Year: 2010

Prayers and liturgy

The Name of Jesus

The collect for today, the Feast of the Name of Jesus, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Apostle hast taught us that there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved, but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Grant, we beseech thee, that we may ever glory in this Name, and strive to make thy salvation known unto all mankind; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

For The Epistle: Acts 4:8-12
The Gospel: St Matthew 1:20-23

Baciccia, Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus

Artwork: Baciccia (Giovanni Battista Gaulli), Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus, 1679. Fresco, Chiesa del Gesu, Rome.  Photo taken by admin 28 April 2010.

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Sermons

Meditation for the Transfiguration

“It is good to be here”

“It is good to be here,” Peter says to James and John and to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and he goes on to suggest, “let us make three tents”, three tabernacles to mark the special nature of the occasion, showing, however, that he has completely misunderstood the meaning and the nature of Christ’s transfiguration! Poor Peter, so right and yet so wrong.

The vision on the mountain top, it is true, has included the Old Testament figures of Moses and Elijah, witnesses to the Law and the Prophets respectively. But Christ’s Transfiguration is not simply another addition to the Covenant between God and Man; it signals its radical transformation and completion and implies the realization of the meaning of the Old Covenant encapsulated for Israel in the Law and the Prophets. The Church remembers and celebrates the Transfiguration on August 6th.

Something seen and something heard. Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James and John, and, unlike the transfiguration of the face of Moses on Mount Sinai, too bright for the people of Israel to behold him, Jesus is seen: “his face did shine as the sun and his garment was white as the light.” There is something of a different order to Christ’s transfiguration and to its meaning for our humanity. And there is something heard; a voice is heard out of the bright cloud that overshadows them: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased,” words which were also said at the occasion of Christ’s baptism in Jordan. But there is this difference here. The voice of the Father speaking out of the bright cloud of divine majesty and glory also bids us: “Hear ye him.”

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Prayers and liturgy

Transfiguration of Our Lord

The collect for today, the Holy Day of the Transfiguration of our Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who on the holy mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thy well-beloved Son wonderfully transfigured: Mercifully grant unto us such a vision of his divine majesty, that we, being purified and strengthened by thy grace, may be transformed into his likeness from glory to glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 St Peter 1:16-21
The Gospel: St Matthew 17:1-9

Titian, Transfiguration

Artwork: Titian, The Transfiguration of Christ, c. 1560-3. Chiesa di San Salvador (Church of the Holy Saviour), Venice.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Oswald of Northumbria

The collect for today, the Feast Day of Saint Oswald (d. 642), King of Northumbria, Martyr (source):

O Lord God almighty,
who didst so kindle the faith of thy servant King Oswald with thy Spirit
that he set up the sign of the cross in his kingdom
and turned his people to the light of Christ:
grant that we, being fired by the same Spirit,
may ever bear our cross before the world
and be found faithful servants of the gospel;
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.

With the Epistle and Gospel for a Martyr from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
The Epistle: 1 St Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St Matthew 16:24-27

Madox Brown, St Oswald Receiving St Aidan

Artwork: Ford Madox Brown, St Oswald Receiving St Aidan, 1864. Oil on canvas, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Ninth Sunday After Trinity

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

GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
The Gospel: St Luke 16:1-9

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Prayers and liturgy

William Wilberforce

The collect for today, the commemoration of William Wilberforce (1759-1833), English MP, evangelical, abolitionist (source):

Wilberforce Statue, St John’s College, Cambridge O God our deliverer,
who didst send thy Son Jesus Christ
to set thy people free from the slavery of sin:
grant that, as thy servant William Wilberforce
toiled against the sin of slavery,
so we may bring compassion to all,
and work for the liberty of all the children of God;
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: Galatians 3:23-29
The Gospel: St Matthew 25:31-40

Photo taken by admin, St John’s College, Cambridge, 18 July 2004.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Olaf of Norway

Saint OlafThe collect for a Martyr, in commemoration of Saint Olaf (995-1030), King and Patron Saint of Norway, Martyr, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who didst bestow upon thy Saints such marvellous virtue, that they were able to stand fast, and have the victory against the world, the flesh, and the devil: Grant that we, who now commemorate thy Martyr Olaf, may ever rejoice in their fellowship, and also be enabled by thy grace to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold upon eternal life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St Matthew 16:24-27

Artwork: Saint Olaf, stained glass, St Olave’s Church, Hart Street, London. Photo taken by admin, 24 August 2004.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Anne

The collect for today, the Commemoration of Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary (source):

Durer, Virgin and Child with Saint AnneLord God, the Source and Goal of all creation, we bless you for your servant Anne, whose daughter Mary was the mother of our Lord. Grant us grace in our succeeding generations to honour the gift of life, that young and old together may learn the love whose fruit is life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: 1 Samuel 2:1-8
The Gospel: St Luke 1:26-33

Artwork: Albrecht Durer, Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, 1519. Oil and tempera on canvas transferred from panel, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Feast of St James/Eighth Sunday after Trinity

“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem”

In the mercy of God’s “never-failing providence,” today is the Feast of St. James the Apostle as well as the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. The occasional intersection of the major Saints’ Days with our Sunday celebration of Christ’s Resurrection is, I think, most instructive. The commemoration of the Saints provides an illustration or example of what it means for us to participate in Christ’s redemptive work.

In the Maritimes, St. James is, we might say, a favourite saint. There are an enormous number of Churches, Anglican and otherwise, dedicated to the honour and memory of St. James. It is a feature of our Maritime and sea-faring traditions. St. James is one of the disciples whom Jesus calls from fishing to become a fisher of men. The Collect alludes to his calling. The Lesson from Acts indicates the radical cost of that calling. James is put to death by Herod the king. The Gospel teaches the meaning of that calling. It has to do with our going up to Jerusalem with Jesus.

Jesus explains exactly what it means to go up to Jerusalem. It means his passion, death and resurrection. What this means for us is seen in the lives of the saints, namely, our participation in Christ’s redemption of our humanity: drinking of the cup of which Christ drinks and being baptized into Christ’s baptism. We are consecrated to God by virtue of our incorporation into the death and resurrection of Christ. Suffering and glory are all part of that story.  As Paul tells us in the Epistle for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity, “we have received a spirit of sonship.” We are “the children of God and fellow-heirs with Christ”. But there is a cost: “if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.” The martyr saints remind us of the suffering and the glory.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint James The Apostle

Rusconi, St James the GreatThe collect for today, the Feast of St James the Apostle, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

GRANT, O merciful God, that as thine holy Apostle Saint James, leaving his father and all that he had, without delay was obedient unto the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him; so we, forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore ready to follow thy holy commandments; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 11:27-12:3a
The Gospel: St Mark 10:32-40

Artwork: Camillo Rusconi, St James the Great, 1715-18. Marble, Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome. Photograph taken by admin, 29 April 2010.

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