Audio Sermon for Easter Sunday – 9th April 2023

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Sermon for Easter Sunday 2023 – 9th April 2023

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

 Alleluia! Christ is risen!   He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Today is Alleluia day – in fact the beginning of 50 Alleluia days leading through to Pentecost. The church has real stamina. We keep going. Most people think Easter is one day – the church keeps Easter officially for 50 days.

In fact it is more than 50 days – every Sunday is a day when we celebrate the resurrection, the Lord’s day. Every time we celebrate a baptism we celebrate the resurrection.  Every person baptized is an Alleluia person. Just think of that – each one of you here today is an Alleluia person. I’m so pleased that there are so many alleluias in church this morning.

However – You and I are also Good Friday people. Baptism is about the mystery of the cross as well as the mystery of the resurrection. We can’t have one without the other.

Think on this – so many of us here today, people of the cross and people of the empty tomb. We are God’s resurrection community, but also God’s crucified community.

You have come here today and God already knows every one of you by name. You are already familiar. You are his family, we are his family together here in this place – and in every place throughout the world where Christians meet to be the cross and empty tomb people. He is with his daughters and sons where they are persecuted or prejudiced against for their faith. He knows us all by name.

Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb where Jesus has been placed. He is not there. She panics and runs to tell Peter and John. They come to corroborate the evidence of the empty tomb. What has happened to him? Mary asks a stranger and the stranger doesn’t have to give a long and complex explanation. What does he say? How does he explain the empty tomb? Simple! All he says is ‘Mary’. The risen Jesus only has to say her name, and she knows he is risen.

My friends, the risen Jesus knows you by name. By saying your name, you are family; you are the evidence of the Easter faith. As you come forward today to receive the bread and wine of the Easter table.

It is a simple Easter message – it is the gospel, the good news. The risen Christ knows you by name. When you share the Peace today, also share your name with your neighbour. There is a brunch after the Liturgy this morning – speak with someone you have not spoken to before – and say your name.

By the time you leave this church today to live as Christians in the community, you will feel different, because you are different. The risen Christ knows you by name.  Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Service for Easter Sunday – 9th April 2023

St Paul’s Athens

We have a POS facility for card payments, and you can follow the service sheet online – ask a Sidesperson for the Password.

Happy Easter!    There is an Easter Egg Hunt for children after the Liturgy.

Fr. Leonard is leading the worship and preaching this morning, assisted by Deacon Christine.

Blessing of the Easter Candle        (Turn to face the door)

Priest:        Eternal God, who made this most holy night to shine with the brightness of your one true light: set us aflame with the fire of your love, and bring us to the radiance of your

heavenly glory: through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:              Amen

Priest:        Alleluia. Christ is risen!

All:              He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Choir:         Setting of the Alleluia

Renewal of Baptismal Vows         (at the font)

Priest:         As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, we remember that through the paschal mystery we have died and been buried with him in baptism. To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him. Therefore I ask:

Priest:         Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?

All:              I reject them

Priest:         Do your renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?

All:              I renounce them

Priest:         Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?

All:              I repent of them

Priest:       In baptism, God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Therefore I ask:

Do you turn to Christ as Saviour?

All:            I turn to Christ

Priest:        Do you submit to Christ as Lord?

All:             I submit to Christ

Priest:        Do you come to Christ, the way, the truth, and the life?

All:             I come to Christ

Priest:        Alleluia. Christ is risen!

All:             He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Hymn:       110

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Sermon for Palm Sunday – 2nd April 2023

Revd Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

There is a telling little phrase in St. Luke’s gospel (9,53) where the author says ‘Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.’

It has a ring of determination to it – a planned or strategic decision. One wonders if there had been any conversations around this decision – had the disciples been given access to the details of this new direction? The little phrase has the resonance of purpose or what we might nowadays call ‘intentionality’.

Whether Our Lord had shared this intention with his closest comrades or not, the Jerusalem based followers of Jesus seem to get wind of his arrival, and are waiting. As he journeys from the area of Bethany where he had raised Lazarus from the grave, down through the Kidron Valley, past Gethsemane, if he looks up Jesus will see the walled city and to his left the pinnacle of the temple – so infamous as the location of one of the Temptations by Satan, the temptation of material, physical power.

His supporters are waiting for him as the rumours have grown about his arrival. They were anxious about what would happen – what would he do – how would he fulfil their expectations?

In the end he disappoints them. Yes, Jesus disappoints them. He disappoints them because of a basic clash of expectations about the messiah. On the one hand there was an expectation that the messiah would be a second King David – after all this was his city, the City of David.

David had been a supreme ruler, conquering all tribes and uniting the Hebrew people into one distinct nation. His was a time of unity, of flourishing, of powerful leadership, of a union between earthly and heavenly power, human and divine supremacy.

After a thousand years without King David, the messiah would be like him.

But the people are mistaken. They have forgotten their scriptures. They have not remembered the words of Isaiah, where the messiah is clearly presented as one who is humble, indeed humiliated, one who is bruised, despised and forsaken.  (Isaiah 53)

So the people greet their king/messiah as he arrives on his donkey. Fulfilling a prophecy in Zechariah, their King does not arrive on a great white stallion.

