I Had a Dream: Reflections on Sirach 10.12-18 (RCL Proper 22C, 1 September 2019)

I Had a Dream

Reflections on Sirach 10.12-18

RCL Proper 22C

1 September 2019

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

Sirach 10.12-18

            ^10.12The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.  ¹³For the beginning of pride is sin, and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.  Therefore the Lord brings upon them unheard-of calamities, and destroys them completely.  ¹⁴The Lord overthrows the thrones of rulers, and enthrones the lowly in their place.  ¹⁵The Lord plucks up the roots of the nations, and plants the humble in their place.  ¹⁶The Lord lays waste the lands of the nations, and destroys them to the foundations of the earth.  ¹⁷He removes some of them and destroys them, and erases the memory of them from the earth.  ¹⁸Pride was not created for human beings, or violent anger for those born of women.

Pride is bursting out all over.

         In many parts of the world the month of August is filled with events in support of the LGBTQ community.  Collectively these events often include the word ‘pride’ in the title and description. Given the cultural, social, political and legal forces that have kept and, in many places, still keep LGBTQ people hidden, hiding and subject to shame and discrimination, pride in oneself seems to be more than a fitting attitude to encourage.

         Here in Canada there is a resurgence of pride among indigenous peoples as they claim their rightful place at the table as decisions made as to how we care for ‘this fragile earth, our island home’, how we make political decisions for the common good and how we celebrate the wisdom and gifts that the many peoples of Canada possess.  Indigenous music can be heard in all forms of media and every basic television package includes channels such as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

         Pride, it would seem, is a necessary expression of the love of self embodied in Jesus’ summary of the Law:  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  This is the first and the great commandment.  The second is like it:  Love your neighbour as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these.” [1]

         Yet the writer of Sirach is not so sure that pride is a good thing.  He considers it the product of sin and cautions his readers that “[the] beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.” [2]  Yet I think that there is a bit more to explore here about what kind of ‘pride’ we’re talking about.

I had a dream.

         The pride that we are witnessing in the LGBTQ community, among indigenous peoples throughout the world and among various groups of people who are resisting various kinds of public shaming by rejoicing in who they are is, I think, a healthy self-love.  It is healthy self-lovebecause it does claim superiority over others by saying, ‘I’m better than you because I’m x, y or z.’ It is healthy self-lovebecause it is based upon respect for others, a genuine desire to build bridges and to learn from others, rather than mere tolerance that says, ‘Don’t tread on me and I won’t stomp on you!’  It is healthy self-lovebecause it expresses gratitude for God’s gifts in us rather than a more selfish worldview that believes ‘it’s better to be me than it is to be you.’

         A few nights ago I had a vivid dream that may reveal how I’ve been struggling with whole question of pride.  I was with two people, one of whom I wanted to talk to about matters of shared interest and one of whom I did not to talk to yet once more about their personal problems. I had managed to double-book myself and was trying to negotiate with them about with whom I would meet first and how long we would meet.  Neither was happy nor was I.  We were in a book store which had a statue that was known for asking passer-byes questions that they could not avoid asking.

         I heard someone say, ‘Has she asked you the question yet?’  And before I do anything or say anything, I knew what the question would be:  ‘Richard, do you love yourself?’  And then I woke up.  I’ve been chewing on this question for several days and I think that I’ve begun to break the question down into ways that Sirach would appreciate.

         Do I love who I am?  Notice that I use the phrase, ‘who I am’.  Each one of us has to undertake a realistic assessment of our strengths and our weaknesses, our hopes and our fears, our moments of clarity and our moments of confusion.  We have to take ownership of the decisions we’ve made and those we have avoided making, recognizing that the consequences of ‘things done and left undone’ shape who we are and affect people around us.  This kind of self-examination can lead us to realize that we may love who we are now because we are grateful that it is a stage on our life-long journey to become who God wants to be.

         Love of self means a commitment of heart, mind, body and strength to work towards that ‘full stature of Christ’ which God has implanted in every human being, that ‘maturity’ which enables each one of us to love as God has loved us in Christ.  Unless I love myself as I am in this way, then I may fall into the trap that I think Sirach is describing, a trap I’m going to call ‘chauvinism’.

         Chauvinism takes many forms, but they all share one characteristic in common. Chauvinism is based on the belief that God is not the centre, but that something else is.  Perhaps the centre is our ethnicity or our religion or our social class or our gender identity.  There are just as many ‘liberal’ chauvinists as there are ‘conservative’ chauvinists --- maybe even a few ‘centrist’ chauvinists.  If God makes any appearance among chauvinists, God is seen as having chosen our group, to the exclusion of all others, for some special purpose or blessings.  We are proud of our identity not because it celebrates the diversity of God’s creation, but because it makes us better than anyone else.  Chauvinism is not interested in the ‘common good’; it seeks advantage and preferential treatment.

