6th Sunday of Easter & Mothers Day Sunday
2021-05-09
Services in church continue to be cancelled for Covid protection
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
Priest- David Howells 416-890-4578
Church Office – 416-203-0873
Warden - Bella Beazer 416-203-4142
Warden – Jane Davidson-Neville 416-203- 8564
Deputy Warden & Synod Rep – Julia Weldon Tait
Deputy Warden - Nancy Kendrew
Outreach Chair – Graham Mudge 416-203-3556
Treasurer/Bookings – Joyce Rogers 416-203-0987
Musicians--
Roger Sharp, Julia Weldon Tait,
& Jane Davidson-Neville
Music selected by Jane Davidson-Neville
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THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
We give thanks to our Creator for the earth we share with all creatures, and we acknowledge that here we are on the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Wendat.
We also recognize the enduring presence of all First Nations,
Metis and Inuit peoples, and we seek to live respectfully with
them and with the earth.
We believe that black lives matter.
We know that love is love,
and we welcome everybody
who desires to join us in worship.
You are a beloved creation of God, and you are most welcome.
(borrowed from St Aidan’s in the Beach)
The Collect
Almighty God,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven.
Mercifully give us faith to know that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Opening Hymn: ‘God of Eve and God of Mary’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqWCDKnIUig
God of Eve and God of Mary, God of love and mother earth
Thank you for the ones who with us shared their life and gave us birth.
As you came to earth in Jesus, so you come to us today;
you are present in the caring that prepares us for life's way.
God of Eve and God of Mary, Christ our brother, human Son,
Spirit, caring like a Mother, take our love and make us one!
Tune and text by Fred Kaan; who was a United Reform Church minister in the UK
1st Reading 1 John 5:1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world.
And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.
Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
Psalm 98: ‘All the Ends of the Earth’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWg569fXut4
Refrain: All the ends of the earth have seen the power of God. All the ends of the earth have seen the power of God.
v.1: Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won the vict’ry for Him, His holy arm. Refrain
v.2: The Lord has made His salvation known, His justice revealed to all, remembering kindness and faithfulness to Israel. Refrain
v.3 Sing to the Lord with harp and song, with trumpet and with horn. Sing in your joy before the King, the King, our Lord. Refrain
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John ( John 15:9-17 )
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing;
but I have called you friends,
because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last,
so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.
I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
Reflections on the readings from St John’s Epistle and Gospel
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Click here for the video
Last week there were a lot of variations on the word “Abide”. Abide still shows up today quite a lot but “Commandments” clearly have the stage.
Many of you will know that I am a happy cyclist. Fewer will know that I have an abiding love of motorbikes.
I had got my first motorcycle when we were still in England, in my 20‘s. Not long after beginning to ride, Lucy and I were in London and met with her brother Stewart who was qualifying as a Doctor and doing internship work in big hospital. We had arrived by train and the first mention of motorcycles came when a loud bike zoomed past us weaving in and out of London traffic.
“Oh!” said Stewart, “We love motorcycles! We call them “donor machines”. Lovely fresh organs from healthy young bodies. Most of them have signed donor cards so we can just harvest while they are fresh.”
I didn’t have to ask anything, or make a comment. Many young men on bikes don’t really follow the rules of the road. If there’s a gap wider than the handlebars then that sudden roar of acceleration will shave at least 30 seconds of the trip! Go for it!
It was after that chilling conversation that I thought about Lucy being widowed in her 20’s, or worse, having a vegetable husband. So I began to follow the rules a bit more closely, bending them only when it was “perfectly safe”.
We all know that the rules of the road are there for a good reason. In BC the Government runs both the vehicle insurance and the police checking the traffic. While we were there they enforced speed limits and found that insurance claims for crash & damage fell in direct proportion. What a surprise!
“Obey the rules and you will live longer lives with fewer ambulance rides” might be a good summary.
And, I might add, I would worry a lot less about speed traps.
