worship

WORSHIP

Saint Leonard’s Trinity Season Service Welcome to our OpenCast church service - on-line. There are prayers, readings, hymns and music; just as you would have in church. As you read through this service you may care to say aloud the bold text. To hear the music and the readings, click on each title (red, underlined text) (and remember to adjust the volume on your speakers).

Welcome

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory high above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants come songs of praise which defy the powers of evil. Entrusted with the honour of stewarding your creation, we serve and praise you. O Lord, ruler of all All glory be yours! based on Psalm 8

Collect

God, we praise you: Father all-powerful, Christ Lord and Savior, Spirit of Love. You reveal yourself in the depths of our being, drawing us to share in your life and your love. One God, three Persons, be near to the people formed in your image, close to the world your love brings to life. We ask you this, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, true and living, forever and ever. Amen.

“Holy, holy, holy”

St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney's Chamber Choir

Intercessions

God of all creation, to you we bring our praise. In your wisdom, before time began, you created all that is. Like a master worker you delight in all you have made and your wisdom is still at work in creation playing among us and calling us to ever deeper knowledge and understanding of your mystery, your power, and your love. We see your majesty reflected in the skies, in the mountains, in animals, fish, birds and insects - from the largest whale to the smallest bacteria - all this is from you and all these are your gifts to keep us alive and thriving. Yet you saw us drift from Divine Wisdom as we selfishly tried to go our own way. Therefore, you sent your Wisdom in human form: Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, whose life and teachings speak of a wisdom beyond human understanding and whose death and resurrection point to the depths of your divine love. And Christ has promised us his Spirit to guide us into your truth helping understand the words of Scripture and draw us deeper into your wisdom. Your glory is above the heavens and your wisdom is beyond our comprehension - but you are mindful of us, and care for us: power and glory belong to you, Sovereign God ! Amen.

Reflection

The

world

is

advancing

at

a

rapid

pace

and

it’s

hard

to

keep

up.

Last

weekend,

I

learned

about

a

liquid

hand

soap

that

smells

like

fresh-cut

grass,

an

Earl

Grey

ice

cream,

and

an

app

that

when

you

snap

a

picture

of

a

tree

with

your

phone,

it

will

tell

you

it’s

a

catalpa

and

the

bird

singing in it is a tufted titmouse.

Earl Grey is a tea, not an ice cream, just as gym clothes are what they are and would you make ice cream that tastes of perspiration?

But

the

tree

and

bird

app

strikes

me

as

heading

down

a

treacherous

road.

People

go

to

college

to

study

forestry

or

ornithology

and

if

it’s

all

available

on

your

phone,

what

will

we

do

with

all

the

buildings

with

the

pillars

in

front?

Turn

them

into

Halls

of

Fame?

Mortuaries?

Probably

there

is

an

architecture

app

that

tells

you

if

the

recess

in

a

building

is

a

nook,

cranny,

cove,

crypt,

carrel,

or

apse.

Perhaps

a

medical

app

to

examine

people’s

laps

and

say

if

they’re

likely

to

collapse.

With

AI

hovering

in

the

wings,

ready

to

simulate

writing,

probably

a

sixth-grade

education

will

be

enough

for

anybody.

But

sixth-graders

playing

football

is

nothing

that

millions

of

Americans

will

wish

to

watch. We may need to go back to public stonings for our entertainment.

My

grandma

dearly

wanted

to

attend

the

Chicago

World’s

Fair

of

1893

so

she

could

hear

the

human

voice

recorded

on

discs

and

ride

the

Ferris wheel, but now innovations come so fast that by the time you organized a fair, it’d be an antique show.

The

ice

cream

shop

that

sold

Earl

Grey

was

on

the

main

drag

of

Chester,

Connecticut,

a

town

that

strives

to

look

as

Colonial

as

possible:

no

Walmart,

no

FedEx,

no

Apple

store

or

Whole

Foods,

just

a

string

of

little

craft

shops

and

cafes.

A

hamburger

is

$15,

to

keep

out

the

riffraff.

You

can

buy

artisanal

lace

curtains

and

handcrafted

candles

but

for

dental

care

you’d

need

to

leave

the

18th

century

and

drive

to

a

contemporary town.

I

bought

a

cone

with

two

scoops

of

vanilla.

I’ve

accepted

my

own

vanillaness

for

years.

