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SUMMARY:Holy Communion and Junior Church
DTSTART:20250713T090000Z
DTEND:20250713T101500Z
DTSTAMP:20260419T000839Z
UID:12100292025-07-13 09:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
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DESCRIPTION:Holy Communion for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity: celebrant 
 the Revd Tola Badejo. Junior Church takes place at the same time in the ha
 ll.\n\nFirst reading:  Colossians 1. 1–14\nGospel: Luke 10. 25–37\n\nT
 he Gospel today is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan\, in which Jes
 us answers the question 'Who is my neighbour?'. The lawyer who poses the q
 uestion probably hopes for a straightforward answer\, one that includes ce
 rtain kinds of people and excludes others. Jesus's answer\, however\, is a
 bout the way we should ourselves behave rather than about who should or sh
 ouldn't be treated in a neighbourly way.\n\nThe parable is deeply rooted i
 n context\, not only in the traditional animosity between mainstream Jews 
 and Samaritans but also in the dangers of life and travel in Jesus's time.
  In his world\, as in some places now\, robbers would often kill or injure
  a victim and leave them by the roadside so that anyone who came to help c
 ould also be attacked\, and for that reason it was prudent to 'pass by on 
 the other side' as quickly as possible. The Samaritan was taking on not on
 ly a troublesome task but also a potentially dangerous one\; if he himself
  had become the next casualty at the roadside\, his contemporaries would h
 ave said he had only himself to blame. Reading between the lines\, he turn
 ed good intentions into effective practical help by approaching the situat
 ion in a considered and cautious way and by being well prepared for any pr
 oblems he might encounter on his journey.  \n\nWhereas the Gospel quite li
 terally describes hands-on assistance of a neighbour\, Paul's letter to th
 e Colossians is written to people he has never met (he knows of them only 
 through the reports of Epaphras\, who has presumably founded a church in C
 olossae) and is unlikely ever to see in person. Yet he addresses them as '
 brothers and sisters' and reassures them of his constant prayers. In each 
 reading\, the main character acts as  a 'neighbour' regardless of the iden
 tity or proximity of whoever they are called to support. Neighbourly actio
 n is likely to involve effort and liable to involve risk - Paul is already
  in prison - and van Gogh's painting of the Good Samaritan reflects some o
 f the tension of the situation\; it is also a reminder\, through the artis
 t's own life story\, that we should always be prepared to cast ourselves a
 s the victim as well as the Samaritan. (Detail above\; full image attached
 .)
GEO:0.037423;51.469833
LOCATION:Kidbrooke\, St Nicholas
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/671/service-and-events/events/12
 10029/
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