         Chauvinism always seeks the head table and is rarely, if ever, found in the kitchen cooking and serving the food.  This is the poisonous, the contaminating pride about which Sirach warns us.  Such pride is ultimately self-destructive because it collapses in on itself creating a spiritual, emotional and moral black hole.

         Faithful pride is a self-love that never loses sight of the source of all that we are, all that we have and all that we might become.  Faithful self-love rejoices that before we loved God, God loved us, all of us.  Faithful self-love, especially on a Labour Day weekend, remembers that we live in a mutually inter-dependent world where remembering the labour and sacrifices of others arouses in us a commitment to work for a just and sustainable world where all God’s children are free. 

---

[1]The Book of Alternative Services1985, 69.

[2]Sirach 10.12 (New Revised Standard Version).

Proper Prayers for RCL Proper 22C (1 September 2019)

Proper Prayers for RCL Proper 22C

RCL Complementary Series

Proverbs 25.6-7 or Sirach 10.12-18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13.1-8, 15-16; Luke 14.1, 7-14

RCL Semi-continuous Series

Jeremiah 2.4-13; Psalm 81.1, 10-16; Hebrews 13.1-8, 15-16; Luke 14.1, 7-14

Collect of the Day

Author and Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us in all goodness, and of your great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  [1]

or

O God, you resist those who are proud and give grace to those who are humble.  Give us the humility of your Son, that we may embody the generosity of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [2]

or

Inviting God, laying open your table to those without status or power, and setting a place for the foreign and the unwanted:  overturn our tables of power and teach us to receive bread from strange and wounded hands; through Jesus Christ, the one given for all.  Amen. [3]

or

God of power and justice, like Jeremiah you weep over those who wander from you and who enter into chaos and destruction.  By your tears and through your mercy, teach us your ways and write them on our hearts, so that we may follow faithful the path you show us.  Amen.  [3]

or

God and judge of all, you show us that the way to your kingdom is through humility and service.  Keep us true to the path of justice and give us the reward promised to those who make a place for the rejected and the poor.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen. [4]

Prayer over the Gifts

Merciful God, receive all we offer you this day.  Give us grace to love one another that/so thatyour love may be made perfect in us.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [1]

or

Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation.  Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, so that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever.  You bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine.  Nourish us with these gifts, so that we might for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.  Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts:  our selves, our time and our possessions.  Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of mercy and grace, the eyes of all wait upon you,  and you open your hand in blessing.  Fill us with good things at your table, so that we may come to the help of all in need, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

Merciful God, as grains of wheat scattered upon the hills were gathered together to become one bread, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, for yours is the glory through Jesus Christ, now and for ever.  Amen.  [3]

Preface

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Saviour Jesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn. [2a]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; you are the source of light and life for all your creation, you made us in your own image, and call us to new life in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Therefore we praise you, joining our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; we give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  In our unending joy we echo on earth the song of the angels in heaven as we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; by water and the Holy Spirit you have made us a holy people in Jesus Christ our Lord; you renew that mystery in bread and wine and nourish us, to show forth your glory in all the world. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the holy people who have served you in every age, we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

Prayer after Communion

Almighty God/Giver of all good things, you renew us at your table with the bread of life.  May your holy food strengthen us in love and help us to serve you in each other.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [1]

or

We give you thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life.  In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift, in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son.  By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us with Christ, making us one with all your people.  Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, so that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Gracious God, in this meal you have drawn us to your heart, and nourished us at your table with food and drink, the body and blood of Christ.  Now send us forth to be your people in the world, and to proclaim your truth this day and evermore, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, our life, our strength, our food, we give you thanks for sustaining us with the body and blood of your Son.  By your Holy Spirit, enliven us to be his body in the world, so that more and more we will giveyou praise and serve your earth and its many peoples, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

Notes

[1]       The Book of Alternative Services 1985

[2]       Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006

[2a]      Evangelical Lutheran Worship:  Leaders Desk Edition 2006

[3]       Alternative Collects for Years A, B & C of the RCL and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion 2019

[4]       Opening Prayers:  Collects in Contemporary Language 1997

[5]       Prayers for an Inclusive Church 2009

[6]       Revised Common Lectionary Prayers 2002

N.B.  Text in italics are possible alternatives suggested by the Ven. Richard Geoffrey Leggett, Ph.D.

Worship as Our Self Giving: Reflections on Isaiah 58.9b-14 (RCL Proper 21C, 25 August 2019)

Worship as Our Self Giving

Reflections on Isaiah 58.9b-14

 

RCL Proper 21C

25 August 2019

 

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

N.B.  Holy Trinity Cathedral is using the complementary series of Hebrew readings and psalms during Ordinary Time rather than the semi-continuous series printed in The Book of Alternative Services.

