Year: 2011

Prayers and liturgy

The Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany

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

O LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion; that they who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Colossians 3;12-17
The Gospel: St. Matthew 13:24-30

Wagner, The Harvest is the End of the World, and the Reapers are Angels

Artwork: Roger Wagner, The Harvest is the End of the World, and the Reapers are Angels [detail], 1984. Oil on canvas, private collection.

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

The collect for today, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, commonly called The Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin (also traditionally called Candlemas), from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Majesty, that, as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Malachi 3:1-5
The Gospel: St Luke 2:22-40

Pogliaghi, Milan Cathedral, PresentationArtwork: Ludovico Pogliaghi, The Presentation in the Temple, 1894-1908. Central Bronze door, Milan Cathedral. Photograph taken by admin, 2 May 2010.

Print this entry

Sermons

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

“Why are ye so fearful?”

“From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire and flood; from plaque, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us”. Thus prays the ancient Litany in The Book of Common Prayer. It offers a wonderful and ordered way of praying all the things that belong to prayer and that belong to our creedal identity in Christ. But do we pray it? Such petitions teach a doctrine that, I fear, we have forgotten.

In our technocratic exuberance, we sometimes think that we can control the elements. We forget that we are creatures, too, and are often subject to the brute forces of nature; we forget that nature does not simply exist for us, for our pleasures and interests. We forget that nature is affected by our disorder; in other words we find ourselves in a world of earthquake, tempest and fire, a world of woes and suffering, a world where nature, if not always “red in tooth and claw”, can be pretty foreboding and pretty threatening.

This used to be a staple of our Canadian identity, namely, the recognition of the awesome and ominous power of nature. Our literary stories are most often the stories of survival and not of conquest. The point is nicely captured in a poem by Alden Nowlan, a celebrated Canadian poet from Stanley, NS, entitled Canadian January Night, written in 1971. He was, by the way, the son of Grace Reese, a parishioner here who passed away last winter and whom I buried in Stanley.

… I, walking backwards in obedience
to the wind, am possessed
of the fearful knowledge
my compatriots share
but almost never utter:
this is a country
where a man can die
simply from being
caught outside.

(more…)

Print this entry

Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 31 January-6 February

Monday, January 31st
7:00pm Christ Church Book Club – Parish Hall
Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart

Tuesday, February 1st, Candlemas (anticipated)
10:00am Holy Communion

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

Sunday, February 6th, Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion
9:30am Holy Communion at KES
10:30am Holy Communion – Parish Hall
Followed by Annual Parish Meeting
[Note: Pot-Luck Luncheon cancelled due to forecast snow and rain]

Upcoming Event:
Tuesday, March 8th
4:30-6:00pm Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany

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

O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 13:1-7
The Gospel: St Mark 4:35-41

Rembrandt, The Storm Onthe Sea of Galilee

Artwork: Rembrandt, The Storm On the Sea of Galilee, 1633. Oil on canvas, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (missing since 1990 theft), Boston.

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

Saint John Chrysostom

The collect for today, the Feast of St John Chrysostom (347-407), Preacher, Doctor of the Church, Archbishop of Constantinople (source):

St John ChrysostomO God of truth and love,
who gavest to thy servant John Chrysostom
eloquence to declare thy righteousness in the great congregation
and courage to bear reproach for the honour of thy name:
mercifully grant to the ministers of thy word
such excellence in preaching
that all people may share with them
in the glory that shall be revealed;
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 Lesson: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Gospel: St Luke 21:12-15

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

Saint Polycarp

The collect for today, the Feast of St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Apostolic Man, Martyr (source):

Almighty God,
who gavest to thy servant Polycarp
boldness to confess the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ
before the rulers of this world
and courage to suffer death for his faith:
grant that we too may be ready
to give an answer for the faith that is in us
and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Revelation 2:8-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 20:20-23

Click here to read more about Saint Polycarp.

Martyrdom of St Polycarp, Church of St Polycarp, Izmir

Artwork: Martyrdom of St Polycarp, Church of St Polycarp, Izmir (ancient Smyrna), Turkey.

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

The Conversion of Saint Paul

The collect for today, The Conversion of Saint Paul, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 21:40-22:16
The Gospel: St Luke 21:10-19

Signorelli, Conversion of St Paul

Artwork: Luca Signorelli, Conversion of St Paul, 1477-80. Fresco, Sacristy of St John, Basilica della Santa Casa, Loreto.

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

Saint Timothy and Saint Titus

The collect for today, The Feast of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus, Apostolic men, Companions of Saint Paul (source):

Sts Timothy and TitusHeavenly Father,
who didst send thine apostle Paul to preach the gospel,
and gavest him Timothy and Titus to be his companions in the faith:
grant that our fellowship in the Holy Spirit
may bear witness to the name of Jesus,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5
The Gospel: St John 10:1-10

Artwork: St Timothy and St Titus, stained glass, Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Photograph taken by admin, 18 August 2004.

Print this entry

Sermons

Sermon for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, 2:00pm Service for the Atlantic Ministry of the Deaf

“They have no wine”

Mary’s statement describes in a simple phrase our human predicament. We lack the means for our true joy, for our true blessedness. In the background to her remark there is an ancient Jewish saying: “without wine there is no joy”. “They have no wine” means, we may say, they have no joy. But ‘they’ are ‘us’. We have no wine, no joy.

The deeper point is that we have no joy in ourselves. We lack, we might say, the wine of divinity, the source and the occasion of all joy, the wine that truly gladdens and rejoices the heart and soul. To know our lack, however, is saving knowledge. To know our limitations is to be alert to the possibilities of their being overcome – not by us but by the grace of God for us and in us. To know our lack is to be alert to the real presence of divine grace in our midst.

In the Gospel, Mary’s simple statement is made to Christ. Her next, equally simple statement is made to the servants. Yet it extends, really, to all of us: “whatever he tells you, do it.” In between her two simple statements, there is Christ’s rather curious and seemingly dismissive remark: “O woman what is that to thee and to me? mine hour has not yet come.”

What can it mean except that the fulfilling of our needs cannot just be at the dictate of our demands? As if God were some sort of Genie let out of the bottle to do our bidding! As if everything must be done according to our will. To the contrary, it has to be according to the word and will of God, according to the purpose of his coming. In him we find the true measure of our desires. In him we find what is most to be wanted, namely, “thy will be done.” The cost of that is to be found in the meaning of his hour. His hour refers to his death and resurrection, to the miracle of all miracles, of which this miracle at Cana of Galilee is but the “beginning of signs.” The fullness of its meaning is to be found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(more…)

Print this entry