Matins for All Saints

morning prayer for All saints

From All Saints to the First Sunday of Advent

The Gathering of the Community

Introductory Responses

Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised;

there is no end of your greatness.

One generation shall praise your works to another

and shall declare your power.

All your works praise you, O Lord,

and your faithful servants bless you.

They make known the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your power.

My mouth shall speak your praise, O Lord;

let all flesh bless your holy name for ever and ever.

Morning Prayer continues with the Psalm of the Day.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Psalm

A Psalm from the Daily Office Lectionary, the Weekday Eucharistic Lectionary or the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings is said or sung. 

Morning Prayer continues with the Reading. 

The Reading

A Reading from the Daily Office Lectionary, the Weekday Eucharistic Lectionary or the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings is read.  After a period of silent reflection one of the following is said.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

or

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Thanks be to God.

or

Holy Word, Holy Wisdom.

Thanks be to God.

Morning Prayer continues with the Responsory or the Canticle or both.  If two Readings are read, then the Responsory follows the first Reading and the Canticle the second.

The Responsory

The Responsory is said or sung.

You are righteous, O Lord, and you delight in righteous deeds;

the just shall see your face.

You are righteous, O Lord, and you delight in righteous deeds;

the just shall see your face.

When foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?

The just shall see your face.

Your eyes, O Lord, behold the inhabited world;

your piercing eye weighs our worth.

The just shall see your face.

You weigh the righteous as well as the wicked,

but those who delight in violence you abhor.

The just shall see your face.

Glory to God:  Source of all being, eternal Word and Holy Spirit.

You are righteous, O Lord, and you delight in righteous deeds;

the just shall see your face.

Morning Prayer continues with [the Second Reading or] the Canticle or an Affirmation of Faith.

The Canticle

Either ‘The Song of Zechariah’ or ‘The Souls of the Righteous’ may be said or sung.

The Song of Zechariah  (Luke 1.68-79)

Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, *

            you have come to your people and set them free.

You have raised up for us a mighty Saviour, *

            born of the house of your servant David.

Through your holy prophets, *

            you promised of old to save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us, *

            to show mercy to our forebears,

            and to remember your holy covenant.

This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham: *

            to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

            free to worship you without fear.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *

            for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,

to give God’s people knowledge of salvation *

            by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God *

            the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, *

            and to guide our feet into the way of peace.[i]

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *

            as it was in the beginning, is now and will be for ever.  Amen.

or

Glory to God, Source of all being, eternal Word and Holy Spirit: *

            as it was in the beginning, is now and will be for ever.  Amen.

Morning Prayer continues with an Affirmation of Faith or the Litany.

The Souls of the Righteous (Wisdom 3.1-8)

The souls of the righteous are in your hands, O God, *

            and no torment will ever touch them.

In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, *

            and their departure was thought to be a disaster,

and their going from us to be their destruction; *

            but they are at peace.

For though in the sight of others they were punished, *

            their hope is full of immortality.

Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, *

            because you tested them and found them worthy of yourself;

like gold in the furnace you tried them, *

            and like a sacrificial burnt offering you accepted them.

In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, *

            and will run like sparks through the stubble.

They will govern nations and rule over peoples, *

            and you, O Lord, will reign over them forever.

Those who trust in you will understand truth, *

            and the faithful will abide with you in love,

because grace and mercy are upon your holy ones, *

            and you watch over your elect.

Morning Prayer continues with an Affirmation of Faith or the Litany.

Affirmation of Faith

Either The Apostles’ Creed or the ‘Hear, O Israel’ may be said or sung.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.  Amen.[ii]

Morning Prayer continues with the Litany.

Hear, O Israel

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.

The following may be said or sung after ‘Hear, O Israel’.

Lord, have mercy upon us,

and write both these commandments in our hearts,

we beseech you.

Morning Prayer continues with the Litany.

The Prayers of the Community

The Litany

The Litany is said or sung.

In company with all the saints, known and unknown, let us pray to the Ancient of Days.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Additional intercessions, petitions and thanksgivings may be offered in silence or aloud.  After a period of silence either the Collect of the Day or the following Collect may be said or sung.

O Ancient of Days, through the outpouring of your Holy Spirit you comfort and bless all creatures.  Gather from the four corners of the world all those who weep in despair or loneliness, those who are hungry, naked or poor, those who have withstood oppression and are bowed in anguish before violence.  Grant that they may rejoice in the new life of justice and peace that you promised your people through the compassionate witness of Jesus.  Amen.[iii]

Morning Prayer continues with the Lord’s Prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer

Gathering our prayers and praises into one,

let us pray as our Saviour taught us,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen.

Morning Prayer continues with the Dismissal.

