Year: 2016

Prayers and liturgy

The Third Sunday After Trinity

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

Milais, The Lost Piece of SilverO LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 5:5-11
The Gospel: St. Luke 15:1-10

Artwork: John Everett Millais, The Lost Piece of Silver, from Illustrations to `The Parables of Our Lord’, 1864. Wood engraving on paper, Tate Collections, London.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Barnabas the Apostle

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

O LORD God Almighty, who didst endue thy holy Apostle Barnabas with singular gifts of the Holy Spirit: Leave us not, we beseech thee, destitute of thy manifold gifts, nor yet of grace to use them alway to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 11:22-26
The Gospel: St. John 15:12-16

Jordaens, The Apostles Paul and Barnabas at LystraArtwork: Jacob Jordaens, The Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra, 1616. Oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

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Prayers and liturgy

Columba, Abbot of Iona

St. Hilda Ashford, St. ColumbaThe collect for today, the Feast of Saint Columba (c. 521-597) Abbot of Iona, Missionary (source):

Almighty God,
who didst fill the heart of Columba
with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
and with deep love for those in his care:
grant to thy pilgrim people grace to follow him,
strong in faith, sustained by hope,
and made one in the love that binds us to 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: 1 Corinthians 3:11-23
The Gospel: St. Luke 10:17-20

Artwork: St. Columba, stained glass, St. Hilda’s Church, Ashford, England.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Second Sunday after Trinity

“If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart”

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel for each Sunday complement each other and contribute to a way of thinking and doing, especially so for the Sundays in the Trinity season. Today’s Gospel is Christ’s parable about the kingdom of heaven being likened to a great supper to which those who were invited all made excuse. The consequence of our refusals would seem to mean “no feast” and all because of our refusals of God’s inviting grace, as if our convenience were to take priority over God’s will. But such arrogant indifference is simply our atheism, our denial of the will of God for us. No feast because there is no God.

But can it be that our excuses frustrate God’s will? Surely not. We can only frustrate ourselves. God will have his house filled with those whom he makes ready – bringing them in who could not come on their own, compelling them to come in who would not come any other way. The parable signals the strong love of God for our humanity, for what he seeks for us even in spite of ourselves.

But those whom God invites are those whom he would have come willingly and freely – out of love – those of whom it may truly be said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” To refuse the invitation is to deny that love. To be sure, our refusals of God’s grace belong also to the freedom of our will. But to be freed to our own pre-occupations is to be enslaved to ourselves – to the misery of our self-will, to the condemnation of our hearts. It is not what God wants for us nor what he wants us to want either.

The purpose of the parable is to convict our hearts of our folly and foolishness but only so that we will be thrown back more fully and more freely upon the goodness of God. In this way, the Gospel for today follows the same logic and purpose as last Sunday’s Gospel. These are Gospel parables of strong encouragement to take seriously our life with God. It is all about our faithful abiding in the love of God. The epistle, too, signals the further extension of the theme of forgiveness that the goodness of God presents: “if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart”. God is neither indifferent to our predicaments nor is he captive to our concerns. At issue is how we are awakened to his presence and will for us in our lives.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 6 – 12 June

Monday, June 6th
6:00-7:00pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, June 7th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Thursday, June 9th
3:15pm Service at Windsor Elms
6:30-7:30pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Sunday, June 12th, Third Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am 112th Colours Commemoration and Morning Prayer
Special Commemorative Service for the Colours of the 112th Battalion laid up here at Christ Church. Brigadier-General, the Honourable J.J. Grant, the Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia, will be in attendance. A service of modified Morning Prayer, the commemoration will involve First World War enactors and representatives from various cadet and military corps. A reception will follow in the Hall.

Fr. Curry will be away in Sackville, NB at the Atlantic Theological Conference from Sunday afternoon, June 12th until Wednesday afternoon, June 15th.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Second Sunday After Trinity

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

O LORD, who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love: Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. John 3:13-24
The Gospel: St. Luke 14:15-24

Burnand, Parable of the Great SupperArtwork: Eugene Burnand, Parable of the Great Supper, 1900. The Winterthur Museum of Art, Winterthur, Switzerland.

