St John the Evangelist, Poulton

St John the Evangelist, Poulton 27th April 2021 Fourth Tuesday of Easter “he was a good man, Fifty-seventh Tuesday of Isolation filled with the Holy Spirit Sign on at: [email protected] and with faith.” Parish Website: www.stjohnspoulton.org.uk Mass during the week: Saturday – 6.00pm St John’s Tuesday - 9.30am St John’s Wednesday - 9.30am St Martin’s Thursday - 9.30am St John’s Friday – 9.30am St John’s Saturday – 6.00pm St John’s (Daily Scripture is available from www.universalis.com) Acts 11:19-26 Those who had escaped during the persecution that happened because of Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they usually proclaimed the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord. The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord. Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’ John 10:22-30 It was the time when the feast of Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus replied: ‘I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness; but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine. The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, and no one can steal from the Father. The Father and I are one.’ (What is God saying to you as you hear his Word here?) The Acts of the Apostles is a bit like life, isn’t it?: You just begin to get the hang of being part of this new ‘Jesus cult’ and everything begins to change! Remember that the Word of God was not written just to tell their story – but to lead us forwards, too. So a few things to notice today for our own membership of Jesus’ group: Firstly the wider picture. From being a community which was based largely in Jerusalem and Galilee we find the killing of Stephen by the Jews has implications on the lives of those who were part of ‘The Way’. These followers of Jesus are mainly, of course, local Jews who had discovered a great breakthrough in their understanding of their faith by the teaching and actions of Jesus – but there were others, too. The killing of Stephen seems to say they are not acceptable to the Jews, especially the leaders (and Paul) in Jerusalem. Something had to change – what would we do? We have already heard that many of the disciples of Jesus moved out of Jerusalem city and into the hills in fear, But the wider picture is that we find that they moved further, not only to save their own lives, but also to live out their lives as a Christ centred community. We hear that, although some were from as far away as Cyprus and, even, Cyrene (North Africa – have a look, its interesting when we remember ‘Simon of Cyrene’ was from that distance and visiting Jerusalem on Good Friday). But Luke, the scribe involved in the Acts, sets our eyes on Antioch. The Jewish converts to Jesus obviously connected with the Jewish community in Antioch – but notice that those from other places connected with the Greeks and spoke of Jesus with them. We will notice the difference this made to the confidence and understanding of what God was asking of this small Christian community. We are also realise that: It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’ This huge change in the practical lives of these people will become more evident as Paul, Barnabas and others encourage them to take on leadership roles. Keep reading! A couple of other things to notice as we read on: Barnabas is going to be an important figure in the development of this community over the next years. Although the likes of Peter and even Paul (Though he will be regarded with some suspicion as yet!) could be involved it is Barnabas who is regarded as a ‘safe pair of hands’ – we should ask why this is. We are given the answer in the text as we hear: “he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith.” There are a group of people in the Gospels who are described as being ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’. Elisabeth, Jesus, Peter and, most recently, Stephen. This is becoming the ‘mark of authenticity’ to look for in a true disciple of Jesus – especially in this new post resurrection era. We might well ask ourselves ‘what this might look like’ and, more importantly, ‘can others see this in me?’ The Spirit, of course, will have an increasingly important place in the developing community. Also, we hear that the disciples who went to Antioch ‘preached‘ and ‘proclaimed’ the Good News of the Lord Jesus to both the Jewish and Greek communities in Antioch. It is worth watching how this happens as the Acts of the Apostles unwraps as this does not turn out to be a sort of ‘travelling Circus’ with people standing up on street corners – sometimes our fear of this puts us off. We will notice very soon that, actually, it was the ordinary people who came to them to ask questions and look with awe at how these early Christians behaved and just ‘were’. We do need to learn from these people so that we can ‘proclaim’ the Lord Jesus in our own communities without putting them off by them feeling we are ‘pushing it down their throats’! It is a great adventure, isn’t it? TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 “Being Christian is not first of all a doctrine or a moral ideal; it is a living relationship with Him, with the Risen Lord: we look at Him, we touch Him, we are nourished by Him and, transformed by His Love, we look at, touch and nourish others as brothers and sisters. May the Virgin Mary help us to live this experience of grace.” Pope Francis APRIL 18, 2021 PARISH NOTICES: COVID 19 Security - When you come to Mass: Now that we have been allowed to move from private prayer to being able to celebrate Mass together please remember to do so safely. We have been asked to ensure Government and Church rules which might seem intrusive but they are designed to remind us to be careful and, above all, to keep distances. Please help us with this by being careful. ✓ Government guidelines demand that all the congregation (except those with exemption certificates) wear mouth and nose masks in church ✓ Please maintain a 2m distance as you approach and enter church and be guided by the stewards. ✓ Please note there is a ‘one way’ system – entering church by the left hand door. ✓ Please sanitise your hands as you enter church ✓ You will be invited to leave your name and contact detail for ‘Track & Tracing’ in case of need. ✓ If you wish to wear a face mask you may do this – but please bring your own. ✓ To minimise movement in church Stewards will direct you to fill the benches from the front. You will probably not be able to go in your ‘usual’ bench but that will give you a new perspective! ✓ Please remove your mask just before approaching for Holy Communion and then replace afterwards. ✓ You will receive instructions for coming forward for Holy Communion. But please respect distancing (don’t bunch), move for Communion using the one-way system, please stretch out your arms fully as you request Holy Communion, you will not be invited to speak “Amen” before receiving Holy Communion. These will need to be kept in mind at first and we do need to remember they, though not the best liturgy, are about distancing and staying well. ✓ Holy Communion must be received only on the hand. (No gloves, please) ✓ Please sanitise your hands as you leave church by the other door than the one you entered. ✓ As you leave church please move away from the door and remember to distance yourselves if you speak to other people. ✓ There is a basket at the back of church for your offertory donations – thank you. ✓ There are weekly bulletins at the back of church with other information. ✓ Please do greet other people outside church – but remember to distance yourself and do not meet in groups that are obviously more than six.

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