Christ Church

It’s good to be here

“This is a country/where a man can die/ simply from being/caught outside,” Alden Nowlan observes, “the forgotten poet of Stanley,” Nova Scotia, as I once styled him. He was making an observation about January here in the Maritimes. There are, to be sure, the challenges of winter, of darkness and light, of cold and thaw, of ice and snow. There are also the anxieties and worries of our culture of fearful uncertainty in the great litany of fears that threaten to paralyze us, from viruses to wars.

This week in Chapel the story of the Transfiguration of Christ was read following upon the story of the Baptism of Christ. Both stories speak to the Epiphany theme of the  manifestation of the things of God revealed and made known in various ways: through nature, and, more specifically, through the humanity of Christ as shown in the Scriptures. Things are made known through what is sometimes called God’s Book of Nature as well as through the Book of Scripture, through Revelation. The emphasis is on what we come to know and in what way. Such things speak profoundly to the fears and anxieties of our day.

Epiphany season emphasizes what is made known through what is seen and heard. In the story of Christ’s Baptism and his Transfiguration there is something seen and heard: the Father’s voice, the Son seen coming out of the water of Jordan or transfigured on the mountain, the Holy Spirit coming down upon Christ, like a dove. “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,” God the Father says in both stories. These are important images that arrest our attention. Guarda e escolta, as Dante says. Look and listen. To what? To what is seen and heard. Such is education. These stories speak to the Christian understanding of Christ as the Son of God – something which Islam and Judaism completely deny – and to the idea of God in his infinite self-relation as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, God as Trinity, something which they also deny. Yet something is made known about the infinite power, wisdom and goodness of God, insights and ideas which are more universal and belong to the world’s cultures.

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The collect for today, the commemoration of Charles I (1600-1649), King of England, Martyr (source):

King of kings and Lord of lords,
whose faithful servant Charles
prayed for his persecutors
and died in the living hope of thine eternal kingdom:
grant us, by thy grace, so to follow his example
that we may love and bless our enemies,
through the intercession of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
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:
The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Matthew 16:24-27

Artwork: Gonzales Coques, The Execution of Charles I of England, 17th century. Oil on canvas, Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France.

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

O 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

Artwork: Joseph Wencker, St. John Chrysostom Preaching Before the Empress Eudoxia, 1880. Oil on canvas, Musée Crozatier, Le Puy-en-Velay, France.

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled

From the “beginning of signs” which we heard last week, we come not to one but to two miracles and to what is, perhaps, an even greater wonder. Jesus marvels at what the Centurion says. Why? Because his words are such a profound illustration of divine grace at work in human hearts.

From that “beginning of signs” to the double healing of the leper and the servant of the Roman centurion, we come to the penultimate Sunday of the Epiphany season this year, a season which varies in length along with the Trinity season according to the movable date of Easter. At the very least there can be two Sundays after Epiphany or at the very most, six Sundays. This year we split the difference with four, though next Sunday will be somewhat eclipsed with Candlemas. The double healings in today’s Gospel are epiphanies, to be sure, and emphasize, yet again, the sense of the universality of Christ in his divinity, the sense that what is made manifest is for all people. It is for Jew and Gentile, for young and old, for Europeans, Asians, Africans, and the peoples of the Americas; in short, there is a global reach to the Epiphany idea that the “infinite power, wisdom and goodness” of God is known, glimpsed and participated in universally through the distinctives of culture and language. In a way, Jesus himself seems to marvel at that realization.

The exchange between Jesus and the Centurion is undoubtedly a critique of Jewish chauvinism – the idea of the superiority of one culture over another – but that doesn’t justify in the least the kinds of Christian chauvinism that have bedevilled our world as well. To be sure, Jesus here contrasts the faith of the centurion with that of Israel. Is his remark a criticism of the leper who from within Israel, it seems, said, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”? Such a statement, surely, is just as wonderful as the centurion’s “speak the word only”. In a profound sense, these two miracles complement one another. Each are a kind of Epiphany marvel, an opportunity to delight in the insight of each about “the infinite power, wisdom and goodness” of God for our humanity. They both sense this. I find it hard to choose one over the other.

Jesus marvels at the centurion’s insight because it so refreshingly captures what also properly belongs to the Jewish relation to God’s will for our humanity (and not just for Israel). His remark is not directed, I think, against the leper whom he has cleansed but against the people of Israel in their complacency and spiritual chauvinism. He is making an important but general observation that challenges us about God’s will for our humanity.

