Author: CCW

Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 29 February – 6 March

Monday, February 29th
6:30-7:30pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, March 1st, Comm. of St. David
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme III
Scenes of Bethany: Contemplation, Activity & Resurrection in the Passion of Christ

Wednesday, March 2nd
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Thursday, March 3rd
6:00-8:00pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Sunday, March 6th, Fourth Sunday in Lent
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Breakfast}
10:30am Holy Communion (followed by Simnel Cake in the Parish Hall)

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, March 12th
9:00am-4:00pm Lenten Quiet Day – King’s-Edgehill School, sponsored by the Prayer Book Society of Canada, NS/PEI Branch

Tuesday, March 15th
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme IV

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Prayers and liturgy

The Third Sunday in Lent

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

WE beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty to be our defence against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 5:1-14
The Gospel: St Luke 11:14-26

Giusto deMenabuoi, Jesus Miracles

Artwork: Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Jesus’ Miracles, 1386. Fresco, Baptistery, Padua.

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Prayers and liturgy

George Herbert, Priest and Poet

The collect for today, the commemoration of George Herbert (1593-1633), Priest, Poet (source):

George HerbertKing of glory, king of peace,
who didst call thy servant George Herbert
from the pursuit of worldly honours
to be a priest in the temple of his God and king:
grant us also the grace to offer ourselves
with singleness of heart in humble obedience to thy service;
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.
Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 5:1-4
The Gospel: St. Matthew 5:1-10

The hymn, “Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing”, was originally a poem by George Herbert, published in The Temple.

Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.

The heavens are not too high,
His praise may thither fly:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.

Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.

The church with psalms must shout,
No door can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.

Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.

George Herbert was born to a wealthy family in Montgomery, Wales. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he appeared headed for a prominent public career, but the deaths of King James I and two patrons ended that possibility.

He chose to pursue holy orders in the Church of England and became rector at Bemerton, near Salisbury, in 1629, where he died four years later of tuberculosis. His preaching and service to church and parishioners contributed to his reputation as an exemplary pastor. He did not become known as a poet until shortly after he died, when his poetry collection The Temple was published.

He is buried in Saint Andrew Bemerton Churchyard.

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Sermons

Scenes of Bethany – II

This is the second of four Lenten addresses on the theme Contemplation, Activity and Resurrection in the Passion of Christ. The first is posted here, the third here, and the fourth here.

“One Thing Needful”
Mary: Love-in-Contemplation

“Mary,” Luke tells us, “sat at the Lord’s feet” in Bethany “and listened to his teaching”. He portrays the precise image of Christian contemplation. It means sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to his word.

Contemplation in the contemporary discourse is an ambiguous word. It suggests at once something esoteric and intellectual, perhaps even gnostic, and something altogether useless and impractical. Yet, whatever one might say about the forms of spiritual hunger and the relentless demands of the practical, Christian contemplation counters such preoccupations with the self and the sensible by its strong attention to the reality of the God who has revealed himself.

Contemplation is an essential element in our Christian pilgrimage. It is the “one thing needful”, a good part which is even the better part. We need to recover our sense of its importance. It means to come to Bethany to sit with Mary at Jesus’ feet in the progress of his passion. There we may learn something of what it means to contemplate the passion of Christ.

The way of the pilgrim is the way of contemplation. Mark records Jesus’ charge to his disciples to take nothing for the journey except a staff and sandals. They are the basic gear of pilgrims. But are we really prepared to heed our Lord’s injunction to take virtually nothing? No bread, he says, no bagels, no biscuits. No bags for provisions, he says, neither Gucci nor Louis Vuitton; no money, he says, no credit cards, not even gold or platinum cards; and no cloak, he says, no extra clothing at all. Just a staff and sandals. And if that were not enough, Matthew goes further and disallows both staff and sandals – no brandy sticks, no birkenstocks! Yet, with or without staff and sandals, the point is really the same and it belongs to the character of contemplation in Christian pilgrimage. The “one thing needful” is what is really essential. With or without staff and sandals, Christ is the way of our journeying even as he is the end.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Matthias the Apostle

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

O ALMIGHTY God, who into the place of the traitor Judas didst choose thy faithful servant Matthias to be of the number of the twelve Apostles: Grant that thy Church, being alway preserved from false Apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 1:15-26
The Gospel: St. John 15:1-11

Victoria and Albert Museum, St. MatthiasThe name of this saint is probably an abbreviation of Mattathias, meaning “gift of Yahweh”.

Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after Judas had betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide. In the time between Christ’s Ascension and Pentecost, the small band of disciples, numbering about 120, gathered together and Peter spoke of the necessity of selecting a twelfth apostle to replace Judas. Peter enunciated two criteria for the office of apostle: He must have been a follower of Jesus from the Baptism to the Ascension, and he must be a witness to the resurrected Lord. This meant that he had to be able to proclaim Jesus as Lord from first-hand personal experience. Two of the brothers were found to fulfill these qualifications: Matthias and Joseph called Barsabbas also called the Just. Matthias was chosen by lot. Neither of these two men is referred to by name in the four Gospels, although several early church witnesses, including Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, report that Matthias was one of the seventy-two disciples.

Like the other apostles and disciples, St. Matthias received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Since he is not mentioned later in the New Testament, nothing else is known for certain about his activities. He is said to have preached in Judaea for some time and then traveled elsewhere. Various contradictory stories about his apostolate have existed since early in church history. The tradition held by the Greek Church is that he went to Cappadocia and the area near the Caspian Sea where he was crucified at Colchis. Some also say he went to Ethiopia before Cappadocia. Another tradition holds that he was stoned to death and then beheaded at Jerusalem.

