Month: February 2014

Prayers and liturgy

Septuagesima

The collect for today, Septuagesima (or the Third Sunday Before Lent) from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
The Gospel: St. Matthew 20:1-16

Wet the Elder, Parable of the Workers in the VineyardArtwork: Jacob Willemszoon de Wet the Elder, Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, mid-17th century. Colour on panel, Budapest Museum of Fine Arts.

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Prayers and liturgy

Valentine, Bishop and Martyr

The collect for a Martyr, on the Feast of Saint Valentine (d. c. 269), Bishop, Martyr at Rome, 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 Valentine, 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

Zeitblom, St. Valentine Heals and RebukesArtwork: Bartholomeus Zeitblom, St. Valentine Heals the Epileptics and Rebukes the Worshippers of False Gods, early 16th century. Oil on panel, State Gallery of Old German Masters, Augsburg.

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Prayers and liturgy

Caedmon, Poet

The collect for a Doctor of the Church, Poet, or Scholar, in commemoration of Saint Caedmon (d. 680), Monk of Whitby, first English poet, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Caedmon, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

geograph-263793-by-RichTeaSaint Caedmon is the first English poet whose name is known. Saint Bede the Venerable tells Caedmon’s story in Book IV, Chapter 24, of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

Bede records that Caedmon was a herdsman who at an advanced age suddenly received the gift of poetry and song. Someone appeared to Caedmon in a dream one night and asked him to sing. In response, he spontaneously sang verses in praise of the God the Creator. When he awoke, he remembered the words of his song and added more lines.

He went to speak with Hilda, Abbess of Whitby. She and several learned men examined Caedmon and affirmed that his gift was from God.

Caedmon became a monk at Whitby and composed a large body of poetry and song on many Christian subjects, including the Creation story, the Exodus, the birth, passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the teaching of the apostles.

Unfortunately, almost none of Caedmon’s work survives. Only his Hymn, recorded by Bede in Latin and Old English, is known to us. Here is a modern English translation:

Praise we the Fashioner now of Heaven’s fabric,
The majesty of his might and his mind’s wisdom,
Work of the world-warden, worker of all wonders,
How he the Lord of Glory everlasting,
Wrought first for the race of men Heaven as a rooftree,
Then made he Middle Earth to be their mansion.

Source: Bede, A History of the English Church and People, translated by Leo Sherley-Price, rev. ed. 1968, Penguin, p. 251.

A humble and holy monk, Caedmon died in perfect charity with his fellow servants of God.

Photograph: Memorial to Caedmon, St Mary’s Churchyard, Whitby, North Yorkshire, Great Britain. The inscription reads, “To the glory of God and in memory of Caedmon the father of English Sacred Song. Fell asleep hard by, 680”. © Copyright RichTea and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

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Statements and other writings

Rector’s Annual Report, 2013

Click here to download the Rector’s Annual Report for 2013 (pdf document).

The Rector’s Annual Reports for 2003 through 2012 can be accessed via this page.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 10:30am Morning Prayer

“Behold, the days are coming … when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

Epiphany season ends this year not with a bang or a whimper but on a note of reflective judgment. Epiphany season is about the making known of God and about what God wants for us. That alone is an astounding matter. It centers on the idea of revelation, that there are things God wants us to know and which are revealed to us. That says so much, on the one hand, about the truth and the dignity of our humanity, and says so much, on the other hand, about the truth and the mystery of God, the God who makes himself known to us so that his life can live and move in us. This is an astounding wonder.

The idea of God’s revelation of himself and his will for us means that something about ourselves is revealed to us. We are in these stories individually and institutionally, as it were. Something about the dynamic and nature of human institutions and human personality is revealed in the witness of the Scriptures. We are made aware of something beyond ourselves, a principle of absolute goodness and truth to which we are held accountable and without which we have no freedom and no real dignity. That we close our ears to this is our folly and our wickedness; judgment itself.

Judgment. We are uncomfortable about the idea of judgment and well we should be. In our day, judgment is about being judged by others without any recourse to the question, “upon what basis?” What are the principles that inform our moral, social and political discourse?

We live in a world of wheat and tares, wheat and weeds, as it were, and it is not always easy to know which is which or even which are we. That is why we are given sage advice by Paul in the Eucharistic epistle for today to forbear and to forgive one another and by Jesus in the Gospel parable to let both wheat and tares grow together until the harvest. “Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus”, Paul says, and that suggests a check upon our judgments of ourselves and one another. In a world where we are constantly being told what to say and what to eat, what to do and what to think on the basis of mere assertion and arbitrary authority, it is good to be reminded of God’s judgment rather than ours. It is to be returned to the Lord who has made known himself and his will for us. There is a kind of intellectual and principled accountability.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 8:00am Holy Communion

“Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus”

Epiphany runs out in the themes of mercy and judgment. Today’s epistle complements and illustrates the gospel. Wheat and tares grow together in the field of the world. Wheat and weeds are there together, both the good and the bad. But who can be sure which is which? What is weed and what is wheat? This is to recognize the limitations of our judgments. “Let them both grow together until harvest”, says the sower. God is the gardener and God is the judge. Not you and not me. That is itself a great mercy.