Back

in

the

Seventies

when

independence

was

in

vogue,

people

wore

buttons

and

badges

and

T-shirts

with

humorous

or

meaningful

or

symbolic

inscriptions

to

demonstrate

individuality,

and

guys

I

knew

who’d

once

followed

the

Jack

Armstrong,

All-American

Boy

model,

grew

their

hair

down

to

their

shoulders

and

wrote

fractured

poetry

and

attempted

to

be

Buddhist.

But

they

had

to

face

the

fact

that

good

jobs

for

Buddhist

poets

are

hard

to

find

and

you

may spend your 20s living in your parents’ basement.

Not a good idea unless the parents are wealthy and own numerous homes and you can live in the basement of one they’re not occupying.

My

parent

weren’t

wealthy

and

they

were

fundamentalists

and

I

was

brought

up

to

keep

my

distance

from

unbelievers,

so

I

was

painfully

independent

through

childhood

and

in

my

adult

life

I

longed

to

belong

to

the

majority.

I

loved

songs,

I

adopted

a

dreamy

liberal

point of view, observed the Fourth, and went to ball games and stood with the others and sang the national anthem.

I

went

to

a

graduation

ceremony

in

May

and

a

soprano

did

the

anthem

in

her

key

and

we

listened

as

she

hit

a

high

C

on

“free”

and

I

realized

I

haven’t

heard

a

crowd

sing

it

since

I

was

a

kid.

Maybe

people

are

put

off

by

the

rockets

and

bombs,

I

don’t

know;

but

I

believe

America needs an anthem.

So

I’ve

rewritten

it.

Wherever

you

are

reading

this,

at

the

breakfast

table

or

on

a

bus

or

in

a

cafeteria,

I’d

like

you

to

sing

it

aloud,

softly,

to

the tune you know quite well. Just do it.

O say, can you see, from the Florida shore, to the vast open plains and the mountains of Utah,

From Yellowstone Park to Columbia Gorge, to the hills of Fairbanks and the beaches of Maui.

And Washington’s halls and Niagara Falls, the beauty of forest and farmland calls,

O say, don’t you love this land you must save .. the land of the free and the home of the brave.

It isn’t Woke; it’s not about ‘America First’.

It is to some extent about Diversity in that the plains and the gorge and Fairbanks and Maui are distinctly different.

You’re welcome.

Garrison Kieller U.S. wit and commentator

Worship Song

Trinity Song (Live) The ‘Worship Initiative’ group Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) Christ has no body now but ours. No hands, no feet on earth but ours. Ours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Ours are the feet with which he walks about to do good. Ours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Ours are the hands, ours are the feet, ours are the eyes, We are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but ours.

Blessing

The tradition of a blessing or benediction as part of an act of worship has been a part of Jewish worship for generations, and we can trace it back to the book of Numbers where Aaron and his sons bless the Israelites with this blessing : “The Lord bless me and keep me; the Lord make his face shine on me and be gracious to me; the Lord turn his face toward me and give me peace. ” (Numbers 6:24-26) (Interestingly this is apparently the oldest known Biblical text that has been found.)

Made with Xara

aint Leonard’s Trinity Season Service Welcome to our OpenCast church service - on-line. There are prayers, readings, hymns and music; just as you would have in church. As you read through this service you may care to say aloud the bold text. To hear the music and the readings, click on each title (red, underlined text) (and remember to adjust the volume on your speakers).

Welcome

Collect

“Holy, holy, holy”

St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney's Chamber Choir

Intercessions

Reflection

The

world

is

advancing

at

a

rapid

pace

and

it’s

hard

to

keep

up.

Last

weekend,

I

learned

about

a

liquid

hand

soap

that

smells

like

fresh-cut

grass,

an

Earl

Grey

ice

cream,

and

an

app

that

when

you

snap

a

picture

of

a

tree

with

your

phone,

it

will

tell you it’s a catalpa and the bird singing in it is a tufted titmouse.

Earl

Grey

is

a

tea,

not

an

ice

cream,

just

as

gym

clothes

are

what

they

are

and

would you make ice cream that tastes of perspiration?

But

the

tree

and

bird

app

strikes

me

as

heading

down

a

treacherous

road.

People

go

to

college

to

study

forestry

or

ornithology

and

if

it’s

all

available

on

your

phone,

what

will

we

do

with

all

the

buildings

with

the

pillars

in

front?

