Parish of Hoyland Saint Andrew
  • Home
  • Services
  • Weddings/Christenings
  • History
    • Parish Hall
  • Parish News
  • Contact Us

Parish News

Latest updates on events

next

Thoughts on Giving

11/26/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
People were going into the Temple to make their offerings.  Some of them made themselves very visible.  It was sometimes the custom for the rich to be preceded into the Temple by a trumpeter to announce their offering.  Just imagine if that were to happen in our parish churches today.  “Mr Jones: £10!”  “Mrs Johnson: £20!”  “Mr Carruthers: £1 and a few foreign coins.”  Somehow I don’t think it would quite fit in with our culture.  The positive side of that is that we don’t need to have our good deeds trumpeted before us so that other people notice and heap praise on us.  The downside is that in our culture the whole subject of giving can become taboo, when in fact it is a subject the Gospels touch upon quite often in one way or another.
 
In St Mark’s Gospel Jesus takes his disciples aside and shows them the contrast between the well-to-do scribes – the religious elite of the day – and the poor widow.  The first group were throwing substantial amounts of money into the treasury. A parallel for today might be the privileged one per cent of our own society which has amassed a huge fortune in comparison with the rest of the people.   In contrast to the wealthy the widow just put two small coins in: the equivalent of a penny.  Yet it is she who Jesus praises for her generosity.  The reason is that generosity cannot be measured by the sum of money given but by the spirit of the person who gives.  The rich people, however impressive their offerings, hardly noticed any difference to their personal wealth.  The poor widow, as the gospel tells us, put in all that she had.  The implication of what Jesus says is that the widow had given her very own self.
 
“Lord teach me to be generous”.  That short and simple prayer comes from St Ignatius of Loyola.  But what does generosity really mean to us in our lives?  Giving money to worthy causes?  Being generous with our time?  Making allowances for people?  All those things can be signs of a generous spirit.  Thankfully generosity is a value that still counts in our society.  We are concerned - whether it is Children in Need or a concern for the growing gap between rich and poor in our society or the terrible situation in the Middle East – Christians and people of other faiths or none still feel compelled to try to do something to help.  As a parish we try to do our bit with the support of charities, including the Women’s Refuge and The Children’s Society.  Thanks be to God for that.
 
But what does generosity mean to God?  To Jesus?  In the gospel passage we get a glimpse of how the total self-giving of God in Christ becomes even possible for us.  It is a high calling for the disciples of Jesus and we shall never get there on earth.  But with generous hearts we incline towards it.
 
Part of our giving as members of the church must be for the support of the church itself. We can’t do it all by ourselves, but without our generosity we have no church.  Thanks are in order for the ways in which generous support has been given to sustain the church and to help it to have a future.  I mean both this church and the wider church.  Our Diocese is one of the poorest and its offering to the Church of England as a whole is thirty eighth out of forty dioceses –close to the bottom of the ladder.  But looking at giving in relation to personal income, we are the most generous of all the dioceses in the Church of England.  Again, thanks be to God for that.  But it is for each one of us to decide what, in our own terms, counts as generosity – with our money, our time, our dealings with other people.  Do we measure it by an arbitrary amount or in terms of what we have left over – because in the light of the gospel passage it is the amount we keep for ourselves that is the real test of our generosity.

 
Our fortunes can come and go.  What we are living on now might not be the same as what we shall be living on ten or twenty years hence.  We need food and other basic needs.  And in order to cope with the stresses of life it also helps to have enough over for a few sweeteners.  But how much is enough?  Our priorities matter because they make the vital difference.  On the one hand we can give only out of what is left over.  Or on the other we can make a commitment out of generosity and out of thankfulness for what God has given us.  Every year the church timetables in a Sunday devoted to the theme of giving.  It asks us prayerfully and realistically to review our situation and our priorities.  They will be different for every one of us.  We should never judge other people in the way the scribes did in the Temple, because we don’t know one another’s circumstances.
 
As I think of the reckless generosity of the widow I am reminded once again of how Jesus, having everything, made himself poor for our sake and how out of his poverty he has made us rich in so many ways.  The offering of the widow showed her complete trust in the God who is self-giving, who loves us for who we are and without conditions attached.  Our God is not to be placated by token offerings or by religious practices that are nothing more than lip service.  God has given us his Son and if we love him in return, then our love will also be unconditional.  That prayer of St Ignatius Loyola is one I need to make my own and I offer it to you as well “Lord, teach me to be generous.”

