Second Sunday in Advent - 2014

The Second Sunday in Advent.

Psalm 120

Ad Dominum

WHEN I was in trouble I called upon the Lord : and he heard me.

2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips : and from a deceitful tongue.

3. What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue : even mighty and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals.

4. Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech : and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar.

5. My soul hath long dwelt among them : that are enemies unto peace.

6. I labour for peace, but when I speak unto them thereof : they make them ready to battle.

The Collect.

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Collect from the First Sunday in Advent is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve:

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 55.1-13

Psalter: Morning-80, 82; Evening-25, 26

Epistle Reading: Romans 15.4-13

Gospel Reading: Luke 21.25-33

Homily: http://orderofcenturions.org/documents/advent2.html#homily

Fourth Sunday in Advent - 2013

The Fourth Sunday in Advent.

Psalm 5

Verba mea auribus.

PONDER my words, O Lord : consider my meditation

2. O hearken thou unto the voice of my calling, my King, and my God : for unto thee will I make my prayer.

3. My voice shalt thou hear betimes, O Lord : early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

4. For thou art the God that hast no pleasure in wickedness : neither shall any devil dwell with thee.

5. Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight : for thou hatest all of them that work vanity.

6. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing : the Lord will abhor both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man.

7. But as for me, I will come into thine house, even upon the multitude of thy mercy : and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

8. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies : make thy way plain before my face.

9. For there is no faithfulness in his mouth : their inward parts are very wickedness.

10. Their throat is an open sepulchre : they flatter with their tongue.

11. Destroy thou them, O God; let them perish through their own imaginations : cast them out in the multitude of their ungodliness; for they have rebelled against thee.

12. And let all them that put their trust in thee rejoice : they shall ever be giving of thanks, because thou defendest them; they that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee;

13. For thou, Lord, wilt give thy blessing unto the righteous : and with thy favourable kindness wilt thou defend him as with a shield.

The Collect.

O LORD, raise up (we pray thee) thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

The Collect from the First Sunday in Advent is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 40.1-11

Psalter: Morning-98, 99; Evening-101, 103

Epistle Reading: Philippians 4.4-7

Gospel Reading: St. John 1.19-28

Toon: “This Collect is the last for the season of Advent and is used for the Sunday and such other days as they are up to Christmas Eve.

The two major themes of Advent have been the First Coming in humility and the Second Coming in glory of the one and the same Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father.

In this last period of Advent the emphasis is upon the Second Advent because from Christmas Eve the emphasis will most solidly be upon the First Coming, the Incarnation of the eternal Son from the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Collect is addressed to the Father, the first Person in order of the Holy Trinity, and it is an earnest request that he will gather up his power and descend to his people (by the Holy Ghost) in order to help, succour and sustain them in the race they are running in their earthly pilgrimage towards the goal & fullness of the kingdom of heaven (see Hebrews 12:1).

In making this petition, God's people recognize that due to their sins of omission and commission they have failed to run in God's grace as gracefully and swiftly as they are called to do and ought to have done. Thus they look to the Father to provide them through his Son and by his Spirit, and in grace and mercy, the help they need. In particular they look to the "satisfaction of thy Son", to his perfect obedience of the Father in his life and in his death, as the basis for asking for divine mercy and assistance (i.e., to his active and passive obedience).

If God's people are to live as those who expect the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, then they need not only to watch and pray but also to live as the obedient and faithful servants of God, engaged daily in his service and running the race that is set before them.

The Collect ends in doxology to the Three Persons of the Blessed, Holy and Undivided Trinity” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/bcp/commentary_detail.php?CommentaryID=6).

Though this is not specifically about Advent and Christmas, you may find it helpful: “Grumbling and Grousing before the Grace of God.”

First Sunday of Advent - 2013

This year I will be taking the weekly Collects from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. I will post the readings, along with any rubrics, under the Collect. And then I will be quoting some meditative thoughts from a work by Peter Toon at http://www.pbs.org.uk/bcp/commentaries.php.  On occasion I may also append some personal observations along with those of some of the earlier Church fathers.

The First Sunday of Advent.

Psalm 1

Beatus vir, qui non abiit, &c.

1. BLESSED is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners : and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.

2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord : and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.

3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side : that will bring forth his fruit in due season.

4. His leaf also shall not wither : and look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.

5. As for the ungodly, it is not so with them : but they are like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth.

6. Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judgement : neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

7. But the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous : and the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[This Collect is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.]

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 28.14-22

Psalter: Morning-8, 50; Evening-96, 97

Epistle Reading: Romans 13.8-14

Gospel Reading: 21.1-13

Toon: “This beautiful and moving prayer was written specifically for The Book of the Common Prayer (1549) by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Its structure, style and contents reveal just how perfectly he had mastered in English the grammatical structure of the traditional Latin Collects. It is a most appropriate prayer with which to begin the Christian Year for it is addressed to the Father, Almighty God, is centered upon the Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, and looks for the direct help in daily living of the Spirit of the Father and the Son (the Holy Ghost). And it takes specific guidance and inspiration from the Epistle.

Here in remembrance before Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we remember both (i) the Advent/Coming of the Only-Begotten Son when he humbled himself, took to himself our human nature and was born from the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, and (ii) the future Advent/Coming of the same Son as the Lord of lords and King of kings to earth at the end the age in great glory, to raise the dead and to judge the peoples, and to inaugurate the kingdom of God.

As baptized believers, living in a world darkened by evil and sin, but given Light by Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world, we ask for the personal help of the Father, through the Holy Ghost, in order to live not as children of darkness but rather as children of light. Indeed, we pray to be protected by the armour of light (see Romans 13:12). When Christ Jesus returns to earth in his Second Coming he will dispel all shadows and darkness, clear up all doubts, chase away all sorrows and cause the new dawn of the new day of the new age to appear. Then we shall cast off our sleeping apparel and put on the shining dress of the kingdom of God, as we are raised to the life immortal.

Prayed each day at Morning and Evening Prayer and whenever the Lord’s Supper is celebrated during the four weeks of Advent, this Collect is a real means of grace whereby we prepare rightly during the four weeks of Advent to celebrate the Incarnation at Christmas and the Epiphany a little later.

In some forms of churchmanship Advent is regarded as a time of penitence, a kind of short Lent. Such may be based upon the words cast away the works of darkness, which requires not only effort (assisted by divine grace) but self- examination to become aware of sin and darkness in the heart, mind and soul. Further, the theme of the Second Advent calls forth from the people of God, fasting and prayer as they watch and pray.

Let us make full use of it and pray its words with appropriate piety and reverence” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/bcp/commentary_detail.php?CommentaryID=3).

The 4th Sunday of Advent - 2012

The Fourth Sunday in Advent.

The Collect.

O LORD, raise up (we pray thee) thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

The Collect from the First Sunday in Advent is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 40.1-11

Psalter: Morning-98, 99; Evening-101, 103

Epistle Reading: Philippians 4.4-7

Gospel Reading: St. John 1.19-28

Barbee and Zahl:

“This Collect is from the Gelasian Sacramentary ( . . . ) absorbed into the Sarum Liturgy, from which Archbishop Cranmer translated and adapted it for use in the 1549 Prayer Book. It was expanded in the 1662 Book ( . . . ). To be “sore let” is to be thwarted ( . . . )

Cranmer’s panoramic vision and sense of the big picture of our life as ‘hid with Christ” (Colossians 3:3) comes through loud and clear in this prayer. ( . . . ). The prayer represents us as being hindered through our sins and wickedness. We are thwarted in all our attempts at self-deliverance. This is a grievous admission. We are unable to help ourselves: trapped, stripped, caught by outward circumstances and inward tendencies. (   . . . ). No one can appreciate the power of this prayer without first making the admission that all human hopes of self-redemption are a delusion. Is that too much to admit? But as we are “sore hindered,” even so is the mercy of God bountiful and speedy. Moreover, the mercy of God is not a facile fiat. It is grounded in something” “the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord.” ( . . . ). With sins forgiven, the human spirit is no longer obstructed and caved in on its own insatiable hungers” (8-9).

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Words: Latin, twelfth century;
trans. John Mason Neale (1818-1866), 1851

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times once gave the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The Third Sunday of Advent - 2012

The Third Sunday in Advent.

The Collect.

O LORD Jesu Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

[The Collect from the First Sunday in Advent is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.]