The Sending Forth of the Community

The Dismissal

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Morning Prayer may conclude with the following Sentence.

May God give us grace to follow the saints in faith and hope and love.  Amen.[iv]

Notes

All scriptural texts are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible and may have been emended for more inclusive language.

All liturgical texts are taken from The Book of Alternative Services unless otherwise noted and may have been emended for more inclusive language.

---

[i] Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 303.

[ii] Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 105.

[iii] Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), 227.

[iv] Adapted from The Book of Occasional Services (2003), 29.

Stewardship as Diakonia

RCL Proper 29B

21 October 2012

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Propers:  Isaiah 53.4-12; Psalm 91.9-16; Hebrews 5.1-10; Mark 10.35-45

For an audio file of the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 Eucharist this morning, please click here.

            Imagine, for a moment, that you are at a formal cocktail party among the movers and shakers of Metro Vancouver society.  You are in the midst of a conversation where folks are sharing what various members of their families are doing.  Someone’s daughter is in law school.  Someone else’s grandson has just taken a management role in a large, well-known construction firm.  Another person mentions a niece who has just earned her accreditation as a chartered accountant.

            Then, at your left, you hear a familiar voice asking you, “Another hors d’œuvres, ma’am?”  You turn and look into the familiar eyes of your youngest son who has worked in the so-called ‘service’ industry for the past five years, even since his graduation from high school.

            Do you pretend that you do not know each other?  Or do you say, “Friends, this is my youngest son.  I’ve always been proud of his decision to work in the hospitality sector of the service industry.  He loves to make people feel welcome so that they can fully enjoy whatever function they’re attending and that he’s serving.”

            In today’s economy people who work in the service industry are not always highly regarded.  Yet all of us have had experiences in restaurants, hotels, stores and other venues where the quality of service has either made the occasion a joyous, fulfilling one or a never-ending disaster that has left us stressed out and not a little put out.

            But today, at the heart of our reading from the gospel according to Mark, Jesus has the effrontery to call us to be servants, to join God’s ‘service’ industry devoted to the needs and concerns of others.  In the Greek of the New Testament the word diakonia and its various forms are the terms translated as ‘service’ or ‘to serve’ or ‘to be served’ or ‘servant’.  In recent years, the New Testament scholar, John Collins, has challenged theologians and preachers to re-discover what these daikon- words actually meant at the time of Jesus.  His discoveries have led us to a deeper and more challenging understanding of what it means to share in the diakonia of Jesus.

            Diakonia, Collins tells us, meant more than charity and kindness.  Genuine diakonia meant enabling another person to become more fully alive by freeing them to do what they were called to do.  Diakonia did not mean delivering meals as much as it meant working to change social, cultural and political structures that inhibit and obstruct God’s purposes from being realized in the lives of human beings.  In other words, to share in Jesus’ diakonia is to become an agent of God’s purposes.

            Let’s take the last verse of today’s gospel, for example.  Verse 45, in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, reads as follows:  “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give us life a ransom for many.”  John Collins suggests that the verse actually reads more like this:  “For God’s chosen one did not come to be waited upon like a guest at a banquet but rather to be the agent of God’s purposes by giving himself entirely in order to liberate many people.”

            My friends, you and I, through our baptism, are God’s chosen ones.  God has called us into this community of faith to be agents of the divine purposes.  Agents such as you and I are called to give ourselves, our hearts, our minds, our souls and our strength in order to liberate many people.  When I talk about stewardship as service, this is what I mean.

            So what does this mean for us in the here and now of a small parish in the midst of a neighbourhood that might know our building, our public image, but not know our presence, the living heart that is you and I?  It means that our role in God’s mission is discerning what, in our neighbourhood, is preventing our neighbours from becoming fully alive as beloved made in the image and likeness of God.  As I look around us, I can see two immediate obstacles.

            The first obstacle is loneliness.  Recently the Vancouver Foundation published a study entitled, “The Consequences of Loneliness”.  Fully 25% of those persons surveyed indicated that “they are alone often than they would like to be”.  Yesterday I heard someone comment at a workshop I was attending that there are many people who have a ‘friend’ in Japan on Facebook but do not know their next door neighbour. 

            At the beginning of creation, God looks at his creature, adam, the first human being, and says, “It is not good for the adam to be alone.”  God knows this.  We know this.  For this reason we, as a congregation, seek to make our building a gathering place for our community.  We may not always look at the groups who use our building as people whom we are serving by bringing them together, by breaking down some of the walls of separation, but that is what we are doing.  We maintain our building and devote the time of paid staff and volunteers so that people can come together and know that they are not alone.  Even if none of them ever venture through our doors for worship, we have, I believe, offered them diakonia as agents of God.

