Eaglais na hÉireann – The Church of Ireland
Diocese of Cork, Cloyne & Ross
MALLOW UNION
of Parishes
Sunday 25th April 2021
Fourth Sunday of Easter
WEEKLY BULLETIN
WELCOME to the Mallow Union weekly newsletter. Please do share this with others, wherever they are and whoever they are, if you think they may be interested in our life as a Christian community. You may want to think of it as a tool for outreach.
SERVICES & EVENTS THIS WEEK
Wednesday 28th April : 10.30am ‘COFFEE BREAK’ for all who would like half an hour of friendship and conversation:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83457039316?pwd=S0VSSklPZzE4V2JFOVBkejd3T2k2QT09
Wednesday 28th April: 8.30pm-9pm Compline in the Easter Season. A short evening service to continue the hope of Easter:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81583163646?pwd=dWJHUmZvQVFlT2tRL25KRUQ1cGdqdz09 Meeting ID: 815 8316 3646 Passcode: 286285
WHILE SUNDAY WORSHIP AND OTHER EVENTS
TAKE PLACE ONLINE
During this period of Level 5 restrictions, when we cannot safely gather in our churches for worship, our Cathedral church of St Fin Barre in Cork broadcasts a weekly celebration of the Eucharist by livestream at 11.00am every Sunday. It offers an act of worship in the Cathedral, with music, that enables us to join our prayers to the worshipping life of our wider Church and Diocese. You can access it here
https://corkcathedral.webs.com/
The Church of Ireland also publishes extensive listings of full services being broadcast or taking place online each Sunday. It can be accessed here:
https://www.ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/news/Press/2021/Broadcast-Online-Worship-March 2021.pdf
Scripture Readings for Daily Prayer this week
The following scriptures are offered to aid daily prayer and devotion at any time of the day. Monday St Mark. Evangelist (transferred) Psalm 119.1-16; Mark 13.5-13 Tuesday Assicus (or Tassach) bishop. Elphin diocese. 470. Psalm87; John 10.22-30 Wednesday Psalm 67; John 12.44-end
Thursday Psalm 63; John 13.16-20
Friday Psalm 2; John 1.43-51
Saturday Saints Philip and James. Apostles. Psalm 149; John 14.1-14
COLLECT and READINGS for this SUNDAY COLLECT
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life: Raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, that we may seek those things which are above, where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Christ the Good Shepherd, Rome, 4th Century
The good shepherd has arisen, who laid down his life for his sheep, and for his flock he gave his life, alleluia; and for our Passover Christ was sacrificed for us, alleluia. He stood in the midst of his disciples and said: Peace be with you. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord, alleluia. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Alleluia.
(Traditional Easter acclamation)
Acts 4: 5-12
The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is “the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.” There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’
John 10. 1-8
Jesus said ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes*it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’
THE WISDOM OF
CHRISTIAN TRADITION THROUGH THE AGES for this Sunday
from
The Pedagogy of
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215)
In our sickness we need a Saviour, in our wanderings a guide, in our blindness someone to show us the light, in our thirst the fountain of living water which quenches for ever the thirst of those who drink from it. We dead people need life, we sheep need a shepherd, we children need a teacher, the whole world needs Jesus… Pasture us like sheep, Lord. Fill us with your own food, the food of righteousness. As our guide we pray you to lead us to your holy mountain, the Church on high, touching the heavens!