                                                                               FATHER RICHARD


0 Comments

Newsletter 15th November 2015

11/16/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
 NOTICES:
Christmas Dinner
A reminder that you can still book but room is limited and it is filling up fast!
Christmas Themed Brass Concert

Tickets price £7.00 are still available - see posters or previous blogs for full details. It proved very popular last year. In conjunction with this we will be holding a Christmas Hamper raffle if you wish to donate please see the list in the Narthex.
Tote
Last weeks winning number was 74.
Coffee Morning
This will take place on Tuesday morning as usual from 10.00am. Come along to relax and meet your friends for a chat. The main body of the church is also open at the same time if you wish to view or sit in quiet reflection.
Services this week
Thursday 9.30am Feria
Sunday 9.30am Mass

Picture
READINGS LAST SUNDAY
Collect
A
lmighty and merciful God,
graciously keep us all from adversity,
so that, unhindered in body and mind alike.
we may pursue in freedom of heart
the things that are yours.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever. Amen. 

​
0 Comments

Newsletter 8th November

11/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY:
On the Sunday closest to Remembrance Day wecame together to remember all those who lost their lives in times of war.In honouring their memory we also thought of members of the Armed Forces and civilians alike who are caught up in conflict in our own day. We pray for their safety and for the healing of divisions. May our Lord Jesus Christ - the Prince of Peace - bring peace to our troubled world.

PictureSaint Josaphat of Ruthenia
SERVICES THIS WEEK
Thursday 9.30am Feria (Saint Josaphat)
Sunday 9.30am Sung Mass

SOCIAL EVENTS
7th December Christmas Dinner at the Milton Arms - see posters

17th December Christmas Brass Concert - see posters

0 Comments

November 02nd, 2015

11/2/2015

0 Comments

 
TO AVOID CONFUSION PLEASE SEE AMENDED POSTER
Picture
0 Comments

Christmas Dinner

11/2/2015

0 Comments

 
PLEASE SEE POSTER LINK FOR FULL DETAILS:-
Picture
0 Comments

Christmas Extravaganza

11/2/2015

1 Comment

 
PLEASE SEE POSTER LINK FOR FULL DETAILS:-
Picture
1 Comment

Newsletter 1st November 2015

11/2/2015

0 Comments

 
NOTICES:
Next Sunday
8th November - Remembrance Sunday Joint Benefice service at St Peters 9.30am before the Act of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.
Tote 
Last week’s lucky winner of £30.75 was share no 263. Our next draw will take place on Tuesday at 11.30. 
Mid-week Service
There will be no service this Thursday (5th November) as a special All Souls Service was held om Monday instead.
Meeting about the House of Bishops Declaration
Final Reminder: Monday 9th November at 7pm at St Andrew’s. This will be chaired by Fr Stokoe (Dean of Hickleton Chapter and Chairman of the Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda in the Diocese of Sheffield.) Both congregations in our Benefice are invited to take part.
Patronal Festival (St Andrew)
This will be celebrated at 4pm on Sunday 29th November.
 
Christmas Dinner
This will take place at the Milton Arms on Monday 7th December. Bookings are now being taken - see blog/poster.

Christmas Concert 
Thursday 17th December at 7.30pm at St Andrew’s. This will , feature Barnsley Brass who will be playing a selection of carols and contemporary songs see poster of next blog for full details.

Picture
SUNDAY SERVICE READINGS:
“Happy are the pure in heart: they shall see God.” Our vision of God can be clouded by many things which distract us from doing what Jesus has called us to do: to follow him and to grow in the knowledge and love of God. Today we celebrate the lives of those who lived with pure hearts in a world of corruption and sin. Now they see God face to face. This is the destiny of all who follow Christ in simplicity of heart and in faith.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God,
by whose gift we venerate in one celebration
the merits of all the Saints,
bestow on us, we pray,
through the prayers of so many intercessors,
an abundance of the reconciliation with you
for which we earnestly long.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
First Reading: Apocalypse 7:2-4. 9-14
Responsorial Psalm: 23 Such are the men who seek your face O Lord.
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
 


Picture
0 Comments

    Saint Andrew

    I am a rather old Saint.

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly