Sunday 24th May 2020

The Sunday after Ascension Day

You can find all of our latest information, Edith's reflection for this Sunday, our Thursday "Worship for all Generations" and much more by clicking on the following link to our facebook page - Leesfield Parish

This is bank holiday weekend, and it should be the beginning of the half term holiday for schools. Many of you probably had holidays booked, other trips planned or were looking forward to particular events. So there is a good deal of disappointment around. The past few weeks have been tough for many, and the idea of a holiday is very attractive. In this strange time some people have found themselves much less busy than usual (with possibly concern over financial future) while others have been more busy –coping with tasks made more complex by the restrictions. Schools have been open to a small group of children for particular reasons, and staff have worked through what should have been the Easter break and will be working through this week too. Today I want to encourage everyone to find some time just for themselves, time to spend relaxing or doing something that genuinely brings you joy. The word holiday comes from holy day. To care for ourselves is holy – it is recognising that, as I spoke about a few weeks ago, Jesus came so we can have life in abundance. Or as another writer put it “self-care is never selfish, it is stewardship of the only gift we have”   We can’t have a holiday, but we can have a holy day!
Edith 

Our first hymn - Morning has Broken - 

Today's Bible Reading -

Today is the Sunday after Ascension Day and we are in the waiting time between the Ascension and Pentecost. In today’s gospel passage (taken from just before the crucifixion) we hear Jesus praying for His disciples, asking God to give eternal life not just to Jesus but also to his people. Today we celebrate Jesus’ rising to the Father, and await the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and consider what all that means for us, here, today. We are approaching the end of the Easter season. If you take the time to read the accounts of Jesus’ death, Resurrection and Ascension in all four of the gospels and in the book of Acts, you will find many differences in the accounts. However all the New Testament  writers was believed that soon after the crucifixion, Jesus had appeared repeatedly, unpredictably, and mysteriously to many people. And those to whom He appeared became overwhelmingly convinced that God had raised Him to a new life, a life quite different from the old, yet one in which his essential self, his "Jesus-ness" was intact. But then the resurrection appearances ceased, and those gospels that give us an Ascension story suggest why. For the most striking thing about all those stories is how very final they all are. The narrative in Acts is typical - short, unembroidered, even stark - but it clearly makes the point that Jesus’s time on earth in a visible body was over. No-one reading it would ever expect to see Jesus again in this world. Despite that, the writers of the NT, mostly writing long after the crucifixion, having never seen Jesus either in the flesh or in his resurrection body, nevertheless found they experienced Him as a vivid living presence. Jesus, they were convinced, was somehow still alive, and was with them. And two thousand years later, that is still the experience of many ordinary Christians of today.  So clearly, though the ascension may have marked the end of Jesus’s appearances, it did not mark the end of Jesus. His life was changed but not taken away. He was "alive for ever". On Easter Day, God poured new life into Jesus, a life quite different from his old one, a life like God‘s, overflowing with love and strength and glory, a life that would last as long as God himself. And filled with the glory of this new life, Jesus showed himself to His disciples until they were convinced that God had indeed raised Him. Finally, when they were convinced at last, God could move on. Perhaps at Jesus’s last appearance, His disciples had a vision of him taken up into the glory of God. Whatever actually happened, though they saw Him no more, they continued to be aware of Him as a living presence alongside them. And Christians since then have also known His presence with them, loving and guiding them, and strengthening them for the work of spreading God‘s kingdom. Today, then, we hold on to Jesus’ prayer for His people, for us, and pledge ourselves anew to making His living presence known to those around us. 

Our second hymn - How Great Thou Art -

And our final hymn for today - Jubilate -

Mid-week Joy 20th May 2020

Mid-week Joy

Welcome again to our mid-week celebration of all the great things happening in Leesfield Parish.

Our Sunday service details will be here at the weekend, but there's so much more we would love to share with you in the meantime.

This week's musical item comes from the Isolation Orchestra, featuring our friend Ellie Knott. It's a really familiar tune - but can you remember which TV programme it's from?

Even though our schools are closed to most pupils, the staff are still working really hard preparing on-line learning for the children who are at home. They are really missing the children, and the staff at St Hugh's School made this lovely picture for them.

Elsewhere in the parish, lots of people joined in the fundraising for Christian Aid by sharing e-envelopes and having little brekkies - here are Amy's pancakes. There's no way of knowing how much we raised in total, but it's great that so many took part. 

The 150th Anniversary of St Agnes' Sunday School was celebrated at last week's Worship for all Generations, and by both Sunday Schools on their facebook pages. Annie made a lovely anniversary card and Nichola's family added a card to their lockdown tree. 

