Prayers and liturgy

The Twenty-Third Sunday After Trinity

The collect for today, the Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness: Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Philippians 3:17-21
The Gospel: St Matthew 22:15-22

Rembrandt, The Tribute Money, detail

Artwork: Rembrandt, The Tribute Money (detail), 1629. Oil on panel, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. (This work has also been attributed to a follower of Rembrandt.)  Click here to view the full painting.

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Mission

Mission: Prayer Partnership, Parish of Tisdale, Saskatchewan

The world is too much with us, late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers…

The romantic poet William Wordsworth may have had in mind the ways in which industrialisation and consumerism distance us from the natural world but there is a sense in which we become so preoccupied with ourselves and our own part of the world that we lose sight of God’s world and the Mission of the Church as well.

The Church, in a sense, is the mission. And that means looking beyond ourselves. Always. We are wonderfully reminded of the larger nature of the Church in the celebration of the Feast of All Saints. It signals a very important feature of Christian faith and teaching: the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.

The Communion of Saints connects with the mission of the Church both to the world that is indifferent and hostile to the Gospel imperatives of love and service and to other parts of the Christian Church, whether outside or inside Canada.

The challenge at Christ Church is to be an integral part of “the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” not just in our parish life of worship and not just in the local forms of service in the community of Windsor and the surrounding area but also in terms of commitment to the life of the wider Church.

Prayer is the key component of any kind of commitment and any kind of connection to other parts of the wider Church. I propose that we enter into a Prayer Partnership with another Parish in another part of the Canadian Church.

The Parish of Tisdale in Northern Saskatchewan is part of the Diocese of Saskatchewan. The Deacon-in-Charge is the Rev’d Gethin Edwards with his wife Meg and their three boys, Steven (age 7), Crispin (age 4) and Sam (age 2). They just began there in July 2010. Gethin is from Prince Edward Island, studied at King’s and Dalhousie University in Halifax, and worked in the Diocese of Fredericton before going west and north. I have contacted him about the possibilities of entering into a prayer partnership.

What will it mean? It will mean keeping them and their parish in our prayers and sharing information about the various concerns of our parishes. It will be about looking beyond ourselves.

Pray for the Parish of St. Matthew’s in Tisdale, Saskatchewan!

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Prayers and liturgy

Richard Hooker

The collect for today, the commemoration of Richard Hooker (1554-1600), Priest, Anglican Apologist, Teacher of the Faith (source):

Hooker Statue, Exeter CathedralO God of peace, the bond of all love,
who in thy Son Jesus Christ hast made for all people
thine inseparable dwelling place:
give us grace that,
after the example of thy servant Richard Hooker,
we thy servants may ever rejoice
in the true inheritance of thine adopted children
and show forth thy praises now and for ever;
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 Corinthians 2:6-10, 13-16
The Gospel: St John 17:18-23

The statue of Richard Hooker stands outside Exeter Cathedral, England.

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Prayers and liturgy

All Souls’ Day

The collect for today, The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, commonly called All Souls’ Day (source):

Everlasting God, our maker and redeemer,
grant us, with all the faithful departed,
the sure benefits of thy Son’s saving passion
and glorious resurrection,
that, in the last day,
when thou dost gather up all things in Christ,
we may with them enjoy the fullness of thy promises;
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 Thessalonians 4:13-18
The Gospel: St John 5:24-27

Giusto, Paradise

Artwork: Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Paradise, 1376-78. Fresco, Baptistery, Padua.  Photograph taken by admin, 6 May 2010.

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Prayers and liturgy

All Saints’ Day

The collect for today, All Saints’ Day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Revelation 7:9-17
The Gospel: St Matthew 5:1-12

Leandro Bassano, Holy Trinity Virgin Apostles

Artwork: Leandro Bassano, Holy Trinity, the Virgin, with Apostles and Saint Dominic, late 16th century, oil on canvas. Altarpiece, first apsidal chapel, left transept, Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo (San Zanipolo) , Venice. Photograph taken by admin, 12 May 2010.

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Sermons

Sermon for All Saints’ Day

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy”

The leaves are scattered on the wind and the rain. The splendor of yesterday’s golden glory lies in scattered heaps. And, yet, in the soft dying of nature’s year, when the colours of blazing reds, bright yellows and vibrant oranges have been dimmed to burnished gold, there is a gathering; a gathering into glory far greater than any spectacle of nature.

There is a gathering of the scattered leaves of our humanity, and like the gathering together “into one volume” of the scattered leaves of Sybil’s oracles, as the poet, Dante, puts it, the gathering has to do with our remembering, with the quality of our recollection. There is a gathering of scattered minds into unity and order, a unity and order which signals the redemption of our humanity in the truth of its diversity. The Feast of All Saints is the great autumnal festival of spiritual life, the great celebration of the redeemed community of our humanity.

