Week One Strong/Strengthened to serve

Aim: To discover that

To think about

Insight from the world church

Susie’s piece

Bible reading
Mark 1.29-31

You may want to preface this short reading by listening to Mark 1.16-20 which relates the call of Simon Peter
himself to follow Jesus.

Encouraging biblical reflection

As soon as they left the synagogue The implication is that what happens next takes place on the Sabbath. At more
than one point in the gospels Jesus is criticized for healing people on the Sabbath Day – presumably on this occasion
because the healing took place in a private house it did not come to the eye of the religious authorities. But the
pattern of Jesus’ ministry is clearly established from the outset. He refuses to allow convention or religious tradition
to restrict his mission of healing and giving life.
Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever We don’t know this woman’s name. Like most women who appear in
the pages of the New Testament she is unnamed – or identified only by her relationship to a male relative. She was
probably a widow, and therefore a dependent member of Simon Peter’s household. In I Corinthians ** Simon
Peter’s wife is also referred to – again anonymously - but if it were not for these two references we would have had
no idea that this man, the leader of the apostles, was married. What might it have been like to be Simon Peter’s wife
– or mother-in-law? He seems to have been a big-hearted but impetuous man – but possibly not the easiest person to
live with – or to rely on, now that he had taken up with this strange, charismatic carpenter from Nazareth. If Simon
set off fishing people where would the family’s food come from in the future? This anonymous old lady probably
had quite a lot to worry about. Could that have been one reason she had fallen sick? And as a dependent in her son-
in-law’s household she probably felt powerless – and perhaps useless as well, certainly now that she was ill. Like
many old women particularly in the Two Thirds world, she could have felt frustrated – and without a future.
He… took her by the hand Over and over again in the ministry of Jesus the importance of touch is emphasized. It is
a gesture which affirms a person’s humanity – and becomes a means of healing.
And lifted her up It is no mere casual ‘tap’ that Jesus offers her. He treats her with great care .This verb ‘lift’ is used
again in 5.** when Jesus ‘raises’ Jairus’ daughter- and in 16.6 when he himself is ‘raised’ from the dead. He is
offering this old woman ‘new life’ as well – new possibilities, a new affirmation.
She began to serve them How characteristic of a woman’s role that no sooner is she out of her sickbed than she is
waiting on others!. But this is no unwilling servitude – it suggests a glad willingness to be useful and appreciated.
Indeed the word ‘Diakoneo’ (=serve) used here was the word which would later on describe the ‘service’ that Jesus
himself offered (see Mark 10.45) - or the ministry of those who ‘served’ as leaders in the Christian church. Yes, this
old woman can be ‘Granny’ again – once more a full member of the family. But more than that she no less than her
son in law – himself called so recently to ‘follow’ Jesus - has set off on the great adventure of discipleship which
will validate the rest of her life.

Closing prayers
Give thanks for

Lord of the years,

Help us to recognize and respond
To your love in every season of our life:
The spring of childhood,
The summer of youth and adulthood,
The autumn of our maturity
And the winter of our age.
We rejoice in your grace sufficient for each day.
We praise you for the past
And trust you for the future. Amen
(David Reddish)

We thank you, Lord, for the privilege of knowing e lderly people:

Thank you for their experience and wisdom.
And the stories they can tell us;
Be with them when theyfeel lonely or unwanted,
Help them if frustration makes them difficult,
And surround them with your peace,
That they may be aware how very close you are.
(Angela Ashwin)
? Servant Christ?

Week Two

Aim: To discover that

To think about

Insight from the world church

Susie’s piece

Bible reading
Mark 5.21-25, 35-43
Mark has deliberately linked this story with the account of the woman with the haemorrhage – which it encircles. So
you may also want to

Encouraging biblical reflection

Closing prayers
Give thanks for

Our Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the joy which our children bring us.
As we love them,
Help us to show your love
To those who do not know loving parents.
Show us our responsibility towards them.

