Service for the 2nd Sunday before Lent – 12th February 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here

for the first time or visiting Athens.  After the Liturgy we all gather in the church garden for coffee and refreshments.  The presiding priest and preacher is Fr. Leonard. We have a POS so you can make your donation by card. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

Entrance Hymn:  263  All creatures of our God and King (omit * 5,6)

Priest:    Blessed be the kingdom of God

     All:         Now and for ever

Priest:    The Lord be with you

     All:         And also with you

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

(A short period of stillness and silence)

All:  Father eternal, giver of light and grace, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour, in what we have thought, in what we have said and done, through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We are sorry and ashamed, and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past; and lead us out from darkness to walk as children of light. Amen.

Absolution: Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Audio Sermon for the 3rd Sunday before Lent – 5th February 2023

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday before lent – 5th February 2023: Isaiah 58, 1-9; 1 Cor 2, 1-12; Matt 5, 13-15).

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Over the years I have had the privilege of leading six or seven pilgrimage groups to the Holy Land. In the modern times and over many decades this land has faced troubles – troubles that have their root basically in religion. Religion so often gets mistaken for, and gets in the way of, faith.

Most pilgrimages are divided between two geographical bases – the Holy city of Jerusalem, which is in East Jerusalem, and the area of the Sea of Galilee. If you speak to most pilgrims they divide neatly into two groups – those who love the Jerusalem based sites, such as the Old City, the Western or Wailing Wall, the Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the wells of Bethsaida, the crusader church of St. Anne with its extraordinary echo, the route of the Via Crucis, the House of Caiaphas, the church of the Nations, The Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha, the Byzantine site of the Ascension of our Lord, or the Cenacle – where Pentecost took place.

Others prefer the more open air sites around the Sea of Galilee – Capernaum where we see the archaeological remains of the small fishing village where Peter, Andrew, James, John lived and worked, with its nearby synagogue – ironically it is a modern synagogue; by modern I mean Roman! Around the shores of the sea there are holy sites where Christ delivered the Beatitudes; where Peter declared him to be the Messiah, and many more.

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Service for the 3rd Sunday before Lent – 5th February 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here

for the first time or visiting Athens.  After the Liturgy we all gather in the church garden for coffee and refreshments.  The presiding priest and preacher is Fr. Leonard. We have a POS so you can make your donation by card. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

Entrance Hymn:  237  Morning has broken

Priest:    Blessed be the kingdom of God

     All:         Now and for ever

Priest:    The Lord be with you

     All:         And also with you

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

(A short period of stillness and silence)

All:  Father eternal, giver of light and grace, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour, in what we have thought, in what we have said and done, through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We are sorry and ashamed, and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past; and lead us out from darkness to walk as children of light. Amen.

Absolution: Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Sermon for Candlemas Sunday 29 January 2023: MALACHI 3:1-5, HEBREW 2:14-18, LUKE 2:22-40.

Deacon Christine Saccali – St Paul’s Athens

May I speak in the name of the Triune God Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Here in Greece we are fortunate to be familiar with a baby and mother being presented for purification at church after birth at various dates but the main one being the blessing efhi at 40 days. I remember my mother-in-law insisting on this for our son and myself, though I had not been in home confinement for the forty days. Earlier in January we were talking about the Jewish ceremony of naming and circumcision at eight days.

So, in essence, there was nothing remarkable about Jesus being presented in the temple, he would have been one of many being dedicated to God in this way. But what was remarkable was that two temple prophets one male age unspecified, one elderly female, picked him out among the crowds and identified him as special and different. Over and over in the birth narratives we see an ordinary event being suddenly transformed into something extraordinary.

As we reach the conclusion of this Epiphany season and Christmas at this feast of Candlemas, which is why we have some Christingles around showing the light of Christ more about that later, let us just run through a quick synopsis of the major events.

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Service Sheet for Sunday 29th January 2023 -Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemass Sunday)

St Paul’s Anglican Church Athens

Welcome to St. Paul’s Church. All are invited to come forward to receive bread and wine at the table of Christ. Please make use of the parish website for copies and recordings of sermons. This Feast is properly kept on Feb 2^nd. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

Presiding Priest:         Fr. Bjorn Kling                               

Deacon & Preacher:  Revd Deacon Christine Saccali

Opening Hymn:  Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising

                               Give me joy in my heart, I pray.