Isaiah 58.9b-14

            ^58.9bIf you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, ¹⁰if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.  ¹¹The Lordwill guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.  ¹²Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

            ¹³If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lordhonorable; if you honour it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; ¹⁴then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lordhas spoken.

Be careful about what you pray for.

            For more than a thousand years it has been the custom of the churches who claim a catholic heritage to expect candidates to write to their bishops four times a year to report on their progress, their struggles and their hopes. These occasions are called the Ember Days, not because they are glowing but because they are quarterly --- in Latin quatember.

            In Lent of 1981 I wrote what was to be my last seminary Ember Day letter to my Bishop, Bill Frey of Colorado.  It was an uncertain time for me.  I had heard nothing from the Bishop about when I was to be ordained and where I was to serve.  All around me my classmates were making preparations for ordination and were in correspondence with their future parishes.  Mealtimes were especially painful.  I tried to share in my classmates’ joy, but my heart really wasn’t in it.

            I wrote all these things in my letter to the Bishop and told him that I was praying for patience.  Bill rarely responded to Ember Day letters with more than a quick postcard acknowledging that he had received the letter and had read it.  Three days after I wrote the letter a postcard arrived for me from Bill.  It read simply, ‘Stop praying for patience.  Love, +Bill.’ As you can imagine I was a bit surprised and felt even more at sea.

            Two weeks later Bill happened to be visiting my seminary to meet with one of my classmates who was transferring to another diocese.  Because the visit to my seminary was one of three stops that he was to make that day, I had only a few minutes to speak with him privately.  So I asked him, ‘Why should I stop praying for patience?’  He looked at me and said, ‘If you pray for something, God will provide you with the opportunity to act on what you pray for.  I think that you have enough on your plate right now.  Pray for patience after you’re ordained.’  And off he went.

            

What does the Lord require of us?

            Our reading from Isaiah this morning is taken from a portion of that collection of prophetic wisdom written just after the people of Israel returned from their exile in Babylon and were struggling to re-create a society based on the covenant had made with them in the wilderness of Sinai.  The years in exile had caused some of the people to become estranged from their identity and their customs.  Others were proud of how they had preserved their heritage and were not hesitant to point the finger at those who had not.

            

            The writer of this portion of Isaiah will not let any of the people off the hook. He knows that worship and religious ritual that is divorced from faithful action in the world is empty. We can say all the right words.  We can follow the rituals in precise detail.  We can do all these things and still lose our souls.  Enjoying the Sabbath rest avails us naught if we fail to free our sisters and brothers from unjust burdens.  Sharing in the Sabbath meal avails us naught if we take no steps to alleviate the hunger, physical and spiritual, that plagues so many men, women and children.  Reciting the Shema, the confession that there is only one God, and then acting as if that God had not created all people, whether known to us or unknown, whether of our faith or not, will not make us holy in the sight of the Creator of all.

            In recent years there has been a public backlash to a familiar phrase used by political leaders in the face of the violence and catastrophes that have afflicted people all across the world:  ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with you.’  Thoughts and prayers are good if they lead us into concrete actions that address the causes of violence, climate-related disasters and human neglect. It is good to remember the motto of the Benedictine Order, the religious community that influenced the spiritual and liturgical DNA of Anglicanism, ‘Ora et labora’--- ‘Pray and Work’ --- the two are inextricably linked.

            Think for a moment about the implications of the Lord’s Prayer.  We hallow God’s name because we dare to claim that we are called to act as members of God’s family.  We pray for the coming of God’s kingdom because we dare to claim that we are working for that day to come in our own daily lives.  We pray for our daily bread because we know that all we have in this life is dependent upon the mystery of the seasons and the labour of others.  We pray for the forgiveness of our sins because we cannot experience true forgiveness unless we ourselves forgive.  It is, as I have often said, the most dangerous prayer I know because it puts us right in the thick of things, right in the midst of what God is doing in the world, in us and through us, right now, right here.

            When we participate in the prayers of the community, we name for ourselves the arena in which God expects us to be living agents of the good news of God in Christ.  Every petition for the leaders of our world, our nation and our communities is a ‘memo to self’ that begs the question, ‘How shall I work for the common good?’  Every petition for those who are in any need or trouble is a ‘memo to self’ that begs the question, ‘How shall respond to those needs?’  Every petition for peace and justice is a ‘memo to self’ that begs the question, ‘How can I be an agent of God’s peace and justice in my family, in my workplace and wherever God leads me to be?’ 

See who you are and become what you see.

