Remembering

Today at 11.00am during a minute’s silence we are remembering the NHS and care workers who have died as a result of caring for those with Covid 19 virus. The NHS, carers and other frontline staff have worked selflessly to care for others often working very long, difficult shifts to save lives and to protect us.

Our Cathedral holds the shrine of St Alban, the first Christian martyr in Britain 

who, having sheltered a Christian priest who was fleeing from persecution, was so moved by his faith he became a Christian himself and decided to swap clothes with the priest. Almost immediately, Alban was arrested as he was assumed to be the priest. When asked who he was, Albans replied, ‘I am a Christian and I stand ready to do my duty’.  Rowan Williams comments in his latest book Luminaries that our duty is not just to people who happen to be with us now but to a future community in which all, friends and strangers, have their place.   

St Paul said:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Phil  2: 3-4.

So we like Alban and all those who died for our future will remember all called to be faithful to the future, in our present isolation and afterwards, a future of harmony and reconciliation with creation.

Prayers – For the Health Service

O God, we thank you for our healthcare systems and those who work in it.  

We pray for our NHS staff and healthcare workers who through their love and compassion, have given their lives to care for others. We hold before you their families and friends in their grief and loss. We pray for those who have to make difficult decisions about resources or treatments, that they will do so with care and integrity. Lord help us all to serve others and live lives that serve the community and everyone’s future.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Prayer for Carers, Nurses and Doctors

Lord Jesus, who healed the sick and gave them new life,

be with doctors, nurses and carers, as they act as agents of your healing touch.

In desperate times, keep them strong yet loving;

and when their work is done,

be with them in their weariness and in their tears that they may find peace and strength to carry on for everyone’s future.