Addoliad ar Dydd Sul y Dychafael
Yn ystod y pandemig, mae'r Esgob yn darparu deunydd i gefnogi addoliad ar yr aelwyd ar brif wyliau. Mae hyn yn cynnwys trefn o wasanaeth ar gyfer Litwrgi'r Gair, a myfyrdod wedi'i recordio. Mae testun y myfyrdod hefyd ar gael yma.
Darlleniadau
Act 1:15-26
Un o'r dyddiau hynny cododd Pedr ymysg y credinwyr—yr oedd tyrfa o bobl yn yr un lle, rhyw gant ac ugain ohonynt—ac meddai, “Gyfeillion, rhaid oedd cyflawni'r Ysgrythur a ragddywedodd yr Ysbryd Glân trwy enau Dafydd am Jwdas, yr un a ddangosodd y ffordd i'r rhai a ddaliodd Iesu; oherwydd fe'i cyfrifid yn un ohonom ni, a chafodd ei ran yn y weinidogaeth hon.” (Fe brynodd hwn faes â'r tâl am ei ddrygwaith, ac wedi syrthio ar ei wyneb fe rwygodd yn ei ganol, a thywalltwyd ei berfedd i gyd allan. A daeth hyn yn hysbys i holl drigolion Jerwsalem, ac felly galwyd y maes hwnnw yn eu hiaith hwy eu hunain yn Aceldama, hynny yw, Maes y Gwaed.) “Oherwydd y mae'n ysgrifenedig yn Llyfr y Salmau:
“ ‘Aed ei gartrefle yn anghyfannedd,
heb neb yn byw ynddo’,
“a hefyd:
“ ‘Cymered arall ei oruchwyliaeth.’
“Felly, rhaid i un o'r rhai a fu yn ein cwmni ni yr holl amser y bu'r Arglwydd Iesu yn mynd i mewn ac allan yn ein plith ni, o fedydd Ioan hyd y dydd y cymerwyd ef i fyny oddi wrthym, ddod yn dyst gyda ni o'i atgyfodiad ef.” Ystyriwyd dau: Joseff, a elwid Barsabas ac a gyfenwid Jwstus, a Mathias. Yna aethant i weddi: “Adwaenost ti, Arglwydd, galonnau pawb. Amlyga p'run o'r ddau hyn a ddewisaist i gymryd ei le yn y weinidogaeth a'r apostolaeth hon, y cefnodd Jwdas arni i fynd i'w le ei hun.” Bwriasant goelbrennau arnynt, a syrthiodd y coelbren ar Mathias, a chafodd ef ei restru gyda'r un apostol ar ddeg.
Ioan 15:9-17
Fel y mae'r Tad wedi fy ngharu i, yr wyf finnau wedi eich caru chwi. Arhoswch yn fy nghariad i. Os cadwch fy ngorchmynion fe arhoswch yn fy nghariad, yn union fel yr wyf fi wedi cadw gorchmynion fy Nhad, ac yr wyf yn aros yn ei gariad ef.
“Yr wyf wedi dweud hyn wrthych er mwyn i'm llawenydd i fod ynoch, ac i'ch llawenydd chwi fod yn gyflawn. Dyma fy ngorchymyn i: carwch eich gilydd fel y cerais i chwi. Nid oes gan neb gariad mwy na hyn, sef bod rhywun yn rhoi ei einioes dros ei gyfeillion. Yr ydych chwi'n gyfeillion i mi os gwnewch yr hyn yr wyf fi'n ei orchymyn ichwi. Nid wyf mwyach yn eich galw yn weision, oherwydd nid yw'r gwas yn gwybod beth y mae ei feistr yn ei wneud. Yr wyf wedi eich galw yn gyfeillion, oherwydd yr wyf wedi gwneud yn hysbys i chwi bob peth a glywais gan fy Nhad. Nid chwi a'm dewisodd i, ond myfi a'ch dewisodd chwi, a'ch penodi i fynd allan a dwyn ffrwyth, ffrwyth sy'n aros. Ac yna, fe rydd y Tad i chwi beth bynnag a ofynnwch ganddo yn fy enw i. Dyma'r gorchymyn yr wyf yn ei roi i chwi: carwch eich gilydd.
Dyfyniadau o’r Beibl Cymraeg Newydd a’r Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig 2004 hawlfraint Cymdeithas (Brydeinig a Thramor) y Beibl. Cedwir pob hawl.
Testun myfyrdod yr Esgob
Dyrchafael Iesu
Mae gen i un gwendid mawr: Alla i ddim darllen mapiau. Ddim o gwbl. Ac i rywun sy'n hoff o grwydro'r bryniau, mae hynny'n gallu bod yn ychydig o broblem. Y drafferth yw nad yw'r ffordd y mae’r holl arwyddion a'r symbolau yn ymddangos ar bapur yn gwneud unrhyw synnwyr o gwbl. Mae darllenwyr mapiau profiadol yn gallu gweld yr holl arwyddion a'r symbolau hynny'n troi'n dirwedd o flaen eu llygaid. Y cyfan rwy i'n ei weld yw lobsgows nad yw'n gwneud unrhyw synnwyr o gwbl’.
