Corpus Christi Sunday - 14 June 2020
Click here if you want to download the service sheet, or just follow from this page.
What did Jesus look like? Probably a bit like this. #blacklivesmatter
Today we celebrate Corpus Christi Sunday. Corpus = body, Christi = Christ, and so it is a festival in which we focus on the body of Christ, and specifically the way in which Christ is present in and through the Eucharist. At the moment, of course, most people are not able to receive the sacrament of bread and wine. What might that mean for us personally?
Maybe it is an opportunity to think about other ways in which Jesus Christ is present to us in tangible forms in our day and age. Not just in the liturgy at church, but in our everyday lives through the people we come into contact with; and indeed, those we see on the news.
Interested in where this image has come from and how it is connected to Jesus? Find out more at the end of the service.
Opening Voluntary
Our opening voluntary is Bach’s Choral Prelude. Click on the link to listen before the service begins.
Light a candle to prepare yourself and pray that Christ may be made known to you in the breaking of the bread, and in the lives of those around you. Our service begins as it normally would at 9.30am. Please click on the link, and make the responses yourself. If you would like to sing along to the hymn the words are below.
Opening Hymn and Welcome
The beginning of the service can be accessed from the youtube clip. Please join in with the responses, and hymns.
Alleluia! sing to Jesus!
His the sceptre, his the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, his the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion,
thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus, out of every nation
hath redeemed us by His blood.
Alleluia! bread of angels,
Thou on earth our food, our stay;
Alleluia! here the sinful
flee to thee from day to day:
Intercessor, friend of sinner, Earth’s Redeemer, pray for me
Where the songs of all the sinless
sweep across the crystal sea.
Alleluia! King eternal,
Thee the Lord of Lords we own;
Alleluia! born of Mary,
Earth thy footstall, heaven thy throne:
Thou within the veil has entered,
robed in flesh our great High Priest;
Thou on earth both priest and victim
in the Eucharistic feast.
Pr.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All
Amen
Pr.
The Lord be with you.
All
And also with you
Confessing our sins
We have not always lived our lives as we might have done. We have done wrong and hurt others. Let’s seek God’s forgiveness. We pray together:
All:
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 priest gives the absolution, and we respond. Amen.
Praising God’s glory
We sing to praise God’s glory. Please join in with Jonathan
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world,
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
The priest prays the Collect – the prayer for the day
Reading
William reads the Old Testament reading, which is Genesis 14.18-20.
We stand for the Gospel reading, John 6.51-58.
Sermon
Mthr Helen's sermon on the Festival of Corpus Christi.
Creed
We say the Nicene Creed.
All
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
+ We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
The Prayers
Martin leads us in prayer this morning.
The Peace
Let’s share the peace! Click on the youtube clip for the next part of the service
As the altar is prepared, we sing our offertory hymn.
Sweet sacrament divine,
hid in thy earthly home,
lo, round thy lowly shrine,
with suppliant hearts we come;
Jesus, to thee our voice we raise
in songs of love and heartfelt praise:
sweet sacrament divine,
sweet sacrament divine.
Sweet sacrament of peace,
dear home of every heart,
where restless yearnings cease,
and sorrows all depart,
there in thine ear all trustfully
we tell our tale of misery,
sweet sacrament of peace,
sweet sacrament of peace.
Sweet sacrament of rest,
ark from the oceans roar,
within thy shelter blest
soon may we reach the shore;
save us, for still the tempest raves;
save, lest we sink beneath the waves,
sweet sacrament of rest,
sweet sacrament of rest.
Sweet sacrament divine,
earth’s light and jubilee,
in thy far depths doth shine,
thy Godhead’s majesty;
sweet light, so shine on us we pray
that earthly joys may fade away,
sweet sacrament divine,
sweet sacrament divine.
The Eucharistic Prayer
We now come to the heart of the mass, the prayer of consecration. Please join in with singing or saying the responses.
Pr.
The Lord be with you
All
And also with you
Pr.
Lift up your hearts.
All
We lift them to the Lord.
Pr.
All
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
The Acclamation:
Pr.
Great is the mystery of faith.
All
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
The Sanctus and Benedictus (Sanctus means ‘holy’, Benedictus means ‘blessed’):
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
+Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
The Agnus Dei (which means ‘Lamb of God’)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, Grant us peace.
This is a prayer for you to say at the point at which you would be receiving the bread and wine. You are making a spiritual communion in place of a sacramental communion, as that is not possible at this time.
In union, O Lord with the faithful at every altar of your Church, where the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, I desire to offer you praise and thanksgiving. I present to you my soul and body with the earnest wish that I may always be united to you. And since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. I unite myself to you, and embrace you with all the affections of my soul. Let nothing ever separate you from me. May I live and die in your love. Amen.
Anthem
As we reflect on our spiritual communion, Catherine sings Mozart's Ave Verum.
The Benediction
Please click on this link for Benediction and the end of the service. Please repeat the Divine Praises after the priest. The final hymn is below.
During Benediction, we sing:
Therefore we before him bending,
this great Sacrament revere;
types and shadows have their ending,
for the newer rite is here;
faith our outward sense befriending,
makes the inward vision clear.
Glory let us give and blessing,
to the Father and the Son;
honour, might and praise addressing
while eternal ages run;
ever to his love confessing
Who, from both, with both is one. Amen.
The final hymn…
All
Be still for the presence of the Lord,
the holy one is here.
Come bow before him now,
in reverence and fear.
In him no sin is found,
we stand on holy ground;
be still, for the presence of the Lord,
the holy one is here.
Be still for the glory of the Lord,
is shining all around;
he burns with holy fire,
with splendour he is crowned.
How awesome is the sight,
our radiant King of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
is shining all around.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
is moving in this place;
he comes to cleanse and heal,
to minister his grace.
No work too hard for him, ,
in faith receive from him,
be still for the power of the Lord
is moving in this place.
Jonathan’s closing voluntary, is Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
Discover what we know about what Jesus looked like by clicking on this image.