Friday 30th October 10.05am

                                                                                   w/c Sunday 1^st November 2026

Dear Friends,

Thought for the week:  

This Sunday we celebrate All Saints. It’s a day when we remember all those who have gone before us in faith, as well as all those living saints – us – because we are all saints, as I mentioned in my reflection on All Saints last year.
What do you mean, you don’t remember every word I wrote a year ago?
To be fair, I had to look it up to remind myself!

It’s a very hopeful day. In 1 John 3 we’re reminded that we are all children of God.
Which is, in itself, a pretty amazing and hope-inspiring thing to hear! It means we are all deeply loved by God, our Father.
But John then goes on to remind us that we have an eternal future.
I like the way he doesn’t pretend to know exactly what this looks like, as it hasn’t been revealed yet.
Nevertheless, John has faith and hope in Jesus’ promises that we will all be with him in eternal life, and will see Jesus and ourselves in a new light.

At first glance, our Gospel reading might seem less hopeful, as it speaks of various troubles that we might face in our lives, like grief or persecution.
However, these beatitudes remind us of the hope that comes from believing God does not abandon us in our troubles but is with us and can even bless us in them.
And again, at the end of the beatitudes we find hope in the promise from Jesus that our eternal life in heaven will be better than the lives we currently live.
We have hope that suffering is temporary, whilst God’s love is eternal.

If we have this hope and faith in the future, then that should also impact how we live our lives right now too.
The beatitudes can also point us towards ways in which we might live faithful lives, just as the saints before us did.
They encourage us to live in something of a counter-cultural way as they flip worldly values.
So, for example, recognising your need for God (being poor of spirit) is important, rather than trying to be self-sufficient.
And we should seek the welfare of others by working towards justice and peace, not seeking only our own self-interests.
Living as saints, as hopeful children of God, we should be those who help alleviate suffering and bring hope to others.

 Rev Alex Holmes

Lectionary Readings for 1^st November All Saints

• Revelation 7:9-end.
• Psalm 34:1-10.
• 1 John 3:1-3.
• Matthew 5:1-12

Notices and Diary

• Petroc’s Shoe Box Appeal – leaflets at the back of the church, the Village Shop & the Toll House, more information available at https://linktohope.co.uk/.
  All boxes to be handed in by 6^th November. Any questions to Liz Rider
• Sunday 1^st November St Petroc’s Parish Breakfast – Church Room 8:30 – 9:15 am
• Wednesday 4^th November 5-7 pm in St Petroc’s – Screening of the film “The People’s Emergency Briefing” with discussion afterwards. No need to book

Wed 4^th November         St Petroc’s Morning Prayer at 8.30am and

Thought for the week at 10am by zoom and telephone

St Petroc’s Parish Lunch 12.30-1.30pm

Thurs 5^th November      St Petroc’s funeral Renee Wakely 12 noon

Fri 6^th November              St Petroc’s Morning Prayer at 9am by zoom and telephone

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