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A service from St Macartin鈥檚 Cathedral in Enniskillen marking the meeting of the G8 Summit in Coutny Fermanagh, led by the Dean, the Very Rev Kenneth Hall. The preacher is the Bishop of Clogher, the Right Rev. John McDowell. The choir is conducted by Jayne Haslett and the organist is Glenn Moore.

Please note:
This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

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WELCOME 鈥� The Dean

As you join us for Sunday Worship in Northern Ireland, I welcome you to Enniskillen- Inis Ceithleann_Cethlenn鈥檚 island and the town is built on an island between Upper and Lower Lough Erne- two stretches of water greatly appreciated by anglers and all who love boating.

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One Monday and Tuesday this week, the G8 summit will be held in a Golf Resort about three miles from Enniskillen and that meeting and all who will be taking part in it are very much in our thoughts and prayers in this service. And today we also remember the people of South Africa, as they pray for Nelson Mandela

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We begin with a hymn written by Henry Francis Lyte who went to school here in Enniskillen at Portora (which was also attended by Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde). The hymn Praise my soul the King of Heaven.

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HYMN: Praise my soul the King of Heaven

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Words by Henry F Lyte (1793-1847)
Music: John Gloss (1800-80)

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The dean says

Let us confess our sins to God our Father.

Heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault;
by what we have done
and by what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ who died for us,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life
to the glory of your name. Amen.

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The Bishop pronounces the absolution.

Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent,
have mercy on you,
pardon and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,
and keep you in eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.

God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.

Praise the Lord.

The Lord鈥檚 name be praised.

The psalm for today, Psalm 121, looking to God who keeps watch over our going out and coming in.

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PSALM 121

FIRST READING

A reading from First Kings chapter 21 beginning at verse 1

Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. And Ahab said to Naboth, 鈥楪ive me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.鈥� But Naboth said to Ahab, 鈥楾he Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.鈥� Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, 鈥業 will not give you my ancestral inheritance.鈥� He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.

听His wife Jezebel came to him and said, 鈥榃hy are you so depressed that you will not eat?鈥� He said to her, 鈥楤ecause I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 鈥淕ive me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it鈥�; but he answered, 鈥淚 will not give you my vineyard.鈥� 鈥� His wife Jezebel said to him, 鈥楧o you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.鈥�

听So she wrote letters in Ahab鈥檚 name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. She wrote in the letters, 鈥楶roclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, 鈥淵ou have cursed God and the king.鈥� Then take him out, and stone him to death.鈥�

听As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, 鈥楪o, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.鈥� As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

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This is the word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

The canticle Jubilate O shout to the Lord in triumph all the earth;
serve the Lord with gladness

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CANTICLE Jubilate

SECOND READING

听A reading from The Gospel according to St Luke chapter 7 beginning at verse 36

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus听to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee鈥檚 house and took his place at the table.听And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee鈥檚 house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.听She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.听Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, 鈥業f this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him鈥攖hat she is a sinner.鈥櫶齁esus spoke up and said to him, 鈥楽imon, I have something to say to you.鈥� 鈥楾eacher,鈥� he replied, 鈥榮peak.鈥櫶�鈥楢 certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii,听and the other fifty.听When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?鈥櫶齋imon answered, 鈥業 suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.鈥� And Jesus听said to him, 鈥榊ou have judged rightly.鈥櫶齌hen turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, 鈥楧o you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.听You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.听You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.听Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.鈥櫶齌hen he said to her, 鈥榊our sins are forgiven.鈥櫶鼴ut those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, 鈥榃ho is this who even forgives sins?鈥櫶鼳nd he said to the woman, 鈥榊our faith has saved you; go in peace.鈥�

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him,听as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,听and Joanna, the wife of Herod鈥檚 steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them听out of their resources.

This is the word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF HYMN The hymn, Tell out my soul, is based on the Magnificat, the Song of Mary, and praises the greatness of God who feeds the hungry and lifts the humble

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HYMN听 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord:听

Words: Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith Music: Wilfred Greatorex

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THE SERMON - The Bishop of Clogher

I can hardly begin to imagine the amount of work which the members of the G8 countries have had to do to prepare for their meetings here in County Fermanagh over the next few days. I know that those preparations have been going on for a long time; probably since the end of last time that the G8 met.

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There will have been hundreds of people involved- politicians, advisors, experts in every field of knowledge imaginable. They will have had to read many articles and policy documents and learned papers to prepare for the work they have to do in so short a time.

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I wonder ( and this is simply idle speculation) did any of them, by any chance, prepare by looking up the Revised Common Lectionary, and perusing the Bible readings as they are set out for this morning; passages which will be read in thousands of Churches around the world today?

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Probably not, I suppose. And I can quite understand why. They already had quite enough stuff to read without bothering with interesting but rather exotic and remote material like the First Book of Kings or the Gospel of S. Luke.

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After all what could the story of a Near Eastern, Iron Age king have to say to the era of the knowledge economy? Or what has a poignant story about a Jewish Messiah and an emotional woman to do with development economics?

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鈥淎nd Ahab said to Naboth- Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house. I will give you a better garden for it...or I will give you its value in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance鈥�.

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Naboth鈥檚 Vineyard is a story about greed, but a particular sort of greed. It is about greed which sincerely believes itself to be benevolence. And we are all prone to it; but the rich and the powerful are more prone to it than most.

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When I say the rich and the powerful I mean you and me, and, of course those who make decisions on our behalf. But we can鈥檛 pass the buck onto them, because in a democracy every person is a politician in some sense.

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It mightn鈥檛 be a bad idea if rich countries who have a genuine desire to help developing countries added the Naboth test into the economic algorithms which no doubt have to be made when aid or investment is being contemplated.

