Morning Prayer Wednesday, 17 March 2021

Good morning to you on this day of the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick.
We are now in the second half of Lent; Easter is getting closer.
From today, each day is going to be longer than the night before it until nearly the end of September.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
and abides in the shadow of the Almighty
shall say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold,
my God in whom I put my trust.’

For he shall deliver you
from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He shall cover you with his wings
and you will be safe under his feathers;
his faithfulness will be your shield and buckler.

You shall tread upon the lion and adder;
the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

Because they have set their love upon me, therefore will I deliver them;
I will lift them up, because they know my name.
They will call upon me and I will answer them;
I am with them in trouble,
I will deliver them and bring them honour.
With long life I will satisfy them
and show them my salvation.

Psalm 91: 1–4 and 13–16.

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy
and, as you have bound us in your love, leave us not who call upon your name,
but grant us salvation, made known in the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Common Worship

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He said to them, ’The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you like lambs into the midst of the wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals and greet no one on the road.

Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone who is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest upon that person, but if not it will return to you. Remain in the same house eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.’

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’

He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

Luke 10: 1–12 and 17–20

The serpent you will trample underfoot and
‘I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions’
have references to the life of St Patrick, who by tradition rid Ireland of snakes.
The readings have another theme from the life of St Patrick.
He was an escaped slave who returned to Ireland with the gospel message.
He went back like a lamb into the midst of the wolves;
he was preserved from slavery a second time and brought the gospel to all of Ireland,
giving all its people a sense of unity,
having been a number of different warring clans each with its own ‘king’.

The gospel story comes after the Transfiguration and
Jesus with the twelve and others journey to Jerusalem through Samaria.
This was very much a foreign country to Jews, with different laws and customs, particularly on diet.
Our Lord chooses seventy others to go before him and tells them ‘fit in’ ‘eat whatever they give you’.
When we move closer to God, his truth and follow his way, we can overcome any difficulties.
God calls us to go out into the world and engage with it in ways that it can recognise,
to show the love of God to all whom we meet
so that everyone is brought to face his/her own humanity and existence
in terms of their own relationship with God.

We pray for the church seeking to be a relevant witness to Christ
for communities in different parts of the world.
We heard stories from Africa on Sunday and the problems that many people there face,
which are well outside of the lives of most of the people of Christ the Cornerstone.
I hope we are going to continue to support Advantage Africa,
having heard the stories of the need and what our support can provide.
Let us also pray for our Annual Congregational Meeting next Sunday.

Eternal God, give us insight to discern your will for us,
to give up what harms us and your creation
and to seek the perfection you have promised in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

We pray for the world:
It has been a year since we had to accept limitations on our daily living
to reduce the spread of the pandemic.
A recent report showed that women have borne the major burden of lockdown and home teaching.
They have had to face bigger risks of infection than men of similar background.
The news in our country has been filled with details of the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard,
while walking home in South London.
This reminds us of the dangers women face, even in our country today.
Most of the ‘caring’ jobs in our society, voluntary and paid, are being done by women.
We give thanks for all whose service provides for our own needs this day.

Eternal God, give us insight to discern your will for us
to give up what harms other people and your creation and to seek the perfection you have promised in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

A few verses of St Patrick’s breastplate for you to carry with you today:

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to hearken to my need,
the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward,
the word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger.
Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three,
of whom all nature has creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word,
praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Attributed to St Patrick;
translated into English verse by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818 – 1895)

Don Head