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Prayers and liturgy

Justin Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Justin (c. 100 – 165), Philosopher, Apologist, Martyr at Rome (source):

Theophanes the Cretan, St. Justin MartyrO God our redeemer,
who through the folly of the cross
didst teach thy martyr Justin
the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ:
free us, we beseech thee, from every kind of error,
that we, like him, may be firmly grounded in the faith,
and make thy name known to all peoples;
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 Corinthians 1:18-30
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:1-8

Artwork: Theophanes the Cretan, St. Justin Martyr, early 16th century. Icon located at Stavronikita Monastery, Mouth Athos, Greece.

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Prayers and liturgy

Joan of Arc

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Joan of Arc (1412-31), Virgin, Visionary, Patron Saint of France (source):

Lenepveu, Joan of Arc at the Stake in RouenHoly God, whose power is made perfect in weakness: we honor thy calling of Jeanne d’Arc, who, though young, rose up in valor to bear thy standard for her country, and endured with grace and fortitude both victory and defeat; and we pray that we, like Jeanne, may bear witness to the truth that is in us to friends and enemies alike, and, encouraged by the companionship of thy saints, give ourselves bravely to the struggle for justice in our time; through Christ our Savior, who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3:1-6
The Gospel: St. Matthew 12:25-30

Artwork: Jules Eugène Lenepveu, Joan of Arc at the Stake in Rouen, 1886-90. Oil on canvas, Panthéon de Paris.

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Sermons

Sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity

“We love him because he first loved us”

St. John’s Epistle is a treatise on love which complements and underscores with emphasis the love which his Gospel proclaims. It is, it seems to me, primarily through the eyes of John that we enter into the mystery of God. This epistle intends the application of the Gospel proclamation “God is love” to our lives. It is the underlying theme of the Trinity season. Love is of God and so we ought also to love one another. But what is that love?

That love is the communion of God with God in God – the communion of the Trinity. This is the love by which we have communion with God and so with one another. Our loves find their place and meaning in God’s love.

“God is love and he that abideth in love abideth in God and God in him.” This is the recurring mantra of the Trinity season: This is the love which the Church is empowered and compelled to proclaim. But more than that, the Church is to be the place of the indwelling love of God, the place where God’s love is called to mind, and the place where that love takes shape in us. The Church is to be the place where we seek the perfection of our loves in the grace of Jesus Christ because the Church proclaims and confesses that love.

The Church, of course, refers to more than merely a building, just as the building, of course, points to so much more beyond itself, so much more beyond wood and stone, glass and tapestry. Our holy places signify a greater purpose and one which extends into the stuff of our daily lives with the intent that they should be holy lives. We are called to love out of the love which has been shown to us.

Four things are to be noted here as arising out of what we see through the eyes of John. First, that the love which is of God has been revealed to us as the communion of the Trinity; secondly, that our lives find their place and meaning in the Trinitarian love of God; thirdly, that our loves are expressed in the concrete realities of our everyday lives; and fourthly, that in seeking the perfection of our loves in the grace of Christ, we acknowledge that our loves are imperfect and disordered. It is only in the communion of the Trinity that we begin to find the proper expression and the true meaning of our loves and our lives.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 30 May – 5 June

Monday, May 30th
6:00-7:00pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, May 31st
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place

Wednesday, June 1st
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Thursday, June 2nd
6:30-7:30pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Friday, June 3rd
11:00am Holy Communion – Dykeland Lodge

Sunday, June 5th, Second Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Club Breakfast for the Ladies)
10:30am Holy Communion

Upcoming Event:

Sunday, June 12th
Special Commemorative Service, June 12th at 10:30am for the Colours of the 112th Battalion laid up here at Christ Church. A service of modified Morning Prayer, the commemoration will involve First World War enactors and representatives from various cadet and military corps.

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