                               Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,

                               Keep me praising till the end of day.

                               Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King of Kings

                               Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the King.

                               Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting

                               Give me peace in my heart, I pray.

                               Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting,

                               Keep me resting till the end of day.   refrain

                               Give me love in my heart, keep me serving

                               Give me love in my heart, I pray.

                               Give me love in my heart, keep me serving,

                               Keep me serving till the end of day.  Refrain

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

All:            Amen

Priest:       The Lord be with you

All:            and also with you

The priest offers word of welcome

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Audio Sermon for the third Sunday of Epiphany – 22nd January 2023

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens & Thessaloniki

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany – 22nd January 2023:: Isaiah 9, 1-4; 1 Cor 1, 10-18; Matthew 4, 12-23.

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens & the Congregation in Thessaloniki.

Unity is best – division is worst. This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The ecumenical movement (loved by some loathed by others) has been motivated over the last few decades with the conviction that the gospel life, our life of faith in Christ, is best delivered for the good of the world through unity – through Christ’s church not being at loggerheads with herself. The prayer is, with Christ’s own words, ‘That they may all be one.’

The air has a strong stench of division in our current times. The United Kingdom Royal Family knows all too well the consequences of division, for example; a family broken, and very publicly; not only a family damaged by division, but truth is also a victim.

For a time there were two Popes living in the Vatican. It was apparent to everyone that these two men were, to a large degree, opposites, with each appealing to Catholics of very different outlooks. A very good film was made, called the Two Popes, and it is worth watching.

With the death of Pope Benedict it did not take long for divisions that may have been simmering to be voiced very publicly. A book has emerged by an Archbishop venting his anger against Pope Francis for dismissing him from high office and personal service. Another conservative Cardinal has emerged as a champion of conservative Catholics.

Unity is best – division worst. I have given only two current examples of division. Each of us could think of dozens of examples.

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Service for the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany – 22nd January 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  God’s blessings for you in 2023.

We now have a POS facility so payments can be made to the church via your bank card. The presiding priest and preacher is The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan. The Deacon is Deacon Chris Saccali. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

[Minister: We will go unto the altar of God

All:            Even unto the God of our Joy and gladness

Minister:  Our help is in the name of the Lord

All:            Who has made heaven and earth.

Minister:  O Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness

All:            Let the whole earth stand in awe of him]

Entrance Hymn    475  Ye holy angels

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

Assistant: God be gracious to us and bless us, and make his face to shine upon us:

Kyrie eleison

All:             Kyrie eleison

Assistant: May your ways be known on earth, your saving power among the nations.

Christe eleison

All:             Christe eleison

Assistant: Lord, you have made known your salvation, and reveal your justice in the sight of the

nations. Kyrie eleison

All:            Kyrie eleison

 Absolution we hear the words of God’s forgiveness to those who are truly penitent

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Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Epiphany – 15th January 2023: Isaiah 49, 1-7; 1 Cor 1, 1-9; John 1, 29-42.

Fr Leonard Dolan St Paul’s Athens

Last Sunday we reflected a little on the three deeply symbolic gifts that were presented by the Wise Men to honour the Christ. Gold for kingship; frankincense for priesthood; myrrh for death.

We developed a little the theological gifts that we present before our Christ in our Anglican tradition – our Anglican gift within Christ’s universal Church; our contribution to the honouring of scripture; of treasuring the tradition; of serious intellectual debate; of respecting the real experience of human beings.

It seems appropriate therefore this morning to consider what might constitute our personal gifts in generous gratitude for all that God has given to each of us.

To keep us focused on a simple text I return to the well known Christmas hymn I quoted last week. If you wish to take away anything from this sermon it should be this.

What can I give him

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb.

If I were a wise man

I would do my part

But what I can I give him

Give my heart.

We often say of someone who is talented and well know, or who has made a great contribution to the arts or science or architecture – especially perhaps in their obituary – his or hers was a God-given gift. For us this is significantly more than just popular acclaim.

The God-givenness at this deeper level is revealed to us in the words of the prophet Isaiah that we read/heard this morning.

‘The Lord called me before I was born; while I was in my mother’s womb he named me’ (Is 49, 1)

This statement about the human being (what we might call an ontological statement) resonates with the words of one of the Psalms, ‘O Lord, you have searched me out and known me….For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.’ (Ps 139, 1, 13, 14).

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