Year: 2023

Prayers and liturgy

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

The collect for today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called Passion Sunday, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

WE beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-15
The Gospel: St. Matthew 20:20-28

Vera Pagava, The Instruments of the PassionArtwork: Vera Pagava, The Instruments of the Passion, 1952. Oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The collect for today, The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canada, 1962):

WE beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that, as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Isaiah 7:10-15
The Gospel: St. Luke 1:26-38

Paolo Veronese, Annunciation, 1560Artwork: Paolo Veronese, Annunciation, 1560. Oil on canvas, Fundación Colección Thyssen Bornemisza, on deposit at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.

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Sermons

Lenten Programme II: The Books of Homiles

The Homily of Justification

The First Book of Homilies published in 1547 predates the Book of Common Prayer. Along with the Litany of 1545, it anticipates and establishes the essential features of English reformed catholicism. The Homilies are connected to the Articles of Religion as in Article XXXV which mentions both Books of homilies and names the titles of those in the second Book and in Article XI which names the Homily of Justification.

From the outset, the Homilies were intended to provide a programme of teaching on matters of doctrine and on matters of morality and practical concerns. The first five homilies of the First Book address matters of doctrine; Homilies 1, 3, 4, & 5 are from the pen of Cranmer. But the First Book of Homilies ends with a direction by Cranmer that other homilies were to follow dealing with such things as “Fasting, Prayer, Alms-Deeds; of the Nativity, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour Christ; of the due Receiving of his blessed Body and Blood, under the Form of Bread and Wine; against Idleness, against Gluttony and Drunkenness, against Covetousness, against Envy, Ire, and Malice; and with many other matters as fruitful as necessary to the edifying of Christian people, and the increase of godly living.” Some of these topics are taken up in the Second Book of Homilies along with other concerns, particularly against the Peril of Idolatry and against Rebellion.

The Books of Homilies undertake to position the English Reformed tradition as distinct from Popery, on the one hand, and Puritanism, on the other hand; the first is more a concern of the First Book and the second of the Second Book published during Elizabeth’s reign. Both concerns speak to the polemics of politics at the time but also serve to highlight certain defining features of the English Church.

Article X1 of the Thirty-nine Articles is “Of the Justification of Man” and goes to the heart of the reformation itself. That Article explicitly names the Homily of Justification. What is that? The third, fourth and fifth homilies probably authored by Cranmer all deal with the question of justifying righteousness. They are entitled as follows: “Of the Salvation of all Mankind”, “Of the true and lively Faith”, and “Of good Works.” It is probably the third homily, “Of the Salvation of all Mankind” that is referred to in the Article. In a way its content is summed up in Article XI.

We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings: Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

Justification by faith alone was one of the rallying points for the reformation in general and in general opposed any kind of thinking that suggests a human power or work on our part that is essential to salvation independent of grace. At issue is the idea of “works righteousness” as distinct from “faith works.” At the heart of it all is a profound sense of the sovereignty of God that cannot be reduced to any kind of man-made morality. Instead, the idea is that our hearts and minds and actions need to be radically grounded in God. The restoration of our humanity cannot be accomplished by ourselves. It has to be the grace of God at work for us and in us through Christ.

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Prayers and liturgy

Benedict, Abbott

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-550), Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western Monasticism (source):

O eternal God,
who made Benedict a wise master
in the school of thy service,
and a guide to many called into the common life
to follow the rule of Christ:
grant that we may put thy love above all things,
and seek with joy the way of thy commandments;
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: Proverbs 2:1-9
The Gospel: St. Luke 14:27-33

Lorenzo Monaco, Death of Saint BenedictArtwork: Lorenzo Monaco, Death of Saint Benedict, 1414. Tempera on panel, Uffizi, Florence.

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Prayers and liturgy

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop and Martyr

The collect for today, the commemoration of Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), Archbishop of Canterbury, Reformation Martyr (source):

Father of all mercies,
who through the work of thy servant Thomas Cranmer
didst renew the worship of thy Church
and through his death
didst reveal thy strength in human weakness:
strengthen us by thy grace so to worship thee in spirit and in truth
that we may come to the joys of thine everlasting kingdom;
through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advocate,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:9-14
The Gospel: St. John 15:20-16:1

Frederick Goodall, Thomas Cranmer at the Traitor's GateArtwork: Frederick Goodall, Thomas Cranmer at the Traitor’s Gate, Tower of London, 1856. Oil on panel, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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Prayers and liturgy

Cuthbert, Missionary and Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Cuthbert (c. 634-87), Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary (source):

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Frontispiece of Bede's Life of St CuthbertAlmighty God,
who didst call thy servant Cuthbert from following the flock
to follow thy Son and to be a shepherd of thy people:
in thy mercy, grant that we may so follow his example
that we may bring those who are lost home to thy fold;
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: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
The Gospel: St. Matthew 6:24-33

Artwork: Frontispiece of Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert, King Aethelstan presenting a copy of Bede’s book to the saint himself, c. 930. Illumination, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. (Because Cuthbert died in 687, Aethelstan presented the manuscript to the saint’s monastic community in Chester-le-Street.)

