WELCOME TO THE PARISH OF SKETTY
HOLY TRINITY’S NEWS
CARING
Imagine: At heaven’s pearly gates, you are excluded, but as you sit miserably alone beside the driveway, you
watch a woman enter with a group of handicapped children, and a man with some even older than
himself. One person takes a lot of reassuring and coaxing that it is safe to enter, but doubter and
encourager go in together. Does your Church encourage this sort of care?
Or Since you retired, your health has not improved, and family and other problems make you
depressed. Each winter, you find yourself unable to go out for several months. What sort of care
would help you? How realistic is it to ask that from your Church? Are you now giving that sort of
care yourself to others?
A Bible Passage: John 4:6-
Some questions:
1. For many people, caring means being nice to people, not disagreeing, not holding them responsible, letting
them do anything they want. What would be a Christian definition of caring?
2. “Send us out . . to live and work to your praise and glory.” What do you mean in saying this prayer? How
does it work out in practise?
3. Does Jesus care for the woman at the well (Jn 4)? How does he manage to disagree (v22), and comment on
her morality (v16-
4. Often our care is limited to physical circumstances, but here it is Jesus who needs the woman’s care to get
a drink.
Do we sometimes need to ask others to help us?
5. The care Jesus gives is both social (he deals with a woman largely ignored) and spiritual (she finds spiritual
life); is this something we should try to imitate? How exactly?
Further resources: