Category: Prayers and liturgy

The collect for today, The Fourth Sunday After Easter, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men: Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: St. James 1:17-21
The Gospel: St. John 16:5-15

Artwork: Antonio Estruch i Bros, Last Supper, 1904. Oil on canvas, Sabadell Art Museum, Sabadell, Spain.

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“Be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be”

What things? Deceptions, “of wars and rumours of wars,” of “nation against nation,” of “earthquakes in divers places,” of “famines and troubles,” ultimately, what Mark sums up as “the beginnings of sorrows.” Sounds like the evening news or the endless dystopia of your social media ‘news’ feed. What has changed? It is a pretty sobering picture of the suffering and hardships of our disordered world.

And yet Mark is really the first Eastertide Saint who we commemorate invariably in the Easter Season, though this year the Annunciation was transferred from Monday in Holy Week to week of the Octave of Easter. In a way, that helped to emphasize the intimate and inescapable connection and interplay between Passion and Resurrection in terms of the meaning of the Incarnation which cannot be thought about apart from them. And so, too, with the Feast of St. Mark as the readings make rather clear. The Gospel might seem to be rather dark and threatening about the things that must needs be that are disturbing. Yet the Resurrection provides a way to face such things and to “be not troubled.”

The Resurrection changes everything. Mark’s Gospel in its so-called shorter ending concludes with the words “they were afraid.” This acknowledges the reality of the human condition but his gospel addresses it with a way to face such stark realities. They do not need to define us. We are more than though not less than the circumstances and situations of our world and day and even of our own experiences. In every way, the Resurrection points us to the joy of our life in Christ and focuses our thoughts on his Passion and Resurrection which becomes our life as the reading from Ephesians so clearly indicates. We are given a way to face things and be not troubled but to speak the truth in love, and grow up into him in all things. In other words, the Resurrection is about our life in Christ whose life in us signals the building up of the body in love. That body is the body of Christ, the Church. Our task is to heed the Collect taken from the Epistle that we not be “like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine,” “tossed to and fro,” but rather “established in the truth” of the Gospel.

“And the gospel must first be published among all nations,” Mark concludes in the reading for his feast day. That requires it being published in the midst of the troubles of our world and day. That is our vocation and our joy.

“Be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be”

Fr. David Curry
Feast of St. Mark, April 25th, 2024

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

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly doctrine of thy Evangelist Saint Mark: Give us grace, that, being not like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of thy holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 4:11-16
The Gospel: St. Mark 13:1-10

The author of the second gospel, Saint Mark is generally identified with John Mark, the son of Mary, whose house in Jerusalem was a meeting place for the disciples (Acts 12:12,25). John Mark accompanied his cousin Barnabas and Paul on their missionary journey to Cyprus, but Mark’s early departure to Jerusalem caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas, following which Barnabas took Mark on the next mission to Cyprus while Paul and Silas traveled through Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:37-41).

Paul later changed his mind about Mark, who helped him during his imprisonment in Rome (Col. 4:10). Just before his martyrdom, Paul urged Timothy: “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).

Also, Peter affectionately calls Mark “my son” and says that Mark is with him at “Babylon”—almost certainly Rome—as he writes his first epistle (1 Pet. 5:13). This accords with church tradition that Mark’s Gospel represents the teaching of Peter.

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The collect for today, the Feast of Saint George (d. c. 304), Soldier, Martyr, Patron of England (source):

O God of hosts,
who didst so kindle the flame of love
in the heart of thy servant George
that he bore witness to the risen Lord
by his life and by his death:
grant us the same faith and power of love
that we, who rejoice in his triumphs,
may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection;
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: 2 St. Timothy 2:8-10, 3:10-12
The Gospel: St. John 15:1-7

Artwork: Paris Bordone, St. George Killing the Dragon, 1525. Oil on panel, Pinacoteca Vaticana.

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The collect for today, The Third Sunday After Easter, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may forsake those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 2:11-17
The Gospel: St. John 16:16-22

Artwork: Pietro Perugino, Last Supper, 1493-96. Fresco, Cenacolo di Foligno, Florence.

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The collect for today, the Feast of St Alphege (c. 953-1012), Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr (source):

O GOD, who dost support and defend us with the glorious witness of thy blessed martyr Alphege: Grant us to go forward in his footsteps, and ever to rejoice in fellowship with him; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Revelation 7:13-17
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:4-12

Artwork: Martyrdom of St Alphege, carved painting, Canterbury Cathedral.

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The collect for today, The Second Sunday After Easter, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 2:19-25
The Gospel: St. John 10:11-16

Artwork: Christ the Good Shepherd, detail of mosaic, Tomb of Pope Pius IX, San Lorenzo fuori le mura, Rome.

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