Month: January 2024

Prayers and liturgy

The First Sunday After The Epiphany

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

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people which call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 12:1-5
The Gospel: St. Luke 2:41-52

Giovanni Antonio Galli, Christ Among the DoctorsArtwork: Giovanni Antonio Galli (Lo Spadarino), Christ Among the Doctors, 1625. Oil on canvas, Palazzo Reale, Naples.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Epiphany of Our Lord

The collect for today, The Epiphany of Our Lord, or The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know thee now by faith, may be led onward through this earthly life, until we see the vision of thy heavenly glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 3:1-12
The Gospel: St. Matthew 2:1-12

Peter Paul Rubens, Adoration of the Magi, c. 1618-19Artwork: Peter Paul Rubens, Adoration of the Magi, c. 1618-19. Oil on canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon.

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KES Chapel Weekly Reflections

KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 5 January

Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted because they are not.

The story of the flight into Egypt was read in Chapel this week (Matt. 2.13-18). Central to that story is the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem. It is a shocking story, perhaps made even more shocking when you realize that it is actually a Christmas story! Christ is God’s “great little one,” as Richard Crashaw says, whose “all-embracing birth lifts earth to heaven and stoops heaven to earth” God becomes a child to remind us that we are all the children of God. But at what cost?

This story challenges all the sentimental emotions and feelings of hyggelig, of cozy cheer and comfort which seems to overwhelm the celebrations of Christmastide. It does not simply negate such things but deepens our understanding of the radical nature of God’s engagement with our humanity in the birth of the child Christ. It speaks directly to our divided and violent world in the oppressor/oppressed framework of our current ideologies. The story of the death of the little ones of Bethlehem stands as a striking indictment of the powers of this world, past and present, who out of fear and resentment destroy innocent lives. It is also a story that speaks to the griefs and sorrows of our wounded and broken hearts and points us to the greater comfort that can only come from God to us.

The hymns and carols of the Christmas season do not conceal this side of the Christmas story yet it often gets overlooked and ignored. It also challenges and corrects a mistaken view of the Incarnation. It signals in no uncertain terms that Jesus Christ in the Christian understanding is the God who becomes human to redeem and save. The Incarnation, God made flesh, is not the affirmation of our existential lives and aspirations, of ourselves in all of the conflicts and divisions of our self-interests. The wonder and mystery of Christmas does not hide from view the world of sin and evil, of violence and death, of sorrow and loss both within and without. “Jesus Christ was born for this.” For what? To overcome the darkness of our hearts and world. He comes to redeem and save by means of his sacrifice on the Cross. His life was “a continuous cross,” as Lancelot Andrewes notes; “his Christmas Day and his Good Friday were but the evening and the morning of one and the same day,” as John Donne puts it, reminding us that his whole life was but “a continuall passion.” This is the necessary corrective. It means seeing the centrality of the Passion, the suffering of Christ, in the mystery of Christmas.

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Events

Calendar of Services and Events, January through April 2024

The Calendar of Services and Events for the period January through April 2024 (tentative) can be downloaded here as a pdf document.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Octave Day of Christmas and the Circumcision of Christ

The collects for today, The Octave Day of Christmas and the Circumcision of Christ, being New Year’s Day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Of the Circumcision:

ALMIGHTY God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man: Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the New Year:

O IMMORTAL Lord God, who inhabitest eternity, and hast brought thy servants to the beginning of another year: Pardon, we humbly beseech thee, our transgressions in the past, bless to us this New Year, and graciously abide with us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Isaiah 9:2-7
The Gospel: St. Luke 2:15-21

Leonaert Bramer, Circumcision of ChristArtwork: Leonaert Bramer, Circumcision of Christ, 1640s. Oil on panel, National Museum, Warsaw.

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