Pentecost
Added Tuesday 18th May 2010
A1. All of the time I waited,
All of the time I cried;
Crowded with those who hated,
Empty the hour you died:
O Jesus, son, you came to save
But left me in this living grave.
A2. Pierced by Simeon's warning,
Pierced by every nail;
Struck by the early triumph,
Struck by your will to fail:
O Jesus, son, with so much given
You left me when you entered heaven.
A3. Strong in the face of weakness,
Weak in the face of power;
Days when you were victorious,
Lost in that final hour:
O Jesus, son, I need your love
But you are living far above.
A4. Rose in a field of thistles,
Crowned with your own blood thorn;
Flesh for a world in torment,
My flesh so sharply torn:
O Jesus, son, I should feel free
But languish in your agony.
B. Through the tears I followed in the crowd
Through the taunts I struggled to be proud
And saw your smile in the rain
And saw it flicker through the pain
O Jesus, son, I pray to see it again:
A5. Send down the Holy Spirit,
Send down the power of grace;
Help us to face the future
Clear in your wounded face:
O Jesus may the Spirit come
Then take me to our heavenly home.
Aria—Mary from Pentecost Cantata
Gardens
Added Tuesday 30th March 2010
He knelt before his Father in the garden,
Obscured by Shadows from the Paschal moon;
"Not my will, Abba
But thy will be done."
He stood before his father in the garden,
Illumined by the gold of Paschal sun;
"Not my death, Abba,
But new life begun."
Compline for Shrove Tuesday
Added Tuesday 26th January 2010
A new Compline for Shrove Tuesday is now available for use in your preparations for Lent.
Loving father, keep us close to you through the temptations and troubles of our mortal life so that we neither sink into indifference nor into despair. Help us to learn both from our joy and from our penitence and see them as two necessary aspects of our faithfulness to you. We make these prayers to you through our beloved saviour and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Epiphany
Added Tuesday 5th January 2010
When Jesus dreamed
He heard a choir
And felt the ardour
Of the Holy Spirit's Grace;
And then He saw the golden children,
Feted pilgrims
In His Father's warm embrace.
Lulla, lulla, lulla-lulla.
Taken from Post Epiphany Carols (i. Dreams).
Image
Added Sunday 6th December 2009
The star sparked snow enholographed,
Nature's guile brought to celebrate
A child en-haloed in the straw
In decorously poor estate.
Yet I would take enphotographed
For stars and snow clogged clouds and clay,
A man enthorned in purple scorn
In torturedly rich array.
As snow is cold cheer enepitpahed
Stars map space into time's demands;
But God enfleshed in suffering
Unwinds a shroud with wounded hands.
Advent Firesiders for 2009
Added Wednesday 18th November 2009
At the end of a train journey we are fairly strictly
demarcated as guest or host but in Advent the
transaction works both ways: we are the earthly host of
Jesus who comes as our guest; and he is our spiritual
host in whom we live to dwell.
This year's Advent Firesiders — fireside reading for Advent — are now available in three parts: Waiting, Hoping and Arriving.
Jesus4u founder featured in Church Times
Added Monday 28th September 2009
Kevin Carey, founder of the Jesus4u website, has been featured on the back page of the Church Times. The interview covers various aspects of his life, including his chairmanship of RNIB and life within the church. Read the interview on the Church Times website.
The Infant King published by OUP
Added Thursday 17th September 2009
The text of Coda from The Infant King has been set by Alan Smith and is now available in The Oxford Book of Flexible Carols (Oxford University Press)
- A dancing snow flake calms a bleating lamb
A star shine cheers a weary king
A berry stores the blood unshed
In the beginning. - An angel sets alight the secret sky
A chorus makes the whole world sing
A mother hums a lullaby
In the beginning.
The snow melts and the star declines
The blood bursts in the gloom
An angel bears a golden cup
On the darkest afternoon: - A lamb starts awake in a golden haze
An angel greets the risen king
A mother feels her womb ablaze
In the beginning.
BCP Commentaries
Added Sunday 6th September 2009
The full set of Kevin Carey's Commentaries on the the Collects, Epistles and Gospels to be used throughout the year in the Book of Common Prayer is now available on Jesus4u.co.uk. This is the first time that that complete set of commentaries has been made available, and is the culmination of several year's work.
A handy PDF of the complete set can be downloaded for use with study groups, etc., in which each day is set out across two pages of A4 for convenience.
Eucharistic Meditation
Added Wednesday 1st July 2009
- We are not worthy to kneel at Thy altar fair
But mend our promise in penitence and prayer,
To seek Thy blessing of love and comfort rare,
And eat Thy sacred food beyond compare. - Where we are broken Thy Spirit offers Grace,
And from our wandering restores us to our place,
And in embracing we live in Thy embrace,
Mended completely, healed by Thy ravaged face. - Though we may falter Thy Sacrifice untold
Lightens our journey, instructed and consoled,
Towards Thy presence where in Thy saving fold
Through bread and wine transformed Thy countenance to behold.