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Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Fourth Sunday in Lent

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on the Fourth Sunday in Lent.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

“Five barley-loaves and two small fishes; but what are they among so many?”

So little and yet so many in need. Andrew’s words echo Mary’s statement about the human condition. “They have no wine,” she said about the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. That was the story of the first miracle that Jesus did, “the beginning of signs” which pointed us to the thing signified, namely the Passion of Christ. “Mine hour,” he said to Mary, “has not yet come” (Jn. 2.3-5). The turning of the water into wine with its apparent eucharistic emphasis is really about the centrality of the Passion in the understanding of Christ as the Word made flesh. The Orthodox theologian, John Behr, notes that the Prologue of John’s Gospel which we read at Christmas is also the reading for the paschal midnight liturgy of Easter Eve.

The various feasts of the Hebrews contribute to the structure and meaning of John’s Gospel, particularly the Passover which is mentioned three times. The first time follows upon the wedding feast at Cana and introduces John’s account of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple; in short, our misuse of the holy things and holy places of God as well as a pointed reference to “the temple of his body”, which he says “in three days I will raise it up” (Jn. 2.19); passion and resurrection but in the context of purgation of our sin and evil. “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for thy house will consume me’” (Jn. 2.17).

The verse which immediately precedes today’s Gospel is the second reference to the Passover: “now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand” (Jn. 6.4). Thus this passage, too, is read in terms of the centrality of the Passion. It belongs to the strong teaching of the sixth Chapter of John’s Gospel sometimes known as the Bread of Life discourse; in short, the theme of illumination. “I am the bread of life,” Jesus says, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn. 6.35, 38-40). This occasions murmuring among the Jews (Jn. 6.41) about the identity of Jesus, and, as well, the murmuring of many of his disciples about Jesus as “the bread of life … which comes down from heaven” (Jn. 6.48, 50), “the holy bread of eternal life,” as the eucharistic prayer says (BCP, p.83).

For them it is “a hard saying, who can listen to it?”(Jn. 6.60) and results in “many of his disciples [drawing] back and no longer [going] about with him.” But it also is the setting for the ending of Chapter Six with Simon Peter’s great profession of faith: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn. 6.68, 69). And yet, the context is again the Passion in Jesus’ reference to Judas, “one of the twelve” who “was to betray him” (Jn. 6.71). This ends the chapter but already points us to the third reference to the Passover in John’s Gospel; Christ’s own Passion read on Good Friday.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 20 – 26 March

Tuesday, March 21st
7:00 Parish Council Meeting (transf.)

Thursday, March 23rd
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme II

Sunday, March 26th, Fifth Sunday in Lent / Passion Sunday
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Looking ahead:

Thursday, March 30th
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme III

Holy Week at Christ Church – 2023

Sunday, April 2nd, Palm Sunday
8:00am Holy Communion & Palms
10:30am Holy Communion & Palms

Monday, April 3rd, Monday in Holy Week
7:00pm Vespers & Holy Communion

Tuesday, April 4h, Tuesday in Holy Week
7:00pm Vespers & Holy Communion

Wednesday, April 5th, Wednesday in Holy Week
4:00pm Tenebrae

Thursday, April 6th, Maundy Thursday
7:00pm Solemn Liturgy

Friday, April 7th, Good Friday
7:00pm Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday

Saturday, April 8th, Holy Saturday / Easter Eve
10:00am Matins & Ante-Communion
7:00pm Easter Eve

Sunday, April 9th, Easter Day
8:00am Easter Communion
10:30am Easter Communion

All services to be held in Parish Hall, January through March.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

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

GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 4:26-5:1
The Gospel: St. John 6:5-14

Joaquín Sorolla, Yo soy el Pan de la VidaArtwork: Joaquín Sorolla, Yo soy el Pan de la Vida (I am the Bread of Life), 1896. Oil on canvas, Museu de Belles Arts de València, València, Spain.

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