Proper Prayers and Blessings for Advent 1A (1 December 2019)

Proper Prayers for RCL Advent 1A

Isaiah 2.1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13.11-14; Matthew 24.36-44

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility, that/so that on the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  [1]

or

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.  By your merciful protection save us from the threatening dangers of our sins, and enlighten our walk in the way of your salvation, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.  [2]

or

God of peace, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; so that on the last day, when your Son Jesus shall come again to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to eternal life; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  [3]

or

Almighty God, as your kingdom dawns, turn us from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness, so that we may be ready to meet you in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  [3]

Prayer over the Gifts

God of love and power, your word stirs within us the expectation of the coming of your Son.  Accept all we offer you this day, and sustain us with your promise of eternal life.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [1]

or

God of abundance, we bring before you the precious fruits of your creation, and with them our very lives.  Teach us patience and hope as we care for all those in need until the coming of your Son, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [2]

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.  You comforted your people with the promise of the Redeemer, though whom you will also make all things new in the day when he comes to judge the world in righteousness.  And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn.  [2]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; we give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord, who in the fullness of time came among us in our flesh, and opened to us the way of salvation.  Now we watch for the day when he will come again in power and great triumph to judge this world, that/so that we, without shame or fear, may rejoice to behold his appearing.  Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

The Breaking of the Bread

God of promise, you prepare a banquet for us in your kingdom.

Happy are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb.  [1]

Prayer after Communion

God for whom we wait, you have fed us with the bread of eternal life.  Keep us ever watchful, that/so that we may be ready to stand before the Son of man.  We ask this in the name of Christ the Lord.  Amen.  [1]

or

God for whom we wait, in this meal you give us a foretaste of that day when the hungry will be fed with good things.  Send us forth to make known your deeds and to proclaim the greatness of your name, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [2]

Blessing

Be steadfast in faith, joyful in hope, and untiring in love all the days of your life; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.  [1]

or

Be steadfast in faith, joyful in hope, and untiring in love all the days of your life; and the blessing the holy and undivided Trinity, the Author of creation, the Word of redemption and the Spirit of wisdom, be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.  [1 alt.]

or

May the Holy One of Israel, by whose providence our Redeemer came among us in great humility, sanctify you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always.  Amen.  [7 alt.]

or

May the Holy One of Israel, by whose providence our Redeemer came among us in great humility, sanctify you in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, the Author of creation, the Word of redemption and the Spirit of wisdom, now and always.  Amen.  [7 alt.]

or

May the Sun of righteousness shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.  [7 alt.]

or

May the Sun of righteousness shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path; and the blessing the holy and undivided Trinity, the Author of creation, the Word of redemption and the Spirit of wisdom, be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.  [7 alt.]

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

[7]       Book of Occasional Services 2003

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

Pledging Allegiance: Reflections on the Reign of Christ (24 November 2019)

Pledging Allegiance

Reflections on the Reign of Christ

RCL Reign of Christ C

24 November 2019

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

Click here to listen to the Sermon as preached at 10.00 on the 24th.

            In September of 1958 I walked through the doors of Bristol Elementary School in Colorado Springs to begin kindergarten and my educational journey that would eventually led to a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1993, some thirty-five years later.  On that first day I was introduced to a public ritual that had been repeated in countless American classrooms since 1892.  We faced the wall, put our right hands over our hearts and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  It took me a while to realize that we weren’t speaking these words to the wall but to the flag that hung over the blackboard at the front of the room.

            The American Pledge of Allegiance is quite simple and short:  “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  Over the years my teachers helped me to understand that my allegiance wasn’t to the Flag per se but to the Republic, an experiment in representative democracy that was only one hundred and eighty-two years old the year I entered kindergarten.

            As I grew older I learned that the unity the pledge spoke of was fragile and that religious faith was no longer a unifying force in American life ---  especially if you were an Anglican in the western part of the Bible Belt.  More importantly I learned that the ‘liberty and justice for all’ that the Pledge implied had already been achieved was in reality an aspiration yet to be fulfilled --- something I experienced first-hand during the court-ordered desegregation of my high school in 1970.  I realized that patriotism was the last refuge of scoundrels and that true patriotism required the courage to voice criticism and to work for lasting change.

            Many years later I joined my wife and older son along with a hundred or more new Canadians from all over the world to pledge my allegiance to ‘Her Majesty the Queen and all her successors according to the law’.  While my English family thought this quite reasonable, I’m sure that some of my kinfolk who fought in the War of Independence were rolling their proverbial eyes in heaven as they looked down upon the scene at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver.

            Since I was born in England of an English mother and an American father, raised in the United States and a Canadian by choice for more than thirty years, there are times when I’m not quite sure where my earthly allegiance lies.  The only valid passport I have is Canadian, although I do have expired British and US passports that could be renewed.  Sometimes someone will say something that reminds me that I am not a Canadian by birth and sometimes, in conversations with friends in the United States, I am deeply aware of my Canadian perspective.

