We are almost at the 4th Sunday in Lent which in the Christian religion, since the middle ages, is Mothering Sunday and back then it was a day to honour our ‘mother churches’, visiting the church or chapel where you received the sacrament of baptism and became a ‘child of the church’. In the last century the observance of Mothering Sunday expanded to honour not only Mother Church, but ‘mothers of earthly homes’, the Mother of Jesus and Mother Nature. Nowadays the American term Mothers Day is more widely used and has become a celebration of mothers and motherhood. So our service this Sunday at 11.00 a.m. will reflect the very special place mothers have in our lives and we are delighted to welcome Lyndsay to take the service which I believe will have a little surprise at the end.
We will have an extra communion service on Palm Sunday at 11 a.m. and going into Holy Week Compline will be said from Monday to Thursday evenings at 6 p.m. Don’t forget to come and listen to Jeremy on Good Friday at 3 p.m. who will read some excepts from St Matthew’s Gospel accompanied by music from St Matthew’s Passion. Written by Bach, the Passion is the story Matthew tells us in his Gospel (Ch 26 & 27) set to music in the most glorious way. This will be a beautiful and moving interlude to start the Easter weekend so we look forward to seeing you in church for this special event. At 4 p.m. at our sister church, St Britius, Brize Norton, there is a benefice Tenebrae service. This is a service that features the gradual extinguishing of candles and readings about Jesus’ passion, culminating in a period of darkness and a loud noise, symbolizing Christ’s death and the subsequent resurrection.
On Easter Saturday Rev Barry will be holding a quiet vigil in church between 10 and 12 noon. This is for anyone who would like to pop in and have a few minutes quiet contemplation and prayer – drop in when you like and stay as long as you like, it’s up to you. By then Rev Barry will have been licenced at St John’s Church as our Rector and will soon move into the Rectory which is behind the church in Carterton. We send our congratulations and wish him many happy years of ministry in our benefice.
My last offering is an invitation from our friends at St Britius to an Easter Tea in the Humble Bumble Cafe in Brize Norton on Saturday 26th April. These gatherings are always good fun and a way to socialise with our friends in the benefice and the tea served is really scrumptious. You won’t want supper afterwards, I can guarantee! Let me know if you would like to come before Easter if possible – it starts at 4 p.m. and tickets are £15.