Diolch i Dduw am satnav.
Pan ddeallodd y disgyblion fod Iesu wedi Dyrchafael i fod gyda’r Tad, roedd yn rhaid iddyn nhw newid y ffordd roedden nhw’n meddwl a deall y tirwedd newydd oedd o’u cwmpas. Ac roedd eu tasg hyd yn oed yn anoddach oherwydd, er eu bod yn llawn hyder newydd, roedd gwneud Crist yn adnabyddus i’r cenhedloedd yn ychwanegu at yr hyn roedd Duw wedi galw arnyn nhw i'w wneud. Beth oedd wedi’u helpu i ymateb yn dda? Dyna beth hoffwn i ni ei ystyried heddiw ac mae gen i dri pheth yr hoffwn i eu rhannu gyda chi.
A’r cyntaf yw eu bod wedi dod gyda nhw y pethau roedden nhw wedi’i ddysgu. Dywedodd Iesu y byddai’r Ysbryd Glân yn eu hatgoffa o'r pethau hynny ond roedd yn rhagweld eu profiadau cynnar yma hefyd. I’r Cristnogion cynnar, doedd ffydd ddim yn gymaint o set o reolau ag o berthynas, darganfod sut i weithio allan beth oedd gwersi roedd y Deyrnas wedi’i ddysgu iddyn nhw yn ei olygu erbyn hyn. Ac mae hynny'n wers i ninnau hefyd, oherwydd ddylen ni byth grynhoi ffydd i set o weithrediadau. Antur gyda Duw yw ffydd. Ydi, wrth gwrs, mae ei gwreiddiau'n ddwfn mewn rhai gwirioneddau digyfnewid ond mae’n newydd, yn barod am newid ac i ddatblygu.
A’r ail beth oedd ganddyn nhw oedd syniad o berthyn: mae llythyrau'r Testament Newydd wedi'u hysgrifennu bob tro at saint mewn lle penodol, hynny yw, at y Cristnogion lleol oedd wedi dod at ei gilydd. Roedd y cymunedau hyn yn sylweddoli yn eu tro eu bod mewn perthynas, eu bod yn perthyn i'w gilydd a bod yr undod hwn yn dwyn ymrwymiad. Pan ysgrifennodd Sant Paul at nifer o eglwysi ynghylch arian, pwysleisiodd eu bod yn un yng Nghrist a bodd yr undod hwnnw’n esgor ar annibynniaeth: roedd yn rhaid i'r eglwysi cyfoethog helpu'r eglwysi tlotach. A phan oedd un rhan o’r eglwys yn dioddef, roedd rhannau eraill yn dioddef hefyd. A phan oedd yna drallod neu ymraniad, fod hynny hefyd yn fater i'r eglwys gyfan.
Y trydydd peth oedd ganddyn nhw oedd dibyniaeth newydd ar Dduw. Doedd eu ffydd ddim wedi’i ddifetha gan ddyrchafael Crist. Ddim o gwbl. Roedden nhw’n deall fod eu Harglwydd gyda Duw ac na fyddai ei deyrnasiad yn dod i ben ond yn dangos arwyddocâd o’r newydd.
Roedd hyn oll yn bethau oedd yn brofiad personol i’r Cristnogion cyntaf. Ac yng nghyd-destun thema heddiw, efallai y dylen ni ystyried ychydig ar hynny. Pan esgynnodd Crist, fe aeth a’n dynoliaeth ni gydag ef i’r nefoedd. Rydyn ni’n cofio’r clwyfau roedd Thomas wedi’u cyffwrdd ar ôl yr atgyfodiad. Ac mae hynny’n golygu fod yr Hollalluog Dduw yn gwybod am ein holl ddiffygion a’n gwendidau. Wedi’n rhyddhau o euogrwydd ac ofn, neu yng ngeiriau Sant Paul ‘Yn awr, felly, nid yw’r rhai sydd yng Nghrist Iesu dan gollfarn o unrhyw fath’, roedd y disgyblion yn gallu canolbwyntio ar eu tasg o fyw ac o rannu’r newyddion da. Rydyn ni angen ein hatgoffa o’r hyn sydd gan yr efengyl hefyd - y newyddion da fod Crist wedi gwneud popeth i'n galluogi ni i ddwyn y newyddion da i'r byd.
