Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
When preaching on Palm Sunday, I stressed the importance of seeking to enter into an understanding of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, before celebrating the joy of his resurrection on Easter Day. I’m always saddened by how relatively few people come to worship on Maundy Thursday &/or Good Friday, compared to the large congregation we always have on Easter Day. I compared it to the regime my mother used to impose on me when I was a child – I had to eat my vegetables first, before I was allowed my dessert, or where I grew up, ‘me puddin’! If you missed the sermon on Sunday, you can listen to it here.
Karen Moritz pointed out to me after our Palm Sunday Eucharist, how apt my illustration was comparing attending worship on Maundy Thursday to eating your vegetables, here in the Czech Republic. For today, Maundy Thursday, is Zelený čtvrtek, literally ‘Green Thursday’ in Czech, & the Czech word for vegetables is zelenina, literally ‘greens’. So I do invite you to come and eat your vegetables on Green Thursday this evening!
Thursday 28th March at 19.00/7.00pm – Sung Eucharist for Maundy Thursday
We shall hear the story of the first Passover as recorded in Exodus 12. 1-14, the words of institution of the Eucharist as recounted by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11. 23-26, and the washing of the disciples feet by Jesus as described in John 13. 1-17, together with his giving of a new commandment, ‘mandatum‘ in Latin, (hence Maundy Thursday), in John 13. 31-35.
Friday 29th March at 19.30/7.30pm – A Devotional Service for Good Friday
Within this service, as well as hearing the Passion narrative as recorded by St. John in John18.1 – 19.42, there will also be a reading from Isaiah 52.13 – 53. 12, about the ‘Suffering Servant’ & Jack Noonan will give a reflection on ‘The Cross of Christ‘. Please note the later starting time on Good Friday as our host congregation have a Good Friday service that starts at 18.00.
Please remember to put your clocks, watches, mobile/cell phones FORWARD by one hour on Saturday 30th March, before you go to bed!
Sunday 31st March at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for Easter Day
Come and celebrate to joy of Jesus Christ, risen from death! And be ready to welcome the many visitors that we usually have on Easter Day.
There will be Coffee Hour following our worship thanks to Maddie Crook who answered my call for a volunteer to run it. But bearing in mind that we will have many visitors, some of whom will join us for Coffee Hour, we need additional refreshments. Gordon Truefitt has suggested that ‘Baranek and Mazanec are the local Easter specialities available from every supermarket; and Hot Cross buns maybe too at M&S’. Or bake & bring your own Easter specialities. Contributions can be stored at the back of Church during the service & then taken across to Coffee Hour afterwards. Please contribute something if at all possible.
Sunday 31st March at 18.00 – Holy Communion with hymns in Brno
At our usual venue, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Nové sady 32a, Brno. Please tell any friends or relatives you have in the South Moravia area.
Following worship on Sunday evening in Brno, I am taking the post-Easter week as part of my Annual Leave, as my Anglican Diocesan Bishop actively encourages me to do so. Sybille is going to travel down to Brno with me & we are staying there overnight before setting off to explore some more parts of the Czech Republic. If there is a pastoral emergency, I will have the Chaplaincy mobile with me. But emails & other correspondence will have a delayed response. And there won’t be a ‘Weekly Message’ next week. Therefore…..
Sunday 7th April at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Second Sunday of Easter
And our worship will be enhanced by another visiting choir, the Oriel Singers from Gloucestershire, UK. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and Coffee Hour following the service.
Finally for this week…….
Don’t forget that this Sunday is the last day for handing in Church Electoral Roll forms in person to either Sybille or me. They can be posted or signed, scanned & emailed, but must arrive no later than Saturday 6th April at the Chaplaincy Flat or Sybille’s computer.
Don’t forget tinned food for the Salvation Army wheelie bin at the back of the Church, to help with their work feeding the homeless in Prague.
And I’d love some suggestions of topics/books/ideas for study on Tuesday evenings, from Mid-April until the end of May.
Best wishes
Ricky