Yet they shout out in their excitement ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. I suppose we might think something like ‘Hurrah, our king has come’.

Well, we would be wrong. Hosanna is not a cheer of joy and happiness, but a Hebrew word for ‘save us’. They are pleading with him, pleading with their Messiah to save them.

In human terms Jesus has a choice. He can please the people and satisfy them by turning right as he goes through the gate. This would take him on a route that would end up at the Roman palace of Pontius Pilate, the centre of foreign, pagan rule; Pilate is the epitome of this oppressive alien power. Their messiah/ king will overthrow him and the people will be saved – proper freedom will be restored and the city of David handed back to the Jewish people. Will Jesus turn right and save them?

No, he turns left and heads for the temple which had been turned into a den of thieves, where true religion had been distorted and exploited, and where a corrupt version of God was being forced on the people. Jesus disappoints the people. Their king would not be liberating them in the way they hoped and expected; there would be no overthrow of the Roman eagle. Instead, the intention of Jesus in Jerusalem is to liberate the people from the shackles and chains of their false adherence to religion, to restore them to faithfulness, and to become the true offering for their sins as the Lamb of God, sacrificed on the cross, the cross of both shame and glory.

So this holy week has begun; the great and holy week has begun as we journey with Christ from the howling of ‘Hosanna’

Service for Palm Sunday – 2nd April 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  Great (Holy) Week begins today in the ‘Latin Calendar’. We will begin outside with the blessing of palm crosses and process into church.  Do stay for coffee in the church garden after the Liturgy.

We have a POS facility for card payments, and you can follow the service sheet online – ask a Sidesperson for the Password.

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  Great (Holy) Week begins today in the ‘Latin Calendar’. We will begin outside with the blessing of palm crosses and process into church.  Do stay for coffee in the church garden after the Liturgy.

We have a POS facility for card payments, and you can follow the service sheet online – ask a Sidesperson for the Password.

The presiding priest and preacher is Fr. Leonard, Senior Chaplain. The deacon is The Revd. Deacon Christine Saccali.

 Liturgy of Palms (in the Garden)

All:  Hosanna to the Son of David, the King of Israel. Blessed is he who comes in the name of      the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Priest:  Behold your king comes to you, O Zion, meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass. Ride on in the cause of truth and for the sake of justice. Your throne is the throne of God, it endures for ever; and the sceptre of your kingdom is a righteous sceptre. You have loved righteousness and hated evil. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

All:   Hosanna to the Son of David, the King of Israel. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Priest: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, during Lent we have been preparing by works of love and self-sacrifice for the celebration of our Lord’s death and resurrection. Today we come together to begin this solemn celebration in union with the Church throughout the world. Christ enters his own city to complete his work as our Saviour, to suffer, to die, and to rise again. Let us go with him in faith and love, so that, united with him in his sufferings, we may share his risen life.

The people hold up palms or branches while this prayer is said by the priest

God our Saviour, whose Son Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as Messiah to suffer and to die; let these palms +  be for us signs of his victory and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

We now process around the church, and as we do so we sing:

We have a King who rides a donkey, we have a King who rides a donkey

We have a King who rides a donkey, and his name is Jesus.

Jesus the King is with us, Jesus us the King is with us, Jesus the King is with us

Riding on a donkey.

Priest:  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

The Lord be with you.

 All:      and also with you

The priest then welcomes the household of faith and then the deacon leads us into Confession.

Silence and stillness

Deacon: We confess to you our selfishness and lack of love: fill us with your Spirit.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Deacon: We confess to you our fear and failure in sharing our faith: fill us with your Spirit.

Christe eleison

All:          Christe eleison

Deacon: We confess to you our stubbornness and lack of trust: fill us with your Spirit.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Absolution:  Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and bring to everlasting life.  Amen.

Collect:  Let us pray    (remain standing in silence as the priest prays the Collect of the Day) 

True and humble King, hailed by the crowd as Messiah: grant us the faith to know and love you, that we may be found beside you on the way of the cross, which is the path of glory; through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Lent – Passion Sunday, 26th March 2023: principal reading John 11, 1-45

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee from east to west to be met by Jairus and a small group. Jairus reports that his daughter is ill. They set off but by the time they arrive at the village the little girl is reported to be dead. On arrival Jesus says she is not dead but sleeping. Interesting. ‘Talitha cum’ is uttered (little girl get up) and she gets up and walks about. It is a resurrection from death. (Mark 5, 21-43).

In a village called Nain, Jesus sees a funeral procession. A widow has lost her only son. Jesus touches the bier on which the dead man is lying, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The young man is raised to life; it is a resurrection from death. (Luke 7, 11-17).

So there are at least two resurrections recorded in the gospels other than that of Lazarus. Resurrections are not restricted just to one person, yet the treatment of the raising of Lazarus is distinctly different as reported in John’s gospel. It is the subject of today’s very long gospel reading.