THE RECTOR’S WEEKLY REFLECTION
ON THIS SUNDAY’S GOSPEL
One of the jobs a new Rector is faced with, when moving into a new Rectory, is to unpack books. Hundreds of them! And, once they’re on the shelves, all arranged differently from my last study, I often come across books I haven’t noticed for a long time. That happened this week, when my eye alighted on a slim volume, exploring the stories of those who had recently come to faith. Some of these stories were dramatic, like the woman whose own self-loathing was so acute that she had been actively planning to commit suicide; or the man whose criminal activity brought him into contact with a chaplain in prison and found that his whole outlook on life was challenged. Most of these stories were what you and I would call ‘ordinary’ stories of ‘ordinary’ people. Each one of them – and their stories – are unique and infinitely valuable, of course; but they were stories of the kinds of experiences you and I could identify with. The man who had once sung in the church choir, who drifted away from church in his teens, and then came back to active worship in his late 40s; or the woman who found that questions about the meaning of life simply wouldn’t go away and found a church where she could explore these questions with others. Someone else was looking for a community to which he could belong after moving house; and another had recently been bereaved after losing her last surviving parent.
What was common to all of these people was this: a particular person had helped them take the first step. One person: a friend, a family member, someone at work, a priest even; but predominantly a female friend had helped them take the first step. Someone had simply given them time and space, invited them along, and kept company with them. These people who were new to the faith community had discerned that, in the face, the words and the life of that other person, something of the possibility of God was at work. It was not, primarily, the great intellectual claims of the Christian faith; or an instant, blinding flash of revelation; or even banging-out the old certainties that helped them take a step across the door. It was the intrinsic goodness and companionship they discovered in someone who already belonged.
That’s worth bearing in mind as we reflect on the passage we’ve heard from John’s Gospel, this morning, and the description of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In Greek, the original language of the Gospel, we’re told that Jesus is ποιμην ο καλοs which means rather more than the English translation might suggest. It could mean good shepherd, of course, as our translation has it. But it also means the honourable or honest shepherd, the better shepherd, the beautiful shepherd, even. What this deeper meaning points to, I think, is that there is an intrinsic attraction about this shepherd. His life, his voice, his whole bearing has the capacity to draw others towards him. This is not someone who coerces, who terrifies, who bullies others into submission; nor is it someone who cannot listen, cannot empathise, and is always sounding-off. This shepherd is someone who is known by you, and who knows you, without evasion or pretence. This is the Good Shepherd, the one you can follow with complete confidence; the one on whom you would stake your life – precisely because he has already laid down his life for you. He has placed himself completely at the mercy of a wilful and damaged human race, was nailed to the cross, and suffers the consequences of our failure to be the good, honourable, beautiful people God created us to be. He is the good shepherd because he doesn’t control and manipulate us for his own ends; but freely gives his life away on the cross so that we might have life in all its fullness.
This Gospel, this description of Jesus as the good – or the honourable, better or beautiful – shepherd shines a brighter light on our Easter celebrations. Easter is rooted, like Christianity is rooted, in the ordinary business of living in the world of everyday choices and decisions. The life of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, is glimpsed in ordinary human hearts and minds and lives. At Easter, we celebrate the many different ways that light shines in the darkness as life overcomes death. If we are to catch something of the voice of the good shepherd, then we must listen out for echoes of God’s life and the reflections of God’s love – and then become determined to echo and reflect these things ourselves. This is what makes faith attractive to others – especially those who cannot yet be part of the life of the Church.
This is why churches, wherever they are, should be serious about being transparent and hospitable, welcoming people on generous terms. We should never be in the business of simply packing the pews on our own terms. Whenever – and wherever – we welcome new faces, there’s always a need for a mutual, two-way laying down of life, making it possible for people to question and be ing willing explore those questions with them, so that hospitality may prosper for everyone’s benefit. It calls on us to be attentiveness to each others’ needs, a quality of taking care, a graciousness towards each other which is a reflection of Christ the shepherd’s care for his sheep. Of course, this is very ordinary and everyday stuff. And yet it is also extraordinary in a world where other people can easily become a nuisance or a threat.
Christ the good shepherd calls us, his people, to do as he does. He calls us to open our ears, to listen to his voice – and to hear the voices of all others. He calls us to see others as God sees them. Whenever we find ourselves doing this, even in the ordinariness of it all, we may yet discover that our lives are attractive, like the life of the good shepherd, whose life is freely given to nourish and sustain us, that others, too, may have life in all its fullness.