This doesn’t simply mean the suspension of our judgment in the abdication of responsibilities. We have the obligation and the ability to discern right from wrong and, and by God’s grace, to act accordingly. We are bidden to be God’s good wheat in the world of wheat and tares. But it does mean a check upon our judgmentalism. Forbearing one another and forgiving one another is the counter to our judgmentalism. Our judgmentalism is our presumption to know what we cannot and do not know about others and even about ourselves. We would put ourselves in the place of God as judge. We would presume to have a total and absolute view when, in fact, our viewpoint is altogether restricted and limited. We see, at best, “through a glass darkly”. To know this is to be aware of the limits of our knowing. It is the beginning of wisdom. It frees us from the tyranny of ourselves.

“Did you not sow good seed in the field? From whence then hath it tares?” the servants ask the householder who replies, “an enemy has done this”. There is always the possibility of discovering that we are the enemy. That we are the tares even when we think we are the wheat. Our judgments have a way of turning back upon ourselves. It is called hypocrisy. It is a very wide net that catches us all.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 10 – 16 February

Monday, February 10th
6:00-7:00pm Brownies/Sparks – Parish Hall
7:00-7:30pm Confirmation Class, Room 206, KES

Tuesday, February 11th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place

Thursday, February 13th
3:15pm Service at Windsor Elms
6:30-7:30pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Sunday, February 16th, Septuagesima
8:00am Holy Communion – Parish Hall
10:30am Holy Communion – Parish Hall
4:30pm Holy Communion – KES

Confirmation Classes: Rm. 206 at KES, 7:00-7:30pm. The dates are Feb. 10th, 17th, & 24th, & March 3rd . Please contact Fr. Curry, 790-6173.

Upcoming events:

Friday, February 21st
7:30pm, Parish Hall: Christ Church Concert Series: Sarah McCabe & Friends with Jennifer King, pianist.

Saturday, March 8th
9:00am-4:00pm Lenten Quiet Day, King’s-Edgehill School, on the theme Lent and Original Sin, led by Fr. David Curry, sponsored by the Prayer Book Society of Canada, Nova Scotia and PEI Branch.

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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

Bloemaert, A., Parable of the Wheat and the TaresArtwork: Abraham Bloemaert, Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, 1624. Oil on canvas, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

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Prayers and liturgy

Anskar, Missionary and Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Anskar (801-865), Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, Missionary to Sweden and Denmark (source):

St. AnskarAlmighty and everlasting God, who didst send thy servant Anskar as an apostle to the people of Scandinavia, and didst enable him to lay a firm foundation for their conversion, though he did not see the results of his labors: Keep thy Church from discouragement in the day of small things, knowing that when thou hast begun a good work thou wilt bring it to a faithful conclusion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Lesson: Acts 1:1-9
The Gospel: St. Mark 6:7-13

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Prayer Book Society, Sermons

Sermon for Candlemas, 5:00pm Choral Evensong

Fr. David Curry delivered this sermon at Candlemas Choral Evensong, St. George’s Round Church, Halifax, sponsored by The Prayer Book Society of Canada, Nova Scotia and PEI Branch.

“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”

Candlemas is a blaze of light in the darkness of the bleak mid-winter, a blaze of light and hope in the darkness of our world and day. There is something wonderfully endearing and comforting about Candlemas, and, yet, it is a most complicated feast!

It is, after all, a double-barreled feast: the Presentation of Christ and the Purification of Mary, the fons et origo of the true meaning of all our commemorations of Mary is found in their conjunction, the meeting of them both in one celebration; a feast of Mary and a feast of Christ. There can’t be one without the other and here they meet in one. It is a feast of meetings, we might say, a veritable hypapante as the Eastern Orthodox Church styles it, an encounter or a meeting, for here is the meeting of Law and Gospel, the meeting of God and Man, a meeting together of men and women, of old Simeon and aged Anna, of Joseph and Mary; a veritable feast of images and persons. So complex and yet so compelling. And comforting, for it is the early harbinger of spring, the turning point from Christmas to Easter, mid-way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Light signaling life; the triumph of light and life over darkness and death. As for that other meeting on this day, the Super-Bowl, that is entirely another matter!

And the encounter, the meeting, is in his temple; Templum Domini Dominum templi, “the temple of the Lord the fittest place for the Lord of the Temple”, as St. Bernard suggests. But how complex and intriguing, too, are the conceits of temple! Here is Mary, herself the temple, too, of the Lord, that pure, true and holy source of Christ’s humanity; no true temple anywhere that is not Mary, she who is defined by the Word of God, keeps the Word and ponders it in her heart and brings forth the Word. Such is the true meaning of our temples, our Churches. And we, are we not individually called to be temples of the Lord, too, even our bodies; our lives as lived for God and with God? To be sure. This feast calls us to be the living lights of Christ in the world.

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