THOUGHT FOR THE DAY ON RADIO OBAN FM
10 minute Service for Sunday 9th June 2012 St Columba's Day
Murdoch MacKenzie
Good morning Breege and good morning to all our listeners. My name is Murdoch MacKenzie and I am a member of the Iona Community and today, 9th June is St Columba’s Day. So let’s begin with a prayer from the Iona Community.
Let us pray: O God, who gave to your servant Columba the gifts of courage, faith and cheerfulness, and sent people out from Iona to carry the word of your gospel to every creature, grant, we pray, a like spirit to your church and to all your people here in Oban and Argyll, that hidden things may be revealed to us and new ways found to touch the lives of all. May we preserve with each other sincere charity and peace following in the footsteps of the Dove of Peace, St Columba, that steadfast follower of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us listen now to words from the Bible from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel in chapter 5. The Beatitudes, sometimes called the Beautiful Attitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Amen
St Columba sailed from Derry in Ireland and landed on Iona at Pentecost on 9th June 563 AD. Next year, 2013, on Iona we will be celebrating the 1450th anniversary of his landing. From Iona his followers travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, Northumbia, and across Europe. It was not for nothing that the art historian Kenneth Clark called Iona ‘the cradle of western civilisation’. Today tourists come as pilgrims from aw the airts, quite literally from the ends of the earth. As a German woman said recently: ‘The world is small but Iona is big.’ The present Iona Community is but a spec of dust in all of this but in 2013 we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary. Hundreds and thousands of people pass through Oban and Mull each year on their way to Iona, each with their own hopes and fears, their own expectations. Many are deeply moved as they catch the Vision of Jesus’ Beautiful Attitudes that the kingdom of heaven does belong to the poor, that those who mourn shall be comforted, that it is the meek who inherit the earth, that hungering and thirsting for righteousness does bring true satisfaction, that the merciful do obtain mercy, that it is the pure of heart who see God, that peacemakers are the children of God and that those who are persecuted for righteousness sake will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
This Vision from Jesus of the beautiful attitudes is encapsulated in many hymns and not least in the hymn which we will sing in a minute or two. ‘Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart…thou my best thought in the day or the night….Be thou my Wisdom, be thou my true Word….Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; be thou my dignity, thou my delight….Riches I heed not, nor earth’s empty praise….Heart of my own heart whatever befall, still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
The original Old Irish text, is often attributed to Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. The text had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries . It was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne in 1905. The English text was first versified by Eleanor Hull, in 1912.
The music is the Irish folk song, Slane, which is about Slane Hill where in A.D. 433 St. Patrick defied the pagan High King Lóegaire of Tara by lighting candles on Easter Eve.
Let those candles be lit in our lives this morning as we listen to this Irish hymn.
10 minute Service for Sunday 9th June 2012 St Columba's Day
Murdoch MacKenzie
Good morning Breege and good morning to all our listeners. My name is Murdoch MacKenzie and I am a member of the Iona Community and today, 9th June is St Columba’s Day. So let’s begin with a prayer from the Iona Community.
Let us pray: O God, who gave to your servant Columba the gifts of courage, faith and cheerfulness, and sent people out from Iona to carry the word of your gospel to every creature, grant, we pray, a like spirit to your church and to all your people here in Oban and Argyll, that hidden things may be revealed to us and new ways found to touch the lives of all. May we preserve with each other sincere charity and peace following in the footsteps of the Dove of Peace, St Columba, that steadfast follower of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us listen now to words from the Bible from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel in chapter 5. The Beatitudes, sometimes called the Beautiful Attitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Amen
St Columba sailed from Derry in Ireland and landed on Iona at Pentecost on 9th June 563 AD. Next year, 2013, on Iona we will be celebrating the 1450th anniversary of his landing. From Iona his followers travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, Northumbia, and across Europe. It was not for nothing that the art historian Kenneth Clark called Iona ‘the cradle of western civilisation’. Today tourists come as pilgrims from aw the airts, quite literally from the ends of the earth. As a German woman said recently: ‘The world is small but Iona is big.’ The present Iona Community is but a spec of dust in all of this but in 2013 we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary. Hundreds and thousands of people pass through Oban and Mull each year on their way to Iona, each with their own hopes and fears, their own expectations. Many are deeply moved as they catch the Vision of Jesus’ Beautiful Attitudes that the kingdom of heaven does belong to the poor, that those who mourn shall be comforted, that it is the meek who inherit the earth, that hungering and thirsting for righteousness does bring true satisfaction, that the merciful do obtain mercy, that it is the pure of heart who see God, that peacemakers are the children of God and that those who are persecuted for righteousness sake will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
This Vision from Jesus of the beautiful attitudes is encapsulated in many hymns and not least in the hymn which we will sing in a minute or two. ‘Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart…thou my best thought in the day or the night….Be thou my Wisdom, be thou my true Word….Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; be thou my dignity, thou my delight….Riches I heed not, nor earth’s empty praise….Heart of my own heart whatever befall, still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
The original Old Irish text, is often attributed to Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. The text had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries . It was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne in 1905. The English text was first versified by Eleanor Hull, in 1912.
The music is the Irish folk song, Slane, which is about Slane Hill where in A.D. 433 St. Patrick defied the pagan High King Lóegaire of Tara by lighting candles on Easter Eve.
Let those candles be lit in our lives this morning as we listen to this Irish hymn.
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Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
Be all else naught to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought in the day and the night, Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light. Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word, Be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord; Be thou my great Father, and I thy true son; Be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one. Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; Be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might; Be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower: O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power. Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise: Be thou mine inheritance now and always; Be thou and thou only the first in my heart; O Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure thou art. High King of Heaven, thou Heaven's bright sun, O grant me its joys after victory is won!; Great heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O Ruler of all. |
And now a Celtic Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
