Paul gives us an astonishing understanding of waiting in the New Testament book of Romans, as rendered by Eugene Peterson, 'Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.' With such motivation, we can wait as we sense God is indeed with us, and at work within us, as he was with Mary as the child within her grew.”
Luci Shaw
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Image: ‘The Annunciation’ - copy by Nicolas Lokhoff (1872-1948), Russian painter-copyist and restorer, of the painting by Simone Martini (c. 1285-1344).
Now in the collection of the University of Pittsburgh, USA, you can read more about this painting here: https://uag.pitt.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/9362
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In St Mary’s prayer cycle for this month, today we pray for the falsely imprisoned throughout the world.
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In these unprecedented times, St Mary’s is reaching out and supporting our community in many ways, especially online. But with activities in our buildings greatly restricted, we no longer receive the previous level of financial support from collections at Services, nor from hiring out the church and hall buildings.
If you can help us financially to continue to offer Christ's love to our community in these difficult times, as those before us have done down the centuries, please consider making a donation by debit/credit card and to Gift Aid it if possible, by clicking this link to 'givealittle':
Thank you!
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