{"id":601,"date":"2026-09-13T21:59:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T21:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/?p=601"},"modified":"2026-09-13T21:59:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T21:59:03","slug":"moving-on-into-love-as-a-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/2026\/09\/13\/moving-on-into-love-as-a-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving on into love as a church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sunday 13 September. Song 78 \u2018Lord, we come to ask your healing\u2019<br><\/strong>Words: Jean Holloway \u00a9 Kevin Mayhew Ltd \/ Music: traditional<br>YouTube video: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1NMxH0fdcGg\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1NMxH0fdcGg<\/a><br>Featured image: \u2018Unity 1\u2019 from stevenjcamp.blogspot.com, originator unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the title of this hymn, you might think it is about the \u2018healing ministry\u2019, usually understood either as specific prayers for individuals to be healed of particular diseases or injuries, or more generally praying for people to live lives free of any form of suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is, but only partly so. The theme of the hymn is actually love. A word that appears at the end of three of the four lines of every verse. The lyrics explore a wide range of understanding of what love looks like in practice, with particular reference to a church congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first verse does indeed ask for healing, but in this case we are asking for the <em>Church<\/em> to be healed of the things that harm her unity: shame, selfishness, \u2018feuds and factions\u2019. It can sometimes take much longer for someone to understand the harm that this sor of behaviour causes, than for them to accept the Gospel message of individual salvation. Moving from \u2018I am saved from sin\u2019 to \u2018We are brought together by Christ to work together in his Kingdom\u2019 is almost a second conversion. For that reason we pray, \u2018Teach us of love\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second verse is more about the individual\u2019s relationship with Christ. His loving nature can indeed \u2018Soothe away our pain and sorrow\u2019 and deal with the \u2018dark, danger and dread of tomorrow\u2019 that some people face continually and most of us will face from time to time. Again, accepting this requires a move on from \u2018Christ died to save me from sin\u2019 to \u2018Christ is risen to show me his love\u2019. For that reason we pray, \u2018Hold us in love\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The third verse, provided as an optional one for a Mass or Communion service, refers to the sacrament as a sign of that divine love. We ask that our faith be made \u2018more than just an empty token\u2019. Once again, moving on from a simplistic view of salvation to one in which the love shown in Christ\u2019s dying and living sends us out to live for him. For that reason we pray, \u2018Fill us with love\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final verse builds on that. We ask Christ to \u2018help us live for one another as equals, whether stranger, neighbour or family. \u2018All are equal at your table\u2019 must be more than a mission statement, but a practical way of living together. For that reason we pray, \u2018Bind us in love\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taught of love, held in love, filled with love, bound in love. That is what a church should be. \u2018Healed\u2019 in the ancient sense of \u2018made whole\u2019. Brought together with our differences and sent out, maybe fed with the Eucharistic bread, as one body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday 13 September. Song 78 \u2018Lord, we come to ask your healing\u2019Words: Jean Holloway \u00a9 Kevin Mayhew Ltd \/ Music: traditionalYouTube video: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1NMxH0fdcGgFeatured image: \u2018Unity 1\u2019 from stevenjcamp.blogspot.com, originator unknown From the title of this hymn, you might think it is about the \u2018healing ministry\u2019, usually understood either as specific prayers for individuals to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[89,133,119],"class_list":["post-601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-common-ground","tag-healing","tag-love","tag-unity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":603,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions\/603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}