Rector’s Annual Report, 2010
Click here to download the Rector’s Annual Report for 2010 (pdf document).
The Rector’s Annual Reports for 2003 through 2009 can be accessed via this page.
Week at a Glance, 7-13 February
Monday, February 7th
4:45-5:15pm Confirmation Class (Rm. 204, KES)
Tuesday, February 8th
6:00pm Prayers & Praises – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Brownies Mtg – Parish Hall
Thursday, February 10th
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-In
5:00pm Fr. Curry preaching at King’s College, Halifax (St. Caedmon)
Sunday, February 13th, Sixth Sunday after The Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion
9:30am Holy Communion at KES
10:30am Morning Prayer
4:30pm Evening Prayer at Christ Church
Upcoming events:
Tuesday, March 8th
4:30-6:00pm Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
Wednesday, March 9th
Ash Wednesday Services: 7:00am; 12noon; 2:30pm (at KES)
Saturday, March 19th
9:00am-5:00pm Lenten Quiet Day, King’s-Edgehill Chapel
The Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany
The collect for today, the Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion; that they who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle: Colossians 3;12-17
The Gospel: St. Matthew 13:24-30
Artwork: Roger Wagner, The Harvest is the End of the World, and the Reapers are Angels [detail], 1984. Oil on canvas, private collection.
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
The collect for today, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, commonly called The Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin (also traditionally called Candlemas), from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Majesty, that, as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lesson: Malachi 3:1-5
The Gospel: St Luke 2:22-40
Artwork: Ludovico Pogliaghi, The Presentation in the Temple, 1894-1908. Central Bronze door, Milan Cathedral. Photograph taken by admin, 2 May 2010.
Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
“Why are ye so fearful?”
“From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire and flood; from plaque, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us”. Thus prays the ancient Litany in The Book of Common Prayer. It offers a wonderful and ordered way of praying all the things that belong to prayer and that belong to our creedal identity in Christ. But do we pray it? Such petitions teach a doctrine that, I fear, we have forgotten.
In our technocratic exuberance, we sometimes think that we can control the elements. We forget that we are creatures, too, and are often subject to the brute forces of nature; we forget that nature does not simply exist for us, for our pleasures and interests. We forget that nature is affected by our disorder; in other words we find ourselves in a world of earthquake, tempest and fire, a world of woes and suffering, a world where nature, if not always “red in tooth and claw”, can be pretty foreboding and pretty threatening.
This used to be a staple of our Canadian identity, namely, the recognition of the awesome and ominous power of nature. Our literary stories are most often the stories of survival and not of conquest. The point is nicely captured in a poem by Alden Nowlan, a celebrated Canadian poet from Stanley, NS, entitled Canadian January Night, written in 1971. He was, by the way, the son of Grace Reese, a parishioner here who passed away last winter and whom I buried in Stanley.
… I, walking backwards in obedience
to the wind, am possessed
of the fearful knowledge
my compatriots share
but almost never utter:
this is a country
where a man can die
simply from being
caught outside.
Week at a Glance, 31 January-6 February
Monday, January 31st
7:00pm Christ Church Book Club – Parish Hall
Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart
Tuesday, February 1st, Candlemas (anticipated)
10:00am Holy Communion
Thursday, February 3rd
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-In
Sunday, February 6th, Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany
8:00am Holy Communion
9:30am Holy Communion at KES
10:30am Holy Communion – Parish Hall
Followed by Annual Parish Meeting
[Note: Pot-Luck Luncheon cancelled due to forecast snow and rain]
Upcoming Event:
Tuesday, March 8th
4:30-6:00pm Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany
The collect for today, the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle: Romans 13:1-7
The Gospel: St Mark 4:35-41
Artwork: Rembrandt, The Storm On the Sea of Galilee, 1633. Oil on canvas, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (missing since 1990 theft), Boston.
Saint John Chrysostom
The collect for today, the Feast of St John Chrysostom (347-407), Preacher, Doctor of the Church, Archbishop of Constantinople (source):
O God of truth and love,
who gavest to thy servant John Chrysostom
eloquence to declare thy righteousness in the great congregation
and courage to bear reproach for the honour of thy name:
mercifully grant to the ministers of thy word
such excellence in preaching
that all people may share with them
in the glory that shall be revealed;
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: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Gospel: St Luke 21:12-15
Saint Polycarp
The collect for today, the Feast of St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Apostolic Man, Martyr (source):
Almighty God,
who gavest to thy servant Polycarp
boldness to confess the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ
before the rulers of this world
and courage to suffer death for his faith:
grant that we too may be ready
to give an answer for the faith that is in us
and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Lesson: Revelation 2:8-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 20:20-23
Click here to read more about Saint Polycarp.
Artwork: Martyrdom of St Polycarp, Church of St Polycarp, Izmir (ancient Smyrna), Turkey.
The Conversion of Saint Paul
The collect for today, The Conversion of Saint Paul, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O GOD, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lesson: Acts 21:40-22:16
The Gospel: St Luke 21:10-19
Artwork: Luca Signorelli, Conversion of St Paul, 1477-80. Fresco, Sacristy of St John, Basilica della Santa Casa, Loreto.