Welcome
Good afternoon and welcome to our Chapel Service. It is lovely to see you. My name is Ian. I am one of the Hospital Chaplains. If you feel able, please join in with the singing and responsive prayers and opportunity to share. We hope you feel comfortable but if you need help, please tell us. So let us unite, glorify and enjoy God together.
(Is anyone gluten free in regards to Holy Communion?)

NB This text is for the encouragement of those who cannot attend the chapel service. The actual format of the service may vary depending on the needs of those who are in attendance. We hope you are blessed by the reflections, prayers, readings and hymns.

Prayer
Living God,
we thank you for this day you have given us,
a day that reminds us of your mercy,
your forgiveness,
your offer of a clean slate, a cleansed heart,
for all who truly seek it.
May the peace that forgiveness brings
be seen in our words and deeds.

We thank you for this time you have given us,
The season of Lent which reminds us
of the need for prayer and reflection,
discipline and self-examination.
May meditation give us a fresh appreciation of others
May we offer them the dignity and respect we want to be shown.

We thank you for all this season leads towards,
the days of Holy Week and Easter
which remind us of your great love shown in Christ,
and your great victory won through him.
May we know in life a victory over pain and grief and
may we know in death the joy of heaven.

Living God,
help us to use this day to our best and this season fully,
so that our faith may be deepened, our understanding broadened,
and our love for you increased.
In loving you may we come to appreciate others more
and show them the mercy you have shown us.

Cleanse us of all that is wrong,
put a new heart and a right spirit within us,
and so prepare us to rejoice again at the wonder of your love
revealed in Christ crucified and risen.
May our lives reveal a steadfast faith, a resurrection hope and an eternal joy very strengthened by your Holy Spirit
In Christ’s name we pray.
Amen.

Prayer of Preparation
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayers of Penitence
God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ
to save us from our sins,
to be our advocate in heaven,
and to bring us to eternal life.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith,
firmly resolved to keep God’s commandments
and to live in love and peace with all.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you
and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry
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 grant that we may serve you in newness of life
to the glory of your name. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray
All Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Breaking of the Bread
Great is the mystery of faith
Christ has died:
Christ is risen:
Christ will come again.

Christ is the bread of life
Therefore let us remember
when we eat this bread,
and drink this cup,
we proclaim his death,
until he comes again in glory.
We break this bread
to share in the body of Christ.
Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

Prayer of humble access
We do not presume
to come to this your table, merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy
so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.
But you are the same Lord
whose nature is always to have mercy.
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ
and to drink his blood,
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body
and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.
Amen.

Giving of Communion
Draw near with faith.
Receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ
which he gave for you,
and his blood which he shed for you.
Eat and drink in remembrance that he died for you,
and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.
The bread and wine are served
The body of Christ, broken for you.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.

Prayer after Communion
Lord, we thank you
that as we have broken your bread
you have fed us in this sacrament,
you have given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet
prepared for all peoples.
You have united us with Christ,
and we have received your life.
By the power of your Spirit
keep us always in your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Reflections: The start of Lent this year occurs on Valentine’s Day. Valentine was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. During his imprisonment Valentinus is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius. Legend states that before his execution 289AD he wrote her a letter "from your Valentine" as a farewell.

The six week season of Lent leads us up to another execution, the death of Jesus. It is generally observed as a time for Christians to reflect, repent, and pray as a way of preparing their hearts for Easter.

An example of love and compassion is the way Jesus responds to a woman brought to him who has been caught in adultery. For the Jews, this was one of three heinous crimes along with idolatry and murder that brought the death penalty. Therefore, interrupting Jesus’ insightful teaching in the Temple the teachers of the law and the Pharisees came, not in the best interests of the woman, but wanting to make Jesus look bad. In love we may ask, what are our intentions, to build people up or to put them down? Love encourages, love lifts, love seeks the best. But these men were seeking to weaponize this woman to bring shame on Jesus and show him to be someone who denied the Law given by Moses. The challenge to Jesus: shall she be stoned?

But love does not throw stones. Jesus seemingly ignored their noise and wrote in the dust. Often the best way to deal with muck rakers and people looking to malign and gossip is to ignore them. But they persisted. Did Jesus act according to the Roman law? In the Roman judicial system it was customary for the trial judge to write out the sentence and call for executioners. Was Jesus writing the sentence in the dust? Certainly, the challenge of Jesus: he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Love does not throw stones. Jesus calls us to examine our own hearts and see that we too are not perfect. Each us has fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says that, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9) If we have experienced the mercy of God, then should we not do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before God? And in the walk of love we encourage others.

The men involved in stoning the women were challenged to reflect on their own thoughts, words and deeds. As they did so, they dropped their stones and left starting with the elders. Jesus asked the women: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Love does not throw stones: The challenge from Jesus: go and sin no more. Over the centuries people have hesitated about this encounter in the life of Jesus because it appears that Jesus seemed to be letting an adulterer off the hook. She was walking away. But note Jesus’ parting words, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Jesus is not soft on sin. He speaks to her soul. She wasn’t stupid. She knew only minutes before she could have been stoned to death. Even now, having been so publicly humiliated and tried, her choices would have consequences. If the trial had not been so public the man or fellow adulterer may have paid a bride price to the offended betrothed and things would have been settled in a quieter, if still painful manner. But here she would likely be shunned by her community, rejected by her husband, divorced and in all probability left destitute. There would be no easy let-offs. Her choices had consequences as do ours. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23 NIV) To quote a modern paraphrase, “Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.” (Rom. 6:23 MSG) As we know, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) God loves you! God wants you to enjoy life, to live in his love, to show his love to others. Let me finish with a story:

Fiorello LaGuardia was a Jewish mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of W.W.II. He was a colourful character -- he rode the New York City fire trucks, raided city "speak easies" with the police department, took entire orphanages to baseball games.

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.

But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighbourhood, your Honour," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr.Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."

The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner himself, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

May we all find it in our hearts to be more loving.

Prayers
We bring to your love, O Lord,
all who have committed their lives to your values;
we thank for those who serve us.
May they reap the kindnesses they have sown.
May they be blessed as they have been a blessing.
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We bring to your love, O Lord
all the areas of the world in which there is a lack of love, hostility and unrest.
We pray for the peace makers and peace-keepers,
May there be a willingness to understand the other.
May there be a desire to seek peace and to reconcile.
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We bring to your love, O Lord
all the members of our families, people we find difficult to get on
We pray for a new level of understanding
May tears be consoled with compassion.
May love be the lens through which we remember all things.
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We bring to your love, O Lord,
all our homes, all our heart aches, all that troubles us.
May we find joy where there has been sorrow,
hope where there has been despair
peace with there has been difficulties.
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We thank you for all your blessings and steadfast love,
and especially for coming to save us from our sin and shortcomings.
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Benediction
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Amen.

Chaplaincy gives pastoral, spiritual and religious support to patients, staff and relatives. It has been shown that people who experience spiritual support recover quicker, spend less time in hospital and feel a greater sense of wellbeing going forward.

For more information, please contact the
Chaplaincy Office Tel: 01228 814090

or contact Switch Board and ask for the
Duty Chaplain Tel. 01228 523 4444

Email chaplaincy@ncic.nhs.uk