These are worship resources for the Second Sunday of Christmas Day, January 3, 2021. The resources are gathered from a variety of sources and, while assembled mainly for The Anglican Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, on the island of Crete in Greece, others may find them useful.

Read

We will be observing the Second Sunday of Christmas, and so our readings, according to the Common Worship Lectionary, will be Jeremiah 31:7-14, Psalm 147.13-end, Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a, and Matthew 2:13-15,19-23. The lectionary provides alternative for some of the readings for the Second Sunday of Christmas, and some churches may choose those in place of these. As well, some churches will be observing the Feast of the Epiphany, transferring it from January 6, which has a completely different set of readings. .

Share

We are back to Zoom only for the Sunday service, but we are allowed to have an in-person service on the Epiphany, January 6, 2021. So, we will have a service of Holy Communion, with the maximum number of nine attendees, at 11:00 am that Wednesday, in the Tabernacle. If there is the demand, I am happy to add another service, so that people can share in the Eucharist. Pre-registration is required, so if you wish to attend please contact Pat Worsley by phone at +30 28257 71001 or by email at peter.worsley@btinternet.com.

The Zoom service this Sunday, the first of the new year, will be at 11:00 am as usual, and you can join by clicking this link or by entering the following into your Zoom application: Meeting ID: 850 4483 9927 Passcode: 010209.

The Order of Service can be downloaded here, if you wish.

Reflect

I have not yet written my sermon for Sunday. In the meantime, here are the words of Pope Francis about the Holy Family and the plight of refugees today.

Pray

Collect
Almighty God,
in the birth of your Son
you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word,
and shown us the fullness of your love:
help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love
that we may know the fullness of his joy;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

(or)

God our Father,
in love you sent your Son
that the world may have life:
lead us to seek him among the outcast
and to find him in those in need,
for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Biddings
I bid your prayers for the leaders and people of the nations; especially

• Katerini Sakellaropoulou, President of Greece, and
  • Kyriakos Mitsotakis the Prime Minister of Greece;
• Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and her other realms, and also in her role as Governor of the Church of England;
  • and Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of her British government;
• In the European Union,
  • Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission;
  • Charles Michel, President of the European Council; and
  • Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy;
• For the United Nations and its work, and its Secretary General, António Guterres;
• we give thanks for the conclusion of negotiations around Brexit, and that all remaining issues be settled in a fair and helpful way;
• the peoples of Belarus, Hong Kong, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Bolivia, Nigeria, Brazil, and Thailand as they continue to demonstrate for democracy and justice;
• for the maintaining of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and between Russia and Ukraine, North and South Korea, and for a final, just resolution to their conflicts;
• for the President-elect and peoples of the United States;
• for peace and justice between Palestinians and Israelis;
• for advocates of Indigenous rights and the adoption and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• prisoners and captives, especially the over one million Uygers being held in detention in China;
• the over 79.5 million refugees and nearly 4 million stateless person, remembering especially the crucial situation of Greece, and the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”);
• for a lessening of tensions between Turkey and Greece; and
• for peace in Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, and Ethiopia.

I bid your prayers for the sick and suffering and all who minister to their needs;

• remembering the over 22 million active cases of the novel coronavirus, and mourning with the families of the 1.8 million who have died in the pandemic;
• for the 2.4 million people in the UK who have had covid-19 or are recovering from it, the over 71,000 who have died of it there, and the over 122,000 active cases here in Greece, and the families of the over 4730 dead here;
• remembering those ill with other diseases, and those whose operations have been postponed;
• all those having issues with mental health;
• those suffering from addiction, and those in recovery;
• those who have been affected severely by the economic effects of the pandemic, especially in food services and tourism;
• and giving thanks for the efforts of researchers in finding vaccines, and the rollout of vaccines across the world.

I bid your prayers for the Church:

• for Robert Innes & David Hamid, our bishops;
• for Justin Welby our archbishop, Stephen Cottrell the Archbishop of York, and the General Synod of the Church of England;
• for our beloved in Christ in other denominations, especially the leadership in:
  • The Orthodox Church: Vartholomaĩos, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; and Irinaios Athanasiadis, Archbishop of Crete; and the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece in Athens;
  • The Roman Catholic Church, especially Pope Francis, and the bishop for Crete, Petros Stefanou;
  • the Greek Evangelical Church, the independent Greek Pentecostal churches, and the various Lutheran, Reformed, and other Protestant churches ministering to foreign populations;
• we pray especially for congregations that have been obliged to cease in-person services;
• for the churches and peoples of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine (World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle);
• in the Anglican Communion, we pray for the new province of The Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria, and The Most Revd Dr Mouneer Hanna Anis, Archbishop of Alexandria and Bishop of Egypt (Anglican Cycle of Prayer);
• (from the Prayer Diary of the Diocese in Europe) pray for:
  • in the Bishop’s Office in Brussels,
    • for the recruitment of a new Bishop’s Chaplain,
    • Gail Wilmet (Bishop’s PA),
    • Damian Thwaites in his role as Bishop’s Attaché to the European Institutions,
    • Barbara Omoro (Appointments Secretary),
    • and Caroline Gaumy (Administrative Secretary).

Intercession
We pray for God’s faithfulness to be known in our world.

In a world of change and hope,
of fear and adventure,
faithful God
glorify your name.

In human rebellion and obedience,
in our seeking and our finding,
faithful God
glorify your name.

In the common life of our society,
in prosperity and need,
faithful God
glorify your name.

As your Church proclaims your goodness
in words and action,
faithful God
glorify your name.

Among our friends
and in our homes,
faithful God
glorify your name.

In our times of joy,
in our days of sorrow,
faithful God
glorify your name.

In our strengths and triumphs,
in our weakness and at our death,
faithful God
glorify your name.

In your saints in glory
and on the day of Christ’s coming,
faithful God
glorify your name.

Sing

Jesus Entered Egypt Tune: KING’S WESTON

Jesus entered Egypt fleeing Herod’s hand,
living as an alien in a foreign land.
Far from home and country with his family,
was there room and welcome for this refugee?

Jesus was a migrant living as a guest
with the friends and strangers who could offer rest.
Do we hold wealth lightly so that we can share
shelter with the homeless, and abundant care?

Jesus crosses borders with the wand’ring poor,
Searching for a refuge, for an open door.
Do our words and actions answer Jesus’s plea:
“Give the lowly welcome, and you welcome me”?