Author: CCW

Prayers and liturgy

The Twentieth Sunday After Trinity

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

Caspar Luyken, The Guest without a wedding robe is thrown outO ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that thou wouldest have done; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-21
The Gospel: St. Matthew 22:1-14

Artwork: Caspar Luyken, The guest without a wedding robe is thrown out, 1712. Engraving, Bowyer Bible.

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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

Lorenzo Salimbeni, St. 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 Thaddeus.

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 Thaddeus (a variant reading of Matthew has “Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus”), while Luke calls him Judas son of James. Christian tradition regards Saint Jude and Saint Thaddeus 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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KES Chapel Weekly Reflections

KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 22 October

So Sarah laughed

With the story of Abraham, Genesis moves from the mythological to the historical. With Abraham we step into history, as it were. This raises interesting questions about how we think the Scriptures. Many atheists and many fundamentalists, for instance, have the same problem in their approach to the Scriptures, namely, reading them literally and failing to note what they mean philosophically. Aristotle notes that poetry is more philosophical than history but that doesn’t mean that history is not philosophical or that there is no philosophy both in and of history.

After the great poetic and philosophical account of creation in Genesis 1-2, the text considers the Fall of humanity. Along with the consideration of how we are being called to account – the positives of the story of the Fall and its aftermath – Genesis is at pains to show how humanity, when left to its own devices, is pretty deadly and destructive. The story of Cain and Abel lead, ultimately, to the story of the Flood as an illustration of what ‘freedom without order’ means; namely, violence and death. The Flood is the divine response to clean up the mess that arises from human wickedness and to place our humanity and the creation as a whole upon a new foundation; the new foundation of God’s covenant signalled in the sign of the rainbow. We are reminded of God’s commitment to his creation and in so doing, too, we are reminded of our commitments to God and to one another. It is, however, always a matter of education.

Freedom without order contrasts with order without freedom which is seen in the story of the Tower of Babel in the attempt by humans to impose one language and one way of thinking and acting upon everyone. Shades of totalitarianism. It stands in direct contrast to the divinely created world in which there are diversities of cultures and languages. These mythological sections of Genesis then pass over into the historical, commencing with Abram who is renamed Abraham through his encounters with God. God’s covenant with Abraham is about the promised land and the promised son. They, in turn, belong to the powerful idea that through Abraham “all nations of the earth shall be blessed”. In other words, we arise to the idea of a universal principle through the particularities of culture and language and not at their expense.

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Prayers and liturgy

Alfred, King

Holy Trinity Sloane Square, King St. AlfredThe 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: Alfred King of England, stained glass, Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, London. Photograph taken by admin 20 October 2014.

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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

Aert van den Bossche, Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian (Brussels City Museum)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.

Artwork: Aert van den Bossche, Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, 1490. Oil on panel, Brussels City Museum.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 23 – 29 October

Monday, October 23rd
6:30-7:30pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, October 24th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Wednesday, October 25th
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Friday, October 27th
11:00am Holy Communion – Dykeland Lodge
6:00-9:00pm Pathfinders & Rangers – Parish Hall

Sunday, October 29th, Twentieth Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, November 18th
4:30-6:00pm Annual Ham Supper – Parish Hall

Sunday, December 3rd
4:00pm Advent Lessons & Carols, with KES

Tuesday, December 19th
7:00pm Capella Regalis Concert

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Prayers and liturgy

The Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity

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

O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant, that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 4:17-32
The Gospel: St. Matthew 9:1-8

Tintoretto, Healing of the ParalyticArtwork: Jacopo Tintoretto, The Healing of the Paralytic, 1559. Oil on canvas, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Luke the Evangelist

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who calledst Luke the Physician, whose praise is in the Gospel, to be an Evangelist, and Physician of the soul: May it please thee that, by the wholesome medicines of the doctrine delivered by him, all the diseases of our souls may be healed; through the merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 4:5-13
The Gospel: St. Luke 24:44-52

Rogier van der Weyden, St. Luke Drawing the VirginVirtually all that we know of Saint Luke comes from the New Testament. He was a physician, a disciple of St. Paul and his companion on some of his missionary journeys, and the author of both the third gospel and Acts.

It is believed that St. Luke was born a Greek and a Gentile. According to the early Church historian Eusebius, Luke was born at Antioch in Syria. In Colossians 4:10-14, St. Paul speaks of those friends who are with him. He first mentions all those “of the circumcision”–in other words, Jews–and he does not include Luke in this group. Luke’s gospel shows special sensitivity to evangelising Gentiles. It is only in his gospel that we hear the Parable of the Good Samaritan, that we hear Jesus praising the faith of Gentiles such as the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian, and that we hear the story of the one grateful leper who is a Samaritan.

St. Luke first appears in Acts, chapter 16, at Troas, where he meets St. Paul around the year 51, and crossed over with him to Europe as an Evangelist, landing at Neapolis and going on to Philippi, “concluding that God had called us to preach the Gospel to them” (note especially the transition into first person plural at verse 10). Thus, he was apparently already an Evangelist. He was present at the conversion of Lydia and her companions and lodged in her house. He, together with St. Paul and his companions, was recognised by the divining spirit: “She followed Paul and us, crying out, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation’”.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Eve of the Feast of St. Luke

“Then opened he their understanding”

Luke, “dear and glorious physician”, as the novelist Taylor Caldwell styled him, has been the Church’s spiritual director for much of the Trinity season. Tonight we celebrate his witness and writings – The Third Gospel and The Book of the Acts of the Apostles. What we celebrate are the things which are particularly outstanding about Luke, identified by Dante as scriba mansuetudinis Christi, the scribe of the gentleness of Christ. But what kind of gentleness?

A gentleness that is expressed in compassion and in intellect. Luke alone of the evangelists gives us some especially poignant examples of compassion, such as the story of the Good Samaritan, the great classic of care and compassion, and the story of the raising of the only son of the widow of Nain, a classic of compassion. In both “he saw and had compassion”, a favourite phrase with Luke. But as our Gospel for his commemoration reminds us, Luke presents Christ most powerfully as the one who opens our understanding that we might understand the Scriptures. The emphasis is on the understanding, particularly as he says, about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It is not by accident that the winged ox is the symbol for St. Luke’s Gospel.

Luke tells the story, too, about Mary and Martha in which Martha, distressed and distracted by much busyness in playing hostess to Jesus, complains about Mary “sitting at Jesus’s feet and listening to his word.” Jesus’ response is at once most direct and most gentle. “Martha, Martha,” he says, “thou art anxious and troubled about a multitude of things”, naming precisely one of the diseases of our disordered times, yet, he says “one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” It is a gentle rebuke and a strong reminder to us about the dangers of getting too caught up in all our busyness with all of the stresses and sense of preoccupation and self-importance that comes with it. One thing is needful. What is that? To seek to learn and to understand by listening to his word.

This is not to deny the activities of Martha but to call attention to the contemplative activity of Mary as being the one thing needful in every age. We so easily get caught up in our own busyness and forget the purpose and truth of our being which is found in God. It is a gentle reminder about the opening out of our understanding of the Scriptures without which we cannot really act properly and charitably in the world around us. Contemplation is about that one thing needful without which we lose our humanity in the mindless busyness of our contemporary world. ‘Don’t just do something, sit there’; this is the gentle wisdom of Luke signalled in his Gospel and in Acts and in the witness of his life. Only so will we find healing for our anxious souls.

“Then opened he their understanding”

Fr. David Curry
Eve of the Feast of St. Luke, 2017

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