This Thursday is Ascension Day, and will be celebrated in our "Worship for all Generations" Service at 6.30 pm on the parish facebook page. You are most welcome to join in by clicking on the following link - Leesfield Parish 

Leesfield Parish Photo Quiz May 2020

What is it?, and where in our parish is it? (be careful – our parish may be bigger than you think!)

Phone as many of your friends as you like, there are no prizes, just for fun. Answers will be here in 2 weeks.

Finally - our weekly nature spot! Whilst our church buildings are closed we haven’t been able to do much gardening, and parts of St Thomas’ Churchyard are starting to look rather overgrown. We’ve started cutting the grass again, and doing a bit of weeding, but on the plus side – some of the areas which we usually keep tidy are actually looking quite splendid. Letting nature take its course can have some spectacular results – as this photo shows.

And for the very keen nature lovers, this Bank Holiday Weekend RSPB Love Nature are hosting their usual Big Wild Sleepout, and normally they would invite you along to take part on one of their reserves. But this year, they're encouraging everyone to enjoy the event at home, both indoors and outdoors. Whether you pitch a tent in your garden, build a den inside, or sit by a window to see and hear the nature around you. There will be lots of activities and sessions through the afternoon and evening to keep you entertained through the Bank Holiday.

To find out more please click on the following link - Big Wild Sleepout on facebook 

Sunday 17th May 2020

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

You can find all of our latest information, Edith's reflection for this Sunday, our Thursday "Worship for all Generations" and much more by clicking on the following link to our facebook page - Leesfield Parish

Today is the sixth Sunday of Easter, Thursday will be Ascension Day. Our isolation from church made me think of a story. A young man went to consult a wise monk. The young man had a busy work and social life, and was finding it difficult to find time to attend church. “You don’t need to go to church to be a Christian, do you?” he said. The wise man said nothing for a while, and they both stared into the fire in the grate. Then he leant forward, picked up the tongs, and lifted a burning coal out of the fire and placed it on the hearth. For a while it glowed, but slowly the light dimmed and the piece of coal cooled. Nothing needed to be said – the question had been answered. He reached forward and replaced the coal in the fire where it glowed again. We are physically separated from our fellow Christians right now, and it is important we keep in touch in whatever ways we can. So please do use whatever is available to you, whether that is the material we are circulating via post, email and facebook, or on TV and radio, or anything else. Do let me know if there is anything else you need. Above all let’s continue to remember each other and our parish in our prayers. 

Edith

Our first hymn today -

Today's Bible Reading -

That word commandment is rather a strong word, and seems rather old fashioned too. It takes us back to the 10 commandments I guess. Those rules given to Moses by God, rules to regulate the conduct of what may have been a rather unruly bunch! Rules which make life easy I guess – no need for agonising over the right way, no taking circumstances into account, no deliberation needed. Instead, a clear thou shalt (or thou shalt not). I have been thinking a lot about rules recently- not surprising as, over the last 2 months or so we have had to come to terms with some rather difficult changes to our way of life because of rules brought in to try and reduce the spread of the virus. I think some of the difficulty has come about because although the rules have seemed fairly clear they have been interpreted in different ways, and I certainly have personal experience of people in authority choosing which of the rules they will obey. The commandment that Jesus reiterates over and over again in this section of John’s Gospel is the commandment to love one another. This is not a simple commandment, it isn’t black and white, it requires real thought and understanding. It really isn’t always easy to know which course of action really demonstrates love. We are required to use our knowledge, experience and understanding to determine how we should act, not just follow blindly some simple rules. We are required to enter more fully into the matter, and to take responsibility too for our actions. This feels much more grown up! 

 The linking of love with commandment makes it clear that this love is not some sentimental feeling (which we cannot make happen) but an act of will, a determination to love others. That is a demand made of all who would call themselves followers of Christ – and not one that is always easy to fulfil– but one we are to do our best with. Today’s gospel passage records events at the Last Supper – which seems a little odd today, the sixth Sunday after Easter. But here, in today’s Gospel reading, is what I believe to be the essence of the Easter message. At this point in the great fifty days we can look back at the events of Holy Week and Easter, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. We look this week towards the Ascension, and some days later, to Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit. In a normal year we get caught up in the ceremonies and the commemoration of these great events. I’m a great believer in the ceremonies, I think the drama as we act out some of the elements of our faith – such as the waving of palms on Palm Sunday, the Maundy Thursday commemoration of the Last Supper, the elements of the Paschal Vigil and so on – help reinforce or make clear what it is all about. It’s been different this year, perhaps in these different times, with less ‘clutter’ around it is easier to hold on to the underlying truths. All this is about love. In love, Jesus laid down His life for us, in love he made provision for those disciples then and for us now, and our response must be love. We must love God and we must love our fellow human beings. Working out how we show that love may not be easy, perhaps especially with current restrictions, but the closer we can come to Jesus the clearer our path will be.

Edith

And a final hymn -