            Now, my friends, I say these things not to encourage guilt or a sense of inadequacy. We know that we do not always live up to the promises that we made by us or for us when we were baptized.  We know that each time we renew those promises we become more aware of how much more lies before us.  Hardly a day goes by that I do not re-run a conversation or an action in my mind to ask myself whether I acted in a way that was faithful to my identity as one of God’s beloved gathered into the community of Christ’s disciples.  I don’t think that the writer of Isaiah or Jesus in today’s gospel reading from Luke wanted their audiences to give up on the Sabbath and its observances.  Those audiences and we just need to be reminded that what we do here is meant to be a ritual expression of what we are doing when we are not here:  gathering people into beloved community, proclaiming the good news, holding the whole world in our prayers, feeding others with the life of Christ given freely to us and going forth knowing that we are God’s agents not pawns.  What we do here is not play-acting.  What we do here is the weekly rehearsal of the kingdom of God so that we can play our parts on the world’s stage.

Proper Prayers for Pentecost 10 (18 August 2019)

Propers for RCL Proper 20C

Semi-continuous reading & psalm:  Isaiah 5.1-7; Psalm 80.1-2, 8-18 (BAS)

Complementary reading & psalm:  Jeremiah 23.23-29; Psalm 82

Hebrews 11.29-12.2; Luke 12.49-56

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and sent into our hearts the Spirit of your Son.  Give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that/so that all people may know the glorious liberty of the children of God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  [1]

or

O God, judge eternal, you love justice and hate oppression, and you call us to share your zeal for truth. Give us courage to take our stand with all victims of bloodshed and greed, and, following your servants and prophets, to look to the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour.  Amen.  [2]

or

God of restless fire and urgent river’s flow:  unsettle the false peace which hides our divisions; unfold our hearts to sense your presence; unloose your kingdom and make us one in Jesus Christ, the first of many brothers and sisters.  Amen.  [3]

or

Judge eternal, you love justice and hate oppression.  Give us courage to stand  with all victims of bloodshed and greed; and give us fire to proclaim your burning gospel  for the sake of Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  Amen.  [3]

or

To set the earth ablaze, O God, our Son submitted to a baptism unto death, and from his cup of suffering you call the Church to drink.  Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and give us strength in time of trial to run the race that lies before us.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen.  [4]

or

God of all nations, you rescued your people out of the Red Sea and delivered Rahab from battle; you rescue the lowly and needy from injustice and tribulation. Surround us with so great a cloud of witnesses that we may have faith to live by your word in our time, and endurance in the time of trial, for the sake of our Redeemer, Jesus the Christ. Amen.  [6]

Prayer over the Gifts

Loving God and Father/Loving God, you have adopted us to be your heirs.  Accept all we offer you this day and give us grace to live as faithful children.  WE ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [1]

or

Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation.  Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, so that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever.  You bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine.  Nourish us with these gifts, so that we might for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.  Through your goodness  you have blessed us with these gifts:  our selves, our time and our possessions.  Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

God of mercy and grace, the eyes of all wait upon you, and you open your hand in blessing.  Fill us with good things at your table, so that we may come to the help of all in need, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Merciful God, as grains of wheat scattered upon the hills were gathered together to become one bread, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, for yours is the glory through Jesus Christ, now and for ever.  Amen.  [3]

Proper Preface

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; you are the source of light and life for all your creation, you made us in your own image, and call us to new life in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Therefore we praise you, joining our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; we give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  In our unending joy we echo on earth the song of the angels in heaven as we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; by water and the Holy Spirit you have made us a holy people in Jesus Christ our Lord; you renew that mystery in bread and wine and nourish us, to show forth your glory in all the world. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the holy people who have served you in every age, we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our SaviourJesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:  [2]

Prayer after Communion

Eternal God, we have received a token of your promise.  May we who have been nourished by holy things live as faithful heirs of your promised kingdom/reign, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [1]

or

We give you thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life.  In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift, in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son.  By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

or

God of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us with Christ, making us one with all your people.  Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, so that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Gracious God, in this meal you have drawn us to your heart, and nourished us at your table with food and drink, the body and blood of Christ.  Now send us forth to be your people in the world, and to proclaim your truth this day and evermore, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, our life, our strength, our food, we give you thanks for sustaining us with the body and blood of your Son.  By your Holy Spirit, enliven us to be his body in the world, so that more and more we will giveyou praise and serve your earth and its many peoples, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

Sources

[1]       The Book of Alternative Services 1985

[2]       Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006

[2a]     Evangelical Lutheran Worship:  Leaders Desk Edition 2006

[3]       Alternative Collects for Years A, B & C and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion approved by General Synod 2019

[4]       Opening Prayers:  Collects in Contemporary Language 1997, 1999, 2001

[5]       Prayers for an Inclusive Church 2009

[6]       Revised Common Lectionary Prayers 2002

[7]       The Book of Occasional Services2018

N.B.  When a word or phrase appears is italicized in a liturgical text, it is an alteration made by the Ven. Richard Geoffrey Leggett to the original text.