Christ Church

“Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us”

We have gone, it seems, from the heights of blessedness in the vision of the Triune glory of God on Trinity Sunday to the ground of human existence in all of its confusions and uncertainties both last Sunday and again today.

Trinity Sunday presents the cosmic vision of the whole of creation in its praise of the Triune God, the One-in-Three who is worthy “to receive glory and honour and power; /For thou hast created all things, /And for thy pleasure they are, and were created.” All created things find the truth of their being in the praise of the Trinity. One way to that vision is through the gathering up of the whole pageant of Revelation signaled in the four and twenty elders representative of the books of the Old Testament and the four living creatures signifying the Gospels of the New Testament. It is a remarkable image and one which requires ultimately a change in our thinking, a constant metanoia, we might say; in short, a deeper awareness of heart and mind.

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked Jesus, only to be told that he needed to think in a new way, not by way of ratio but of intellectus, meaning not in a narrow cause and effect kind of reasoning but in a larger more comprehensive kind of thinking which draws the knower and the known together into one. “Ye must be born again,” is what Jesus had said to him. It means from above and so our thinking must be analogical, a thinking upward towards the goodness and into the oneness of God. But to think upwards on our part is only possible because of the downward movement of God himself. “No man hath ascended up into heaven but he that came down from heaven.” In the lifting up of the one who came down are found all the possibilities and the actualities of eternal life for us.

Thus the Trinity Sunday readings already embrace the downward movement towards our daily lives on the ground where we are placed. The way up is the same as the way down, as I and Evan and others were regularly reminded at the Colloquium and Conference which I attended last week. The phrase is from Heraclitus.

Last week we argued that we are Lazarus, both as lying on the ground “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fall from the masters’ table” and raised up into the bosom of Abraham, for if we do not see ourselves in Lazarus then we will be like the Rich Man, ultimately lost and in torments. We noted as well the parallel to the other Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, dead and buried but raised up by his friend Jesus. “Lazarus, come out.” May we not say that is the same as “Ye must be born again”? Are these things, too, not the same as the invitation in today’s Gospel, “Come for all things are now ready?”

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The collect for today, the Second Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O LORD, who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love: Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. John 3:13-24
The Gospel: St. Luke 14:15-24

Artwork: Cicely Mary Barker, The Parable of the Great Supper, 1935. Oil on canvas, Lady Chapel, St. George’s, Waddon (near Croydon).

The collect for today, the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, by whose providence thy servant John Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of thy Son our Saviour, by preaching of repentance: Make us so to follow his doctrine and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching, and after his example constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Isaiah 40:1-11
The Gospel: St. Luke 1:57-80

Artwork: Rogier van der Weyden, The Naming of John the Baptist [left panel of St. John Altarpiece], 1455-60. Oil on oak, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Alban, First Martyr of Britain, d. c. 250 (source):

Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant to us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Epistle: 1 St. John 3:13-16
The Gospel: St. Matthew 10:34-42

Artwork: Matthew Paris, Martyrdom of St. Alban, Illumination from Life of St. Alban, 13th century manuscript, Library of Trinity College, Dublin.

Sunday, July 2nd (Fr. Curry)
Third Sunday after Trinity (in the Octave of St. Peter & St. Paul)
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. Thomas Church, Three Mile Plains
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, July 9th (Fr. Curry)
Fourth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. George’s Church, Upper Falmouth
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, July 16th (Fr. Curry)
Fifth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. Michael’s Church, Windsor Forks
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, July 23rd (Fr. Curry)
Sixth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. Andrew’s Church, Hantsport
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, July 30th (Fr. Curry)
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. George’s Church, Upper Falmouth
10:30am Christ Church

O God, who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding: Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Sunday, August 6th (Fr. Henderson)
Transfiguration/Eighth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. Michael’s Church, Windsor Forks
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, August 13th (Fr. Henderson)
Ninth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. Andrew’s Church, Hantsport
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, August 20th (Fr. Henderson)
Tenth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. Thomas Church, Three Mile Plains
10:30am Christ Church

Sunday, August 27th (Fr. Henderson)
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Christ Church
9:00am St. George’s Church, Upper Falmouth
10:30am Christ Church

O God, who declares thy almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Priest-in-Charge for July, contact: Fr. David Curry – 1-902-790-6173 (currydp@gmail.com)
Priest-in-Charge for August, contact: Fr. Tom Henderson – 1-902-798-8921 (t_w_henderson@hotmail.com).

“There was a certain beggar named Lazarus”

Lazarus ‘R Us. We are Lazarus. There are two people named Lazarus in the Gospels. The one is the blessed subject of a parable told by Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, the story we heard today. The other is the blessed object of a miracle done by Jesus in John’s Gospel. There is much that is similar about them.

But there is this difference. The one lays on the ground – a beggar in the dirt, unnoticed, at the gate of the rich man – and then dies. The other dies and then is buried in the ground – hidden in the grave for four days. But, then, both are raised up – the one into the bosom of Abraham, the other into the company of his family and friends, among whom is Jesus himself.