NEWS ITEMS FOR THIS WEEK
Mallow Union of Parishes
The Church of Ireland
serving people at the ‘Crossroads of Munster’
The Reverend
MEURIG WILLIAMS
Rector of Mallow Union
(022) 21473
mllwyd@aol.com
Please contact the Rector or the churchwardens at any time if you need pastoral support – or know of anyone in our parishes who would appreciate being contacted.
We also have two Diocesan Readers in our parishes whose ministry we value – Avril Gubbins (022 24267) and Emmanuel Adebisi (0868 467464)
Parish Website
A REFRESHED RECTORY!
I am very grateful to the Select Vestry and, in particular, to Andrew Gardner as Rector’s Glebe Warden, for organising the painting of the outside of the Rectory. As you will see from the photos below, local painter and decorator, Paul Willis from Mallow, has done an excellent job. I hope this new look will offer an inviting welcome to all who call at the Rectory (when public health guidelines allow!).
Before…
After…
www.mallow.cloyne.anglican.org/
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COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME
As a member of the Cork City and the Cork County Covid-19 Community Response Forums, the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross has been asked to share widely information from the HSE concerning the registration for vaccination by those aged 60-64. If you are in this age group, please register online at
https://vaccine.hse.ie/
Registration is now open to people aged 64. If you are aged 65 to 69, you can still register if you have not already done so. Everyone in this group will get the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The HSE is asking people to register on specific days. This will help them to manage demand and make it easier for everyone to register.
If you are aged:
• 64 – register on Friday 23 April, or any time after
• 63 – register on Saturday 24 April, or any time after
• 62 – register on Sunday 25 April, or any time after
• 61 – register on Monday 26 April, or any time after
• 60 – register on Tuesday 27 April, or any time after
Appointments will be assigned by age so it doesn’t matter how quickly you register. To register online you need:
• a mobile phone number
• an email address
• your PPS number – here’s how to find your PPS number
• your Eircode – you can find your Eircode here or you can enter your address in the registration system
If you do not have any of these things, you can call the HSE lo-call number, 1850 24 1850, to register by phone instead.
LOOKING FORWARD
The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross wrote to all clergy earlier this week to outline progress on discussions about churches eventually reopening for worship. As you may have gathered from reports in the media this past week, An Taoiseach has written to church leaders indicating that the Government intends to review ‘the recommencement of public worship’ along with a number of other factors from 4th May. The extent of any reopening will be informed by public health advice. ‘I can assure you’ wrote An Taoiseach ‘that the Government, when it meets next week, will give careful and positive consideration to reopening Places of Worship in May.’ What that means specifically we do not yet know and we shall have to await further announcements. In his letter An Taoiseach emphasised that throughout, the Government has been ‘motivated by the need to protect life and health.’ At the same time, the letter affirmed that ‘we clearly recognise the value of, and the right to public worship.’
ANOTHER ‘NEW LOOK’
As well as the Rectory being given a ‘facelift’, I am hoping to give the format of this newsletter a ‘spring clean’ over the next week or so in the hope that it may be more user-friendly and accessible.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
• Please remember in your prayers all who are isolated and anxious, the sick at home and in hospital (as well as the health service professionals who care for them, along with family and neighbours) and all who are grieving. We pray for all those known to us who are in need of our prayers, especially Jim Shehan of Castletownroche.
• We hold in our prayers John and Valerie Ryan, of Castletownroche, on the death of John’s uncle John in England recently; also, George and Ben Buckley on the death of their cousin Hester England Ballynoe.
• We give thanks to God for all who have received their vaccination – and pray for those waiting to be called.
• We pray, too, for our neighbours who are Muslims and observing the holy month of Ramadan.
• We pray for all those who work in the construction industry, particularly those who are still unable to work.
• We commend to God’s mercy all who have recently died, along with those we have loved and lost whose anniversary of death occurs at this time of year.