Invitation to all within the Parish of Alberton and O’Leary

     Rev. Ann Bush warmly invites you and your friends to join me this Sunday for a Worship of Praise Service at 10:30am.

     You find me on my Facebook page waiting there for you at about 10:20am and worship will begin at 10:30am. If you have someone or a situation you would like prayed for during our service please email me on blogs62@hotmail.com to ensure your privacy. Let me know if you are ok with names during the prayer otherwise I shall not use any names at all.

I shall be praying for Nova Scotia and those who died so violently anyway so you need not ask for that. Join our Virtual Church and enjoy praise music, old and new and scripture readings, prayers etc. My theme for the message is “Second Sight” based on the set Gospel Reading.

Looking forward to having with us,

Rev Ann Bush

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Readings

3^rd Sunday of Easter

Acts 2: 14, 36-41

Psalm 116: 1-3, 10-17 (pg 864)

 1 Peter 1: 17-23

The Holy Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35    

Collect

 O God, your Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread. Open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in his redeeming work, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 

Prayer after Communion

 Author of life divine, in the breaking of bread we know the risen Lord. Feed us always in these mysteries, that we may show your glory to all the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The First Sunday after Easter

THE COLLECT

ALMIGHTY Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification: Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may alway serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE EPISTLE

1 St. John 5.4-12

WHATSOEVER is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood: and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life.

THE GOSPEL

St. John 20.19-23

THE same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Text from The Book of Common Prayer, the rights in which are vested in the Crown,
is reproduced by permission of the Crown's Patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Easter Blessings

Palm Sunday Service 2020

CAN WE WALK IN THE DARKNESS OF TODAY?


As we worship our Almighty God, let us remember that His Holy Spirit connects us all. Even though we cannot at this time touch each other or see each other we are all connected as the Body of Christ, with Christ as our Head. let us all worship at 10 am on Sundays using this Blog service, this way we can share in worship, if not as we usually do.

Imagine all the faces of your congregation and say The GRACE

There is a powerful hymn that speaks of our theme today:

Great is the darkness that covers the earth, oppression, injustice and pain,

Nations are slipping in hopeless despair, though many have come in Your name

Watching while sanity dies, touched by the madness and lies,

Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus, pour out Your Spirit we pray; Come Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus pour out Your Spirit on us today.

Scripture Readings for The Liturgy of the Passion: Psalm 31   and Gospel Matthew 26: 14-75 and 27: 1-54 MESSAGE: Today is the end of Lent for another year and Holy Week begins on Monday. This Lent has been like no other since the days of the World Wars when life for everyone became s strange and scary landscape almost overnight. We are all trying to find our way in this new darkness, carrying anxieties and fears of what will become of our lives, if this virus continues to spread. Many have had to confront their worst fears with being separated from loved ones as they are cared for in hospitals, too many have died alone without the comfort of loved ones or clergy beside them, although nurses and doctors do their best. There is not much to lighten the darkness as we read the Passion story of Christ. If you like me, gain strength from the sacrament of communion and daily prayer, our pillars of faith, yet on reading Matthew 26, gospel for this Sunday, we acknowledge how the first Lord’s Supper was shrouded in deception and abandonment. Judas had already sold out Jesus for a mere 30 pieces of silver, the first act of deception. Yetread again Matthew 26 verse 31, and discover Judas was not the only betrayer. Things do not improve as Jesus is left alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, even though he had asked the disciples to remain awake with him and to pray. Full of sorrow, Jesus prays alone in anguish, “take this cup of suffering from me; yet not what I want but what you want, Lord.” Yet God does not reply. How dark that night became for Jesus as he was left to confront his own fears.  When the disciples finally awoke, Jesus is ambushed, arrested and dragged away for trial. How dark it must have been as He hung on the Cross and His soul descended into hell in our place because of our sins. This is the darkest the world has ever known as Jesus calls out” My God, my God why have You forsaken me?” This was a time many were struggling with darkness and ever since that day we have all called out” where are you God, why won’t you answer me?” Even in the silence we are required to keep praying and taking strength from Communion and our fellowship with one another to keep walking forwards until we encounter God’s light again and then fully know He is always with us even in the silence.

God created the dark first and then said “Let there be light” Genesis 1:1-4. We need the dark to show up the light. To God, darkness is as the day. Look inwards see if you recognize anything you know should not be there; times of betrayal, times of not being honest or putting your needs before others’ ; or even acting like Pilate, knowing the right thing to do, yet doing the wrong thing because you fear losing your reputation and respect. maybe you are more like the Centurion and soldiers who crucified Jesus and the robbers, only doing their job after all or so they thought. Yet when darkness covered the land at 3 pm somehow they stood in their enlightened space amid the dark shadows, able to say with confidence” surely He was the Son of God”.

The gem at the heart of this gospel is that God never behaves as we do and for God night is as the day. God is at much at home saving, forgiving and healing in the dark as in the light. He will meet with any situation or person no matter where they have been. Sometimes He even calls His Church into a dark cloud. Maybe this is where we find ourselves today; what might motivate you to open your eyes to seeing God in this strange new landscape? Know this beloved, we all stand at the foot of the cross, the big question is, is Jesus still hanging there waiting for you to see Him? Or is the Cross empty now because you have seen Him and believed He died for YOU!

