Author: CCW

Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 9 – 15 January

Monday, January 9th
4:45-5:15pm Confirmation Class – Rm. 204, KES

Tuesday, January 10th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
7:30pm Parish Council Meeting

Sunday, January 15th, Second Sunday After Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion – Parish Hall
9:30am Holy Communion – KES
10:30am Holy Communion – Parish Hall

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, January 17th
7:30pm Christ Church Book Club: Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fischer
Sunday, February 5th
Annual Parish Meeting & Luncheon, following 10:30am service
Tuesday, February 21st
4:30-6:00pm Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Confirmation Classes: Rm. 204 at KES, 4:45-5:15pm. The dates are Jan. 9th, 16th, 23rd, Feb. 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, & March 5th. Please contact Fr. Curry, 798-2454.

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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 di Francesco, Jesus Among the Doctors

Artwork: Giovanni di Francesco, Jesus Among The Doctors, 1368. Fresco, Basilica di San Domenico, Arezzo. Photograph taken by admin, 27 May 2010.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Epiphany

“They presented unto him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh”

The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time originates with the coming of the Magi to the Child Christ in Bethlehem. From the three gifts comes the idea of the three magi from the East, from Anatolia. They are the proverbial come-from-aways. They are the original truth-seekers. They come having followed a star. They have come seeking the light of truth and led by that light they have come to Christ.

But they have not come empty-handed. They have come bearing gifts to the one who is the greatest gift of all. Love, suggests Aquinas, is in the nature of a first gift through which all other gifts are given. But what about the gifts of the Magi?

These are gifts which teach us about the nature of gift-giving. They are not exactly useful gifts – like socks and mittens, scarves and mufflers or like the useful gifts at a baby shower, diapers and wipes, soft blankets and towels. Beyond the useful gifts that we give to one another there are the useless gifts, the gifts that honour the one to whom they are given. In a way, the three gifts of the Magi are really useless gifts, gifts that essentially teach us about the meaning of the One to whom they are given.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Epiphany

The collect for today, The Epiphany of Our Lord, or the Manifestation 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

Gruamonte and Adeodato, Three Scenes of the Magi

Artwork: Gruamonte & Adeodato, Three scenes of the Magi: The Journey of the Magi, Herod Told of the Birth of Christ, and Adoration of the Magi, 1166. Marble, Façade, Pieve di Sant’Andrea Apostolo, Pistoia. Photograph taken by admin, 24 May 2010.

 

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Sermons

Sermon for the Octave Day of Christmas

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

I love this passage from St. Luke’s gospel. Not just at Christmas but as a maxim for the life of the Church, year in and year out. And how wonderful that it is heard, year in and year out, on New Year’s Day, at the ending of one civil year and the beginning of another! How perplexing though that what is kept and pondered in the heart of Mary is connected with what must seem to be a most arcane and disturbing event, the circumcision of Christ.

The rite is associated with what it means to be Jewish. In the context of the Gospel, it is intended to be understood in terms of Christ’s submission to the Law, the Torah, in its particular forms. An allegiance and loyalty to what is transcendent and utterly beyond the phenomenal world is signaled in the flesh, in what is simply most, well, there is no getting around it, most male. Intriguingly, in more modern times, until very recently, the medical profession, especially in North America, tried to provide medical reasons for the practice.

This misses the point historically and religiously from the standpoint of ancient Israel and contributes very little to the metaphorical transformation that circumcision undergoes via the New Testament, especially through Paul. The circumcision of the heart, he argues, is what is necessary for our true commitment to God, not simply some questionable surgical procedure, about which there continues to be debate within and without Judaism, a debate which is only heightened by the disturbing and hideous matter of female genital mutilation in Arabic countries closely associated with the aspects of African tribalism. There is simply no getting around these things in the contemporary culture. There is, instead, the need to think through them and beyond them but in a way that does complete justice to the foundational principles of Christianity and Judaism and Islam.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 2 – 8 January

Thursday, January 5th, Eve of Epiphany
7:00pm Holy Communion (in the Hall)

Sunday, January 8th, First Sunday After Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Upcoming Event:

Tuesday, January 17th
7:30pm Christ Church Book Club: Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fischer

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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):

Taurigny, Great Choir: The Circumcision of JesusALMIGHTY 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

Artwork: Riccardo Taurigny, The Great Choir: The Circumcision of Jesus, 1558-66. Walnut, Basilica di Santa Giustina (Basilica of Saint Justine), Padua.

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Prayers and liturgy

John West, Missionary

The collect for a missionary, in commemoration of The Rev’d John West (1778-1845), Priest, first Protestant missionary to the Red River Valley, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

John WestO GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst call thy blessed Apostles and send them forth to preach thy Gospel of salvation unto all the nations: We bless thy holy Name for thy servant John West, whose labours we commemorate this day, and we pray thee, according to thy holy Word, to send forth many labourers into thy harvest; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 12:24-13:5
The Gospel: St Matthew 4:13-24a

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Prayers and liturgy

John Wycliffe, Scholar and Translator

The collect for today, the commemoration of John Wycliffe, (c 1320-84), Scholar, Translator of the Scriptures into English (source):

O Lord, thou God of truth, whose Word is a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path: We give thee thanks for thy servant John Wyclif, and those who, following in his steps, have labored to render the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people; and we beseech thee that thy Holy Spirit may overshadow us as we read the written Word, and that Christ, the living Word, may transform us according to thy righteous will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Daniel 2:17-24
The Gospel: St. Matthew 13:9-16

Madox Brown, The Trial of Wycliffe

Artwork: Ford Madox Brown, The Trial of Wycliffe A.D. 1377, 1893. Mural, Great Hall, Manchester Town Hall.

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Prayers and liturgy

Thomas Becket, Archbishop

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Thomas Becket (1117-1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr (source):

King Henry II and Saint Thomas BecketO Lord God,
who gavest to thy servant Thomas Becket
grace to put aside all earthly fear
and be faithful even unto death:
grant that we, caring not for worldly esteem,
may fight against evil,
uphold thy rule,
and serve thee to our life’s end;
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 Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:37-43

Click here to read more about St. Thomas Becket.

Artwork: King Henry II Speaking with Saint Thomas Becket (detail of illuminated page from The Chronicle of England by Peter Langtoft), c. 1300-25. British Library, London.

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