Next week, from Monday until Thursday, I have the privilege of going on a retreat at Mucknell Abbey in Worcestershire. It is an Anglican, Benedictine community of 11 monks and nuns, living together in a beautiful monastery deep in the countryside. Starting at 6am each day, there are seven ‘offices’ (services) in their simple chapel. Meals are taken together, but with no talking - just a member of the community reading from a book. Otherwise, the days are passed in silence. This silence is a gift, but it is also challenging. In silence and prayer, we are left with ourselves before God. This can be very exposing and demanding, as well as peace-filled and life-giving. I will be holding you all in prayer while I am there, as well as our mission together in service of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Please pray for me too.Rev Richard
For the month of October, I will be away from the Parish of Great Yarmouth on placement in Old Catton. It’s helpful to gain experience of the way that different churches go about things and see new ideas. When I return it will be All Saints and our thoughts will be turning to Remembrance and Advent. Seasons of the year come round quickly and we have to take time to stop and enjoy things while they are happening, rather than rushing on to the next thing. Sometimes in the rush and busyness of life it can feel that problems are huge and insurmountable. There are so many things which demand our time, energy and resources we can start to feel overwhelmed by it all. But Jesus tells us that we have the one resource we need and that is faith. Even faith which is as tiny as a mustard seed could uproot a tree and move it. Faith that God will hear us means that nothing can overwhelm us if we ask for his help and strength.Rev Liz
Harvest is a time of thanksgiving. We often think about the farmers who are harvesting crops, looking at their yield and being grateful for another successful year. However, not many of us are farmers, so what do we have to be thankful for?Let’s think about it…How many times have you gone to your local store and there wasn’t anything on the shelves?How many times have you opened the cupboard door, the fridge or the freezer and it was empty?Probably not too many times. And yet all around us we know there are people who this is their everyday existence.Today we are joining with The Foodbank and The Minster Mission to help those many individuals who, unlike us, do not always have a meal. We do have so much to give thanks for, so today let us join with our favourite harvest hymn “All good gifts around us, are sent from Heaven above, then thank the Lord, oh, thank the Lord, for all His love.”Rev Jassica
It would be possible to shorten today’s gospel to a mere 30 words but it is 30 words which unfold a profound and deep story of a life turned around. Matthew sits in the tax booth, Jesus calls him and he gets up and follows Jesus. Short and concise. I always wonder what happened next. What about the tax booth and who looked after that? What about the money left behind?Did Matthew continue to struggle with a love of money or was it all forgotten? Sometimes we would like it all to be as simple as that: say “yes” and everything changes in a flash; an old life left behind and a new one embraced. Whatever questions we have we are invited to honour St Matthew today. We pray for the grace to listen attentively to Christ’s call, to respond with courage, and to witness to God’s mercy in our daily lives.Fr Simon
This week’s reading from the First Letter to Timothy celebrates Saint Paul’s remarkable transformation from “a man of violence” to a servant of Jesus Christ. Paul admits, more than once in the New Testament, that he had tried to destroy the new faith with the utmost brutality. But - in a moment of blinding light and a call from Jesus - he changed completely and devoted his life to spreading the Gospel. We can take great encouragement from this. If he could become a faithful servant of Christ, then so can all of us, whatever our inner struggles, faults, and past and current failures! We just need, like him, to recognise our frailty and open ourselves to the “grace of our Lord” overflowing “with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”Rev Richard
I’ve just returned from three days of walking the final stretch of the Norfolk Coast Path with a couple of friends. Having started in Felixstowe last year, it was a significant moment to reach the border at Sutton Bridge and celebrate having two counties under our belt, but now looking on to what Lincolnshire brings. It takes a degree of physical and mental stamina to walk long distances, and it made me think about the apostles and saints who committed their lives to walking literally thousands of miles to share the good news of the gospels as widely as possible. The most dangerous creatures we encountered were cows and mosquitoes, but they would have had to fend off far worse. In our gospel reading, Jesus makes clear the kind of commitment needed to be a true follower of his. Everything else is to be laid aside. It’s a time to ask ourselves if we are ready and have what it takes to make that commitment.Rev. Liz