            A more visible sign of our diakonia is found in the many and various ways we reach out to people beyond our immediate community and membership.  Whether it is the preparing of Christmas boxes for the Mission to Seafarers or the Halloween sale that benefits children at risk, our diakonia is on display.  Whether it is the Safeway gift cards that we give out to those who are hungry or the time Christine spends helping refugees and newcomers to Canada gain access to programmes that enhance their human dignity, our diakonia is on display.  Whether it is Walter’s long-standing commitment to the Arbutus-Shaughnessy-Kerrisdale Friendship Society’s programmes for seniors and others who need care or Pam’s work with Special Olympics and Stepping Stone, our diakonia is on display.  The list could go on and on.

            The glory of God is a human being fully alive, said the second-century theologian, Irenaeus of Lyons, and diakonia is, I think, working towards this glory.  As agents of God’s purposes you and I have made, make and will make decisions about how we use the resources God has entrusted to us.  This is our exercise of service, our participation in the diakonia of Jesus, as a dimension of stewardship.  But stay tuned; there are still other dimensions to come.

Let us pray.

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [Evangelical Lutheran Worship, 304]

Goodness and Generosity

Today Saint Faith's marked the beginning of our annual financial campaign.  Heather Hamilton and Walter Herring offered some short comments about stewardship and the ministry of our Parish.

I offered a few reflections on the Gospel for the Day, Mark 10.17-31.  If you would like to hear my comments, then click the link below.

Reflections on Mark 10.17-31 by the Rev'd Dr Richard Geoffrey Leggett

God's Mission, Our Ministry

It was my privilege to be the keynote speaker for the annual Convention of the Vancouver Island Conference of the British Columbia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  The Convention met in beautiful Port Alberni from Friday, 12 October 2012, until Saturday, 13 October 2013, under the leadership of its Dean, Pastor Terry Richardson.  The theme was 'Beyond Our Boundaries'.

The Conference enjoyed the hospitality of the shared Anglican-Lutheran congregation, Trinity Church, and its Pastor, George Pell, assisted by George's wife, Catherine Speechley-Pell.

If you are interested in my comments, then you will find links below to the text of my presentation and two audio files with recordings of the two sessions I offered.

'God's Mission, Our Ministry' PDF of the Presentation Text

'God's Mission, Our Ministry' Audio File of Session 1

'God's Mission, Our Ministry' Audio File of Session 2

If my comments strengthen the witness and ministry of the Christian community, then may the Holy One be blessed.

For All Your Goodness and Loving-Kindness

Thanksgiving Sunday

7 October 2012

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

For an audio recording of the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 a.m. eucharist click here.

            On Saturday, the 8^th of September of this year, I joined Herbert O’Driscoll, a wise and well-known figure in Canada, and David Neelands, the Dean of Theology at Trinity College Toronto, at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria.  The occasion was the celebration of the 350^th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer of 1662, the Prayer Book that accompanied many of the early English colonists to North America.  The three of us formed a panel to discuss the importance of this prayer book and the notion of a prayer book itself for the Anglican way of following Christ.

            Now, the Prayer Book of 1662 was forged after twenty-five years of political and religious conflict in England.  A civil war had been fought and a king had been executed.  The monarchy fell and a parliamentary government had arisen.  Families had been torn asunder and persecution fell upon people on all sides of the conflict.  One of the casualties of this quarter century of conflict was the Prayer Book itself.  The victorious Parliament had banned the Prayer Book as well as bishops and cathedral chapters.  Clergy who would not give up the use of the Prayer Book were sent into exile, whether within the British Isles or overseas.  Some of these clergy died from hunger, disease and poverty.

            After the death of Oliver Cromwell and the collapse of the Commonwealth government, the newly-restored king, Charles II, called for a conference to determine the shape of the Church of England after the restoration of the monarchy.  Representatives of the various movements within the Church of England were present, but it must be said that the new Prayer Book, meant to bring harmony, came as a profound disappointment to those who thought that the Church of England was not yet truly reformed.  It is said that thousands of clergy left the Church of England to form the so-called ‘dissenting’ or ‘non-conformist’ churches.

            But something very good came out of the process that led to the creation of the Prayer Book of 1662.  Bishop Edward Reynolds of Norwich, a man who served the Church of England before the Civil War, during the Commonwealth and in the Restoration wrote a prayer which I have treasured all my life, a prayer I believe expresses the Anglican ethos of constant thankfulness.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,

we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks

for all your goodness and loving-kindness

to us and all whom you have made.

