Readings June 2019
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READINGS FOR JUNE Eucharists - Sundays and Holy Days (Where there is a choice of first reading at the Parish Eucharist the asterisk denotes the favoured text.
The Lord’s Prayer Challenge
The Day of Pentecost, the 50th and final day of Easter falls this year on 9th June. Its traditional name in England is Whit Sunday and until 40 or 50 years ago it had a bank holiday attached to it. In fact it marked the beginning of a week known as Whitsun Week, a time characterised by local custom both religious and secular. Having grown up in Manchester I remember the Whit Walks when churches paraded through the streets carrying magnificent banners culminating in an act of worship in a public park. If it still happens, like many such customs it is on a much reduced scale. The secularisation of the bank holiday with the fixing of its date to the last Monday in May has greatly diminished Pentecost in our national life. Even faithful worshippers often regard it as just another Sunday. Yet the event that Pentecost recalls is certainly not about being diminished. On the contrary the gift of the Holy Spirit is about being empowered for our true purpose as Christ’s servants in the world. The Apostles were a group of varying gifts and abilities, yet the Spirit enabled each one to harness his gifts for the spreading of the good news of salvation in Christ. In the account given in the Acts of the Apostles (ch 2.1-21), by the power of the Spirit the Apostles spoke in different tongues signifying the power of God by which they would take the gospel to the nations. As a way of reinforcing the universality of the gospel and our duty and joy as its messengers, it would be lovely if as many people as possible would learn the Lord’s Prayer in a different language. On the Day of Pentecost we will come together and pray it in different tongues at our various services. May God bless this endeavour, open our hearts and enlarge our minds. Charles Booth FROM THE REGISTERS Funeral
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