The Rector Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine December 2015 / January 2016 Bread of love, bread of heaven; There is a morning; Time brings it nearer, Brittle with frost And starlight. The owls sing In the parishes. The people rise And walk to the churches’ Stone lanterns, there to kneel And eat the new bread Of…
The Rector Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine November 2015 The first things will pass away It’s the way of the world that questions of right and wrong only matter between equals in power. The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. That was the chilling response of Athenian diplomats, over two and…
11 October 2015 10.30 Sung Eucharist with Baptism Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Revd Simon Cowling Amos 5. 6-7 & 10-15; Mark 10. 17-31 Some of my deepest moments of humiliation have occurred in conversations with car mechanics. When our last family car was already long in the tooth, I picked it up from the…
04 October 2015 10.30 Sung Eucharist Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Harvest) Revd Simon Cowling Joel 2. 21-27; Matthew 6. 25-33 To begin at the ending – that is, at the end of today’s Gospel reading: (Strive) first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as…
The Rector Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine October 2015 Praised be the Lord! Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience. Papal encyclicals can be thought of (as the word suggests) as circular letters. Usually…
27 September 2015 Choral Evensong at Westminster Abbey Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity Exodus 24; Matthew 9. 1-8 Revd Simon Cowling The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days (Exodus 24.16) How did the Jewish people at the time of Jesus understand their relationship with God? What…
13 September 2015 10.30 Sung Eucharist Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity Revd Simon Cowling Isaiah 50. 4-9a; Mark 8. 27-end I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; There is a story in the Old Testament Second Book of Samuel which gives some insight into…
30 August 2015 10.30 Sung Eucharist Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity Revd Simon Cowling Deuteronomy 4.1-2 & 6-9; Mark 7. 1-8, 14-15, & 21-23 What is a map? If you are a keen walker you might think first of an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, its wealth of detail giving a very clear depiction on paper of…
The Rector Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine September 2015 I was a stranger and you welcomed me Sunday 13 September is Racial Justice Sunday. This year Churches Together in Britain and Ireland are encouraging Christians to reflect on the theme Hospitality and Sanctuary for All at a time when war and persecution, famine, environmental degradation, and…
16 August 2015 10.30 Sung Eucharist Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Revd Simon Cowling< Ephesians 5. 15-20; John 6. 51-58 I’m beginning with poetry this morning. I hope you all have sight of the poem Agnus Dei, by R S Thomas. Here it is: Agnus Dei No longer the Lamb but the idea of it. Can…