Author: CCW

Prayers and liturgy

St. Simon and St. Jude the Apostles

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Simon the Zealot and Saint Jude, Apostles, with Saint Jude the Brother of the Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The collect for the Brethren of the Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O HEAVENLY Father, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning: We bless thy holy Name for the witness of James and Jude, the kinsmen of the Lord, and pray that we may be made true members of thy heavenly family; through him who willed to be the firstborn among many brethren, even the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: St. Jude 1-4
The Gospel: St. John 14:21-27

Jusepe de Ribera, Saint SimonIn the various New Testament lists of the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13), the tenth and eleventh places are occupied by Simon and Judas son of James, also called Thaddaeus.

To distinguish Simon from Simon Peter, Matthew and Mark refer to him as Simon the Cananaean, while Luke refers to him as Simon the Zealot. Both surnames have the same signification and are a translation of the Hebrew qana (the Zealous). The name does not signify that he belonged to the party of Zealots, but that he had zeal for the Jewish law, which he practised before his call. The translation of Matthew and Mark as Simon “the Canaanite” (as, e.g., KJV has it) is simply mistaken.

The New Testament contains a variety of names for the apostle Jude: Matthew and Mark refer to Thaddaeus (a variant reading of Matthew has “Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus”), while Luke calls him Judas son of James. Christian tradition regards Saint Jude and Saint Thaddaeus as different names for the same person. The various names are understood as efforts to avoid associating Saint Jude with the name of the traitor Judas Iscariot. The only time words of Jude are recorded, in St. John 14:22-23, the Evangelist is quick to add “(not Iscariot)” after his name.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity

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

LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy house hold the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Philippians 1:3-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 18:21-35

Eugène Burnand, The Unmerciful ServantArtwork: Eugène Burnand, The Unmerciful Servant, Illustration for “Les Paraboles”, published 1908.

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Prayers and liturgy

Alfred, King

Thornycroft, Alfred the GreatThe collect for today, the Feast of St. Alfred the Great (849-899), King of the West Saxons, Scholar (source):

O God our maker and redeemer,
we beseech thee of thy great mercy
and by the power of thy holy cross
to guide us by thy will and to shield us from our foes,
that, following the example of thy servant Alfred,
we may inwardly love thee above all things;
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: Wisdom 6:1-3,9-12,24-25
The Gospel: St. Luke 6:43-49

Artwork: Hamo Thornycroft, Alfred the Great, 1899. Bronze, Winchester, England.

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Prayers and liturgy

Cedd, Missionary and Bishop

The collect for a Bishop or Archbishop, on the Feast of St. Cedd (c. 620-664), Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

St. Cedd, BishopO GOD, our heavenly Father, who didst raise up thy faithful servant Cedd to be a Bishop in thy Church and to feed thy flock: We beseech thee to send down upon all thy Bishops, the Pastors of thy Church, the abundant gift of thy Holy Spirit, that they, being endued with power from on high, and ever walking in the footsteps of thy holy Apostles, may minister before thee in thy household as true servants of Christ and stewards of thy divine mysteries; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 17:22-31
The Gospel: St. Luke 10:1-16

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Prayers and liturgy

Crispin and Crispinian, Martyrs

The collect for a Martyr, on the Feast of Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, Martyrs (d. c. 285), from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who didst bestow upon thy Saints such marvellous virtue, that they were able to stand fast, and have the victory against the world, the flesh, and the devil: Grant that we, who now commemorate thy Martyrs Crispin and Crispinian, may ever rejoice in their fellowship, and also be enabled by thy grace to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold upon eternal life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Matthew 16:24-27

Crispin and Crispinian are believed to have been brothers and Roman noblemen martyred for their faith during the persecution of Emperor Maximian.

Basilica of San Vicente, St. Crispin & St. CrispinianArtwork: St. Crispin & St. Crispinian, Polychrome wood altar, 16th century, Basilica of San Vicente, Ávila, Spain.

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KES Chapel Weekly Reflections

KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 24 October

God will provide himself

Two outstanding and profound stories were read in Chapel this week. The first was the intentionally disturbing story of the binding or sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. The second was the revelation of God to Moses in the burning bush. Both stories relate to the theme of covenant which we have exploring.

The story of Cain and Abel shows us what human existence looks like on our own without  law and order, without an ethical principle. The theme of covenant develops from the Noahic covenant symbolized in the sign of the rainbow apres le deluge, to the Abrahamic covenant of the promised land and promised son, and then to the Mosaic Covenant expressed in the Ten Commandments. The revelation of God to Moses as “I am who I am” is the basis of that covenant. The idea of covenant is rooted in the nature of God who is utterly incommensurable in relation to human experience and life.

That is the strong take-away point of this most disturbing story where Abraham is tested by God, a test of faith, by being asked to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, the promised son through whom “all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves.” It seems perfectly horrible and barbaric and raises a conflict between our relation to God and our ethical obligations towards one another. Yet it does so in order to place the ethical upon its proper divine foundation. That it does so in such a troubling and challenging way is part of the intensity and the point of the story. I fear that we are often only too complacent about it and fail to feel its deeper significance.

