The 50 days of Eastertide culminated last Sunday in the great Feast of Pentecost when the Church celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the first disciples, and we pray that, as modern-day disciples kindled with the fire of the Spirit, we may share the love of God with all whose lives we touch. This Sunday the Church allows us to celebrate the one God in Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Another way in which the Trinity is referred to is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Today at 2 o’clock this afternoon I will inter the ashes of a long-time and much-loved parishioner in the Garden of Remembrance at St James.  Dorothy Mahoney came to live in Raleigh Street Thornbury in 1967, and she and her three children immediately became parishioners at St James. Dorothy was a mentor to many young people in the groups that were so active in the parish in the sixties and seventies.
Dorothy continued to be a faithful worshipper at St James until 2018 when she became ill, and it was a joy for me to go to her home and offer her the sacrament of Holy Communion every two weeks. After being hospitalised in mid-2019 Dorothy accepted a place at Uniting Age Well in Preston, and I continued to visit her there. She passed peacefully to her rest on May 23, aged 92 years. Well done, good and faithful servant!
I will continue to offer the Eucharist every Thursday at St James at 10.30 and parishioners from both All Saints and St James are most welcome to join us. The Thursday after Trinity Sunday is called Thanksgiving for Holy Communion, or in Latin, Corpus Christi, and it is good to have a special day on which to give thanks for Jesus’ gift of his life to us in this holy sacrament.
If you are unable to come on a Sunday or are unwell and need a shorter time of worship, you are most welcome to come on a Thursday. Morning tea follows the service.
Philippa