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 35

Psalter: Morning-52, 53; Evening-93, 94

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 4.1-5

Gospel Reading: St. Matthew 11.2-10

See my commentary on Isaiah 35 at my blog. Here is the link:

http://mphilliber.blogspot.com/2012/12/watching-with-isaiah-do-you-see-what-i_10.html

***Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr.: “The Collect. This was composed in 1662 and is based on several phrases in the Epistle and Gospel, and also on Luke i.17 (a passage concerned with John the Baptist). The Old Testament background of these passages may be found in the words of the prophet Malachi (iii.1, iv.5-6). This is one of the few Collects in the Prayer Book directly addressed to Christ. The Christian ministry is likened to that of John the Baptist in the sense that it is a heralding of the Second Advent of our Lord—to turn the hearts of the unrepentant and disobedient to the life of righteousness, so that when He comes they may be accepted into his kingdom” (“The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary”, 1955, 94-5).

Shine Thou upon Us, Lord

John Ellerton, 1881

Shine Thou upon us, Lord, true Light of men, today,
And through the written Word Thy very self display,
That so from hearts which burn with gazing on Thy face
Thy little ones may learn the wonders of Thy grace.

Breathe Thou upon us, Lord, Thy Spirit’s living flame,
That so with one accord our lips may tell Thy Name.
Give Thou the hearing ear, fix Thou the wandering thought,
That those we teach may hear the great things Thou hast wrought.

Speak Thou for us, O Lord, in all we say of Thee;
According to Thy Word let all our teaching be,
That so Thy lambs may know their own true Shepherd’s voice,
Where’er He leads them go, and in His love rejoice.

Live Thou within us, Lord, Thy mind and will be ours;
Be Thou beloved, adored, and served with all our powers,
That so our lives may teach Thy children what Thou art,
And plead, by more than speech, for Thee with every heart.

-----

The Original 1549 Collect:

“LORD, we beseech thee, give ear to our prayers, and by thy gracious visitation lighten the darkness of our heart, by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Barbee and Zahl on the original Collect:

“The succinct Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent assumes that our human heart has become dark. The Collect presupposes that by the time we reach the point where we should wish to pray this prayer, we would have found, by the sheer passage of years and chronicle of love’s disappointment, that our open and bright self had seized up. A personality once sunny and receptive could discover itself in the arid place of wishing to shut out the joy and light of life, let alone the grace of God, entirely.

The prayer sees the answer to our darkness as the light shining in the face of Christ (II Corinthians 4:6). “By thy gracious visitation, lighten the darkness.” Are you able to see the darkness of life’s conflictedness as dispelled by the ancient yet still present accompaniment of God-with-us? This is the love which pierces the darkness, even when you and I have covered over our windows, the eyes of our heart, with hammered shutters, wooden boards, duct tape, and clear-for-all-to-read “no trespassing” signs” (7).

Primus Pilus II

Michael Philliber

Edmond, OK

The Second Sunday of Advent - 2012

The Second Sunday in Advent.

The Collect.

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

[The Collect from the First Sunday in Advent is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.]

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 55.1-13

Psalter: Morning-80, 82; Evening-25, 26

Epistle Reading: Romans 15.4-13

Gospel Reading: Luke 21.25-33

[“If you consider, for instance, the selection of Epistle and Gospel lessons for the Sundays in Advent, as they appear in the Book of Common Prayer, you will find that they are precisely those appointed in the Sarum Missal of the medieval Church of England, and are in fact the same as those prescribed in the Comes of St Jerome, which goes back to the Fifth Century. The only change has been Archbishop Cramner’s addition, in 1549, of a few verses to the beginning of the Epistle lesson and the end of the Gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Advent. Apart from the slight lengthening of those two lessons, the Advent lectionary remains unchanged since early Christian times.  What we have in that series is not a random selection of readings, but a coherent series of texts, in which Epistle and Gospel lessons interpret and supplement each other, and in which there is a continuous, logical development of teachings from one week to the next. Each set of texts builds upon the thought of the preceding set, and points ahead to the one that follows” (Dr. Robert Crouse, “The Themes of Advent”, http://pbsusa.org/the-christian-year/4-advent/256-the-themes-of-advent.html).]

Barbee and Zahl: 

“Today [in this Collect-MWP] the emphasis rests on a reference point, a text, which exists as a compass to orient our whole lives. ( . . . )For Cranmer, the touchstone or reference point of wisdom is “all holy Scriptures.” He prays that we would not only hear the Scriptures as words, but “inwardly digest” them as the Word by which we may be comforted (i.e., strengthened). Cranmer views the Bible as providing both the grounds for our patience and the fuel for our strengthening. Such patience and strengthening are able to take us by the instrumentality of hope right up to the threshold of natural life. After we cross that threshold, we shall receive the “everlasting life” promised in the last phrase. ( . . . )Cranmer invites us to love the Bible and learn it, not for its own sake, but for the sake of the cause for which it is written: our patience and our comfort” (5).