Take a time of reflection and prayer. Close with Lord’s Prayer.

BENEDICTION; Hosanna! let us welcome the shining face of the Jesus who came to save and accept the guidance of light into the most shadowy aspects of real life. may we align our minds with Christ and be humble witnesses to the Holy Spirit in the world. AMEN.

"Let your faith be bigger than your fear." 
In a message to me this morning from my friend Ann MacDonald (a hospital chaplain, in Ottawa), she signed off with the above quote. So appropriate for these days we are living!

Statement from The Most Reverend Ron Cutler

Dear friends,

Forwarding to keep everyone up to date. I am reminded of the lovely old hymn, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’ and how we need to make time to refresh our spiritual well being every day. 

-Rev Ann

Statement released Wednesday, April 1, 2020

To:   The Clergy and Parishes of the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

Dear Friends;

After a while it is difficult to find the appropriate adjectives to describe the period of time we are living in. “Extraordinary” and “Unprecedented” probably top the list but many more apply. It is a time when social cohesion is needed in order to contain the spread of the Coronavirus in our communities. We are being entreated to STAY HOME, WASH YOUR HANDS, and DON’T GATHER. These are not optional behaviours, they are truly matters of life and death, if not for ourselves, than for others close to us. Health care providers and support staff, and basic service providers are valued as never before. It’s sort of a kingdom moment when the influencers in our society have been sidelined - the last first and the first become last!

In other aspects of our parish life, we are discovering a whole range of new options. Some will be more effective in certain communities/congregations than in others. It is a time for all leaders, both clergy and lay, to step up in consultation with one another about the resources available to worship, connect, teach and support. Our buildings are closed however the call to participate in God’s mission has not been deferred. Rather than a time of idleness, this has meant increased activity in many parishes as we figure out how to fulfill our traditional purposes in new ways.

In both provinces, there are continued restrictions on any gathering of more than 5 people. On March 15th, I wrote that public worship services would be cancelled at least until April 3rd, 2020. In compliance with the Public Health state of emergency in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and until directed otherwise by provincial authorities, public worship continues to be cancelled. I recommend that plans be made for this to continue until the end of May.

On Friday March 27rd, the Diocesan Council voted to waive parish allotments for April and May (in addition to the previously announced waiver for March). The diocese will also pay all payroll costs for stipendiary clergy for April and May. A small task group has been given authority to respond to other requests for financial support not covered by these first two resolutions. This is a commitment of $1.3 million to support ongoing parish ministries in this extraordinary time. It represents all of our accessible working capital. It is not intended to be a complete income replacement for parishes. We continue to explore (along with other dioceses) if we may be eligible for the payroll subsidies offered by the Federal government. Glen Greencorn, our controller, has developed a FAQ list related to the council decisions.

Where our buildings are not being used on a regular basis, there may be insurance implications. We will send out a separate information sheet for parish officers about procedures to be followed.

We are still in the midst of the planning and preparation for an Electoral Synod to take place on May 30. At it’s regularly scheduled meeting on April 17-18, the Diocesan Council will decide on a provisional alternate date for the Synod to take place. We have already cancelled or postponed all diocesan events up to the middle of June, so this seems to be a logical precaution. Having started the process to elect a new bishop, there is really no way to stop it. Therefore, the deadlines previously announced remain effective. This means that names of those to be proposed to the search committee for consideration as nominees must be submitted by midnight Saturday April 4 to the secretary of the search committee. If we are unable to gather on May 30 we will use the provision in Canon 1 section 12.2 to postpone to a date selected by Diocesan Council.

It is wonderful to see that over 50 of our parishes are now offering some form of online worship and that 12 more parishes (in areas of low or no internet service) have distributed special printed worship material to families. The majority of these worship services have been services of the Word rather than celebrations of the Eucharist. In the past week, there has been a lot of online debate about the wisdom or appropriateness of streaming the Eucharist online. Some bishops have declared a “Eucharistic fast” for this time. I am not going to do so. There is a great variety in the ways that we as Anglicans approach the Eucharist. That variety is expressed in the Eucharistic piety of the parishes in our diocese. I will not order priests to stop presiding at Eucharist. Instead, I am leaving it up to the consciences of clergy and the discernment of parish leaders to determine the most appropriate ways to worship while we are prevented from physically gathering the Body of Christ.

There have been different calls to join in prayer across the country at different times. There have also been some suggestions regarding ringing all our church bells at the same time on Easter Day. I’m not sure that it is important to coordinate a specific time to ring the bells as much as to ring them! Don’t wait until Easter - do it this Sunday as a reminder that we are still here and as a call to prayer - not in a building but throughout our communities.

Blesssings;
The Most Reverend Ron Cutler
Archbishop of Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island

For more information visit: https://www.nspeidiocese.ca