A covenant is not the same thing as a contract though it reveals the principle upon which all contracts ultimately depend. Two parties contract with each other about what each owes to the other. That presupposes a principle of rationality, an ethical principle about being held accountable to our words. That principle is presupposed and is prior to us. We don’t create it; we can only recognise it or assume it. The covenant, on the other hand, is that principle as established by God which then informs and underlies the possibility of our ethical duties and obligations towards one another.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

“And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him”

It is a poignant and touching story that speaks to the fears and the experiences of countless parents down throughout the ages. It is a story about a father’s concern for his son who is said to be “at the point of death.” The father is described as “a certain nobleman.” Clearly status and wealth are of no use in the face of death. “What helpes honour or worlde’s bliss”, a fifteenth century English medieval lyric puts it about the fact of mortality. “Death is to man the final way.”

And yet, as a 14th century tutor at Oxford wonderfully tells his students,“live each day as if you are to die tomorrow; study as if you are to live forever.” To study is to pay attention to words and the power of words, and, most especially, here, to the word of Christ.

We forget that we can be profoundly touched by words. Words can make or break our day, raise us up or put us down. How and what we think and say to one another is important. It is important to our spiritual health especially we might say.

Today’s epistle reading from Ephesians abounds with military imagery but in an entirely spiritual context, the idea of a spiritual struggle, the cosmic struggle between good and evil which is not about “wrestling against flesh and blood” but something much more serious:“against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This must not be misconstrued as gnostic dualism – dividing the world into them and us in which we demonize the other and pretend that we are the good. Such conflict narratives only contribute to the forms of spiritual wickedness that Paul is highlighting.

There is a struggle, to be sure, but the struggle is always first and foremost in us. It is the struggle to  be defined by the good, by God’s Word and truth and not by “the devices and desires of our own hearts.” More than thirty years ago, the great English doyenne of mystery novels, Dame P.D. James, wrote a wonderful novel with the title “Devices and Desires.” Against the strong recommendation of her editors, she refused to provide an explanation of the title on the grounds that every educated person should know the reference. This was long before our current fascination and obsession with our digital devices which, paradoxically, reveal only too well “the devices and desires of our own hearts.” The phrase comes from the General Confession at Morning and Evening Prayer in the Prayer Book: “we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.”

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 22 – 28 October

Monday, October 22nd
4:45-5:15pm World Religions/Inquirers Class – KES, Room # 206
6:30-7:30pm Sparks in Parish Hall

Tuesday, October 23rd
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Wednesday, October 24th
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Friday, October 26th
6:00-7:30pm Pathfinders & Rangers – Parish Hall

Sunday, October 28th, SS. Simon & Jude / Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, November 17th
4:30-6:00pm Annual Ham Supper

Sunday, December 2nd
4:00pm Advent Lessons & Carols with KES

Tuesday, December 18th
7:30pm Capella Regalis Concert

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Prayers and liturgy

The Twenty-First Sunday After Trinity

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

GRANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-20
The Gospel: St. John 4:46-54

Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Christ and the Nobleman of CapernaumArtwork: Bartholomeus Breenburgh, Christ and the Nobleman of Capernaum, c. 1630. Oil on panel, Private collection.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

Then opened he their understanding

The opening of the understanding is a recurring motif in Luke’s Gospel. It serves to highlight an important feature of his commemoration as the author of the third Gospel and the author of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. There is something significant and attractive about the figure of St. Luke and the role which he exercises in the Christian imagination. He is, as the Collect puts it,“an Evangelist and a Physician of the soul” and one “whose praise is in the Gospel.”

Healing is about more than just relief from bodily ailments. More important is the idea of the healing of the soul captured in the Gospel for his feast day. The Scriptures are opened for our understanding and in particular the understanding of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection from which flows the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. These are powerful ideas which Luke explores in his writings to the glory of God and the good of his church and people, we might say.

The healing of our souls. How we think about things and how we look upon one another are critical concerns. It strikes me as somewhat ironic that we should commemorate Luke, Evangelist and Physician, the day after the legalisation of cannabis in Canada. It is true that from a Christian perspective nothing in the physical and natural order is simply evil. Somehow there is  something good in the being of every creaturely thing, something good by definition about cannabis and its chemical components. But there is also the great and good wisdom about how we use the good things of our world and day.

That is a far greater question. We know that we can abuse all manner of good things. What I must confess to being utterly uncertain about is the recreational use of marijuana, of cannabis. What exactly is that good? We know only  too well about the misuse and abuse of alcohol, namely, drinking to excess, drinking to get drunk, to intentionally lose control and imagine that one is ‘feeling good’ while under the influence. We know only too well what dangers that can lead to and the cost it brings. But abusus non tollit usum. The abuse of something doesn’t take away from its proper use. What is the proper use of cannabis exactly?

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