The Gospel of the Fifth Sunday is perhaps the deepest meditation on the mystery of Baptism and membership of the Church. It is a prelude to the events of Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the triumph of life over death. To be plunged into the waters of baptism is to be buried with Christ, only to rise with him from the waters. This paradox of life and death is the content of today’s readings. There is no more important part of our faith that the resurrection: that Christ rose from the dead is the very centre and heart of all that we believe - without it, our faith is useless. In the same way our belief in our own resurrection is vital: it is the most deeply needed gift that Christ gives us. This is why the climax of the instructions given to candidates for Baptism was this teaching: that Christ would give them life after death. Look ahead to the 3rd Sunday of Easter, where Saint Peter preaches to the crowds – what he teaches them is that life comes after death, as it did for Lazarus, and for Christ himself.
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Well this Sunday is going to be very different for us! We all love our Church Building, and we love ( I hope) as a Church community. Now we are going to have to discover what it means to be Church in a different way. We are no strangers at All Saints to streamed liturgies. We have been doing this for some time. But it is very different for me, as I usually have people to interact with, now I will only have 1 person, or perhaps be alone. It will also be very different for those of you who have not used our livestream before . a few things to help you. I encourage you to engage with it, just as if you are in church, be fully present. Before we begin Imagine that you are sitting where you normally do. Maybe it might be at a different church if you are not an All Saints Regular. Think of yourself in your normal place in your church. Join in with everything, sing, make the responses, stand and sit if you are able. Light a Candle. Send a message in the Comms box next to the stream, to show that you are there. Pray! These are very different times for us, lets make them a time of blessing. Remember - We are the Body of Christ! THE LITURGY THIS WEEK SUNDAY 10am PARISH MASS When we get to Easter, there are two symbols of the resurrection that we use in Church: fire and light (the Easter Candle) and water (the Font). Last week we reflected on water, and this week there are passages all about light – true light, that defeats the blindness of sin. Again, this would have been offered to those preparing for Baptism, but speaks to all of us who have been baptised, inviting us to be renewed in the light of Christ at Easter. Remember that one of the oldest titles of the newly baptised was “neophyte”, which means “newly enlightened” There is a subtle link between the readings on this Sunday: in the first reading, David is anointed, and the Spirit of the Lord seizes on him. This anointing lights him along the right path - ‘no evil would I fear’ as the Psalm says. Then Paul tells us more about this light: it is Christ shining on us, calling us to live as children of light. All this is summed up in the Gospel, the marvellous story of the healing (by being ‘anointed’ with spittle) of the man born blind. Jesus is the light of the world 
TIMES OF LIVE STREAM THIS WEEK Tuesday - Mass 7pm Wednesday - Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 10am - Mass 7pm Thursday - Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 10 am - Mass 7pm Friday - Mass 10am Saturday - Mass 10am www.facebook.com/allsaintstwickenham The order for compline tonight which you can download if you wish. We will livestream compine at 8pm via our Facebook page You dont need to be a faceboook member in order to use this. Click the bell in the corner and you will be notified whenever we go live.
 The Gospel of the third Sunday is the remarkable conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman by the well, the theme is water - which gives life, which cleanses, which is so necessary. This reading forms part of the catechesis given before Baptism at Easter: the candidates who would go into the water are invited to reflect on what that means. But more necessary than the water which gives life is the water which gives eternal life - the water of baptism, the water flowing from Jesus’ side on the cross. Even if your Church does not have any candidates preparing for Baptism, we will all renew our baptismal promises at Easter: we should take this opportunity to reflect on what baptism has given us, and what God has done for us in this gift. THE LITURGY 10am PARISH MASS & SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION We welcome our Bishop The Right Reverend Jonathan Baker The Bishop of Fulham The mass can be watched live here
AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION This can be used when unable to receive Holy Communion sacramentally   In the Cycle of Sunday Readings, the oldest are those of Year A in Lent – these Gospels have accompanied the Church for many centuries. We must realise why: Lent was originally the time of immediate preparation of candidates for Baptism at Easter. Those already baptised used it as a time to prepare for the renewal of Baptismal promises. This is why so much of the Scripture in Lent is about Baptism, New Life and Salvation. What is the new life of Baptism? What are we set free from? What is sin? We begin Lent by hearing about sin and temptation; the Gospel will tell us of Jesus’ own temptations, something he shares with us, though he did not sin. The other Scripture readings prepare us for the Gospel, in which Jesus, the new Adam, triumphs over temptation. THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PENITENTIAL PROCESSION & PARISH MASS We are still trying to sort out the live stream and hope it will return soon
DEVOTIONAL WEBSITE FOR LENT Looking for something devotional to read each day?
