大象传媒

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.

Opening Announcement: 大象传媒 Radio 4. It鈥檚 ten past eight. Nicknamed 鈥楬oly Holy Holy鈥� by their peers, Three Singing Priests lead the third Sunday Worship for Lent now, which comes from Northern Ireland and听 begins with the hymn 鈥楬ow Great thou Art.鈥� 鈥楾he Priests.鈥�

THE PRIESTS : How Great thou art.

听FATHER MARTIN听 Good morning and welcome to St Patrick鈥檚 Church in Newtownards in Co Down. I鈥檓 Martin O鈥橦agan, the Parish Priest here and with my brother Father Eugene and Father David Delargy we鈥檙e leading today鈥檚 Sunday Worship- and, as you鈥檝e heard, singing as well.

FATHER DAVID听听 We鈥檝e been singing together since we met at school some forty years ago and since then听 we鈥檝e sing all over the world at concerts and important liturgical occasions.

FATHER EUGENE
Today鈥檚 Service is part of the Radio 4 Sunday Worship Lent series based on the Archbishop of Canterbury鈥檚 book, Dethroning Mammon.听 This morning we centre our thoughts around one of the chapter titles: What we have we hold.

TAPE INSERT听 from Archbishop Welby
Humans have an 鈥榓cquisitive鈥� nature and a tendency to hold on to what we have, to say that what is ours is truly ours, not truly God鈥檚, and act accordingly.
Many rich people become philanthropists and seek to give away a significant proportion of what they have. Of course it is a good and wonderful thing when the world鈥檚 wealthy decide to share their fortune with the less fortunate. But the existence of philanthropy as a whole points to a more subtle way in which Mammon has captured our imagination. That is, the deception of Mammon is not simply to say that we need to hold on to everything we鈥檝e got, but rather to say that what we鈥檝e got is ours to dispose of as we choose.
Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with expensive oil in order that he might be glorified. The Disciples are horrified at the extravagance of the gesture but they are thinking like the rich people who hold on to everything they have. Jesus asks us to change our attitude.

FATHER MARTIN Let us Pray:
Father, all powerful and ever living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We bless you for the marvel of your creation, the consistency of your generosity and for the wonder of your recreating love in Jesus Christ who humbled himself and was obedient even to death, death on a Cross. We praise you for his sacrifice and thank you for all the sacrifices others have made for us.
We acknowledge our sins and faults:
We have not always acknowledged that all that we have comes from you.
Lord Have mercy
We have considered your gifts as our own to do as we wish with]
Christ, have mercy
We have been reluctant to share what we have, wanting to hold on to yi.
Lord, have mercy
May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Amen

READER A reading from St Paul鈥檚 latter to the Philippians
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
听who, though he was in the form of God,
听听 did not regard equality with God
听听 as something to be exploited,
听but emptied himself,
听听 taking the form of a slave,
听听 being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
听听 he humbled himself
听听 and became obedient to the point of death鈥�
听听 even death on a cross.

听Therefore God also highly exalted him
听听 and gave him the name
听听 that is above every name,
听so that at the name of Jesus
听听 every knee should bend,
听听 in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
听and every tongue should confess
听听 that Jesus Christ is Lord,
听听 to the glory of God the Father.

THE PRIESTS听听 Ave Verum Corpus (Mozart)

FATHER EUGENE As Archbishop Welby has written, Jesus asks us to change our attitude and take 鈥渁n entirely new world- view,鈥� So often Jesus questions what seem to be the normal and natural standards of living. He questions ideas of what success is, for a life that appeared to finish in disgrace and death might not be considered a success; He questions ideas of power .and how it might be used, And while our natural instinct is often to get our own back on someone who has wronged us, he tells us not to seek revenge. And he challenges our attitude towards possessions and how we make use of them. You cannot serve God and Mammon, And he asks, what profit there is in gaining the whole world but forfeiting our lives?
What we have we hold!听 Those words have sometimes been used as a political slogan in Northern Ireland!听 But they can be very true at a deep personal level, for our attitude often is that we will, as individuals, hold on to what we have. That might seem natural if we consider our security and wellbeing depend on this. It鈥檚 not just money and material things because much we value most have cannot be bought or sold, can鈥檛 even be valued in terms of cash. They could not in any sense be considered evil, on the contrary, many of them are good- they give meaning and pleasure and satisfaction. They can help to make life worth living.
For us, music has always been important. We have been sharing it with other people for many years now. And over the past eight years or so, we鈥檝e been privileged to sing in many different parts of the world. We have found it a great experience and if the music industry scene was unfamiliar to us as priests, well it wasn鈥檛 overfamiliar with priests either!听 But we all recognise that whatever musical ability we may have is before anything else a gift from God who made us.听
In an important way, we see what we do as an extension of our ministry and had we forgotten that our first commitment is to our continuing role as priests and that we must have time to carry that out it, I dare say our contract might have been more lucrative But, mammon did not triumph and much of what we earn goes into a charitable fund which helps the homeless and funds schools in part of Africa. I鈥檓 mentioning this not to try to show what good people we are and I am conscious of Archbishop Welby鈥檚 comment that philanthropy can make us think that 鈥渨hat we鈥檝e got is our to dispose of as we choose鈥� It isn鈥檛. Our giving is a result if the gift God has given us. As Father David has said 鈥淭his whole project for us was dedicated to God from the beginning and it will continue to be so as long as it lasts鈥�
We sing a very old Irish hymn B铆, 脥osa, im chro铆se, a prayer that Jesus will always be with us.

