Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Anglicans

On this rainy morning, with the bronzewings hooting behind the church, we come to offer worship to Our Lord. Services at 8 at St Swithun’s, and at 9.30 at St Barnabas.

Our collect prayer:

Grant, O Lord,
that we may see in you the fulfilment of all our need,
and may turn from every false satisfaction
to feed on the true and living bread
that you have given us in Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

We just met Lisa, who is setting out upon the Bibbulmun Track. It was a joy to be with Lisa, to listen to her, and to pray with her as she sets out upon her intentional pilgrimage. May God bless her and guide her.

By chance, or perhaps the Holy Spirit, Bishop Hans and his family arrived from a walk on the Track just after we wished Lisa well. It was wonderful to have the Bishop with us!

Bibbulmun Track Foundation

We gather tomorrow to offer worship on the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. Bishop Kate Wilmot will preach, and Fr Grahame Bowland will preside. There will be one service at each of our parish churches - 8am at St Swithun’s and 9.30am at St Barnabas.

Father Grahame just took this photo, before our monthly service at Villa Maria in Lesmurdie. The chapel there is just beautiful.

We marked the Feast of St Dominic today at our midweek service of Holy Communion.

"Dominic possessed such great integrity and was so strongly motivated by divine love, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honour and grace. He was a man of great equanimity, except when moved to compassion and mercy. And since a joyful heart animates the face, he displayed the peaceful composure of a spiritual man in the kindness he manifested outwardly and by the cheerfulness of his countenance.
Wherever he went he showed himself in word and deed to be a man of the Gospel. During the day no one was more community-minded or pleasant towards his brothers and associates. During the night hours no one was more persistent in every kind of vigil and supplication. He seldom spoke unless it was with God, that is, in prayer, or about God, and in this matter he instructed his brothers. Frequently he made a special personal petition that God would deign to grant him a genuine charity, effective in caring for and obtaining the salvation of men. For he believed that only then would he be truly a member of Christ, when he had given himself totally for the salvation of men, just as the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of all, had offered himself completely for our salvation. So, for this work, after a lengthy period of careful and provident planning, he founded the Order of Friars Preachers."
- From various writings on the history of the Order of Preachers

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration. We remember Jesus shining with light eternal before Peter, James and John. This event has encouraged generations of Christian mystics, and particularly those who dedicate themselves to contemplative prayer, seeking to encounter God. Symeon, a great saint of the Eastern Church, wrote of his gradual, life-long surrender to such encounter:

“Like a star that rises, You manifest yourself from afar, You grow slowly. Not that You change in so doing, but You open the mind of Your servant that he may see.

You manifest yourself like the sun, little by little, and gradually the darkness flees and disappears. I believe it is You who come, You who are present everywhere.

When You encompass me altogether, Saviour, as in the past, when you surround me completely, I am freed from my troubles, freed from the darkness, from temptations, from the passions, from all thoughts. I am filled with joy and an indescribable happiness.”

Archbishop Rowan Williams once said, reflecting on an icon of the Transfiguration, that “looking at Jesus seriously changes things; if we do not want to be changed, it is better not to look too hard or too long.”

We can dare to look on Jesus; we can dare to contemplate God through prayer, and we can dare to be changed.

We gather tomorrow to offer worship, marking the Feast of the Transfiguration.

Services at St Barnabas, Kalamunda are Morning Prayer at 8am, and Holy Communion at 9.30am; and at St Swithun's, Lesmurdie, Holy Communion at 8am, and Morning Prayer at 9.30am.

Eternal God, our glorious King,
whose Son Jesus Christ was transfigured
on the holy mountain
and seen in splendour by his chosen witnesses:
grant us, his followers, faith to perceive his glory,
to listen to him, and to walk in his way, that we may be changed into his likeness
from glory to glory;
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

We’ve earned at least a silver medal in the rose pruning this morning! Keeping our beautiful memorial rose garden happy, healthy and flowering 🌹

Here is Fr Grahame's sermon from this morning – on the exodus to hope, a miracle related to us in the Gospel of Saint Mark, which we embody and make real each time we come to Holy Communion, and receive the hospitality of God.

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, 2024 This sermon was preached on the 21th of July 2024, the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: Mark 6.30-34,53-56 Imagine yourself as a villager, living in Galilee in the first century, the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus. You and your family get by.....

Good morning - we gather to offer worship at St Barnabas and St Swithun’s at 8am and 9.30am, on this the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.

