Christ Church

The collect for today, the commemoration of John Wycliffe, (c 1320-84), Scholar, Translator (source):

O Lord, thou God of truth, whose Word is a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path: We give thee thanks for thy servant John Wyclif, and those who, following in his steps, have labored to render the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people; and we beseech thee that thy Holy Spirit may overshadow us as we read the written Word, and that Christ, the living Word, may transform us according to thy righteous will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Daniel 2:17-24
The Gospel: St Matthew 13:9-16

Artwork: Ford Madox Brown, The Trial of Wycliffe A.D. 1377, 1893. Mural, Great Hall, Manchester Town Hall.

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Thomas Becket (1117-1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr (source):

O Lord God,
who gavest to thy servant Thomas Becket
grace to put aside all earthly fear
and be faithful even unto death:
grant that we, caring not for worldly esteem,
may fight against evil,
uphold thy rule,
and serve thee to our life’s end;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St Luke 12:37-43

Artwork: Master Francke, The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, c. 1436. Panel, Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

The collect for today, the Innocents’ Day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained strength, and madest infants to glorify thee by their deaths: Mortify and kill all vices in us, and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives, and constancy of our faith, even unto death, we may glorify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Revelation 14:1-5
The Gospel: St Matthew 2:13-18

This is an appropriate day to remember the victims of abortion.

Artwork: Giovanni Pisano, Herod ordering the massacre of the innocents (Detail of Pulpit), 1302-1311. Marble, Cathedral, Pisa.

Monday, December 28th, Holy Innocents
10:00am Holy Communion

Thursday, December 31st
10:30am ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Dykeland Lodge

Friday, January 1st, 2010, Circumcision of Christ / New Years’ Day
10:00am Holy Communion, followed by Levée in the Parish Hall

Sunday, January 3rd, Second Sunday after Christmas
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

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

MERCIFUL Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it being enlightened by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St John 1:1-5
The Gospel: St John 21:19-25

John and his brother James (St James the Greater) were Galilean fishermen and sons of Zebedee. Jesus called the two brothers Boanerges (“sons of thunder”), apparently because of their zealous character; for example, they wanted to call down fire from heaven on the inhospitable Samaritans. John and James, together with Peter, belonged to the inner group of the apostles who witnessed the Transfiguration and the agony in Gethsemane. It was John and Peter whom Jesus sent to prepare the final Passover meal.

In the lists of disciples, John always appears among the first four, but usually after his brother, which may indicate that John was the younger of the two.

According to ancient church tradition, St John the Evangelist was the author of the New Testament documents that bear his name: the fourth gospel, the three epistles of John, and Revelation. John’s name is not mentioned in the fourth gospel (but 21:2 refers to “the sons of Zebedee”), but he is usually if not always identified as the beloved disciple. It is also generally believed that John was the “other disciple” who, with Peter, followed Jesus after his arrest. John was the only disciple at the foot of the cross and was entrusted by Christ with the care of his mother Mary.

After Christ’s resurrection and ascension, John, together with Peter, took a leading role in the formation and guidance of the early church. John was present when Peter healed the lame beggar, following which both apostles were arrested. After reports reached Jerusalem that Samaria was receiving the word of God, the apostles sent Peter and John to visit the new Samaritan converts. Presumably, John was at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). He is not mentioned later in the Acts of the Apostles, so he appears to have left Palestine.

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

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 4:1-7
The Gospel: St Matthew 1:18-25

Artwork: Francisco Goya, The Dream of Saint Joseph, c. 1772. Oil on plaster transferred to canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Saragossa, Spain.

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

GRANT, O Lord, that in all our sufferings here upon earth, for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Spirit, may learn to love and bless our persecutors, by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those that suffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 7:55-60
The Gospel: St Matthew 23:34-39

All that is known of Stephen’s life is found in the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 6 and 7. He is reckoned as the first Christian martyr–the proto-martyr. Although his name is Greek for “crown”, he was a Jew by birth; he would have been born outside Palestine and raised as a Greek-speaking Jew. The New Testament does not record the circumstances of his conversion to Christianity.