LENT WITH JOHN MASON NEALE Link here SIgn up, and receive an email each day with a short meditation written by De Neal  Love your neighbour as yourself.” These are words we associate so clearly with the teaching of Jesus and the way of life the Gospel calls us to. But it may be a surprise to some people to hear that these words come first from the Old Testament, in the mouth of Moses himself. Moses was speaking the Lord God’s instruction for the community – the community of the people of Israel in flight from Egypt in their long sojourn in the wilderness. God’s instructions were about how that community had to work – without grudges, resentment or vengeance, but with love and forgiveness and tolerance. When Jesus comes with the message of the Kingdom of heaven, it is the same – instruction for a perfect, God-guided society, which depends on how each of us lives with others. The “wisdom of this world”, which Saint Paul mentions in the Second Reading, will not teach us this: the world will believe in vengeance, and friendship only for your friends. Each of us must ask how we can embrace the apparent folly of Jesus’ teaching: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PARISH MASS
 Back in the 60s some groups “adopted” Jesus Christ as an icon of rebellion, overturning authority and tearing up the rule book – possibly because of the frequent confrontations between Our Lord and the Pharisees. Today’s Gospel, however, shows us Jesus not as rule-breaker, but as rule-fulfiller, bringing an even greater depth to the rule that had guided the people of Israel for centuries. Jesus does not throw out the rulebook – or as the first reading says, He does not command us to be godless! He challenges us in this Gospel to see how far our keeping God’s Law will go: will it just be about the letter of the Law (“I have never killed anyone”), or will it look deeper (“Have I ever been angry? Have I been violent in my thoughts?”). The challenge of the Kingdom of Heaven is to keep the commandments first and foremost from within, so that our outward behaviour conforms to the requirements of God’s Law. THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PARISH MASS
 While the world may seem to be very indifferent to Christianity most of the time, it can be very critical of Christians who do not seem to be following the most basic tenet of their faith – to be a people of “good deeds”, as Jesus teaches in today’s portion of the Sermon on the Mount. While we may sometimes feel indignant about the world’s criticism of our faults, we have to remember that we are in a vital relationship with “the word” – we are to be its light. This means that we should welcome the world’s gaze and scrutiny of our actions and beliefs and we should, in a sense, be accountable to the world for the way we live. We should never be salt that loses its taste. This openness to the gaze of all is not for our own glory, however: it is so that others may find what we have found – their way to the Father. THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PARISH MASS
 Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which occurs forty days after our celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. The feast is also known as Candlemas Day because the blessing and procession of candles is included in the Mass. Jesus Christ is the light of the nations, ‘the light to enlighten the pagans’ (Lk 2:32). That is why we have the blessing and procession of candles on this day. The Presentation of the Lord brings to an end the celebration of the Nativity — although Christmas officially ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In obedience to the Law, as was customary with first-born male children, Jesus was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem by his mother, Mary, and his foster father, Joseph. Through the prophecies of Simeon and Anna, Jesus was revealed and acknowledged as the Messiah. A similar acknowledgement had occurred when the wise men knelt in adoration during their visit to the newborn infant Jesus THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 BLESSING OF CANDLES, PROCESSION & HIGH MASS
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March 2020
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