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The Naboth test would require a healthy amount of self suspicion about our own motives. It might involve questions like- Who is really benefiting in the long term from this transaction, and, are there any hidden motives that I am conveniently ignoring?

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The Naboth test might also take into account some factors that have greater value than money; in fact may be something that money can鈥檛 buy. Something like the self respect of the receiving country and its real long term interests.

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Naboth knew something that we in the West have forgotten (although it was pretty clearly articulated by a prophetic Irishman Edmund Burke over two hundred years ago). It is that any society can only thrive in the long term when it remembers it is based on a scared contract between the dead, the living and the unborn.

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鈥淭he Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance鈥�. No country (whether one that gives aid or one that receives aid) has the right to barter with the riches it has received in whatever form, without first guaranteeing that an even better result can be handed on to another generation.

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Today in most western countries there is a large group of people who are not quite the unborn generations but who have every possibility of becoming the forgotten dead without having the opportunity to become the fully living; the young unemployed.

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The levels of unemployment in wealthy countries is not only an economic problem, it is also a moral tragedy. Useful work is a God given means to develop both the good of society and the capacity of the individual. Not to have useful paid work to do is to be deprived of one of the means of developing great virtues.

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It is through the world of work that most of us learn the habits of regularity, team working, application, balanced judgement, reliability and toleration. For millions of young people to be deprived of the opportunity to acquire and deepen these virtues, which are as necessary for economic development as much as personal well being, is to store up enormous personal and societal problems for decades to come.

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The pace of economic recovery has been slow but there are glimpses now that may be changing. 听Perhaps if measures to cater for this generation can be made, they will avoid spending the most creative and productive years of their lives in a sterile no man's land of economic inactivity.

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And Jesus said 鈥淪imon, I have something to teach you鈥�.A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty鈥�.

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Perhaps the most important thing to say about the nameless woman who anointed his feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee, is that her generosity greatly moved Jesus.

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No doubt there is such a thing as extravagant waste and there is no doubt a right time to keep every penny a prisoner. But there are also times in the lives of every man or听 woman living, and in the lives of nations too when our true character shines out in acts of almost reckless generosity. Un-repayable debt demoralises people and crushes hope, and eventually destroys whole societies. Generosity gives hope and life.

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There will always be those who generosity scandalises, just as Simon the Pharisee was scandalised. Those who carp at extravagant generosity would always claim to 听have reason on their side and they usually have love against them; and love is the greatest moral reality of all.

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Generosity is at the core of the Gospel and we all can think of a hundred reasons why we shouldn鈥檛 be generous. But generosity is the very spirit of Jesus.

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There was nothing sensible in his life. He gave without calculating the cost. The Pharisee would have looked at His life and His death and asked 鈥� why this waste.鈥� We all fear becoming poor. Jesus dreaded that any man should be rich; such was the danger of riches to the soul.

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It is not a bad way to test what we are as individuals and as a nation. To ask when was the last time we did something generous or extravagant out of love. In the Scriptures eternal life, the life of God, does not belong to the sensible people. It doesn鈥檛 belong to those who hoard their lives, but to those who spill out their lives for the love of God and for the love of their neighbour.

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The Hymn Your Kingdom come O God prays for the time when oppressions, crime and greed shall be no more

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HYMN Your kingdom come, O God!

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Words Lewis Hensley听 Music: LG Haynes

The Lord be with you
and also with you.

Kneel

Let us pray.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.

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Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

O Lord, save the Queen
and grant her government wisdom.

Let your ministers be clothed with righteousness
and let your servants shout for joy.

O Lord, save your people
and bless those whom you have chosen.

Give peace in our time, O Lord,
and let your glory be over all the earth.

O God, make clean our hearts within us
and renew us by your Holy Spirit.

THE COLLECTS

Almighty God,听
you have broken the tyranny of sin听
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts听
whereby we call you Father:听
Give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,听
that we and all creation may be brought听
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;听
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 听Amen

Go before us, Lord, in all our doings, with your most gracious favour,
and further us with your continual help;

that in all our works begun, continued and ended in you,
we may glorify your holy name,
and finally by your mercy attain everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Heavenly Father,
in whom we live and move and have our being:
We humbly pray that your Holy Spirit may so guide and govern us
that in all the cares and occupations of our daily life,
we may never forget your presence
but may remember that we are always walking in your sight,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayers and thanksgivings

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O God, The King of kings and Lord of lords
Give ear to the prayers of your faithful people.
Your hand is over all you create,
You hold us and all the world in your care.

In Jesus, You came that all might have life and have it in abundance. He fed the hungry and they had enough .So we pray for all who through our human ignorance, folly and sin are forced to live in a poverty many of us can hardly begin to imagine. Show those of us who have so much what we can do to help those who have so little. Help all of us to follow his example.

听Bless the work we pray of all who are attempt to overcome poverty ad hunger, that sufficient resources may be found for all, through Jesus Christ..

We lift the leaders of the G8 nations in our prayers that they may have your guidance and grace in all their discussions this week. Direct our attention and theirs to see beyond our own selfish needs. 听And may your kingdom come in us and through us.
听In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

We particularly pray for the people of South Africa today and for those who are closest to Nelson Mandela and join our prayers with theirs

Heavenly Father, you have promised through your Son, Jesus Christ, that when we meet in his name, and pray according to his mind, he will be among us and hear our prayer. In love and wisdom fulfil our desires, and give us your greatest gift, which is to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

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THE BLESSING

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The hymn Love divine, looks forward to the new creation

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HYMN听听 Love divine, all loves excelling,

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Words Charles Wesley Music: WP Rowlands

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