Ac wrth i Grist esgyn i’r nef, roedden nhw’n paratoi ar gyfer pan fyddai Duw’n disgyn drwy ei Ysbryd ar y Pentecost oedd ar ddod. Os mai ar y dyrchafael y cafod Iesu ei dderbyn wrth ddeheulaw’r Tad, ar y Pentecost yr anfonodd y tad ei Ysbryd i rannu’r Deyrnas ar draws yr holl fyd.
Rwy’n sylweddoli fod yna thema o ddisgwyl yma ac efallai y byddwn ni'n gallu uniaethu â hynny; rydyn ninnau hefyd yn disgwyl am ragor o ryddid i gysylltu’n ddiogel ac yn llawnach â'n bywydau unwaith eto. Ond nid cyfnod o ddisgwyl yn unig yw'r Dyrchafael, mae'n adeg i baratoi a gallwn ninnau uniaethu â hynny hefyd. Wrth i ni, yn raddol, fynd yn ôl i addoli ‘mewn person’ yn ystod yr wythnosau nesaf, wrth i ni geisio dirnad beth ddylen ni fod yn ei wneud, mae’n rhaid i hynny fod gyda hyder y Cristnogion cynnar hynny a lwyddodd i ganfod eu ffordd mewn tirwedd anghyfarwydd a gwneud hynny gan wybod fod Duw gerllaw ac y byddai'n eu galluogi i wneud y cyfan roedd yn galw arnyn nhw i'w wneud.
Bydded i ni ymateb gyda’u ffydd nhw er mwyn Crist. Amen.
Worship on Ascension Sunday
During the pandemic, the Bishop is providing material to support worship at home on the major festivals. This includes an order of service for a Liturgy of the Word, and a recorded meditation. The text of the meditation is also available here.
Readings
Acts 1:15-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’ (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ‘For it is written in the book of Psalms,
“Let his homestead become desolate,
and let there be no one to live in it”;
and
“Let another take his position of overseer.”
So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
From The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
The text of the Bishop's meditation
The Ascension of Jesus
I have a great claim to fame: I cannot read maps. At all. And for someone who loves stomping in the hills this can be a bit of a problem. You see the trouble is all the signs and symbols and how they appear to me on the paper make no sense at all. Whereas skilled navigators see a landscape painted before their eyes in those same signs and symbols, I see a spaghetti mess which makes no sense at all.
Praise the Lord for satnav.
When the disciples understood that Jesus had ascended to be with the Father they needed to make a shift in their thinking and to understand the new landscape in which they found themselves. And their task was made all the more difficult because even though they radiated with new confidence, to make Christ known to the nations added to the scale of what Go had called them to do. What was it they helped them respond well? That’s what I would like us to consider today and I have 3 things I wish to share with you.
And the first is that they brought with them the things they had learned. Jesus had said that the Holy Spirit would remind them of these things but it is anticipated in their early experience here too. For the early Christians faith was not so much about a set of rules as a relationship, discovering how to work out what the Kingdom lessons taught them now meant. And that’s a lesson for us too because we must never collapse faith into a set of actions. Faith is an adventure with God. Yes of course it is rooted and grounded in some unchanging truths but is new, open to change and development.
And the second thing they brought with them was a sense of belonging: the letters of the New Testament are always written to the saints in a place, that is, to the local Christians gathered. These communities in turn realized they were in fellowship, they belonged to each other and that this unity brought commitment. When St Paul wrote to a number of churches about money, he stressed that they were one in Christ and that this unity brought interdependence: the rich needed to help the poorer churches. And when one part of the church suffered, the other parts suffered too. And when there was brokenness or disunity is involved the whole church too.
The third thing they brought with them was a new reliance on God. Their faith was not destroyed by the ascension of Christ. Far from it. They understood that their Lord was with God and that his reign would not end but take on new significance.
Now all of these things were experienced by the first Christians. And in the context of our theme today we might reflect on that just a bit. When Christ ascended, he took our humanity with him into heaven. We recall the wounds which Thomas touched after his resurrection. And that means all our faults and weakness are known by Almighty God. Liberated from guilt and fear or in the words of Paul ‘there is therefore now no condemnation’, the disciples were able to focus on their task of living and sharing good news. We need this gospel reminder too – of good news that Christ has done everything to enable us to bear good news to the world.
And as Christ ascended into heaven so they made ready for God to descend by his Spirit on the Pentecost soon to come. If the ascension marked the point at which Jesus was received at the right hand of the Father, Pentecost would mark the moment the father sent his Spirit to share the Kingdom across the whole world.
I realize that there is a theme of waiting here and perhaps we will relate to that: we too are waiting for further freedoms to safely engage with our life again more fully. But the Ascension is not only a waiting game, it is a time of preparing and we can note this as well. As we return to more ‘in-person’ worship in the next weeks, as we seek to take stock of what it is we should be doing, it must be with the confidence of those first Christians who did navigate an unfamiliar landscape but did so knowing God was near and would enable them to do all they were called to do.
May we respond with their faith for the sake of Christ. Amen.