The Fifth Sunday after Trinity - 2013

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 44

Deus, auribus

( . . . )

23. Up, Lord, why sleepest thou : awake, and be not absent from us for ever.

24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face : and forgettest our misery and trouble?

25. For our soul is brought low, even unto the dust : our belly cleaveth unto the ground.

26. Arise, and help us : and deliver us for thy mercy’s sake.

( . . . )

The Collect.

GRANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Ecclesiastes 2.1-23

Psalter: Psalm 21, 23 | 26, 27

Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 3.8-15a (15b-16)

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 5.1-11

Barbee and Zahl: “This Collect is found in the Sacramentaries of Leo and Gregory and contains lasting evidence of the times in which it was composed. “When the Goths, the Huns, and the Vandals were hovering over the moribund Roman Empire, like a flight of vultures preparing to pounce upon a dying camel in the desert as soon as the breath is out of his body, there was certainly some point, and there was likely to be some sincerity, in such a prayer” (Dean E.M. Goulbourn, The Collects of the Day, 1883). ( . . . ) The Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity asks God to govern the world according to the Law’s First Use (n.b. the First Use of the Law of God was the political or civil application that functioned as a restrainer – MWP). One result of godly order in the world is the Church’s freedom to perform its leavening task “in all godly quietness.” The Prayer Book sees without question the need for ethical consensus, identified with the governance of God made concrete and universal in the Law of Moses. Without the Law, not only the world, but also the Christian Church is exposed to the primal viciousness of disordered instinctual drives. We need the Law’s First Use” (78-9)!

Personal Observations: As we join our hearts and voices in this Collect we ought to be thinking of at least two things: (1) Our present situation in the United States of America after the recent Supreme Court decisions, especially in light of the rationale that was written into those decisions that picture anyone opposed to certain lifestyle sins as enemies of humanity. There are some in other Western countries who can empathize with this trouble as well. (2) Our solidarity with brothers and sisters in hot and hostile places, who can’t even gather for worship without wondering if they will be killed, kidnapped or incarcerated.

Fourth Sunday after Trinity and St John Baptist's Day - 2013

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 73

Quam bonus Israel!

( . . . )

24. Whom have I in heaven but thee : and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.

25. My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

26. For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish : thou hast destroyed all them that commit fornication against thee.

27. But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord God : and to speak of all thy works in the gates of the daughter of Sion.

The Collect.

O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Lamentations 3.22-33

Psalter: Psalm 19, 20 | 24, 25

Epistle Reading: Romans 8.18-23

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 6.36-42

C.S. Lewis: “Not long ago when I was using the collect for the fourth Sunday after Trinity in my private prayers I found that I had made a slip of the tongue. I had meant to pray that I might so pass through things temporal that I finally lost not the things eternal; I found I had prayed so to pass through things eternal that I finally lost not the things temporal. Of course, I don't think that a slip of the tongue is a sin. I am not sure that I am even a strict enough Freudian to believe that all such slips, without exception, are deeply significant. But I think some of them are significant, and I thought this was one of that sort. I thought that what I had inadvertently said very nearly expressed something I had really wished. Very nearly; not, of course, precisely. I had never been quite stupid enough to think that the eternal could, strictly, be ‘passed through.’ What I had wanted to pass through without prejudice to my things temporal was those hours or moments in which I attended to the eternal, in which I exposed myself to it. I mean this sort of thing. I say my prayers, I read my book of devotion, I prepare for, or receive, the Sacrament. But while I do these things, there is, so to speak, a voice inside me that urges caution. It tells me to be careful, to keep my head, not to go to far, not to burn my boats. I come into the presence of God with a great fear lest anything should happen to me within that presence which will prove too intolerably inconvenient when I have come out again into my “ordinary” life. I don’t want to be carried away into any resolution which I shall afterwards regret” (“A Slip of the Tongue,” The Weight of Glory, 184-6)

Saint John Baptist’s Day

24 June

The Collect

Almighty God, by whose providence thy servant John Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of they Son our Saviour, by preaching of repentance: Make us so to follow his doctrine and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching, and after his example constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 40.1-11

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 1.57-80

Third Sunday after Trinity - 2013

The Third Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 69

Salvum me fac

( . . . )

13. But, Lord, I make my prayer unto thee : in an acceptable time.

14. Hear me, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy : even in the truth of thy salvation.

( . . . )

17. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable : turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies.

18. And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble : O haste thee, and hear me.

( . . . )

The Collect.

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom though hast given an hearty desire to pray, may be comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 31.1-14

Psalter: Psalm 16, 17 | 18

Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 5.5-11

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 15.1-10

Barbe and Zahl: “All this material, all this work of compiling, translating, creating, editing, and rewriting which Cranmer undertook in order to present the Prayer Book for “common” use: it all assumes that prayer is a good, desirable thing. We wish to talk to God. We wish to present our concerns and worries, our ( . . . ) burdens and out most treasured, fragile hopes to God. Yet we fail to do this. It is striking how many important problems we fail to put into words before God. It is startling how often the biggest troubles we have are the last ones to find expression in our praying. That is probably because we have given up hope of intervention or transformation in the really vexing areas. In any event, take inventory. Which of your life’s problems at this moment is not a conscious part of your prayers? Ever? It is no wonder that this concise Collect understands that the desire to pray is the gift of God” (75).

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer.

(What a Friend We Have in Jesus; Revised Trinity Hymnal #629)

Mike
Primus Pilus II

Second Sunday after Trinity - 2013

{Sorry this is so late. I was out camping all week with my boys}

The Second Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 111

Confitebor tibi

I WILL give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart : secretly among the faithful, and in the congregation.

2. The works of the Lord are great : sought out of all of them that have pleasure therein.

( . . . )

7. The works of his hands are verity and judgement : all his commandments are true.

8. They stand fast for ever and ever : and are done in truth and equity.

9. He sent redemption unto his people : he hath commanded his covenant for ever; holy and reverend is his Name.

10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : a good understanding have all they that do thereafter; the praise of it endureth for ever.

( . . . )

The Collect.

O LORD, who never failest to help and govern them who thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 6.5-18

Psalter: Psalm 12, 13 | 10, 11

Epistle Reading: 1 John 3.13-24

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 14.[15]16-24

Through All the Changing Scenes of Life

(Revised Trinity Hymnal #624)

“6. Fear him, ye saints, and you will then

Have nothing else to fear:

Make you his service your delight;

He’ll make your wants his care.”