What does it all come down to? Simply this. The love of God compels us to love one another where we are – on the ground and even out of the ground, as it were. This is not a may-be but a must-be for our salvation and more generally for the health of our communities and cultures. We are commanded and compelled to love out of the vision of love which has been shown to us. Such was Trinity Sunday when we beheld the strong and defining love of God. “Behold a door was opened in heaven.” “Batter my heart three-personed God,” as John Donne puts it, for only that strong love can move us to God and to him in one another.

When we ignore the stranger in our midst or neglect the beggar at our door, then we deny the God who became poor for our sakes, who came into our midst, and who knocks at the door of our hearts. When we are consumed by envy at the good fortune of others, when we are filled with hatred and wrath for the hurts and injuries inflicted upon us, whether real or imagined, when we are complacent and indifferent to the sufferings of others, then we place ourselves very far from God and do great harm to others as well as to ourselves.

To put it in terms of the parable, there is a great gulf fixed between us and God when we ignore the poor man at our gate, the neighbour close at hand, and our loved ones all around. Then we place ourselves in torment, the torment of our self-willed distance from God. Then we are pretty far gone – like Lazarus in the ground four days, “behold, he stinketh”, says Martha, and so do we in the sins of our indifference and selfishness. But, “Lazarus, come out”, Jesus says.

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Monday, June 19th
6:30-7:30pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, June 20th
6:30-8:00pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Wednesday, June 21st
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Friday, June 23rd
6:00-9:00pm Pathfinders & Rangers – Parish Hall

Sunday, June 25th, Second Sunday after Trinity / In the Octave of the Nativity of John the Baptist
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Fr. Curry will be participating in the Colloquium, Wisdom Belongs to God, and the Atlantic Theological Conference, God Every Day and Everywhere, being held this week at King’s College in Halifax.

The collect for today, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, commonly called The First Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, the strength of all them that put their trust in thee, mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping of thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. John 4:7-21
The Gospel: St. Luke 16:19-31

Artwork: Hendrick ter Brugghen, The Rich Man and the Poor Lazarus, 1625. Oil on canvas, Centraal Museum, Utrecht.

“Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground”

What he wrote in the dust of the ground we do not know. We only know what he said which in turn was written down. They are some of the most powerful words of compassion and forgiveness ever written in the dust of our humanity. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone”. What has been written in the dust of your humanity during your time here at King’s-Edgehill?

The last day of the term, the last day of the school year, and for you, the last day of High School. Hooray! “O Frabjous Day, Callooh, Callay,” I hear you say. Finally, and, at last, I hear your parents quietly mutter while clutching their wallets and worrying about their stockmarket portfolios! In every sense, today marks a milestone, a sense of accomplishment, a kind of ending. Alleluias everywhere! Today you are the pride of the School, of your parents and grandparents, of relatives and friends, and of cultures and communities from all over the world. On this special day with so many of you who have come from far and near to celebrate, our school is even more a microcosm of the world than usual. A special day that requires a special designation. Hence Encaenia.

Encaenia is the traditional name for this service, just as the event which follows is properly known as Commencement, both terms conveying a sense of beginnings, it seems. Endings and beginnings recall us to the principles which belong to identity and purpose, to the true character of institutions and to our lives within them.

Encaenia is a Greek word that refers to a sense of renewal of purpose and identity, specifically, to a dedication service. Its origins lie in the annual dedications of holy places but has become associated with “the annual commemoration of founders and benefactors at Oxford University in June” (O.E.D) and by extension to the academic institutions derived from the medieval universities of Oxford and Cambridge throughout the English speaking world, even such places as King’s-Edgehill School here in Windsor. We are recalled to founding principles and ideals that remind us that we are part of something greater than ourselves without which we are less than ourselves.

Ah, merely a tradition then? No. If merely a tradition then nothing worthy of consideration let alone commitment. A living tradition is another thing and one which requires a certain mindfulness. Otherwise, we become quite literally traditors, traitors, those who betray what has been passed on to them by passing it over, that is to say, throwing it away as worth nothing. Living traditions are about our faithfulness to what has been passed on and to which we hold ourselves accountable. It is about letting them live out in us. Seeds are planted. Words are written in the dust of our being. And such is the real dignity of our humanity.

The crisis of our contemporary institutions is whether we will live from the animating principles that belong to their foundations or succumb to our technocratic obsessions that so dominate our minds and our lives and reduce everything to utility. All means and no ends. The challenge is to recover the primacy of the ethical and the intellectual.

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The collect for today, the Feast of St. Basil the Great (c. 330-79), Bishop of Caesarea, Cappadocian Father, Doctor of the Church (source):

Almighty God, who hast revealed to thy Church thine eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like thy bishop Basil of Caesarea, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 2:6-13
The Gospel: St. Luke 10:21-24

Artwork: Saint Basil the Great, fresco, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome.