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Jesus and the woman at the well : Living Water

John 4: 1- 29 For just over a week now we have been hearing of the attacks of the US & Israel against Iran, and Iran’s retaliation in the Middle East. The BBC have reported that since the first wave of strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the air attacks have shown little sign of relenting. An eye-witness has said "Each day has felt like a month, the volume of attacks is so high." Most people are staying indoors, only venturing out for supplies. The regime appears to have increased its security presence on the streets, which Iranians have seen as a response to the dissent shown following the ayatollah's death. "There are checkpoints everywhere. They're scared of their own shadows," says one 25-year old student in Tehran. The price of staples like eggs and potatoes has also sky-rocketed, he said, and the queues for petrol and bread "are unbelievable". Another resident of the capital has told the BBC that mos...
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Lent 2 & St David's Day

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                                                            St David's Cathedral   Reflection 1 on    Psalm 121   We have heard the story of David healing Paulinus – helping him to see again. ( A video of the story can be seen  here ) How wonderful if St David could help us to see our scripture readings in a new way! Well, perhaps he can.   We have very little recorded of what David actually said except the words, said to be from his last sermon to the brothers in his monastery: “Be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things you have heard and seen me do”.   It’s not surprising that we have so few of David’s words – he lived in the 6 th century and his biographer wrote down the stories of David 500 years later.   But what a man David must h...
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Transfiguration & the mystery of Easter

 Matthew 17: 1-9 In the first part of the service I am telling the Godly Play story "The Mystery of Easter" - this short sermon then follows on, after the Gospel reading. If you want to hear the story, it is  Here   Reflection   This has been a good week to think about transformation – things changing – the way sadness and celebration can belong together.   The weather has given us days when we have glimpsed the daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses in a little sunshine and started to dare that Spring might be just around the corner – and then we’ve suffered days when the cold wind and driving rain have sent us scurrying back indoors.   The news has stories that can leave us feeling appalled and depressed – and yet even in the darkest times there are stories of amazing heroism or stunning compassion.   The mystery of Easter   - that purple and white jigsaw puzzle - reminds us of the reality of sadness but also the trut...
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Salt and light

Isaiah 58:1-9a and Matthew 5:13-20   What are you here for?  What a dangerous question to ask people who have come to worship. You might all suddenly slap your hand to your forehead & say ‘well, now you come to ask, we have no idea – there are so many other things we could be doing this morning – having  lie-in, reading the Sunday papers, washing the car .. the list is endless’.   And if it’s not bad enough to have to face up to self-doubt, we hear a gospel reading in which Jesus says to us “ you are the salt of the earth, you are light for the world” – and we all know that salt isn’t mean to sit in the pot on the table, any more than light is meant to be hidden, it is meant – salt and light – to be spread around, to bring savour and illumination to the whole world.   So why come to this – or any -   chapel building?   Jesus makes it clear to his listeners that the law is there to help people to live lives of righteousness, wor...
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Luke 2: 22-40 Candlemass/ presentation of Christ

   The presentation of Christ in the temple .   Luke 2: 22-40   We got through January.   Sometimes it might have felt touch and go. Storms – Goretti & Chandra and plenty of wind and rain the rest of the time, too. Ilnesses – ‘superflu’ and ‘norovirus’ and others. Terrible turbulence in politics here, in the US, and across the world. Deaths of those we love – in our family across the pastorate & in our birth families. Christmas   - with its bright lights and good news - feels a way off now.   Perhaps today we have had a glimpse back to the infancy stories of Jesus, with the story of the presentation of Christ in the temple. Is this just an attempt to rekindle some of the Christmas feelings.. or is something more going on? This story might just be what we need to face into the ‘not so new’ year with courage and clarity.     On the one hand, Jesus has a very small part to play in this sto...
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Epiphany 3 & week of Prayer for Christian Unity

            1 Corinthians 1:10-18      Matthew 4:12-23        Part 1 Today is the end of the week of prayer for Christian Unity.   It’s not too late for us to pray for unity – but perhaps the fact that we are doing this in our own chapel, hoping that others are doing it in theirs, show we still have a lot of learn about being together. It’s good that we’re part of God’s church and that today we have heard parts of scripture to challenge us.   We heard part of the Letter of Paul to Corinthians.   This letter gets off to such a good start ‘to God’s church at Corinth, called to be saints’…and yet now, just 10 verses in, Paul gets to the real purpose of writing. He doesn’t want to tell the Corinthians how well they’re doing as followers of Christ, but to tell them off for all the dispute and division between them.    Paul is realistic about how...
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