The collect for today, the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:4-8
The Gospel: St. Mark 12:28-37
The collect for today, the commemoration of Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), Bishop of Winchester, scholar, spiritual writer (source):
O Lord God,
who didst give Lancelot Andrewes many gifts
of thy Holy Spirit,
making him a man of prayer and a pastor of thy people:
perfect in us that which is lacking in thy gifts,
of faith, to increase it,
of hope, to establish it,
of love, to kindle it,
that we may live in the light of thy grace and glory;
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 2:1-7a
The Gospel: St. Luke 11:1-4
A prayer of confession of Lancelot Andrewes, from his Preces Privatae (Private Prayers):
Thou who hast said,
“As I live, saith the Lord,
I will not the death of a sinner,
but that the ungodly return from his way and live;
turn ye, turn ye from your wicked way,
for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
turn us, O Lord, to Thee,
and so shall we be turned.
Turn us from all our ungodlinesses,
and let them not be to us for punishments,
I have sinned, I have committed iniquity,
I have done wickedly,
from Thy precepts, and Thy judgments.
To Thee, O Lord, righteousness,
and to me confusion of face,
as at this day,
in our despicableness,
wherewith Thou hast despised us.
Lord, to us confusion of face,
and to our rulers
who have sinned against Thee.
Lord, in all things is Thy righteousness,
unto all Thy righteousness;
let then Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away,
and cause Thy face to shine
upon Thy servant.
O my God, incline Thine ear and hear,
open Thine eyes and see my desolation.
O Lord hear, O Lord forgive,
O Lord hearken and do;
defer not for Thine own sake, O my God,
for Thy servant is called by Thy Name.
In many things we offend all;
Lord, let Thy mercy rejoice against Thy judgment in my sins.
If I say I have no sin, I deceive myself,
and the truth is not in me;
but I confess my sins many and grievous,
and Thou, O Lord, art faithful and just,
to forgive me my sins when I confess them.
Yea, for this too
I have an Advocate with Thee to Thee,
Thy Only-begotten Son, the Righteous.
May He be the propitiation for my sins,
who is also for the whole world.
Will the Lord cast off forever?
and will He be no more entreated?
Is His mercy clean gone forever?
and is His promise come utterly to an end forevermore?
Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
and will He shut up His loving kindness in displeasure’!
And I said, It is mine own infirmity;
but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
Source: Give Us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayers, compiled by Christopher L. Webber. (Anglican Book Centre, Toronto, 2004), p. 31-32.
A special Choral Evensong in commemoration of The Rev’d Dr. Robert Crouse will take place at 4:00pm on the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. The service will be held at St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Crousetown. A reception will follow the service. All are welcome.
Click here for a map.
It is one of my favourite Scripture passages. It’s not about ambition or pretension. It’s about the hope of transformation. It conveys the sense that we are, indeed, called to something more, that we have a destiny beyond what we know is before us but will not face, namely, the grave and gate of death. And it signals ever so profoundly the necessary condition of soul for the realization of God’s will and purpose for our lives. The necessary condition is humility.
Here is a Scripture reading in which the operative words are “friend” and “go up higher”. Jesus calls us “friends”. He does so here by way of a parable but elsewhere more directly. He calls us friends at the height of his passion, on the night of our betrayal. That is the wondrous thing that passes human understanding. God has made us his friends when we were his enemies! This turns the ancient world on its head. It turns our world on its head. We live in a hopeless and fearful world. Here is the antidote to our hopelessness and fear. It challenges us so that it can redeem us.
We are called out of ourselves and we are called to God. We are called to the service of God in our life together with one another in the body of Christ. It is really the purpose of our being here today, a purpose which is meant to extend into every aspect of our lives.
Spatial metaphors abound in the Scriptures. “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho” or “We go up to Jerusalem”, to take but two familiar examples, the one from the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the other from Quinquagesima Sunday just before Lent. The meaning of our comings and goings are captured in these metaphors; they are about the ups and downs of our lives but, even more, they are images about the nature of our relationship with God and with one another; in short, they are about sin and grace, about death and resurrection.