Eternal God,
author of our life and end of our pilgrimage:
guide us by your word and Spirit amid all perils and temptations,
that we may not wander from your way,
but may run our course in safety
until we come to our eternal rest in you;
through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Chockers today at the Op Shop, with many a treasure found, and delicious food for morning tea. We’re open 9am-12pm Monday through Saturday

Congratulations to the painter of this work, a student at Kalamunda Senior High School. Titled “Suisen”, it just won a highly commended in the St George’s Cathedral Art Awards!

When we get mail from the Spirituality Centre at St George's Cathedral, in the words of Dale Kerrigan, its straight to the pool room! A fabulous program of upcoming events at our Cathedral, check it out on the hall noticeboards or on the web: https://www.perthcathedral.org/centre-for-spirituality/

We gathered today for the Baptism and Confirmation of Casey by BIshop Kate Wilmot. It was a wonderful, grace-filled gathering, for which we give thanks to God. Congratulations to Casey!

Gracious God,
in baptism you make us one family in Christ your Son,
one in the sharing of his body and his blood,
one in the communion of his Spirit.
Help us to grow in love for one another
and come to the full maturity of the body of Christ. Amen.

“The God of peace is never glorified by human violence.”
– Thomas Merton

Living “The Way” of Christ is not easy and rarely attempted. These ways include Jesus’ directives to love your neighbor as yourself, forgive infinitely, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, bless your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We’re apt to say, “You’re just not living in the real world, Jesus.” Right? And Jesus is apt to respond, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don’t do what I say?”

Like the Pharisees, we question Jesus: But what about. . .how about. . . what if this happens. . .surely you don’t mean. . . my Bible says an eye for an eye. We love the wine of the old wineskin testament, but Jesus, you can keep your new wine and wineskins! And he responds, “You have heard it said, but I tell you—“

Can you imagine the disciples trying to convince Peter to use his sword again after his Garden of Gethsemane experience? I submit to you that he never picked it up again. Or Paul, after he was beaten within half an inch of his life, returning this time to the city with a well-armed group of friends—for defensive purposes, of course. It didn’t happen!

If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the Antichrist is the Prince of Violence. Wherever there is death and destruction (kill, steal, and destroy), know that the satanic kingdom is busy at work and advancing. Likewise, wherever there is healing and restoration—life and abundant life—know that the kingdom of God has come on earth as it is in heaven.

It’s important to take inventory, to look deeply within our own hearts, and ask who or what we’re following: Nationalism? A political party? A philosophy? The way of peace only comes through the Spirit of Christ, for he is, indeed, the Prince of Peace.

Father Grahame's sermon for the Feast of Saint Swithun: examining how injustice infringes upon peace, and looking to Saint Swithun for a model of how to witness to Christ when things get difficult.

The Feast of Saint Swithun, 2024 This sermon was preached on the 14th of July 2024, the Feast of Saint Swithun, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: Mark 6.14-29 Bitter envy is absent where peace is present, for ever and ever: where the peace of Christ is present, bitter envy is absent. Those words form the last ver...

A stunning Perth Hills sunrise this morning, as we prepare to gather and offer worship. Today at Lesmurdie we observe the Feast of St Swithun, our patronal festival. Swithun was a ninth century bishop, a model of kind hearted leadership with a particular care for the poor. So on this day let us also give thanks for the care of bishops for those people they oversee, including Archbishop Kay and her assistants Kate, David and Hans.

Almighty God,
by whose grace we celebrate again
the feast of your servant Swithun:
grant that, as he governed with gentleness
the people committed to his care,
so we, rejoicing in our Christian inheritance,
may always seek to build up your Church in unity and love;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Many thanks to Discus Print & Signage for their care and attention to detail in printing and installing these wonderful designs

Huge thanks to Rhiannon Grant and Woodbrooke for today’s gathering on the Quaker Tradition, co-hosted with the Mount Lawley Meeting. A fabulous presentation by Rhiannon: a lot was shared, some big questions were asked, we worshipped together, and there were a lot of laughs as well. A wonderful gathering, with about thirty of us in person and another fifteen or so online.

We are very excited for tomorrow's all parish service, at 9am at St Barnabas. Bishop Hans Christiansen will be dedicating the new windows at the church, and Confirming eight candidates. It will be, we pray, a joy-filled occasion, full of the Spirit!