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

Morlaiter, Jesus disputing with the doctors

Artwork: Gian Maria Morlaiter, Jesus disputing with the doctors of law in the Temple, 1730. Bas-relief, Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Baptism of Our Lord

The collect for today, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O HEAVENLY Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ did take our nature upon him, and was baptized for our sakes in the river Jordan: Mercifully grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may also be partakers of thy Holy Spirit; through him whom thou didst send to be our Saviour and Redeemer, even the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson Isaiah 42:1-8
The Gospel: St Mark 1:1-11

Sansovino, Baptism of Jesus

Artwork: Andrea Sansovino, The Baptism of Jesus, 1502. (The angel is a 1792 addition by Innocenzo Spinazzi.) Marble, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence.  Photograph taken by admin, 14 May 2010.

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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

Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Adoration of the Magi

Artwork: The Adoration of the Magi stained glass was made by the firm of C.E. Kempe of London and installed in the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, St John’s, Newfoundland, in 1913. Photograph taken by admin, 7 September 2009.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Second Sunday After Christmas

“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream”

We have had occasion to think about Mary keeping all the things that were said about her son and “pondering them in her heart”. We, too, like the Shepherds have had occasion to come to Bethlehem and “see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us”. Now we hear about Joseph, Joseph thinking “on these things”.

Matthew provides us with a window to behold the mystery of Christmas through the eyes of Joseph. What things was he thinking? Curious and difficult things, actually, disturbing and troubling things really. He has just discovered that his betrothed, Mary, is with child. Matthew quickly adds “of the Holy Ghost”, but that is something not yet known by Joseph. He “being a just man”, Matthew tells us, “and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily”. What does this mean? Well, he is thinking about the scandal of Mary’s being with child and not through him. He is aware that according to Jewish law and custom this means she is guilty of adultery and, therefore, subject to the public act of being stoned to death! His thought is to “put her away privily”, which does not mean to kill her but to have her sent away to somewhere private and hidden. There is a quality of sadness about the thoughts of Joseph.

“But while he thought on these things”, these dark and disturbing things, these things which must have troubled him greatly, as greatly, perhaps, as Mary being troubled at the Angel’s words that “the Lord is with thee” and that she should “conceive and bear a son” and all without knowing a man, “behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream”. What follows is explanation that only an angel of the Lord could provide.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Second Sunday After Christmas

The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962) does not provide a collect for the Second Sunday after Christmas, but specifies that the service for the Octave Day of Christmas “shall be used until the Epiphany.”

ALMIGHTY 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.

The Lesson: Isaiah 9:2-7
The Gospel: St Luke 2:15-21

Balestra, Adoration of the Shepherds

Artwork: Antonio Balestra, Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1704-08. Oil on canvas, Chiesa di San Zaccaria, Venice. Photograph taken by admin, 8 May 2010.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Octave Day of Christmas

“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us.”

Literally, “this thing which is come to pass” means “this saying that has happened”. Thus, does Luke proclaim, in his own way, the essential Christmas message about the Word made flesh. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, the saying (το ρημα) that has happened (το γεγονος). It is something made known to us through the witness of men and angels, through what has been heard and seen, declared and written down. In a way, the liturgical celebrations of the Christmas season offer a profound and sophisticated commentary upon the idea and concept of Revelation.

There is a rich fullness to the Christmas story concentrated in the rather crowded scene at Bethlehem. This fullness relates directly to the very dynamic of the Christian faith. Christian contemplation is the exact opposite of Buddhist meditations, for example, precisely because it is about the fullness of images (and at the fullness of time, too!) and not about the emptying of images from our minds as if they were essentially illusions. It counters, too, the despair and emptiness of the contemporary culture of nihilism. For in “the fullness of the time”, to use Paul’s phrase in Galatians, all time finds meaning.

The consequences of this fullness of images are huge. To put it simply, it provides the logic for redemption. The images convey meaning and truth. There is something that has happened in time and in space. While the material and the physical, the sensual and the tangible are not everything, neither are they nothing; they have their substance and meaning precisely in the embrace of the spiritual and the intellectual; in short, in God. There can be no greater intersection between the eternal and the temporal than what the Christian story proclaims and no place where that is more concentrated for us, it seems, than in that crowded scene at Bethlehem. And here is the redemption of our humanity, the redemption of desire, of love; in short, the redemption of all that belongs to the truth and being of the created universe.

It is found in the mystery of Christ’s holy birth. It is found in the simple humility of this holy scene at Bethlehem.

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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):

ALMIGHTY 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

Bambini, Circumcision of Jesus

Artwork: Nicolo and Giovanni Bambini, The Circumcision of Jesus, c. 1600. Oil on panel, Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di Santa Maria del Carmelo (Scuola Grande dei Carmini), Venice. Photograph taken by admin, 10 May 2010.

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Prayers and liturgy

John West

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 Wyclif

The collect for today, the commemoration of John Wyclif, (c 1320-84), Scholar, Translator, Reformer (source):

O Lord, God of truth, whose Word is a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path: We give you thanks for your 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 pray that your Holy Spirit may overshadow us as we read the written Word, and that Christ, the living Word, may transform us according to your righteous will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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

Madox Brown, Wyclif Reading His Translation

Artwork: Ford Madox Brown, John Wycliffe Reading His Translation of the Bible to John of Gaunt, 1847-61. Oil on canvas, Bradford Art Galleries and Museums.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Thomas Becket

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

O 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

King Henry II and Saint Thomas BecketThomas Becket was a close personal friend of King Henry II of England and served as his chancellor from 1155. When Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, died in 1162, Henry saw an opportunity to exercise control over the church and detemined to have his chancellor elected to the post. Thomas saw the dangers of the king’s plan and warned Henry that, if he became archbishop, his first loyalty would be to God and not the king. He told Henry, “Several things you do in prejudice of the rights of the church make me fear that you would require of me what I could not agree to.” What Thomas feared soon came to pass.

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