All Saints recalls us to the spiritual community to which we belong. It signals the vocation of our humanity, both individually and collectively considered. We are called to holiness even in the face of our sinfulness.

The text which is central to this recollective gathering is at once provocative and paradoxical. It is The Beatitudes, the blessednesses, from The Sermon on the Mount. They have, it seems, an inexhaustible content that challenges us because of the quality of uncompromising objectivity.

(more…)

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 1-7 November

Tues., November 2nd, All Souls’ Day
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Brownies’ Mtg. in Parish Hall
7:00pm Holy Communion
7:30pm Christ Church Book Club – Coronation Room: “Three Day Road” by Joseph Boyden

Wednesday, November 3rd
6:30-7:30pm Sparks’ Mtg. in the Parish Hall

Thursday, November 4th
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-in
7:30pm West Hants Historical Society Monthly Meeting

Sunday, November 7th, Octave of All Saints’/Trinity XXIII
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Club Breakfast)
9:30am Holy Communion – KES
10:30am Holy Communion
5:00pm Fr. Curry preaches at Choral Evensong, St. George’s, Halifax.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity

The collect for today, the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

Millais, Unforgiving ServantLORD, we beseech thee to keep thy house hold the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Philippians 1:3-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 18:21-35

Artwork: John Everett Millais, The Unmerciful Servant, from Illustrations to `The Parables of Our Lord’, 1864. Relief print on paper, Tate Collections, London.

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Events

Congratulations

Congratulations and best wishes to Connie and Peter Kelley upon the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary! What a wonderful witness and testimony to the “love divine” which sustains, redeems and perfects human love! Blessings!

Fr. David Curry
The Parish of Christ Church

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Simon the Zealot and Saint Jude, Apostles, with Saint Jude the Brother of the Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The collect for the Brethren of the Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O HEAVENLY Father, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning: We bless thy holy Name for the witness of James and Jude, the kinsmen of the Lord, and pray that we may be made true members of thy heavenly family; through him who willed to be the firstborn among many brethren, even the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: St Jude 1-4
The Gospel: St John 14:21-27

Moratti, St SimonIn the various New Testament lists of the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13), the tenth and eleventh places are occupied by Simon and Judas son of James, also called Thaddeus.

To distinguish Simon from Simon Peter, Matthew and Mark refer to him as Simon the Cananaean, while Luke refers to him as Simon the Zealot. Both surnames have the same signification and are a translation of the Hebrew qana (the Zealous). The name does not signify that he belonged to the party of Zealots, but that he had zeal for the Jewish law, which he practised before his call. The translation of Matthew and Mark as Simon “the Canaanite” (as, e.g., KJV has it) is simply mistaken.

The New Testament contains a variety of names for the apostle Jude: Matthew and Mark refer to Thaddeus (a variant reading of Matthew has “Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus”), while Luke calls him Judas son of James. Christian tradition regards Saint Jude and Saint Thaddeus as different names for the same person. The various names are understood as efforts to avoid associating Saint Jude with the name of the traitor Judas Iscariot. The only time words of Jude are recorded, in St John 14:22-23, the Evangelist is quick to add “(not Iscariot)” after his name.

Jude is often identified as one of the brothers of the Lord and the author of the New Testament Epistle of Jude, but this is by no means universally accepted. The New Testament says that some or all of the Lord’s brothers did not believe in Him until after the Resurrection, so it is questionable whether the apostle Jude is the same Jude who authored the epistle bearing his name. In any case, as James Kiefer suggests,

Ottoni, St Jude Thaddaeuswe commemorate on this day (1) Simon the Zealot, one of the original Twelve; (2) Judas of James (also called Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus), also one of the original Twelve; and (3) Jude (or Judas) the brother of James and author of the Epistle, without settling the question of whether (2) and (3) are the same person.

After Pentecost, nothing certain is known about Simon and little about Jude. Some ancient Christian writers say that Simon and Jude went together as missionaries to Persia, and were martyred there. If this is true, it explains, to some extent, our lack of historical information on them and also why they are usually put together.

In modern times Jude has acquired considerable popularity as ‘patron of hopeless causes’ or ‘saint of last resort’. This patronage is said to have originated because nobody invoked him for anything since his name so closely resembled that of Judas who betrayed the Lord; consequently he favours even the most desperate situations of his clients.

Artwork (top left): Francesco Moratti, St Simon, 1708-09. Marble, Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome. Photo taken by admin, 29 April 2010.

Artwork (bottom right): Lorenzo Ottoni, St Jude Thaddaeus, c. 1718. Marble, Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome. Photo taken by admin, 29 April 2010.

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