11th Sunday after Pentecost Eucharist
August 7th, 2021
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Greetings on this 11th Sunday after Pentecost.
As we are, once again, unable to gather in person for worship, I hope this recorded Eucharist from St Paul’s Cathedral Parish in Sale is a means of remaining connected in the Body of Christ across our diocesan family and beyond.
The Dean presides at this service and the preacher is Canon Emeritus David Head.
We are grateful to the Dean and her team for their virtual hospitality, and to David Perryman, Christine Morris, and Richard Connelly for their technical assistance at various points in the filming and production of the video file.
Given that the readings and Fr David’s homily focus our devotions on Jesus as the ‘bread of life’, we may feel the absence from the materiality of the Sacrament all the more acutely this weekend.
With that in mind, I warmly encourage you to observe the tradition of making your ‘spiritual communion’ at the point of the distribution of the elements in this Eucharist, for which you may find the following prayer helpful:
O Lord Jesus Christ, through your tender mercy grant that as the hem of your garment, touched in faith, healed the woman who could not touch your body, so the soul of this your servant may be healed by like faith in you, whom I cannot now sacramentally receive. In union with the faithful at every altar-table in your Church I desire to be united with you, and pray that you will come spiritually into my heart. Let nothing ever separate me from your love, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Be assured of my prayers for you as we navigate this further period of lockdown, and please join me in holding before the throne of grace those who are most impacted by the current situation, together with our political leaders, chief medical officers, and frontline medical workers.
Grace and peace, +Richard