THE PRIESTS听听 B铆, 脥osa im Chroise

. FATHER DAVID On Friday we celebrated St Patrick鈥檚 Day. Patrick, as a youth, had been captured and brought to Ireland, as a slave.听 He managed to escape and returned听 to his parents who听 pleaded with him that he should never leave them again. And then one night in a dream, he heard a voice from Ireland begging him 鈥渢o come and walk again among us鈥�.
Patrick was faced with the most important choice he ever had to make- he could hold on to the freedom he鈥檇 achieved after years of slavery or go back to his place of suffering.. I鈥檝e no doubt that if he spoke to anyone about it, he would have been assured he was mad, quite mad, to even consider going back to the wild Irish.; But Patrick was ready to sacrifice that freedom. And Jesus did say that those who wanted to follow him should deny themselves and take up the cross.
I rather suspect that sacrifice isn鈥檛 all that popular an idea today. We tend to live in a culture which doesn鈥檛 support vocation all that much.听 When I was called to priesthood, I received a lot of encouragement, but I imagine now if that a young man says he鈥檚 going to become a priest, people might think 鈥淲hat鈥檚 wrong with you?鈥� But I have to say that whatever sacrifices people may consider I made, I don鈥檛 have regrets. And the follower of Christ, ordained or not, is called to make sacrifices.

In his book, Archbishop Welby refers to the attitude of the colleagues of a soldier killed in Afghanistan whose funeral he conducted: He considered they were ready to sacrifice themselves if holding their own lives meant abandoning their colleagues. And that has strong echoes of the words of Jesus when said 鈥淕reater love has no man than this that he lays down his life for his friends. Jesus is, of course the prime example of that. He, as St Paul wrote, gave up everything for the life of the world. He was obedient unto death, even death on the Cross. And he also said, Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

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THE PRIESTS听听 Amazing Grace

FATHER MARTIN And it is in an encounter with this Jesus that Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus in Bethany showed her willingness to let go of something precious to her.

READER Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus鈥� feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 鈥榃hy was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?鈥� (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, 鈥楲eave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.鈥�

FATHER MARTIN The ointment was expensive, possibly worth thousands of pounds. It was probably the most valuable thing Mary owned but apart from any monetary value money, it may well have been very precious to her, but she was happy to give it away.
In that action Mary did not hold on to her dignity or her reputation. She humbled herself to anoint Jesus feet. She untied her hair and that was something no respectable woman at that time would have thought of doing in public. But Mary does not seem to have cared.
I suppose it鈥檚 very likely that some of the people at the meal that night would have thought that Mary had gone quite mad, pouring out an expensive asset on Jesus鈥� feet. Judas criticised her. But Jesus鈥� response was to say leave her alone. And that for me has echoes of his response when he was sitting a few days later at the Temple Treasury when he noticed a very poor widow dropping in two little coins- all that she had. Most if us, I imagine, would probably have thought her action foolish, how was she to live? Wouldn鈥檛 she have been better holding on to her pittance. But Jesus commended what she had done; she had actually given more than those who had given what they had to spare from their riches
听So he commends Mary, Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. At that time in his life and in Mary鈥檚 life, her act of costly devotion to him and her worship of him was entirely appropriate. She did not hold to what she had. She recognised her Lord and Saviour and in her adoration was ready to release what she held..
And in recognising Jesus for who He is and for what He has done, and in giving our worship we can find in the Archbishop鈥檚 words 鈥渁n entirely new world- view, based around his grace and sufficient love. 鈥�

THE PRIESTS听听 Jesu Joy of Man鈥檚 Desiring (Bach)

The Prayers
Lord we pray for your church that it may always seek to proclaim the message and the love of Jesus and that in its own life, it may be ready to let go of those things that may blur its message and prevent people from following you.
Lord, we pray for people who are suffering throughout your world ,suffering from natural disaster or famine; suffering because of violence and inhumanity; suffering from severe illness and from great disappointment. Be with them in their different situations and grant that they may be conscious of your presence. Encourage us all to do whatever we can to ease their pain
Lord, continue to remind us, we pray, that everything we have comes from you and help us to use all our possessions, those that can be valued in monetary terms and those that can鈥檛, under your guidance and for your glory.听 Teach, we ask, to be generous..

And these and all our prayers we offer in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit one God be glory for ever and ever.

THE PRIESTS听听 Our Father. (Byzantine)

FATHER MARTIN We pray in the words of St Patrick, We pray in words attributed to St Patrick:
May the strength of God pilot us.
May the power of God preserve us.
May the wisdom of God instruct us.
May the hand of God protect us/
May the way of god direct us.
May the shield of God defend us.
May the hosts of God guard us against the snares of the evil one and the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us. Christ before us. Christ in us. Christ over us.
May your salvation O Lord be always ours this day and for evermore)))
And the blessing of God Almighty- Father Son and Holy Spirit be with you, this day听听 and evermore听 Amen

Thank you for joining us in Newtownards this morning and we pray that God will give you guidance and blessing through these days of Lent and beyond. And we finish with an Irish blessing.

THE PRIESTS听听 A Gaelic Blessing (Rutter)

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