St Stephen first appears as one of the seven deacons chosen in response to protests by Hellenist (Greek-speaking) Christians that their widows were being neglected in the distribution of alms. The apostles were too busy preaching the word of God to deal with this problem, so they commissioned seven men from among the Hellenists “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom”, then prayed and laid hands on them. Stephen, the first among the seven, is described as “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”. A few verses later, Stephen is said to be “full of grace and power [and] doing great wonders and signs among the people”.

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“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
who is Christ the Lord”

Christmas is rich in images. Yet all of the many, many images that belong to the Christmas story circle around one place, little Bethlehem; little and yet great, a fitting place for the coming of “God’s great little one”. But it is only on Christmas morning that we first hear of Bethlehem in the Scripture readings in the Angels’ words to shepherds in their fields.

A place of insignificance, the place that is the least of the clans of Judah, as the prophet Micah, puts it; and yet the place that is not the least of the princes of Judah, as Matthew puts it. A contradiction in the Scriptures? A mistranslation by Matthew?  Probably. And, yet, by no means the only contradiction or error, if you will, in the Scriptures. What? How can that be and the Scriptures still be true? Or is all just a tale for a winter’s morning? A quaint and touching story that somehow touches human hearts?

That won’t suffice, I’m afraid, to account for the quiet wonders of Christmas morn. The apparent contradictions and errors of a factual nature often turn on a number of things; one source juxtaposed with another and yet placed side-by-side in the Scripture texts thereby defying the most prosaic of human minds; and then there are matters that can never be known with any degree of historical accuracy, such as the actual date of the birth of Christ, and, hence, of Christmas itself; and even more there are other details that simply admit of complementary interpretations. Micah is right about Bethlehem as the place of the least of the tribes of Judah; Matthew is right with respect to the honour belonging to Bethlehem as the place of Christ’s holy birth, and therefore, not the least. There is nothing new about this except our cultural and intellectual forgetfulness.

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The collect for today, the Nativity of our Lord, or the Birth-day of Christ, commonly called Christmas-day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-12
The Gospel: St John 1:1-14

Artwork: Gerrit van Honthorst, The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1617. Oil on canvas, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

“And the Word was made flesh”

Christmas parties ought to come with an advisory, a cautionary warning, not about the dangers of drinking and driving – but, of course, do be careful! – but about the Christian faith itself. Recently, I was at one such gathering at which Christmas carols were sung, quite lustily and in good cheer, in fact, but after one carol – I forget exactly which one – someone cried out, “Doesn’t sound very Christmassy!” Though perhaps a wee bit tipsy, he was right!

In a way. But here is the problem and, hence, the need for an advisory. Christmas carols are often quite direct and clear about the realities of the Christian faith, about the meaning of Christmas itself, we might say. And no, don’t worry! I am not going to go down that rather over-worn and obvious path about Jesus being “the reason for the season”! Of course, he is. It is Christmas, after all. And yet, it is the sad reality that in a recent survey among school children, Christmas is associated with everything except Jesus Christ and his birth. Santa Claus wins out. Not enough Christmas carols, it seems. The point is who is this Jesus whose birth we celebrate? Can we really ignore the rich images of this season and its profound message conveyed through music and song, through story and service, especially in worship and in all the rich trappings of this season? I don’t think so.

There is hardly a Christmas carol that doesn’t proclaim Jesus Christ as the Son of God become the son of man for us and for our redemption; hardly a carol that doesn’t allude to sacrifice and death, to sin and grace, to our darkness and the light of Christ, to God and man. They go to the very heart of Christmas, but if we think of Christmassy things as just being happy thoughts and bonhomie, then, of course, these things may seem, well, ‘unChristmassy’. They may even disquiet and disturb us.

That may be a true Christmas blessing. Read the rest of this entry »