We bless you for our creation, preservation,

and all the blessings of this life;

but above all for your immeasurable love

in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;

for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,

that with truly thankful hearts

we may show forth your praise,

not only with our lips, but in our lives,

by giving up ourselves to your service,

and by walking before you

in holiness and righteousness all our days;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,

be honour and glory throughout all ages.  Amen.

(The Book of Alternative Services, p. 129)

            On this Thanksgiving Sunday let me share some thoughts arising from this prayer, the General Thanksgiving.

‘We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life.’

            Have you ever pondered the mystery embodied in each and every human being?  None of us, none of us, created ourselves.  Every unique individual that bears a name came into being without any effort on its part.  Life, with all its joys and sorrows, all its successes and failures, all its hopes and disappointments, is given to each one of us as a windfall, whether of genetics, environment or God’s intent.  Life is a gift.

            Have you ever pondered the mystery that is lived out every day of our lives as we walk the journey of our days?  While there are aspects of my life that are under my control, there are numerous others that are really in the control of others.  Take driving.  I do my best to be a safe driver, but I cannot control the person in the lane next to me, in the lane coming towards me.  I trust them to make good decisions, so that all of us can arrive safely to our work places or return safely home to be with family and friends.  Just as my creation is a mystery beyond my control, so, in many ways, is the preservation of my life beyond my control.  Life is a gift.

            Have you ever pondered the mystery of who we are in time and space?  I did not choose to be born into the privileged society that we know as North America.  Whatever blessings have come to me as a result of the accident of my birth as a white, English-speaking male have come freely to me without any merit or hard work on my part.  These blessings raise questions about why there are so many who suffer hardship and deprivation simply because they were born aboriginal or a woman or poor or oppressed by evil rulers.  Knowing that blessings come to me whether I deserve them or not, I am compelled to work to remove any obstacles to the flow of this river of grace to others.  Life is a gift.

            When faced with the many advantages I have, all I can do is bless God and work so that all God’s children can share the many gifts of God’s goodness.

‘We bless you . . . for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.’

            From the very beginning of the Christian movement we have known God to provide us with ‘the means of grace’, the sacraments by which we come to know who and whose we are and by which we are sustained in our sharing in God’s mission to renew creation.

            Most of us were brought to the font as infants or young children by parents who believed that belonging to the Christian community was valuable.  To be baptized is to learn who one truly is, a beloved child made in the image and likeness of God.  This is true of every human being, but those who are baptized become part of a community that knows this, celebrates this and works for this to be realized in the lives of every person who shares this planet.  There is no greater calamity that can befall a human being than to have amnesia and to lose all knowledge of oneself and one’s life story.  We who are baptized are blessed with the knowledge of who we are, so that we can call others to their true selves.

            With every celebration of the eucharist we are brought face to face with the shape of the life of Christ that we are all called to share.  We gather from the scattered places of our lives

• to hear again words that summon us to be who we truly are,
• to offer our intercessions, petitions and thanksgivings for the needs, concerns and joys of the world and
• to share in a meal that reminds us of our need for God’s grace and the love of one another

so that we can be sent forth blessed by God to be a blessing for others.

            We do this again and again and again because we have ‘the hope of glory’, the hope that God working with us, through us and, sometimes, despite us, is bringing above the renewal of creation.  Our hope is sustained by the occasional glimpses we catch of that renewal, whether among us or out in the world.

            And so we bless God for there is nothing else to do when faced with such abundant grace poured out upon us and with the hope set before us.

‘. . . give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service . . . ‘

            You all remember the old saying:  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  To imitate God is, when everything else is stripped away, the essence of religious faith.  In creation God makes room for all that is, seen and unseen.  In preservation God ensures that every living creature has what it needs to survive and, more importantly, thrive.  In the future God promises that all of creation will reach its perfection.  Gratitude for this generosity compels us to act.

            You and I are called to create space for all those who are often crowded out and denied access to the good things of God --- that is why we are working towards a pastoral resource centre here at Saint Faith’s.  You and I are called to be stewards of the time, talents and treasure given us by a loving God so that every one, every living creature, has enough for the fullness of life.  You and I are called to proclaim to a doubting and fearful world the good news that God is for us and that we are God’s work of art being brought to its perfection through Holy Spirit.

            So, at all times and in all places, may we always be aware of God’s mercies.  May our hearts be truly thankful.  And may we walk before God in holiness and righteousness all our days.  Amen.

Leitourgia, Ekklesia & Ministry

Today I gave a presentation to the Clergy of the Diocese of New Westminster as part of our annual Clergy Conference.  Our theme is 'Diakonia' and my opening address was intended to set our gathering in a particular context.  Here are the notes to my presentation and a link to the audio.

Leitourgia, Ekklesia & Ministry [PDF version]

Leitourgia, Ekklesia & Ministry [audio file]