Author: CCW

KES Chapel Weekly Reflections

KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 26 January

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

There is the greatest difference between wanting to control the world and seeking to understand it. The love of learning which we talked about last week is about seeking to understand rather than presuming to control. Epiphany is the making known of things but that can only happen in part because of the desire to learn on our part. It has very much to do with a respect for learning and for the quest to know. Only so is it transformative.

This week the readings were the story of the “beginning of signs” at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, and the “conversion” of Paul on the proverbial road to Damascus. Both are Epiphanies, as it were, and both challenge us about what we claim to know and seek to know. We might like the idea of having a kind of control over nature that allows us to change water into wine. Such is one of the illusions and fantasies of our technocratic world. But the point of the story is not about human manipulation of nature for so-called human ends but about what God seeks for our humanity in all of the ‘miracles’. He seeks the ultimate good for our humanity which is, perhaps not surprisingly, found in social joys. Most of the miracle stories are about healings but what are we healed for? For what end? Our good as found in God, in our delight in the goodness, the beauty and the truth of God which does not negate our humanity by turning us into machines, into automatons and bots, but perfects our humanity.

The story reveals at once the human predicament as named by Mary, “they have no wine.” We lack the means of our own sufficiency and joy. Jesus’ response is intriguing. “What is that to thee and to me? Mine hour has not yet come.” This may puzzle us but Mary gets it. “Whatever he tells you to do, do it,” she says, an echo of her own fiat mihi, “be it unto me according to thy word.” God seeks what is good for us according to his word and will, not according to human dictates and desires in all of their confusion and incompleteness. His hour refers to his passion, death and resurrection; in short, to the purpose of his Incarnation, his coming in the flesh of our humanity to recall us to our truth in God. There is perhaps no greater lesson than learning how to take delight in one another rather than using and manipulating one another in the illusions of control.

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Prayers and liturgy

Polycarp, Bishop, Apostolic Man, Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Apostolic Man, Martyr (source):

Almighty God,
who gavest to thy servant Polycarp
boldness to confess the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ
before the rulers of this world
and courage to suffer death for his faith:
grant that we too may be ready
to give an answer for the faith that is in us
and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Revelation 2:8-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 20:20-23

Circignani, Martyrdom of St. PolycarpChurch tradition holds that Polycarp was born c. AD 69 of Christian parents and was a disciple of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, who ordained him Bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp was arrested during a pagan festival in Smyrna (present-day Izmir, Turkey) and brought before the Roman pro-consul.

[W]hen the magistrate pressed him hard and said, “Swear the oath, and I will release you; revile the Christ,” Polycarp said, “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

But on his persisting again and saying, “Swear by the genius of Caesar,” he answered, “If you suppose vainly that I will swear by the genius of Caesar, as you say, and feign that you are ignorant of who I am, hear you plainly: I am a Christian. But if you would learn the doctrine of Christianity, assign a day and give me a hearing.”

He was burned at the stake for refusing to renounce Christ.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp was written down by the church of Smyrna and sent as a letter to the church at Philomelium. It is the first Christian martyrology. Several translations of the text can be accessed via this page.

Artwork: Niccolò Circignani, Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, c. 1583. Fresco, Basilica of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio, Rome.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Conversion of Saint Paul

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

Guido Reni, Conversion of St PaulArtwork: Guido Reni, Conversion of St Paul, c. 1615-20. Oil on canvas, Monasterio El Escorial, San Lorenzo del Escorial, Spain.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Timothy and St. Titus, Apostolic Men

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

Ludwig Glotzle, St. Paul Ordains Timothy as Bishop of EphesusArtwork: Ludwig Glötzle, St. Paul Ordains Timothy as Bishop of Ephesus, 1891. Fresco, Dom Sankt Rupert und Sankt Virgil (Cathedral of St. Rupert and St. Vergilius), Salzburg.

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Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Third Sunday after Epiphany

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on the Third Sunday after Epiphany.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany

“I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel”

Epiphany is commonly said to be the Christmas of the Gentiles. With the coming in of the Magi-Kings, not only is the Christmas scene of Bethlehem completed but it goes global, we might say; it is omni populo, for all people. And while the Feast of Epiphany celebrates the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem, Epiphany as well launches us on the journey of the understanding in what we might call the break-out from Bethlehem, the journey of the soul to God. Thus, on the first two Sundays of Epiphany we find ourselves first in Jerusalem in the Temple with Jesus at the age of twelve and then at Cana of Galilee with Jesus and Mary at the wedding feast miracle of the water made wine.

The teaching of Epiphany as doctrine and not just event has to do with what is made manifest to our humanity through Jesus, at once “God of God” and “Light of Light” but also God with us. The focus is on the essential divinity of Christ albeit revealed through his humanity and in his engagement with us. In that lies the further Epiphany of God’s will and purpose for our humanity. And that is something universal, something for all. That sense of the universality of Christ’s coming is shown today in the Gospel story of a double healing; one within Israel in the healing of the leper, and one outside Israel, as it were, in the healing of the centurion’s servant. The one healing is direct and by word and touch; the other is indirect and by the power and truth of God’s Word alone in Christ.