John says, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
“Keeping commandments” is not something that sounds exciting or fun. Reviewing your day before going to bed at night and realising that you have committed 6 infractions of the 10 commandments...This is not a happy thought. The image springs to my mind of angels in uniforms with peaked caps and notebooks writing out tickets that will be entered into the heavenly data bank. Oh, dear!
However, this is the pessimistic thinking of a repeat offender, and is not what the original meaning of Commandment was. The commandments describe a way of life which is safe. It is a life which will lead you to live in peace with the people in your life. It is a guide to decision making and responding thoughtfully to impulses so that you do not have to regret your choice and have to dig yourself out of damaged relationships and broken trust. (in my analogy, “ a smashed up bike and broken bones”.)
When we returned to Ontario, around a decade ago, I had to do a course for motorcycling for my Ontario driving licence. It was an out-door, Saturday morning, 4 session event. Safety and Technique for new riders and for “returning riders” like me, it was about riding well with safety. It was about thinking ahead, reading the road, and the traffic and the pedestrians. It was about a higher level of awareness and focus. It was great fun! It was about the joy of riding well.
The 10 commandments feel like they are about the avoidance of collisions with your neighbour, and about living in the presence of God, who, a bit like photo-radar, is recording your law breaking.
But the teaching of Jesus invites you into the joy of living safely and well.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Jesus’s “Drive well through Life” book is not based on rules to be broken and punishments that must follow. It is based on living in the peace of God, in a relationship of love and quiet joy. It is about guilt and shame not being part of how things are ordered in your life, but peace and tranquility as the markers of your mind at rest. Your heart at peace.
Kings and politicians, and even school teachers, ministers and parents have used the “stick” of disobedience/punishment and have attributed this to God’s will. But God’s will operates the other way around. It does not chase you from badness with fearful punishment, but it draws you into love with encouragement and praise for every step you take into Christ-likeness.
And if you do screw up in an awful way, Jesus approaches you with the “Get Out of Jail Free” card as soon as you realise that you have landed yourself there, and you deeply wish you hadn’t broken the guidelines of freedom. Jesus will go to the “deepest level of Hell” to get you out. It is not about deserving or earning, it is about being loved, and living in the knowledge that you are loved, and letting that soak into you.
The teachings of Jesus, like those of the Torah, are rules for a happy life.
The Torah enforced with the threat of punishment, the “stick”.
The New Law of Jesus has no enforcement, only the “carrot” of inextinguishable love and healing.
This, I know, is a pretty and optimistic teaching today. And you might dismiss it as “another green- leaved sermon on the innocence of man” as Dylan Thomas once wrote of the Rev. Eli Jenkins in Under Milk Wood. But actually it is about the very hard and focused work of holding in the front of your consciousness that you live in the continually awake presence of God’s compassionate love for you.
It is the spirituality of practicing the presence of God.
Keeping within a life lived, which you can share with God, is demanding and requires focus.
It is a way of life that is filled with peace and joy.
And it is a road that God will gladly lead you back to every time you fall off your bike and end up bruised and disheartened.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.
with love,
Jesus
Reflection Music: ‘Love Divine, all Loves Excelling’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF8jG9U3r5w
Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven to earth come down,
Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all they faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art
Visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.
Breath or breath thy loving spirit into every trembling breast,
Let us all in Thee inherit, let us find that promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning, Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.
Finish then, thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restore in thee.
Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
Virtual choir and organist of Riverside Church, New York City, US of A. Tune: Hyfrydol
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Let us pray for ourselves and each other, and for those that we do not know, but who you know, God.
In this month remember those who find the doors of our society locked against them, those who feel they are not equal because of the colour of their skin. Pray for those who have privileged lives without knowing who pays. Pray to be shown how to bring justice, even if only by a first trickle.
As we seek our vaccinations and we face new variants of the Covid Virus,
we pray for our Prime Minister and the Premier of this Province to be blessed with clear guidance and wisdom.
We pray for those who work in dangerous jobs caring for us.
We pray for those who have contracted the Covid 19 Virus in this last year.