Bethany is not so far from Jerusalem, as the crow flies. Yet because of the ugly wall of division built by the Israelis, to get from Jerusalem to the village of Lazarus there is now a long detour, and a security check point to pass, so the distance becomes longer.

It is in Bethany that the pilgrim or tourist will be taken to the tomb where the dead body of Lazarus had been placed by his sisters, Martha and Mary. This is a family known to Jesus, and there is more than a passing familiarity, for when Jesus is told that Lazarus has died, he weeps. It is the shortest sentence in the bible – Jesus wept (εδάκρυσεν ό Ιησους).

Jesus had not gone immediately to Bethany – he delays, saying that his friend Lazarus is only asleep, and that he will go to awaken him. Mistaking his metaphor for reality, he has to put it bluntly to them. He is dead.

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Audio Sermon for Passion Sunday – 26th March 2023

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Service for the 5th Sunday in Lent – Passion Sunday – 26th March 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. There is coffee in the garden after the liturgy. This will be followed by the Annual Meeting. Printed reports are available to read during coffee.

We have a POS for card transactions, and you can follow the service online – ask for the password.

The presiding priest and preacher is Fr. Leonard. The deacon is Deacon Christine.

At the door (please turn)

[Priest:    Give us true repentance; forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance and our

deliberate sins: and grant  us the grace of your Holy Spirit to amend our lives

according to your holy word.

All:           Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.]

Entrance Hymn    86 (omit *verses) My Song is love unknown

Priest:    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

The Lord be with you.

 All:        and also with you

The priest then welcomes the people of God and then the deacon leads us into Confession.

Silence and stillness follows

Deacon: We confess to you our selfishness and lack of love: fill us with your Spirit.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Christe eleison

All:          Christe eleison

Deacon: We confess to you our stubbornness and lack of trust: fill us with your Spirit.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Absolution:  Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and bring to everlasting life.  Amen.

Collect:  Let us pray    (remain standing as the priest prays the Collect of the Day) 

Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory: through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Sermon for Mothering Sunday – 18th March 2023: 1 SAMUEL 1:20-28, 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7, JOHN 19:25b-27

Deacon Chris Saccali – St Paul’s Athens

Cast your minds back, if you can, to the first film you saw at the cinema as a child. I remember my mother taking me to see Mary Poppins and the following year the Sound of Music at the cinema in Worcester- mid sixties the age I now am – in the Midlands, central England, where I am from. These films and the whole occasion of it made a huge impression on me. Also, it was a happy event and in my teens my mother’s health declined so that I became the main carer and housekeeper until we lost her when I was aged seventeen.

So I do understand the mixed feelings we may have or bring with us surrounding the feast of Mothering Sunday or the more commercial Mother’s Day. Some of us may have lost mothers over the past year or a parent who cared for us.

Let’s look at the origins of the feast. Traditionally, the fourth Sunday of Lent was kept as light relief in the austere Lenten fast. For this reason it is also known as Refreshment Sunday, fasting rules were slightly relaxed and even weddings were permitted to cheer the congregation and encourage them in their  fast.

Inevitably the return to the ‘mother’ church became an occasion for family reunions when children as young as ten years old who were working away, in service maybe- think Downton Abbey or as apprentices learning a trade, returned home on a Sunday off.

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Service for the 4th Sunday in Lent – Mothering Sunday – 19th March 2023

Welcome to St Paul’s Athens,   especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. In the Anglican Tradition this Sunday in Lent is observed as Mothering Sunday.

We also welcome to this service the family of Mary Rosamund Taylor who died recently aged 101yrs. Mary was a long-standing member of this congregation. The flowers were donated in her memory by Shirley Poulakis and the rest of the flowers in memory of Ann Bliss, Alison’s mother.

The service is led by Deacon Chris Saccali, and flowers donated ‘in memory’ by the family of Shirley Poulakis.  We have a POS – you can make your donation to St. Paul’s by card. Please come to coffee and refreshments provided by Mary Taylor’s family in the garden after the Liturgy. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

Opening Hymn:  368      (a hymn set to a Welsh tune called Cwm Rhondda)

Minister:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

All:  and also with you.

Minister:  O Lord, open our lips

            All:            and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Minister: Give us the joy of your saving help

            All:            and sustain us with your life-giving Spirit.

The minister then welcomes people informally.

Prayer for Mary Taylor

Father in heaven, we praise your name for all who have finished this life loving and trusting you, for the example of their lives, the life of grace you gave them, and the peace in which they now rest. We praise you today for your servant Mary and for all that you did through her. Meet us in our sadness and fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving, for the sake of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

All:  Amen

Prayers of Penitence

Minister:   The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit God will not despise. Let us come to the Lord who is full of compassion, and acknowledge our transgressions in penitence and faith.

All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;

       we have done evil in your sight.

       We are sorry and repent.

       Have mercy on us according to your love.

       Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

       Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation;

       through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Minister:  May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us

in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ

our Lord.

All:            Amen

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