The Worshipping Community of Long Ashton, Barrow Gurney and Flax Bourton

!

Family Communion for Mothering Sunday

Sunday 14th March 2021 The Fourth Sunday in , similarly to the Third Sunday in Advent, has traditionally been kept as an occasion on which to enjoy a break from the rigours and abstinence of the season. Most commonly kept as Mothering Sunday, this mid-point of the forty days is also variously known as , Rose Sunday or , picking up the opening words of the traditional : ‘Laetare Jerusalem’ – ‘Rejoice, O Jerusalem’. We gather today as a journeying community to rejoice in the accompanying presence of God, the nurture of the Church and the selfless care of those who love and tend us; and to pray for that continuing presence and nurture as our pilgrimage continues towards Holy Week, Good Friday and beyond. The Gathering

Opening sentence

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction.

cf. 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

The Greeting The Lord be with you and also with you.

Praise God who loves us! Praise God who cares!

Words of welcome may be said Hymn God is love: his the care, tending each, everywhere. God is love, all is there! Jesus came to show him, that mankind might know him!

Sing aloud, loud, loud! Sing aloud, loud, loud! God is good! God is truth! God is beauty! Praise him!

None can see God above; we can share life and love; thus may we Godward move, seek him in creation, holding every nation.

Jesus lived on the earth, life and hope brought to birth and affirmed human worth, for he came to save us by the truth he gave us. To our Lord praise we sing, light and life, friend and king, coming down, love to bring, pattern for our duty, showing God in beauty.

Prayers of Penitence Let us call to mind our sin, our failure to value the love of others and our failure to love as Christ has loved us:

Your love gives us life from the moment of conception. We fail to live as your children.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.

You call us to do good. We seek our own good.

Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy.

You hear us when we cry for help. We ignore the cries of others.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Absolution

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord Amen

Praise God who loves us! Praise God who cares! The Collect

Let us pray:

Silence is kept

God of love, passionate and strong, tender and careful: watch over us and hold us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Liturgy of the Word First Reading – Exodus 2: 1-10 2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’

This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God reading - John 19: 25b - 27

Praise God who loves us! Praise God who cares!

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. Glory to you O Lord.

Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ 27 Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to you O Christ Sermon

Affirmation of Faith

Let us declare our faith in God:

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high.

We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Intercessions

After each prayer Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer.

The Liturgy of the Sacrament The Peace

Praise God who loves us! Praise God who cares!

Through the prophet Isaiah, God says, ‘As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.’

The peace of the Lord be always with you And also with you

We offer a sign of peace to those who are near us, and pray peace for those from whom we are separated. Psalm 34

Know this, you children; know the Lord; I recommend the fear of God. Love life and goodness every day? - Pay heed to me, and hold his way.

Make sure your tongue does not revile, and keep your lip from speaking guile. Neglect the wrong, be doing good; seek peace in every likelihood.

Observing when the righteous cry, The Lord regards and hears on high. Perceiving sinners and their kind, He sees and sets them out of mind.

Responding to their contrite hearts, He will console and take their part. So when they cry, he Lord will hear, To save them from distress and fear. The righteous face tremendous pain; the Lord will save them and sustain. Unbroken bones he keeps secure, for those whose faith is strong and pure.

Offertory prayer

With this bread that we bring We shall remember Jesus.

With this wine that we bring We shall remember Jesus.

Bread for his body, Wine for his blood, Gifts from God to his table we bring. We shall remember Jesus.

Eucharistic Prayer

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is always right to give you thanks, God our Creator, loving and faithful, holy and strong. You made us and the whole universe, and filled your world with life.

You sent your Son to live among us, Jesus our Saviour, Mary’s child. He suffered on the cross; he died to save us from our sins; he rose in glory from the dead. You send your Spirit to bring new life to the world, and clothe us with power from on high. And so we join the angels to celebrate and sing:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Father, on the night before he died, Jesus shared a meal with his friends. He took the bread, and thanked you. He broke it, and gave it to them, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me.

After the meal, Jesus took the cup of wine. He thanked you, and gave it to them, saying: Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, the new promise of God’s unfailing love. Do this to remember me.

Great is the mystery of faith: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Father, as we bring this bread and wine, and remember his death and resurrection, send your Holy Spirit, that we who share these gifts may be fed by Christ’s body and his blood.

Pour your Spirit on us that we may love one another, work for the healing of the earth, and share the good news of Jesus, as we wait for his coming in glory. For honour and praise belong to you, Father, with Jesus your Son, and the Holy Spirit: one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As God’s children, and heirs with Christ, we cry in the Spirit, ‘Abba’, Father:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done; on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body because we all share in one bread.

Giving of Communion

God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people.

Jesus Christ is holy, Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in eternal life. Amen. Hymn Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine, and visit it with thine own ardour glowing; O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear, and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn to dust and ashes in its heat consuming; and let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight, and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity mine outward vesture be, and lowliness become mine inner clothing; true lowliness of heart which takes the humbler part, and o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong with which the soul will long shall far outpass the power of human telling; nor can we guess its grace till we become the place wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Prayer after Communion Loving God, as a mother feeds her children at the breast you feed us in this sacrament with the food and drink of eternal life; help us who have tasted your goodness to grow in grace within the household of faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Father of all, we give you thanks and praise, that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world. Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us, so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Dismissal

Hymn

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord: unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice; tender to me the promise of his word; in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name: make known his might, the deeds his arm has done; his mercy sure, from age to age the same; his holy name, the Lord, the mighty one.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might: powers and dominions lay their glory by; proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight; the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word: firm is his promise, and his mercy sure; tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord to children's children and for evermore. Blessing Praise God who loves us! Praise God who cares!

May God, who gave birth to all creation, bless us: may God, who became incarnate by an earthly mother, bless us: may God, who broods as a mother over her children, bless us. May almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. now and for ever. Amen.

Go in the peace of Christ Thanks be to God

Immediately after the service, there is the opportunity to join others on Zoom for a chat - bring your own coffee and join us online!

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the , material from which is included this service, is © The Archbishops’ Council 2000

All hymns are reproduced under CCLI licence 818514

Front cover image: Madonna & Child by Professor David Ritchie RA