The Scriptural readings for today emphasize our identity in Christ. His grace defines us and in very dynamic ways. The Collect bids us pray to God that his grace “may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works.” Prevent here does not mean ‘hinder’ or stand in our way; no, it is about the grace of God going before us and then, following or coming after us. The point, too, is that our good works are nothing but the effects of God’s grace in us. It is really all about God’s grace but that does not eclipse, destroy or deny the reality of our human nature; quite the opposite, it is about its perfection. To use a wonderful theological phrase from Aquinas, “grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.”
What is required of us? Humility. There can be no perfecting of our being, no going up higher, no being raised up to glory, without humility. In a way, it is the way of grace in us making us lovely where once we were unlovely. Religion cannot be about mere duty, checking off the boxes of all the forms of social and political correctness, as it were. It is radically and fundamentally about the transforming power of God’s grace. This is the powerful point of the parable which Jesus tells as the counter to the ways in which we trust in our own presumption about what is acceptable and proper, our own judgments about ourselves and others, which is really about our own pride. Pride cuts us off from God and one another. It often disguises itself in how we think and look at others, thinking ourselves invariably to be better than others and deserving of special attention.
Tuesday, September 24th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
Thursday, September 26th
3:15pm Service at Windsor Elms
6:30-7:30pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall
Saturday, September 28th
7:00 – 9:00pm Newfoundland & Country Evening of Musical Entertainment – Parish Hall
Sunday, September 29th, St. Michael and All Angels (Trinity XVIII)
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
4:00pm Special Choral Evensong, St. Mary’s Crousetown, sponsored by the Prayer Book Society, Fr. Curry officiating.
Upcoming Events:
Friday, October 18th
7:30pm Christ Church Concert Series I, Violin(s) & Piano, Nellie & Stan Chen
Friday, November 1st
3:00pm 225th Anniversary Service of the Founding of King’s Collegiate School (now King’s-Edgehill)
Friday, December 20th
7:00pm Christ Church Concert Series II, Capella Regalis presents “To Bethlehem with Kings”
The collect for today, the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6
The Gospel: St. Luke 14:1-11
The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Matthew, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist: Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
The Gospel: St. Matthew 9:9-13
Artwork: Lorenzo Ghiberti, St. Matthew, 1419-23. Bronze, Orsanmichele, Florence. (The photograph shows a modern copy of the original. The latter has been placed in the interior museum of Orsanmichele to protect against the elements and vandalism.) Photograph taken by admin, 18 May 2010.
The collect for today, the commemoration of John Coleridge Patteson (1827-71), Missionary, First Bishop of Melanesia, Martyr (source):
O God of all tribes and peoples and tongues,
who didst call thy servant John Coleridge Patteson
to witness in life and death to the gospel of Christ
amongst the peoples of Melanesia:
grant us to hear thy call to service
and to respond with trust and joy
to Jesus Christ our redeemer,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Mark 8:34-38
John Coleridge Patteson was a curate in Devon when Bishop of New Zealand George A. Selwyn persuaded him to go out to the South Pacific as a missionary. In 1856 he journeyed to Melanesia. He encouraged boys to study at a school Selwyn had founded in New Zealand and later set up a school in Melanesia. He was very proficient in languages and eventually learned twenty-three different languages and dialects spoken in Melanesia and Polynesia.
In 1861 Patteson was consecrated Bishop of Melanesia; he travelled across his diocese constantly, preaching, teaching, confirming, building churches, and living among the people. On the main island of Mota most of the population were converted.
The collect for today, the Feast of St Theodore of Tarsus (602-690), Archbishop of Canterbury (source):
Almighty God, by the faithful ministry of your bishop Theodore you bound up the wounds of the English Church and renewed its vigour in the works of peace. Teach us, we pray, the art of your healing grace, that we may know the true balm and remedy for the divisions which afflict your Church; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
The Epistle: 2 Timothy 2:1-5,10
The Gospel: St. Matthew 24:42-47
