Liturgies

This weekend we reflect on the sad anniversary of Nakba, so called by Palestinian people, meaning Catastrophe. To understand the situation in Palestine today we need to understand Nakba. This is when there were mass killings, displacement and dispossession of Palestinians by Israelis in 1948. At the liturgy we will watch an episode of Compass where we hear from Antony Löwenstein-Jensen a leading voice among Australian Jews speaking out against Israel’s occupation and attacks on Gaza. For many in the Jewish community he is a traitor.

In our homily this week, Liz explores the concept of grace and its place in our Christian lives.

This weekend we will have the privilege of hearing about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the eyes of Christian peace activist Mazin Qumsiyeh. Mazin is a scientist and activist Professor and founder and Director at the Palestine Museum of Natural History and author of numerous books including Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of hope and empowerment.

This week’s homily is an edited version of a published article written by Michael Morwood. He is a faith educator who is internationally acclaimed for his work on the need for Christians to reshape religious thinking and imagination. In this article, Morwood examines the role of scientific knowledge in informing our image of God.

Heather will unpack The Ancient Prayer with us. It is another variation on Jesus teaching. It was at St Mary’s in Exile that she first learned of this translation from the original Aramaic – the language Jesus spoke. It speaks to her of the deeper inclusive language of the Cosmic Christ.

This week, Liz’s explores the religious truth of the Resurrection story. The homily is based on the work of Pastor Dawn Hutchins.