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Monday, January 27th
4:35-5:15pm Confirmation Class – Room 206, KES
6:30-7:30pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, January 28th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Friday, January 31st
6:00-7:30pm Pathfinders/Rangers – Parish Hall

Sunday, February 2nd, Candlemas / Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Club Breakfast)
10:30am Holy Communion

Upcoming Event:

Sunday, February 9th
Pot-Luck Luncheon & Annual Parish Meeting following the 10:30am service.

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

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 12:16b-21
The Gospel: St. Matthew 8:1-13

Artwork: Adam Camerarius, Christ and the Centurion, between 1644 and 1665. Oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The collect for today, the Feast of 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

Artwork: Federico and Taddeo Zuccari, Conversion of St. Paul, 1564. Fresco, Frangipani Chapel, San Marcello al Corso, Rome.

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

Heavenly 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: Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Saint Timothy, late 19th century. Stained glass, Christ Church Cathedral, University of Oxford, England.

Have courage, you who are human beings: Jesus, he is born.

It is a wonderful line from the first Canadian Christmas carol (c. 1643), St. Jean de Brébeuf’s  Jesous Ahatonhia. I was asked to do something in Chapel on Monday that would relate to School’s day of honouring and celebrating ‘indigenous learning and culture’ and asked if would be appropriate to sing the Huron Carol. It was and we did. This led me to look more closely into the carol largely by way of the famous Canadian folk-singer, Bruce Cockburn’s, 1993 Christmas album which highlights the Huron Carol. He performs it in the original Ouwendat or Huron language. The liner notes and other research revealed a number of intriguing features of the carol which help us to think more deeply about the intersection and interplay of cultures within the Christian concept of the Epiphany.

The Epiphany season focuses on what is manifest about God in and through the humanity of Jesus Christ. The stories of the Epiphany are all about teaching and learning both within the Christian understanding of the essential divinity of Christ and in terms of “the infinite power, wisdom and goodness” of God which belong, it seems to me, to a universal and philosophical sensibility within the cultures of the world, including the cultures of the native peoples of Canada.

As the Canadian poet and philosopher Jan Zwicky notes, our contemporary technocratic culture provides no meaning for human life; it is meaningless and in our technological obsessions there is a profound disconnect from the created order. Thinking seriously about the history and character of the indigenous cultures is very much needed in order to reclaim philosophically what we have lost, forgotten, and ignored in our technocratic culture, that is to say, a world dominated by technology which is of our making and our unmaking.

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The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Vincent of Saragossa (d. 304), Deacon and Martyr (source):

Almighty God, whose deacon Vincent, upheld by thee, was not terrified by threats nor overcome by torments: Strengthen us, we beseech thee, to endure all adversity with invincible and steadfast faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Lesson: Revelation 7:13-17
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:4-12

Vincent is the proto-Martyr (first known martyr) of Spain and the patron saint of Lisbon. He was deacon of Saragossa, Aragon, under Bishop Valerius. Both were arrested during the persecution instigated by edicts of Diocletian and Maximian. Because Valerius had a speech impediment, Vincent testified to their faith in Christ, boldly and without fear.

Dacian, Roman governor of Spain, subjected Vincent to horrible tortures. The saint was thrown into prison and weakened by semi-starvation. After refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was racked, burned, and kept in stocks. He died as a result of his sufferings.

St. Augustine of Hippo preached a sermon on Vincent’s martyrdom. Here is an excerpt:

“To you has been granted in Christ’s behalf not only that you should believe in him but also that you should suffer for him.” Vincent had received both these gifts and held them as his own. For how could he have them if he had not received them? And he displayed his faith in what he said, his endurance in what he suffered. No one ought to be confident in his own strength when he undergoes temptation. For whenever we endure evils courageously, our long-suffering comes from him Christ. He once said to his disciples: “In this world you will suffer persecution,” and then, to allay their fears, he added, “but rest assured, I have conquered the world.” There is no need to wonder then, my dearly beloved brothers, that Vincent conquered in him who conquered the world. It offers temptation to lead us astray; it strikes terror into us to break out spirit. Hence if our personal pleasures do not hold us captive, and if we are not frightened by brutality, then the world is overcome. At both of these approaches Christ rushes to our aid, and the Christian is not conquered.

Artwork: Master of Castelsardo, Saint Vincent on the Gridiron, 1500-10. Tempera, stucco reliefs and gold leaf on wood, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.