Turn

them

into

Halls

of

Fame?

Mortuaries?

Probably

there

is

an

architecture

app

that

tells

you

if

the

recess

in

a

building

is

a

nook,

cranny,

cove,

crypt,

carrel,

or

apse.

Perhaps

a

medical

app

to

examine

people’s

laps

and

say

if

they’re

likely

to

collapse.

With

AI

hovering

in

the

wings,

ready

to

simulate

writing,

probably

a

sixth-grade

education

will

be

enough

for

anybody.

But

sixth-graders

playing

football

is

nothing

that

millions

of

Americans

will

wish

to

watch.

We

may

need

to

go back to public stonings for our entertainment.

My

grandma

dearly

wanted

to

attend

the

Chicago

World’s

Fair

of

1893

so

she

could

hear

the

human

voice

recorded

on

discs

and

ride

the

Ferris

wheel,

but

now

innovations

come

so

fast

that

by

the

time

you

organized

a

fair,

it’d

be

an

antique

show.

The

ice

cream

shop

that

sold

Earl

Grey

was

on

the

main

drag

of

Chester,

Connecticut,

a

town

that

strives

to

look

as

Colonial

as

possible:

no

Walmart,

no

FedEx,

no

Apple

store

or

Whole

Foods,

just

a

string

of

little

craft

shops

and

cafes.

A

hamburger

is

$15,

to

keep

out

the

riffraff.

You

can

buy

artisanal

lace

curtains

and

handcrafted

candles

but

for

dental

care

you’d

need

to

leave

the

18th

century

and drive to a contemporary town.

I

bought

a

cone

with

two

scoops

of

vanilla.

I’ve

accepted

my

own

vanillaness

for

years.

Back

in

the

Seventies

when

independence

was

in

vogue,

people

wore

buttons

and

badges

and

T-shirts

with

humorous

or

meaningful

or

symbolic

inscriptions

to

demonstrate

individuality,

and

guys

I

knew

who’d

once

followed

the

Jack

Armstrong,

All-American

Boy

model,

grew

their

hair

down

to

their

shoulders

and

wrote

fractured

poetry

and

attempted

to

be

Buddhist.

But

they

had

to

face

the

fact

that

good

jobs

for

Buddhist

poets

are

hard

to

find

and

you

may spend your 20s living in your parents’ basement.

Not

a

good

idea

unless

the

parents

are

wealthy

and

own

numerous

homes

and

you can live in the basement of one they’re not occupying.

My

parent

weren’t

wealthy

and

they

were

fundamentalists

and

I

was

brought

up

to

keep

my

distance

from

unbelievers,

so

I

was

painfully

independent

through

childhood

and

in

my

adult

life

I

longed

to

belong

to

the

majority.

I

loved

songs,

I

adopted

a

dreamy

liberal

point

of

view,

observed

the

Fourth,

and

went

to

ball games and stood with the others and sang the national anthem.

I

went

to

a

graduation

ceremony

in

May

and

a

soprano

did

the

anthem

in

her

key

and

we

listened

as

she

hit

a

high

C

on

“free”

and

I

realized

I

haven’t

heard

a

crowd

sing

it

since

I

was

a

kid.

Maybe

people

are

put

off

by

the

rockets

and

bombs,

I

don’t know; but I believe America needs an anthem.

So

I’ve

rewritten

it.

Wherever

you

are

reading

this,

at

the

breakfast

table

or

on

a

bus

or

in

a

cafeteria,

I’d

like

you

to

sing

it

aloud,

softly,

to

the

tune

you

know

quite

well. Just do it.

O

say,

can

you

see,

from

the

Florida

shore,

to

the

vast

open

plains

and

the

mountains of Utah,

From

Yellowstone

Park

to

Columbia

Gorge,

to

the

hills

of

Fairbanks

and

the

beaches of Maui.

And

Washington’s

halls

and

Niagara

Falls,

the

beauty

of

forest

and

farmland

calls,

O

say,

don’t

you

love

this

land

you

must

save

..

the

land

of

the

free

and

the

home of the brave.

It isn’t Woke; it’s not about ‘America First’.

It

is

to

some

extent

about

Diversity

in

that

the

plains

and

the

gorge

and

Fairbanks

and Maui are distinctly different.

You’re welcome.

Garrison Kieller U.S. wit and commentator

Worship Song

Blessing