The Enemy Sowing Tares – Elihu Vedder 1892
Bible readings: Romans 8:12-25 and Matthew 13.24–30, 36–43
Gospel Reading [NRSVA]
He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
CLUSTER INFORMATION & EVENTS
Celtic Morning Prayer – Each weekday morning on zoom 8:00am – 8:30am. Please email Keno for zoom details.
Fellowship Lunch at St Mary’s – Every Monday midday.
Emmaus – the group will be taking a summer break and will restart on 1st September. Kevin
Psalm Prayer Group – Every Thursday at 11:15am we read, pray and meditate on a Psalm. Come and join us at St Mary’s. Josie
Meditation Group – Every Friday a Meditation group meets at St Mary’s church at 10:30am. This is a welcoming and supportive space for everyone in the community. Vicky
Christian Meditation and Contemplative Prayer – Last Monday of the month at St Mary’s at 6pm. The next meeting is Monday 27th July. We look forward to being together in silent worship. Vicky
Julian Prayer Group -The Julian Group meets at 6pm at St. Pol de Leon church on the first Sunday of the month, and online via zoom other Sundays. If you would like to attend, please email Mel at mlevesconte@hotmail.co.uk for zoom details.
Prayer Requests – If you are concerned about someone and would like their name included in the Prayer Request Group’s weekly prayer list, please do email Mel by 7pm on Tuesday evenings.
If you would like to join the group and could spend a little time each week praying the list in your personal prayer time, please do contact Mel at mlevesconte@hotmail.co.uk who will add you to the circulation list. Information is not shared and members’ names are not circulated within or outside the group.
Art Class end of year show & BBQ
From 22-26 July, the art class that meets in Paul every Tuesday will have their annual show in Paul church. Alongside this, on 26th, after the service, there’ll be a community BBQ in the Quiet Garden from 12.30-3pm, to raise awareness of what goes on in the hall, to consult with the community on how we can use the hall more and to raise funds towards a disability lift and making the stairs safer. Karen
St Peter’s Brunch – Sunday 12th July
St Peter’s was delighted to welcome Revd. Jacky as she celebrated her first Mass in the Cluster. This was followed by a celebratory brunch, where we toasted her with Bucks Fizz. Lynda.
Breakfast and Breathe
We had a wonderful session on Monday and were into double figures for breakfast! We also welcomed Sally Crabtree working on ideas for the well-being vending machine. We are now working on a project for Autumn, Watch this space!
Monday 20th July will be the last Breakfast and Breathe group before the Summer break and Holiday Clubs.
Come along on Monday for a space to just be, for food, fellowship, crafting and a gentle invitational faith activity.
We look forward to seeing you there! Please let Jenny know if you are coming.
Breakfast and Breathe is having a break from Monday 27th July and will resume again on Monday 7th September.
Holiday Club
Our Holiday Club starts on Monday 27th July. We have 9 days on Mondays and Thursdays throughout August and a final day on Wednesday 2nd September.
We are grateful to Madron Daniel C of E School for allowing us to use this space as our base and to St Mary’s Church for the final day.
We have many exciting days planned: Trengwainton garden and imagine outdoors, Helston Museum and Penrose walk, Pitch and Putt and Football Golf at Hayle, Porthcurno Museum and beach, Vertical Blue archery and activities, a film project with Alex, John Brolly from the Minack leading a drama workshop, Land’s End and Sennen walk, Marazion and beach fun and a final celebration party at St Mary’s on Wednesday 2nd September with Ready Steady Cook activity.
Might you be able to sponsor a child at £5 a day? Or could you contribute towards food costs or buy some food for us? We will need cheese, ham, fruit, baby tomatoes, cucumber, yoghurts, fruit and a few sweet treats too. Please bring these to St. Mary’s Church.
Or maybe you could give a contribution towards ice cream money for days out? Please contact Jenny or Keno about any donations.
Thank you in advance for helping us continue the 13th year of Penlee Cluster Holiday Club.
Rainbow Project Team
Little Lights
Little Lights for 0- 3 year olds and their carers will be meeting for the last week before the summer holidays. We offer a safe space out of blazing sunshine for an hour, where families can play, listen to stories, join in with music and have a snack – all free of charge! At St. Mary’s Church on Thursday 23rd July, from 1.30-2.30. All welcome, please come and join us.
Thank you message
Art Exhibition at St. Mary’s.
Thank you so much St Mary’s for hosting this show. For people who missed it, here it is again! Lovely pictures of nature from St. Mary’s and Madron Daniel schools in flipbook form. Here is the link: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/97dcc7907d.html. Lynne Jones (exhibition organiser)
I just loved the way it is showing itself. It expresses so many feelings like happiness and calm. It is just a beautiful thing of
nature. I feel confident because it is beautiful and I feel grateful for nature. This was the first time I have done anything like this. It made me feel different in a good way. I have been in Morrab Gardens before but not with a camera. It made me feel great that nature exists. Nature gives us food and our basic needs, and from this flower you get beauty and confidence.
Christian Aid Fundraising
This year at St Mary’s we expanded the Christian Aid week to Christian Aid month. We held our Sustainable Sunday on 24th May, planted prayers with a Breakfast and Breathe group during May, growing nasturtiums, mint and basil. People kindly dropped coins and notes into the Christian Aid bucket (thank you if you ‘gifted aided’ your contribution as well). Together this has raised £120! For families working at the Beacon of Hope project in Dagoretti Informal Settlement, Nairobi, Kenya. Our funds will go towards buying sets of planters for growing vegetables (£30 a set) or a mobile kiosk (£120) so farmers can sell their produce.
Thank you to all who contributed and let’s set an ambitious target for 2027! Hilary
NightChurch
I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
It was wonderful to have Rev’d Jacky join us again and to welcome Bishop James, who shared his reflection on Psalm 121. We were placed in context among a people on a journey. As they paused to rest in unfamiliar places, they were surrounded by the possibility of danger, with those hidden in the mountains ready to ambush and steal. In the face of such uncertainty, they lifted their eyes to their helper, the Lord.
Perhaps we can relate, recognising times when we find ourselves on unfamiliar ground, surrounded by challenges and situations beyond our control.
Bishop James also drew our attention to the shift in the psalm from the individual “I” to the collective “we,” suggesting that these words were sung together as a community. There is such encouragement in this shared expression of faith. As we journey together at NightChurch, we too are strengthened by the assurance that God watches over us, keeping our coming and our going, now and forevermore.
In the workshop, we painted stones as a grounding reminder of being held and cared for. We also started to add our handprints to a shared mountain banner, celebrating belonging and the strength of community.
We enjoyed dinner, music, conversation, and said Bon Voyage to a member of our community who will soon be setting sail for their next destination.
Next week we look forward to Rev’d Jacky leading the reflection time, the summer BBQ and beginning to sing our way through the NightChurch song list.
Victoria