We pray for the “long-haulers” dealing with months of pain and fatigue.
We pray for those who have died, and for those who have watched loved ones die.
We pray caregivers in nursing and retirement homes,
for medical staff in clinics and hospitals who have lived with the risks
and some who have contracted the disease.
We pray for those who must organise, communicate with us, the public, and get vaccines in arms.
We pray for the Medical Officers of Health who have guided our political leaders.
We hold up to God all whose lives have been marred by this pandemic, here and far away.
We pray for ourselves and others for a spirit of self-control, compassion and hope and patience.
We remember those we know who are sick in body mind or spirit, especially Donna, Michael, Penny, Enid, Freda, Anne & family, Charlotte, Rose, Gail, Peter, Bob, Douglas, Marian
We pray for those who are close to death or who have passed through death, remembering Ron, Joey, Mick, Paulette, Bev, Fred, Farima, Cathy, June, Barbara, Craig, Les
In the diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for St. George on-the-Hill, its Etobicoke Learning Cooperative, prayer shawl ministry, and involvement in the Out of the Cold program;
for St. George, Allandale, its Deacon's cupboard, support of Hospice Simcoe, the David Busby Centre, Samaritan House and Grove Park seniors' home;
and for St. George, Fairvalley, its support of the Mariposa House Hospice, Faithworks, and area foodbanks.
Here take a few moments to hold before our God all who you are carrying in love and care.....
All of our longings and our fears, our hopes and our desires we bring to you. Hear our prayers, gracious God. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing Hymn ‘All You Works of God’ (from Gather Hymnal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjGKpwMFXSY
Refrain: All you works of God, every mountain, star and tree, bless the One who shapes your beauty, who has caused you all to be one great song of love and grace, ever ancient, ever new. Raise your voices, all you works of God.
v.1: Sun and moon, bless your maker! Stars of heaven, chant your praise! Showers and dew, raise up your joyful song. Refrain
v.2: Winds of God, bless your maker! Cold and winter, chant your praise! Snow storms and ice, raise up your joyful song. Refrain
v.3: All the earth, bless your maker! Hills and mountains chant your praise! Green things that grow, raise up your joyful song. Refrain
v.4: Wells and springs, bless your maker! Seas and rivers, chant your praise! Whales in the deep, raise up your joyful song. Refrain
v.5: Flying birds, bless your maker! Beasts and cattle, chant your praise! Children at play, raise up your joyful song. Refrain
Sung by composer Mary Haugen with children’s choir and other performers. Very cheerful.
May the blessings of the Risen Lord be upon you
May the peace of God’s Holy Spirit dwell within you
May the Creator hold you ever in the palm of his hand.
And may you have joy in your life.
NOTICES
Here are several ways you can support your church:
The Collection Plate (when we are back in Church)
PAR - Pre-Authorized Remittance. You direct your bank to deposit your donation into the church account on the 20th of each month. To apply contact Joyce Rogers at standrewbookings@gmail.com
E-Transfer - Use email: standrewbookings@gmail.com
Canada Helps – Visit the church website www.standrewbythelake.com, go to the Home Page and click on the Donate button.
Bishop Andrew’s weekly letter followed by a Covid aretcle by Helen Robinson
Dear Friends in Christ,
Over the past 18 months of the pandemic, we were told repeatedly to “stay home, stay safe” to keep ourselves and our households healthy and well. Here in Canada, we tried to stay put, to keep COVID-19 virus transmissions in check, even though it quickly became tedious and frustrating to do so. But what about those people around the world for whom staying home, even staying in one’s own country, is not an option, not the safe choice?
We are witnessing the highest levels of human displacement in history. According to the UN High Commission on Refugees, by mid-2020 there were 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide – just over 1% of the world’s population, 26.3 million of whom are refugees, and about half of these are under the age of 18.