Especially we pray for children,

Who, because thy are blind, deaf, disabled
Or without parents, cannot live at home,
That they, and those who care for them,
May know that they are your children
And part of the Christian family.
We ask these things in the name of NJ|esus
Through whom we call you Father. Amen
K|enya

What a world is being left for the children

Week Three

Aim: To discover that

To begin with

Insight from the world church

Susie’s piece

Bible reading
Mark 7.24-30

Encouraging biblical reflection

Closing prayers
Give thanks for
The fierce love that mothers have for their children

O Lord God of history, give us wisdom and power to build a new society,
A society where justice and peace shall reign,
Where violence and torture are unknown,
Where there are no detainees

O Christ,
Does a mother stop
From stooping and sifting the rubbish
In a South American rubbish tip –
Stop and listen to the songbird
And know that the pain which pierces her heart
Is your pain?

O Christ,
Does a child stop
From hustling and haggling the punters
On the pavements of Brazil –
Stop and look at the stars
And know that the hunger in his belly
Is your hunger?

O Christ,
Does a young girl stop
From walking and working the streets
In the suburbs of the cities –
Stop and enjoy the scent of a flower
And know that the anger in her heart
Is your anger?

O Christ,
Does an old man stop
From carrying and cursing the water
In the polluted wastes of Iraq –
Stop and feel the wind on his face
And know that his thirst
Is your thirst?

Lord, help your Church to hear

Your song of praise
In the cry of the hungry and thirsty,
In the despair of the powerless.
And hearing, help us to act justly,
Serve wisely, and love prayerfully,
In your name and for your sake. Amen
(Kat McIlhagga)

If I had not suffered

I would not have known the love of God.

If many people had not suffered

God’s love would not have passed on.

If Jesus had no suffered

God’s love would not have been made visble.
(Mizzuno Genzo, Japan)

Week Four

Aim: To discover that

To begin with

Insight from the world church

Susie’s piece

Bible reading
Mark 12.41-44

Encouraging biblical reflection

Closing prayers
Give thanks for

We pray, mighty God, for those who struggle

Hat their life’s flickering flame may not be snuffed out.
We pray for the poor and deprived,
For those exploited by the powerful and greedy,
And for a more human sharing of the plenty
You have given your world
(Worship in an Indian context, adapted)

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow human beings throughout the world who live and die in poverty
and hunger. Give them through our hands their daily bread, and, by our understanding love, give peace and
joy.
(Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

Our Father
Who is here on earth
Holy is your name
In the hungry who share their bread and their song.
Your kingdom come,
A generous land where confidence and truth reign.

Week Five

Aim: To discover that

To begin with

Insight from the world church

Susie’s piece

Bible reading
Mark 14.3-9

Encouraging biblical reflection

Closing prayers
Give thanks for

Jehovah! Great I AM, who was and is and I to be,

Hear in love the cry of your people for life.
Your people need bread –
But grant that amid hard realities and hunger
We may understand that we do not live by bread alone.
Give to our leaders true wisdom;
Save us all from economic, moral and social decay.
May your Church, with the gift of the Spiirt,
Rightly discern the things that make for peace,
For survival, and more –
For life in all its fullness:
And may we be bold to speak your word.
(Franklin Roverts, Caribbean, Oceans of Prayr)

Carribean
God who made me woman

Week Six

Aim: To discover that

To think about

Ah! The fragrance of new grass!

I hear his footsteps coming –
The Lord of the Resurrection!
(M Jiro Sasaki, Japan)

Insight from the world church

Susie’s piece

Bible reading
16.1

Encouraging biblical reflection

Closing prayers
Give thanks for

When the broken come to wholeness,

When the wounded come to healing
When the frightened come to trusting
The stone has been rolled away

When the lonely find friendship,

When the hurt find new loving,
When the worried find peace
The stone has been rolled away

When we share instead of taking,

When we stroke instead of striking,
When we join around the table
The stone has been rolled away.

The stone has been rolled away!

In you, Christ Jesus,
Love breaks through hatred,
Hope breaks through despair.
Life breaks through death
Hallelujah, Christ is Risen!
(Francis Brienen)

We shall go out with hope of resuurection