But the real miracle lies not simply in the healings of the leper and the servant sick of the palsy – a weakness and lack of muscle control – but in the exchange between Jesus and the centurion and, especially, his words of faith that excite such great wonder in Jesus himself. Here Jesus wonders in astonishment at the centurion’s response to his simple statement that “I will come down and heal him”.

The miracle is ‘a miracle of insight’ into the mystery and truth of God who is not and cannot be subject to the constrictions and limits of our finite world but who makes himself known through the world and through us. The centurion, a Roman officer in charge of one hundred soldiers, recognizes that God is not subject to us at the same time as he alludes to the operations of God’s Word by way of an analogy to the passing of directions down the line of military command He recognizes something about the power of God’s Word that transcends the limits of human speech and human customs. “To whom will you liken me”, God says in the evening lesson from Isaiah, “and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?” … “for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning … I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it” (Isaiah 46. 5, 9b-10a, 11b). Epiphany makes known what God seeks for the whole of our humanity. The miracle lies in the faith of the centurion, a non-Israelite. “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed”.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 23 – 29 January

Tuesday, January 24th, Eve of the Conversion of St. Paul
7:00pm Holy Communion

Sunday, January 29th, The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

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

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Prayers and liturgy

The Third Sunday After The Epiphany

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

Sébastien Bourdon, Christ and the CenturionArtwork: Sébastien Bourdon, Christ and the Centurion, 1655-60. Oil on canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen, France.

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Prayers and liturgy

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Agnes (c. 291-304), Virgin, Martyr at Rome (source):

Eternal God, Shepherd of thy sheep,
by whose grace thy child Agnes was strengthened to bear witness,
in her life and in her death,
to the true love of her redeemer:
grant us the power to understand, with all thy saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth
and to know the love that passeth all knowledge,
even 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: Song of Solomon 2:10-13
The Gospel: St. Matthew 18:1-6

Vicente Masip, Martyrdom of Saint AgnesOne of the most celebrated of the early Roman martyrs, Agnes was only twelve or thirteen when she was executed in the Piazza Navona for refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods. Several early Christian leaders praised her courage and exemplary faith, including Ambrose, Pope Damasus, Jerome, and Prudentius. Although her story was embellished during the Middle Ages, it is certain that Agnes was very young and died as a Christian virgin.

St. Ambrose extolled her in his De Virginibus, written in 377:

[St. Agnes’ death was] A new kind of martyrdom! Not yet of fit age for punishment but already ripe for victory, difficult to contend with but easy to be crowned, she filled the office of teaching valour while having the disadvantage of youth. She would not as a bride so hasten to the couch, as being a virgin she joyfully went to the place of punishment with hurrying step, her head not adorned with plaited hair, but with Christ.

Because her name resembles agnus (‘lamb’), she is generally depicted in art with a lamb in her arms or by her feet. On her feast at Rome, the wool of two lambs is blessed and then woven into pallia (stoles of white wool) for the pope and archbishops.

Two notable Roman churches have been erected at locations associated with St. Agnes. The church of Sant’Agnese in Agone now stands in the Piazza Navona, the place of her martyrdom. The Basilica of Sant’Agnesi fuori le Mura (St. Agnes Outside the Walls) was built at her tomb in a family burial plot along the Via Nomentana, about two miles outside Rome.

Saint Agnes is the patron saint of young girls.

Artwork: Vicente Masip, Martyrdom of Saint Agnes, 1540s. Oil on panel, Prado, Madrid.

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KES Chapel Weekly Reflections

KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 19 January

They found him in the temple

This intriguing Gospel story was read in Chapel this week. It has a special relevance to our School and its history. There was once both the school and the university on this campus; the School founded in 1788 and the University of King’s College in 1789. Edgehill Church School for Girls was founded later in 1891 and in 1976 amalgamated with King’s Collegiate School to become King’s-Edgehill. But what about the University? In 1920, just after the devastations of the First World War and after the Spanish Flu epidemic, there was a fire and the main dorm burnt down. The University was forced to relocate to Halifax where it has been since 1923. So what does this have to do with Luke’s story about Jesus at the age of twelve being found in the Temple at Jerusalem?

The story has influenced the educational project of both School and College. It is one of the few Scriptural stories represented in the stained glass windows of the Chapels of both the School and the College. Why? Because of what the story signifies about education. In our Chapel, the last part of the story is depicted in the central window in the nave on the quad side. It is about Jesus stepping into the life of public service. In the College Chapel, the first part of the story of Jesus being in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions is the central icon in the window above the altar; the emphasis is on teaching and learning. These are images that give us pause to reflect about the purpose of education, about teaching and learning and about service Deo Legi Regi Gregi, for God, the Law, the King and the people, the motto of the School and the College.

This story is an Epiphany on several different levels and one in which we are very much a part of its meaning, again on several different levels. The main Epiphany in the Christian understanding is Jesus as human student, on the one hand, and divine teacher, on the other hand. But it also makes known a central feature of education, namely, the seeking or desire to learn; in short, the love of learning. In the story, there are four references to the idea of seeking, the idea of wanting to know. Without that there can be no learning. What Jesus says here to Mary is particularly instructive. It is captured in the rhetorical question, a question which presupposes the answer, “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” meaning the heavenly Father. It highlights the making known of the purpose of the Incarnation. Human redemption is about learning what God seeks for us.

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