St Thomas’ Church - keeping in touch
Building the Kingdom...................................
Thank you to Sue and Joe for this picture of the clematis in their garden.
I hope that you are continuing safe and well. Please know that you are being prayed for and, though we may be separated physically, we are joined spiritually in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You will see in the Bible readings list below that on Saturday the church remembers St Benedict. Around 500 AD, Benedict was sent to Rome to study but he soon became disillusioned by life there. He spent 3 years as a hermit and grew in maturity in mind and spirit. Several miracles are accredited to him after this time. Whilst Benedict was invited to join a monastery, he did not agree with the way this and others were run. He founded 12 monasteries in northern Italy and in 530 founded the great Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino, which lies on a hilltop between Rome and Naples. He wrote the Rule of Saint Benedict giving direction as to how monks should live and behave communally. The Rule contains spiritual wisdom: how to live a Christ-centred life on earth and teaching obedience and humility. Would you like to follow Benedict’s golden rule Ora et Labora (Pray and Work) ? – each day consists of 8 hours of prayer, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of manual work, sacred reading and/or works of charity.
Parts of the prayer of St Benedict:
O Lord, I place myself in your hands and dedicate myself to you.
I pledge myself to do your will in all things:
To love the Lord God with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength
To honour all persons. Not to do to another what I would not wish done to myself.
To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
To speak the truth with heart and tongue.
To love my enemies.
To put my trust in God. To refer the good I see in myself to God.
Never to despair of your mercy, O God of Mercy. Amen.
Our readings for this week
SUNDAY 5th July: Morning - Romans 7: 15 – 25a; Matthew 11: 16 – 19, 25 - end
Evening – Psalm 56; 2 Samuel 2: 1 – 11, 2 Samuel 3: 1; Luke 18: 31 – 19 : 10
| Morning Readings | Evening Readings |
Monday 6th July | Psalm 80; Judges 13: 1 – 24; Luke 17: 20 – end | Psalm 85; Job 33; Romans 14: 13 - end |
Tuesday 7th July | Psalm 89: 1 – 18; Judges 14; Luke 18: 1 – 14 | Psalm 89: 19 – end; Job 38; Romans 15: 1 - 13 |
Wednesday 8th July | Psalm 119 : 105 – 128; Judges 15: 1 – 16: 3; Luke 18 : 15 – 30 | Psalm 91; Job 39; Romans 15: 14 - 21 |
Thursday 9th July | Psalm 92; Judges 16: 4 – end; Luke 18: 31 – end | Psalm 94; Job 40; Romans 15: 22 - end |
Friday 10th July | Psalm 88; Judges 17; Luke 19: 1 – 10 | Psalm 102; Job 41; Romans 16: 1 - 16 |
Saturday 11th July Benedict, abbot | Psalm 97; Judges 18: 1 – 20, 27 – end; Luke 19: 11 - 27 | Psalm 104; Job 42; Romans 16: 17 - end |
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord makes His face to shine on you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace. Amen.(Numbers 6: 24 – 27)