'

St. Athanasius: 

“This (treatise on “The Incarnation of the Word of God” – MWP) will give you a beginning, and you must go on to prove its truth by the study of the Scriptures. They were written and inspired by God; and we who have learned from inspired teachers who read the Scriptures and became martyrs for the Godhead of Christ, make further contribution to your eagerness to learn. From the Scriptures you will learn also of his Second manifestation to us, glorious and divine indeed, when He shall come not in lowliness but in His proper glory, no longer in humiliation but in majesty, no longer to suffer but to bestow on us all the fruit of His cross—the resurrection and incorruptibility” (95).

“…reading Scripture is about being mastered by Jesus Christ through a biblical text that functionally stands over us as the word of God, not under us as a word we can control, rearrange, and use for our own purposes” (J. Todd Billings, “The Word of God for the People of God,” 203).

"Of the Father's Love Begotten"
by Aurelius C. Prudentius, 413, cento
Translated by John. M. Neale, 1818-1866
and Henry W. Baker, 1821-1977

1. Of the Father's love begotten Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the Source, the Ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.

2. Oh, that birth forever blessed When the Virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving, Bare the Savior of our race,
And the Babe, the world's Redeemer, First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.

3. O ye heights of heaven, adore Him; Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent, Every voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.

4. This is He whom Heaven-taught singers Sang of old with one accord;
Whom the Scriptures of the prophets Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the Long-expected; Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.

5. Christ, to Thee, with God the Father, And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore.

The First Sunday of Advent-2012

The First Sunday of Advent.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[This Collect is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.]

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 28.14-22

Psalter: Morning-8, 50; Evening-96, 97

Epistle Reading: Romans 13.8-14

Gospel Reading: Matthew 21.1-13

Barbee and Zahl: “The Collect for Advent I (and enjoined to be read each day of Advent in the 1662 revision) was composed by Archbishop Cranmer for the 1549 Prayer Book. Like other Reformation Collects, it is based on the Epistle (Romans 13:8-14) and Gospel (St. Matthew 21:1-13) which follow” (2)

“The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent ( . . . ) ties together not only the first coming and the final coming of God – the two advents of Christ – but it binds together our human present with the future, which is even now rushing towards us. ( . . . )

The point of this first prayer devised by Cranmer for the Christian year is that our present life is the incubator for our future and enduring life. And every moment of this life is accompanied by Him who visited the planet in great humility.

Do you see your life as a unity, a kind of oneness, even in the midst of rags and patches, its experienced many-ness? You are even today the person who was born with your name years ago and you are at the same time the person who will live forever in the Kingdom of God. Your life has inexhaustible  meaning” (3).

St. Athanasius: “There were thus two things which the Saviour did for us by becoming Man. He banished death from us and made us anew; and, invisible and imperceptible as in Himself He is, He became visible through His works and revealed Himself as the Word of the Father, the Ruler and King of the whole creation” (“The Incarnation of the Word” III.16).

Who Is This, So Weak and Helpless?

(by Bp. Wm How)

1. Who is this, so weak and helpless, Child of lowly Hebrew maid,
Rudely in a stable sheltered, Coldly in a manger laid?
’Tis the Lord of all creation, Who this wondrous path has trod;
He is Lord from everlasting, And to everlasting God.

2. Who is this, a Man of Sorrows, Walking sadly life’s hard way,
Homeless, weary, sighing, weeping Over sin and Satan’s sway?
’Tis our God, our glorious Savior, Who above the starry sky
Is for us a place preparing, Where no tear can dim the eye.

3. Who is this? Behold him shedding Drops of blood upon the ground!
Who is this, despised, rejected, Mocked, insulted, beaten, bound?
’Tis our God, Who gifts and graces On His church is pouring down;
Who shall smite in holy vengeance All His foes beneath His throne.

4. Who is this that hangs there dying While the rude world scoffs and scorns,
Numbered with the malefactors, Torn with nails, and crowned with thorns?
’Tis our God Who lives forever ’Mid the shining ones on high,
In the glorious golden city, Reigning everlastingly.

Primus Pilus II

Mike