Canada was the first nation in the world to offer a Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, which has allowed Canadians to offer protection and a new home to more than 327,000 refugees since its beginning in 1979. Under this program, over 120 organizations, including 14 Anglican dioceses, hold sponsorship agreements with the federal government, in which they commit to supporting refugees during the first year of their life in Canada. In 2018, Canada accounted for one-third of the world’s total refugee resettlements, the vast majority of which were resettled through the Private Sponsorship Program.
Our ministry partner AURA is the organization that makes private sponsorship of refugees possible for parishes in the Diocese of Toronto. AURA brings together refugees in need with parishes willing to sponsor them, and supports parishes through the sponsorship process.
Studies have shown that privately sponsored refugees become self-supporting much more quickly than refugees who are solely supported by the government, due to the personal connections they make within the community. For us who follow Jesus, we are inspired to help by the fact that Jesus himself was a refugee, forced to flee to Egypt as an infant with his family when Herod sought to kill him. It’s remembering that Jesus said, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” Taking tangible steps to live out our mission in this way can deepen our faith, bring parishes together, and build bridges between congregations and the wider community.
I am designating Trinity Sunday, May 30, as Refugee Sunday in our Diocese. As it is also the first Sunday after Pentecost, that time when the early Church first awakened to its calling to be a place of welcome for all nations, we can be reminded of how our welcome transforms the world.
Our friends at AURA are working with diocesan staff to produce some resources you can share with your congregation on Refugee Sunday, from a video message to suggested prayers and responsories to helpful factsheets on how you can get involved in this important ministry. These resources will be available on the Diocese’s website the week of May 17.
When the Syrian refugee crisis first captured the Canadian consciousness in 2015, our Diocese was quick to step up, with 80 parishes undertaking refugee sponsorships between October 2015 and May 2017. Those sponsored refugees have put down roots in Canada – working, studying, starting businesses and building our communities. We can be proud of our efforts to support these new Canadians.
Yet the need has not passed – indeed, it is greater than ever. This Refugee Sunday, I invite you and your parish to take the time to reflect on our call to welcome the stranger. How can you be part of this life-changing ministry?
Yours in Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
A Covid Article by Helen Robinson.
“We wait and the time is short, but waiting is long.”
I can be impatient. I don’t like waiting. I like things to happen straight away. It is when I am in this state of mind that I remember these lines from T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, with particular emphasis on the last phrase.
What I am impatient for, and what I wait for has changed over the years. When I was a child, it was Christmas and birthdays and there was excitement and anticipation mixed with the impatience. When I entered the work world and university and waited to hear whether a job interview had been successful or for exam results, I could also experience anxiety and maybe ambition as well.
Now I am in a different stage of life. There is no need for me to be driven by the external expectations of the world around me.
I am approaching my 80th birthday. So what do I wait for now?
As I consider this I realize I still wait for something to happen. Something tangible, that tells me I have reached a destination and I can say, “Ah, now I have arrived at the next stage of my life.” Then impatience rises again, and I need to remind myself that I am on a journey that will not end, and it is the process that matters.
Pregnancy is both a waiting period and a process. During the time a mother waits for the birth of her baby, the child develops inside of her. Pregnancy is a time of action, not passivity. If I apply this metaphor to my life, I realize I can be so focused on what I expect to be the end result; I can miss the fact that a seed is growing inside of me. A seed that can transform me.
I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her pregnancy was full of action. She traveled to see her cousin Elizabeth. Accompanied by Joseph, she journeyed to Bethlehem where she gave birth to Jesus. Mary did not stay in one place. My journey at this time of my life may not be in geographic terms. As I carry out my every day activities, a seed inside me continues to grow. I become aware of a subtle shift inside of me. It may be a shift in awareness of my life and the people around me, and the way I relate to them. There is a definite feeling that this fits into a larger picture. I have a sense that my life is part of a large canvas. A canvas that is constantly changing and being recreated.
So, as I grapple with the seemingly never-ending lock-downs and restrictions of COVID, I remember the birth and gift of a small baby nearly two thousand years ago, and celebrate that I, like Mary, carry a seed within me. A seed that, if I pay attention, can transform me and the world around me
Helen Robinson