Christ Church

“Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd’”

It is one of the great and classic images of care. Much beloved by the parade of generations who have gone before us, it appears constantly in glass and stone, in tapestry and mosaic even as the Shepherd’s Psalm, Psalm 23, shapes story and song, prayer and praise. The image of Christ the Good Shepherd is very much with us, even if, as the poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, puts it, “all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared/ with toil” and the world itself “wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil/is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.” And there is all that sense of unease and fear, alienation and loss because we will not “reck his rod”; that is to say, think or consider the rule of God; in short, his providential care for us so wonderfully captured in the image of Christ the Good Shepherd.

But in the dominance of the therapeutic culture of our day, the all-too-comforting, cloying image of Christ the Good Shepherd, often viewed more like a teddy bear or a “Barney” figure, runs the risk of being co-opted to the religion of sentimentality and feeling, the religion of Hallmark cards and Happy Faces; in short, the religion of “Gentle-Jesus-Come-and-Squeeze-Us-Where-and-When-It-Pleases”! We too easily forget the radical nature of care that this image of Christ the Good Shepherd presents to us. The Good Shepherd, after all, “lay[s] down [his] life for the sheep.” The care of the Good Shepherd has death and resurrection in it. And so it is not by accident that this Gospel is read in Eastertide. The care is not so much comfort as it is challenge. It might even mean “drop kick me Jesus through the goal-posts of life!” Nothing particularly comforting about that!

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Tuesday, April 28th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place

Thursday, April 30th
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-In

Sunday, May 3rd, Easter III
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
6:30pm Choral Evensong with King’s-Edgehill School Cadet Corps at Christ Church Postponed

The collect for today, The Second Sunday After Easter, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

Almighty God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St Peter 2:19-25
The Gospel: St John 10:11-16

Artwork: The Good Shepherd, 5th century. Mosaic, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna.

c/p: Nova Scotia Scott

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

O Almighty God, who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly doctrines of thy Evangelist Saint Mark; Give us grace, that, being not like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of thy holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 4:11-16
The Gospel: St Mark 13:1-10

Artwork: Domenico Ghirlandaio, St Mark the Evangelist, 1486-90. Fresco, right wall of Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

c/p: Nova Scotia Scott

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint George (d. c. 303), Soldier, Martyr, Patron Saint of England (source):

O God of hosts,
who didst so kindle the flame of love
in the heart of thy servant George
that he bore witness to the risen Lord
by his life and by his death:
grant us the same faith and power of love
that we, who rejoice in his triumphs,
may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection;
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: 2 St Timothy 2:8-10, 3:10-12
The Gospel: St John 15:1-7

Artwork: Vittore Carpaccio, St George and the Dragon, 1502-08. Oil on canvas, Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice.

c/p: Nova Scotia Scott

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Anselm (1033-1109), Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church (source):

O everlasting God,
who gavest to thy servant Anselm
singular gifts as a pastor and teacher:
grant that we, like him,
may desire thee with our whole heart
and, so desiring, may seek thee
and, seeking, may find thee;
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: Romans 5:1-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 11:25-30

A prayer of St Anselm

Lord Jesus Christ; Let me seek you by desiring you,
and let me desire you by seeking you;
let me find you by loving you,
and love you in finding you.

I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving,
that you have made me in your image,
so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you.

But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults,
and darkened by the smoke of sin,
that it cannot do that for which it was made,
unless you renew and refashion it.

Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height,
for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
but I do desire to understand a little of your truth
which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I can believe,
but I believe so that I may understand;
and what is more,
I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand.

Source: The Oxford Book of Prayer, George Appleton (gen. ed.), 1985, 2002.

c/p: Nova Scotia Scott

“Jesus came and stood in the midst”

The uniqueness and the centrality of Christ is an undeniable and non-negotiable feature of orthodox Christianity. For Anglicans, not only is the uniqueness and the centrality of Christ constantly visible in the Liturgy, particularly, in the Lectionary, the traditional pattern of readings that shape the praying life of the Church, but it is also expressed formally and officially in the foundational and formative documents that define and describe the Anglican understanding of the Christian Faith. The only anathema in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion has precisely to do with denying the uniqueness and the centrality of Christ with respect to salvation (Art. XVIII).

What does this mean?  It means that for orthodox Christianity, Christ is the Lord and Saviour of our humanity. It means that the wholeness of our humanity cannot be achieved and accomplished apart from our life in Christ. Are there not other ways to God? So ask the religious pluralists of our day. How to answer that question? By pointing out that a proper and principled dialogue with other religions has to begin and end with a respect for the differences between the religions of the world. What kind of dialogue can Christians have with Muslims or with Jews or with atheists if it means being silent about the centrality of Christ? Do we expect Islam to remove from the Qu’ran the passages that deny that God has a son? As the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu wonderfully put it, in addressing a Muslim audience, “I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, whom you honour as a prophet and we as the Son of God.” I call that honesty, intellectual and spiritual honesty, and the proper way of engaging religious viewpoints. You don’t do it by denial or by woeful ignorance of the principle of your own position.

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Tuesday, April 21st
3:30pm Holy Communion – Windsor Elms
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place

Thursday, April 23rd
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-In

Friday, April 24th, Eve of St. Mark
11:00am Holy Communion – Dykeland Lodge
3:30 pm Holy Communion – Gladys Manning Home

Sunday, April 26th, Easter II
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
2:00 pm AMD Service of the Deaf
4:30 pm Holy Communion or Evening Prayer at King’s-Edgehill School

The collect for today, The Octave Day of Easter, being The Sunday After Easter Day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

Almighty Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may alway serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St John 5:4-12
The Gospel: St John 20:19-23

Artwork: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ’s appearance behind locked doors (from Back Crowning of The Maestà), 1308-11. Tempera on wood, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.

c/p: Nova Scotia Scott

The collect for today, Tuesday in Easter Week, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee, that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

For the Epistle: Acts 13:26-33
The Gospel: St Luke 24:36-48

Artwork: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ’s appearance when the apostles are at table (from Back Crowning of The Maestà), 1308-11. Tempera on wood, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.

c/p: Nova Scotia Scott