            All of us who are here today live such lives of conflicting allegiances.  At some point in time we choose family needs over personal aspirations or we try to reconcile the obligations of our work with the obligations of being a spouse, a parent or the primary caregiver for an aging family member.  There are moments when, in a conversation with someone we know, something is said that we find offensive or ill-informed or just plain wrong-headed and we’re not sure if continued friendship and silence trumps our desire for honesty and plain-speaking.  We don’t always have short clear statements about where our allegiance lie, whether to the Flag and the Republic or to the Queen and her successors.

            In 1925 Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in response to the class divisions and nationalism that arose after the end of the First World War.  In establishing the feast Pope Pius hoped to remind Christians to whom their true allegiance was to be given.  He noted that unlike worldly powers Christ did not reign through fear and violence but through courage and compassion.  Soon other Christian communities began to adopt the feast into their own liturgical calendars.  Some communions, such as ours, chose to call this Sunday ‘the Reign of Christ’, a title thought to lead us away from images of earthly rulers towards contemplation of how our allegiance to Christ takes shape in our daily lives.

            By adopting the feast we were faced with yet another competing claim on our fidelity, another set of obligations.  How shall we pledge our allegiance to our Servant Lord, the rabbi from Nazareth, the crucified Messiah?

            We pledge our allegiance to Christ when we choose self-giving service of the voiceless and the powerless over self-interest.  Such service takes many forms and is often behind the scenes of daily life.  It can be as simple an act as looking in the eyes of someone who is asking for spare change and acknowledging that they are a real person.  It can be as grand an act as devoting oneself to a cause that requires significant sacrifice.

            We pledge our allegiance to Christ when we gather for worship in places such as this Cathedral or in homes or in simple buildings elsewhere in the world.  In these gatherings strangers become friends, wisdom is shared rather than jingoistic slogans and all are fed with the same bread and the same cup.  The Word is proclaimed, the needs and concerns of the world are lifted up to God and the Spirit sends us out empowered to “ . . . do more than we can ask or imagine”.

            We pledge our allegiance to Christ when we proclaim in word and deed the Good News of God in Christ.  This Good News confronts those who choose to use fear and coercion to maintain their power with the truth that

Goodness is stronger than evil;

love is stronger than hate;

light is stronger than darkness;

life is stronger than death;

vict’ry is ours, vict’ry is ours,

through God who loves us.

Vict’ry is ours, vict’ry is ours,

through God who loves us. [1]

            We pledge our allegiance to Christ when we battle those forces that use ignorance as a means of keeping control and who believe that repeating a lie multiple times will make it a truth.

  

            We pledge our allegiance to Christ when we “tend the sick, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted [and] shield the joyous”. [2]

            So here we are.  Our liturgical year will shortly come to an end and we begin the annual journey of discipleship again.  In our end is our beginning, an opportunity to renew our allegiance to Christ in whom we meet God, the Creator of all that is, seen and unseen.  We will offer tangible signs of our fidelity in intercession, petition and thanksgiving, in offering and pledging our financial resources to God’s mission in this community and in bread broken and wine poured for us and for all humanity.  No doubt in the year ahead we will find our allegiance, our primary allegiance, challenged by the ups and downs of our lives.  But we need not worry.  Every week we will have the opportunity to put our hands over our hearts and to renew our allegiance to the One who never breaks faith with us.  Flags and republics may stumble and fall, monarchies and successors fail to meet expectations, but Christ lives, Christ reigns and Christ will find a home in the hearts of all.

---

[1] ‘Goodness Is Stronger Than Evil’, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), Hymn #721.

[2] The Book of Common Prayer (1979), 124.

Proper Prayers for Pentecost 23 (17 November 2019)

Proper Prayers for RCL Proper 33C

RCL Complementary Series

Malachi 4.1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13; Luke 21.5-19

RCL Semi-continuous Series

Isaiah 65.17-25; Isaiah 12.2-6 (as canticle); 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13; Luke 21.5-19

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to be the light of the world.  Free us from all that darkens and ensnares us, and bring us to eternal light and joy; through the power of him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  [1]

or

O God, protector of all who trust in you, without you nothing is strong, nothing is holy.  Embrace us with your mercy, that/so that with you as our ruler and guide, we may live through what is temporary without losing what is eternal, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [2]

or

God, who is faithful when all the foundations crumble:  in the time of crisis, as holy places fall and nations stumble, give us the conviction to bear witness to your love, whatever the cost; through Jesus Christ, your Word and Wisdom.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, in Christ you give us hope for a new heaven and a new earth.  Grant us wisdom to interpret the signs of our times, courage to stand in the time of trial, and faith to witness to your truth and love.  Amen.  [3]

or

Lord God of all the ages, the One who is, who was, and who is to come, stir up within us a longing for your kingdom, steady our hearts in time of trial, and grant us patient endurance until the sun of justice dawns.  we make our prayer 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, our God, you hear our cry and listen to our prayer.  Grant that we may know that our redeemer lives and, trusting in you, be confident that we will not be lost or forgotten.  We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.  Amen.  [6]