The Empress St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, is said to have brought St Matthias’s relics to Rome c. 324, some of which were moved to the Benedictine Abbey of St Matthias, Trier, Germany, in the 11th century.

Artwork: Saint Matthias, c. 1500-15. Clear and stained glass with paint and silver stain, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (originally at St. Mary’s Church, Fairford, Gloucestershire). Photograph taken by admin, 27 September 2015.

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Prayers and liturgy

Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki, Bishops

The collect for today, the commemoration of Lindel Tsen (1885-1946), Bishop in China, consecrated 1929, and Paul Sasaki (1885-1954), Bishop in Japan, consecrated 1935 (source):

Bishop Paul Shinji SasakiBishop Philip Lindel TsenAlmighty God, we offer thanks for the faith and witness of Paul Sasaki, bishop in the Nippon Sei Ko Kai [Anglican Church in Japan], tortured and imprisoned by his government, and Philip [Lindel] Tsen, leader of the Chinese Anglican Church, arrested for his faith. We pray that all Church leaders oppressed by hostile governments may be delivered by thy mercy, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may be faithful to the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
The Gospel: St. Mark 4:26-32

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Sermons

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent

“You have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed”

Words from The Book of Genesis (Gen. 32.28), from the classic story of struggle, Jacob wrestling with an angel, wrestling with God, it seems, and by virtue of prevailing becomes Israel, one who strives with God. It is all about the struggle, the jihad.

The word, jihad, has been largely hi-jacked, if you will pardon the expression, in the contemporary discourse about Islamist terrorism and by the continuing and constant confusions in the Middle East. Yet, in its proper spiritual sense, jihad is about the struggle of the soul in relation to the will of Allah, the will of God. So, too, for Christians and Jews, there are the struggles of the soul with respect to God and our life with God in prayer and praise, in service and sacrifice. The struggle means acknowledging our own faults and shortcomings, our sins, to be blunt about it, which is only possible through the prior recognition of the goodness of God. The struggle is “to decline from sin and incline to virtue”; the struggle, quite simply, for “holiness” as Paul tells us in this morning’s epistle. We “are called”, he says, “to holiness” which is the quality of God in our very being. It is a constant struggle intensified for us in the disciplines of the Lenten journey. Lent is about embracing the struggle.

But what kind of struggle? Will it be a struggle which diminishes and destroys or the struggle which dignifies and ennobles? In any event, the struggle is defining. It is nothing less than a “striv[ing] with God and with men,” as the Genesis story reminds us. The struggle, the jihad, is altogether defining. It is ultimately about character and virtue.

This is what we see in the story of the Canaanite woman. We see her perseverance. She tenaciously hangs on to what she believes about Jesus. She senses in him the presence of God in whom there is health and salvation. She seeks in him healing and grace for her daughter. She seeks it by the only means we can receive it – through the prayer for mercy and help. This is no weak and wimpy prayer; this is the prayer of a strong woman who, like Jacob become Israel, will not let go. That tenacity of spirit, that persistent willfulness about what is objectively perceived, that willingness to hold on belongs to the truth of Israel but finds its expression here in one who is from outside Israel, a non-Israelite, yet one who strives with God and breaks into the very heart of God in Jesus Christ.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 22 – 28 February

Monday, February 22nd
6:30-7:30pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, February 23rd, Eve of St. Matthias
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme II
Scenes of Bethany: Contemplation, Activity & Resurrection in the Passion of Christ

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

Thursday, February 25th
6:00-8:00pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Friday, February 26th
11:00am Holy Communion – Dykeland Lodge
3:30pm Holy Communion – Gladys Manning Home

Sunday, February 28th, Third Sunday in Lent
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
2:00pm AMD Service of the Deaf

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, March 1st
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme III

Saturday, March 12th
9:00am-4:00pm Lenten Quiet Day – King’s-Edgehill School, sponsored by the Prayer Book Society of Canada, NS/PEI Branch

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Prayers and liturgy

The Second Sunday in Lent

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

ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
The Gospel: St. Matthew 15:21-28

Allori, Christ and the Canaanite WomanArtwork: Alessandro Allori, Christ and the Canaanite Woman, 1590. Oil on canvas, San Giovannino degli Scolopi, Florence.

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Sermons

Scenes of Bethany – I

This is the first of four Lenten addresses on the theme Contemplation, Activity and Resurrection in the Passion of Christ.  The second is posted here, the third here, and the fourth here.

Scenes of Bethany: “Behold we go up to Jerusalem”
Contemplation, Activity & Resurrection in the Passion of Christ

Address # 1

“Behold we go up to Jerusalem”. Lent is a time of purpose and direction. It presents a needful reminder of an essential characteristic of our Christian lives. Lent is more than a season. In a profound sense, it signifies the whole of our Christian life. At the very least, it reminds us that our lives have a purpose and a direction, and, more importantly, that our lives find their truth in the purpose of God towards us.

Nowhere else do we see that purpose more clearly and more powerfully than on the way of the cross. That way means more than just the steps to Calvary. It means the entire life of Jesus Christ. The whole life of Christ is the way of the cross. It is the way of sacrificial love, the way of the Son’s love for the Father eternally and that way in the very flesh of our humanity.

The cross may be veiled before us as, for instance, in Passiontide. It may be dimly seen. Yet it is ever present and its presence ever felt. It belongs to the purpose of Jerusalem: “He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph.1.5,6), as St. Paul writes to the Ephesians. He goes on to say:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. for he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Eph.1.7-10).

“In him we have redemption through his blood”. “He has made known to us his purpose which he has purposed in Christ”. The Lenten season, like the Lent of our lives, is not something aimless and indefinite. It is full of purpose and direction. The going up to Jerusalem is a journey in which the end of the journey is somehow known and somehow present in the means of the journeying.

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