
loving Jesus on the one hand, and then
on the other hand, by our actions “condemning him,” then we need to
look at our daily habits, and change them.
We need to think for
ourselves.
Maybe go against the flow
for once in a while.
Don’t do what everyone
does.
Take a stand against
racist or sexist jokes; stand up for the underdog; speak out when we know
someone is lying; don’t gild the lily; tell the truth.
Write to the government
when you disagree with its policies, rather than just letting it go by.
Get involved in a writing campaign for Amnesty International,
adopt a Foster Child, take positive action to try and put right, things which
are wrong.
Don’t be afraid of
standing out in a crowd.
You know, the Jews have
been blamed over the centuries for crucifying Jesus. That fact has been used to
justify pogroms, persecutions and ultimately genocide.
Right now, Hindus are
persecuting Moslems in India, and Moslems have persecuted Hindus.
Israelis are persecuting
Palestinians, and Palestinians are persecuting Israelis.
Every hour of the day
someone drives a nail into his hands, or into his feet, or drives a sword into
his side.
Don’t you agree that it’s
time we changed out habitual way of looking at other people?
That we changed the way
we do things?
Maybe just take a look at
how we live, and if there is a bad habit that needs to be thrown out, to do it.
We could start with
today. Here and now. On this kind of
crazy mixed up Sunday.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Dear God,
At this moment of our fear and anguish,
come upon us.
May the body of humanity be filled with
light
May the mind of humanity be filled
with love.
May every cell of both body and
consciousness
be flooded with the divine.
May those who are sick be healed.
May those who fear and grieve and
panic
be comforted.
And may all humanity be purified
of the selfishness, greed and
irresponsibility
That in so many ways led to this.
Bless the doctors, nurses,
the scientists, the grocers,
sanitation workers, the political leaders, manufacturers,
and all those who are working so
hard
to save us.
Please work a miracle
in our minds and hearts
And take the virus from our
midst. Amen
( Prayer Requests.
Please forward requests for prayer to
the Prayer Chain, c/o Tricia Puttock, at 905 692
0828 or by email: dpputtock@rogers.com )
Closing Prayer:
May the God of Peace enable us to do His will in
every kind of goodness, working in us what pleases Him, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be the glory, for ever and ever. Amen
—————————————-
Announcements:
This space is available for notices of coming
events or their cancellation.
To provide notices, please send by email to:
revtrev.jones@gmail.com
This page is also available on the web at :
revtrevjones.com
Services at the church, or church meetings, are
suspended for the time being because of the current corona virus epidemic.
Please follow the government guidelines concerning avoiding crowds, maintaining
social distancing, coughing or sneezing into one’s elbow, use hygienic wipes
where possible, and hand sanitization, etc. .
Yesterday (
Saturday ) Gil and Joan Whitwell celebrated their 67th Wedding Anniversary.
When I called to congratulate them ( by necessity they are alone at home of
course) they asked me to send their love and blessings to all their Christ
Church friends. Send a message via
joannbonk54@gmail.com
The upcoming Ham and Scalloped Potato Dinner has
been postponed.
Remember neighbours who cannot leave home, and if
you are able, offer help needed. Also, a friendly phone call from a member of
our church family will help to ease any loneliness that self isolation may
cause. A copy of the church member list is available to church members on
request.
The Bishop’s Homily and a weekly service can be
watched on the diocesan Facebook page
or the diocesan You Tube page.
—————————————————
The question has been asked: “How do we
continue to support our church with our offerings?”
Under Interac
E transfer (on line banking) :
as follows
Send
Money to: Christ Church Woodburn
Notify
by email
Contact
email: slaustin@rogers.com
Message:
Parishioners should include their envelope number here.
Offerings
can also be mailed to the church – using offering envelope inside a normal mail envelope.
Children’s Story
Once upon a time, in a faraway country, a little donkey was
standing, tied, next to his mother, outside their owner’s house when someone
came and spoke to their owner and borrowed the donkey.
He was taken to a place outside the city .Someone put cloak
on his back and someone climbed astride him.
He was urged forward and walked down a steep path toward the
city gate, and through the gate.
While he was doing this, he heard a lot of people cheering
and yelling out some words he didn’t understand, but the people were excited.
They even threw palm leaves onto the path ahead of him to make his way easier.
After a while the man on his back got off, and walked further
into the city and the donkey was taken back to his place next to his mother.
He told her he had a very exciting time, and that night he
could hardly sleep thinking of how the day had been.
Early morning his mother was still sleeping when he set off to
the same place he had been yesterday and he made his way down the same path.
But it wasn’t the same.
He saw some people, but they didn’t even look at him.
“What’s the matter? he asked in his donkey voice,.
” Don’t you remember me?”
Then as he meandered about, someone slapped his haunches and
said, “Get out of the way, donkey.”
“What’s wrong?” he thought. ” Yesterday they
were all praising me, and calling me names and
yelling nice things, and it was so good. Today no-one cares.”
And he was very sad.
He went home and when he saw his mother he started to cry.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him, nuzzling him with
her nose.
He told her about his bad experience. ” Yesterday
everyone was cheering me. And were so nice. Today they were angry with me. No one
liked me at all,” he told her through his tears.
.
” Oh you silly little donkey,” she said, ”
The day before, the people were not cheering you, they were cheering the man
you carried on your back.”
“Really?” he asked.
” Really,” she
said, ” You did a good thing, but you didn’t do it to get praise or
reward. It is your job.”
” But is was nice to hear the people cheering.”
“Yes,” His mother said, ” It is nice to hear when we have done
something good, but we don’t do it for praise, we do it because we want to help
someone. That gives a good feeling all by itself.”
“Well, :” He said doubtfully, ” I think….I
understand.”
“You will when you are older, ” his mother said.
The end.
(
I found this story somewhere on the web, years ago. This is how I remembered
it. )
