From a Distance
From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.
From a distance, there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
It’s the voice of hope, it’s the voice of peace,
it’s the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough,
and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
no hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance we are instruments
marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They’re the songs of every man.
God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance.
From a distance you look like my friend,
even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for.
From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it’s the hope of hopes, it’s the love of loves,
it’s the heart of every man.
It’s the hope of hopes, it’s the love of loves.
This is the song of every man.
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance.
Oh, God is watching us, God is watching.
God is watching us from a distance                                         
  Julie Gold

The Labourers in the Vineyard
From the parable in today’s Gospel, we see how much God loves us when he himself, through his beloved Son, took the initiative to enter our world in order to bring us into his Kingdom. We also see that the action of God’s grace does not depend on time and space.
In the parable God is represented as the landowner and we human beings are the labourers. The vineyard represents our Christian faith and our wages are heavenly life.
We learn that God does not call everybody at the same time. Some are called early in life having received their baptism as infants like the labourers who came at daybreak. Some were called as teenagers; some were called during their married life and others much later in life. God rewards all with the same wage which is eternal life.
In short, God is just and fair in all his dealings with his children. No one will ever go unrewarded for the good works that are attributed to him. Like the labourers in the Gospel, we all have a call to the Christian faith and our responsibility now is to work hard and seriously according to the will of God so that finally we receive what Jesus himself has promised us; that is eternal life.
Father Alex
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A Prayer
Bring us, O Lord God,
at our last awakening
into the house and gate of Heaven,
to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be
no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears or hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends or beginnings, but one equal eternity,
in the habitations of thy glory and dominion,
world without end.
John Donne (1572 - 1631)
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Prayer
In the Gospel this Sunday Jesus says, ‘If two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’ In these words, Jesus gives us a powerful encouragement to use intercessory prayer.
The Lord himself is telling us that we ought to ask God directly for the things we need. Maybe we might start out by asking for material needs but anyone truly committed to the spiritual life will surely move on from these sorts of prayers to others more outwardly directed.
We move on and in time we find ourselves asking God for other things such as protection for our loved ones or for peace in the home or for the welfare of others or that the dead may rest in peace. We find ourselves too praying for more general things such as peace in the world or food for the hungry. So, while we are young, we might pray mostly for ourselves and our own needs but as we get more mature, we focus more and more on the needs of others.
However, we should take Christ’s words at face value and pray for absolutely anything we need whether it be for ourselves or for others. God may not grant all that we ask at the particular time we want it, but what we will be doing is entering into a dialogue with him. And this is the most important thing of all. Every Christian ought to be in constant dialogue with the Lord. As we go about our daily duties we should be continually thinking of God and asking him questions and telling him of our needs. This is the very best way to come close to him.                                                                  Father Alex
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​Jesus Christ, the Borrower
The people of the world have known, and still know, their need of a Saviour. When he comes, he comes as one in need.
He is born in a borrowed stable, and learns the trade of a borrowed father. He eats and sleeps in borrowed homes, preaches from borrowed boats, enters a capital city on a borrowed donkey.
He shares his last supper in a borrowed room. Betrayed for borrowed money he is aided with his Cross by a borrowed shoulder. He borrows a home for his mother, and is buried in a borrowed tomb. Risen and alive in power, he is still a borrower: He wishes to borrow you and me.