Prayer over the Gifts

Holy God, in this eucharist we renew our baptismal covenant.  Help us, through our offering this day, to renounce al things that draw us from your love.  This we ask 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

Gracious God, in this sacrament we have shared the body and blood of Christ.  May we who have been nourished by holy things bear witness to his light, and share in his eternal priesthood; for he is Lord for ever and ever.  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 give you 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.

Eternal Not Everlasting Remembrance: Reflections on Remembrance Sunday (10 November 2019)

Eternal Not Everlasting Remembrance

Reflections on Remembrance Sunday

10 November 2019

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

         I have a great deal of sympathy for people who learn English as a second language.  They have to navigate the deep currents of our Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Norman French heritage which can give us two or three different words for the same person, place, thing or action.

         This is hard enough, but we then have to deal with our colonial history and its shameless habit of kidnapping words from other languages and making them at home in English.  Just think of tepees, igloos and pow-wows to mention a few of the thousands of ‘borrowed’ words to be found in our dictionaries.

         Because of this complex history of the contemporary English language, even native English-speaking people can be excused for sometimes using the wrong word when talking or writing about important ideas.  On this Remembrance Sunday two words come to mind that have quite different meanings but are often used as if they describe the same idea.

         The two words are ‘eternal’ and ‘everlasting’.  ‘Everlasting’ means an unending duration of time.  It is a word that describes a ‘quantity’ of time.

         ‘Eternal’ is not about duration.  It is a way of describing a quality of time rather than its quantity. ‘Eternal’ is the adjective we often use to express our experience of timelessness.  Past, present and future co-exist in the same moment and time seems to stand still.

         ‘Everlasting’ describes a painful dental procedure which seems to go on without end and without the numbing benefits of anesthesia.  ‘Eternal’, on the other hand, describes the experience of being with a loved one or some other experience that leaves us feeling free from the relentless passage of time.

         We who are disciples of Jesus of Nazareth believe that our faith in the God to whom Jesus leads us opens the door to eternal rather than everlasting life.  Eternal life is more than our hope in life beyond death, more than our hope in the world to come.  Eternal life is our present experience of a living hope in the present, a hope that inspires us to work with God towards the promised future reign of justice and peace --- despite the painful or troubling or disappointing realities of our past.

         When we remember those whose lives have been given for the sake of others, we bring them into ‘eternal’ remembrance.  Their deeds and choices shaped our present.  Their past and our present are the building blocks for the future.  The mortar that binds past, present and future together is the eternal life Jesus speaks of in today’s reading from the Gospel according to John.

         We sometimes speak and act as if those who came before us are a different species, but they are not.  We share more than the biological DNA that unites us as humans.  We share a spiritual and an ethical DNA that stirs us to make difficult choices that have the potential to bring us and all creation closer to the future God lays before us.

         Today we do not simply ‘remember’ the past and the sacrifices of our forebears as if we are simply reassembling various memories such as the stories told us by members of our families or our own explorations of history, a nostalgic jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing but the picture still recognizable.  Today we remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are alive in us and through us and who continue to build God’s future. [1]  Today we give thanks that all that has been good in the lives of our forebears is of benefit to the world. [2]  Today we pledge that through the gift of eternal life God has given to us through our faith in Jesus of Nazareth our forebears go on living with us and in us, in our hearts and minds, in our courage and our consciences. [3]

         Christians know how to remember in this way.  Each time we break the bread and share the cup of eternal life we make the power and meaning of the past present in us and through us to bring God’s future one step closer to its fulfillment.  After the poppies are no longer worn, after the wreathes have been removed from the cenotaphs and after leaves cover the graves of our veterans and the fallen, Canada will return to its merry pace towards ‘the holiday season’ and it will be easy to forget.  But we will not forget, because we have been called by God and sealed by the cross in baptism for eternal life, a life breathed into us by the life and death of Jesus.  We’ve known for two thousand years that the past, with all its power to inspire us towards God’s future, is not behind us.  It is present, right here and right now.  

God is working his purpose out

as year succeeds to year;

God is working his purpose out,

and the time is drawing near;

Nearer and nearer draws the time,

the time that shall surely be,

when the earth shall be filled

with the glory of God

as the waters cover the sea. [4]

---

[1] cf. Hebrews 12.

[2] cf. The Book of Alternative Services 1985, 602.

[3] cf. The Book of Alternative Services 1985, 603.

[4] The Hymnal  1940, #538.