pilgrimwr.unitingchurch.org.au

Resources that may be helpful in response to what is happening with Venezuala

A Watch Night service is traditionally held on New Year’s Eve to reflect on the past year and welcome the new one through prayer, scripture and worship. It is part of the liturgical rhythm in many church traditions.
It also has deep roots in Moravian and Methodist traditions, with a significant special meaning in African American churches as “Freedom’s Eve,” commemorating the night enslaved people waited for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect at midnight on January 1, 1863. 

‘As we step into this new year, may Christ’s presence steady us, and lead us forward together in hope’. (Charissa Suli)

(a post by Rev Dr Stephen Koski)

Christmas began on Christmas Eve. It didn’t end on Christmas Day. We just shook off the retail part. Christmas is a 12 day feast beginning the evening of December 24 and ending on the evening of January 5 or Twelfth Night. The mystery is too vast for one day. We are invited each day to move from a Merry Christmas to a deeper Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we lit candles and remembered what all children know. We come from Love. We are here to love. One day we will return to Love. We made room to give ourselves to the mystery of the Source of All Love becoming flesh entering this harsh and hostile world in a helpless, innocent, vulnerable child. We lit candles and shared them one to another allowing something deep within us, long since forgotten, to be awakened.

A New England medical journal published a story of a couple who had a 4 year-old little girl who gave birth to a baby boy. When they brought the baby home from the hospital, his little sister insisted on spending time alone with her baby brother. The parents waited just outside the bedroom door listening on the baby monitor. The little girl moved closer to the crib and they couldn’t believe their ears when they heard her say to her little brother, “Tell me about God. I am beginning to forget.”

The gift of the child in the manger is intended to awaken something within us long since forgotten. The days following Christmas are an invitation to stay awake and make room for love to deepen and dwell before business as usual occupies those spaces.

The poet Hafiz wrote, “How did the rose ever open its heart and give to this world all of its beauty? It felt the encouragement of Light against its being; otherwise we all remain too frightened.”

May we find moments of stillness in these 12 days of Christmas to feel the encouragement of Light against our being. May that which is long since forgotten awaken within us that we might open and give to this broken and aching world the fullness of our hearts.

Aged Care Employee Day, held annually on 7 August, celebrates the thousands of dedicated workers, supporting millions of older Australians in aged care, retirement living and seniors housing.

From leaders to those providing hands-on compassionate care or working behind the scenes – volunteers, cleaners, chefs, cooks, maintenance workers, gardeners and administrators – this day is all about saying #ThanksforCaring.

BLESSING FOR CARERS OF THE ELDERLY
At bedside and dining room,
through physical frailty and spiritual richness,
in the exhaustive and
sometimes exhausting detail of the everyday,
in the graced intensity of celebrations and of death-time,
we are privileged to accompany those in our care.
We pray for one another:

The blessing of surprise be upon us–
surprise that every so often delights us anew
with the truth that each person is mysterious and unique.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of patience be upon us–
patience that enables us to hear generously
the same story over and over
as if for the very first time.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of empathy be upon us–
empathy that knows keenly
the perspective of the other person
from within their shoes and inside their skin.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of humility be upon us–
humility that whispers gently to us
of our own blind spots and reminds of our need for forgiveness.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of attentiveness be upon us–
attentiveness that graces the other with a sense
of how much they are loved
and respected right at that moment.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of memory be upon us–
memory that holds as precious the life
and story of each one when her own memory
may have deserted her.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of self-care be upon us–
self-care that insists on space
and fun and time for rest and leisure.
Response: Bless us great God of life and death..

God, you are the source and the aim of our lives.
You are our joy and our hope.
We thank you for your infinite and wondrous mercy.
Response: Amen.
(Source: Mary Wickham)

Praise God, the Source of life and birth.
Praise God, the Word, who came to earth.
Praise God, the Spirit, holy flame.
All glory, honor to God’s name! Amen.
(Source: Ruth Duck, to tune of Praise God from whom all blessings flow)

Chuseok, also known as Hangawi or ‘autumn eve’, is a major mid-autumn harvest festival in Korea, and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunisolar calendar on the full moon.

If there are Korean people in the congregation, consider ways to acknowledge this festive ‘new year’ day.

“Being a seafarer is a tough, lonely and dangerous existence. Courageous men and women from some of the poorest countries in the world are sourced as labour for this industry. On board for lengthy eight to 10 month contracts, they do this job as a means of making a living and providing for their families back home.”

More than 90% of the world’s goods and fuels are transported around the world, thanks to seafarers. Without them the world economy would grind to a halt. This would place businesses and millions of jobs around the world in jeopardy.

Sea Sunday is the day set by many Christian Churches to remember, celebrate, pray for seafarers and their families and give thanks for their lives and work. It is officially held in July – various dates including ‘second Sunday in July’ as well as  Sunday, 21 July, and Sunday, 28 July, 2024. Probably ok for any Sunday in July.

Earth Hour has grown to become much more than switching your lights off, but that iconic switch-off moment is still an important part of Earth Hour. Millions of participants around the world will switch off their lights at 8:30 pm local time on Saturday 23rd March for an hour to demonstrate their support of the environment. It is a symbolic gesture that brings millions of people together to promote climate action – and, of course, much more needs to happen. Earth Hour has been uniting people all over the world, in more than 190 countries, since 2007.

Wattle is a powerful symbol of Australia. Its golden blossoms come from this land and speak of and to its people and place. Wattle predates us all and because of its presence in this land for millions of years, it has welcomed us all and unites us all. It is a bridge between ancient and modern, multicultural Australia. Wattle welcomes the spring, and is among the first plants to regenerate after fire, reminding us of the importance of renewal as it paints our national colours across our landscapes.

Genesis 12:1-9 God calls Abram to leave his home country, promising that his offspring will become a great nation. So Abram leaves with family and settles in the land of Canaan. Then God promises to give that land to his descendants.
OR Hosea 5:15-6:6: The prophet calls the people to return to God with the assurance that God will raise them up. But God speaks through the prophet, grieving the fickle love of God’s people and declaring that God desires love and not sacrifice.

Psalm 33:1-12: The psalmist calls God’s righteous people to praise God in music, song and shouting because God is true, righteous, just and loving. God made the earth and skies and God’s plan is eternal. The nation which worships God is happy.
OR Psalm 50:7-15: God speaks to God’s people telling them that God does not need their sacrifices because the world and everything in it belong to God, and they must rather offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, fulfil their promises and cry out to God when they are in trouble.
(Psalm 50 paraphrase by Bruce Prewer here)

Romans 4:13-25: God’s promise to Abraham did not come through the Law but through righteousness and faith. In faith, Abraham trusted in the promise and held on to hope and God credited him as righteous. In the same way when we have faith in the Risen Christ, it will be credited to us too.

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26: Jesus calls Matthew to follow him and shares a meal in Matthew’s home with many tax collectors and sinners. When the Pharisees questioned this, Jesus responded that he had not come to call the righteous but sinners. Then he heals a woman who had been suffering for twelve years with bleeding and raises a ruler’s daughter from death.