|
Trinity 23 November 15, 2009
8:00 A.M. – HOLY EUCHARIST
Introit Psalm: 121 p. 497
Collect & Epistle: p. 256
Gradual Psalm: 24:7-10 p. 357
Holy Gospel: p. 256
9:00 A.M. – MORNING PRAYER
First Lesson: Wisdom 6: 1-21
Psalm: 137, 138
Second Lesson: James 2:1-13 (Pew Bible page 229)
10:00 A.M. - HOLY EUCHARIST & BAPTISM
Introit Psalm (sung)
Hymn: 728 (Praise Him)
Collect for Purity, Summary of the Law, etc. p. 67
Kyrie p. 70
Collects p. 256, 608
Epistle: p. 256
Gradual Psalm: 24:7-10 p. 357
Holy Gospel: p. 256
Homily
Hymn before Baptism: 783 (Invocation)
Holy Baptism p. 522
Offertory Hymn: 786 (Calvary)
Confession, Absolution p. 77
Thanksgiving p. 78
Consecration p. 82
Hymns during Communion: 236 (Dolomite Chant)
235 (St. Osmund)
792 (I Need Thee)
Lord’s Prayer p. 85
Gloria in Excelsis p. 86
Blessing
Recessional Hymn: 563 (Aurelia)
Join us for a cup of tea or coffee in the hall.
5:00 P.M. – EVENING PRAYER
First Lesson: Ecclus. 11:7-28
Psalm: 103
Second Lesson: Matthew 18:1-20 (Pew Bible page 19)
Layreaders:
8:00 A.M.– Roy Boutilier 9:15 A.M. – Nicholas Saulnier
10:00 A.M. – Keith Chapman
“Let us remember before God the faithful departed.”
Albert Coughlan Mabel Donnelly Ann Longley
The Sanctuary Lamp burns this week to the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William, Helen, Ella and Harold Emery.
This Week in the Parish
The Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer will be prayed in the Chapel, from Monday to Friday, at 8:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. respectively. In addition:
Tuesday Bible Study at the Rectory 10:00 A.M.
Willing Workers 2:00 P.M.
Wednesday Camden Terrace Eucharist 10:00 A.M.
Thursday Holy Eucharist 10:00 A.M.
Reading Group 7:30 P.M.
Many thanks to those who have filled boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Today we will ask God’s blessing upon them and the children who will receive them, as we send them off to their destination.
The next Willing Workers Meeting will be held on Tuesday November 17th in the Ladies Parlour.
On a weekly basis some of you drop non-perishable food in the box in the Church entry. Quietly and faithfully you do this. Just a little note to say thank you on behalf of those who receive it through the Reconnect program. You are making a difference.
God willing, a support group for people grieving the death of a loved one, will begin in our Church Hall on Wednesday evening, November 25th at 7 P.M. This will be sponsored by St. George’s and the Rector will assist in the leadership. We plan to hold four sessions before Christmas, each one having a video segment with Biblical teaching on grief and recovery topics, as well as discussion time.
Christmas Cards - the major fund-raiser for the Karing Kitchen - are available in the brochure rack at the main entrance. These cards allow donors to share their blessings with the less fortunate in our downtown community. Each dollar donated represents a full single meal serving at the Kitchen. Christmas donations may be made in the names of family or friends and income tax receipts will be issued, upon request, for donations of $10 or more. Please call Marion Bembridge at 384-1200 for more info or to receive cards.
No dipping please! Just a friendly reminder of the Bishop’s directive on receiving the Holy Communion (mentioned in last week’s Rector’s Corner). Please do not dip; either receive the Chalice and drink from it, or cross your arms to indicated that you wish not to take it, The complete directive is available on the table in the Church Entry. Thank you!
Please pray for Kylie Smythe, and her parents and Godparents, as she comes to be baptized this morning. Also, please pray for Chanelle LeBlanc and Dominic Thorley, and their sponsors, as they come to be baptized next Sunday at 10 A.M. “Let the little children come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of God.” (St. Mark 10:14).
BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY, as you may already know, has been set at St. George’s for Sunday, November 29th, the First Sunday in Advent. Please pray about who you might invite to come with you to Church – there must be someday on your heart! A ‘Helpful Hint’ is printed below for your consideration, and Invitation Cards are on the table in the Church entry. Anything else you should know? Yes! After the 10 A.M. Service, there will be a meal in the Hall. And, before and after the meal, tours of the Church will be given (similar to those conducted for the MonctonMuseum’s “Open Doors Tour” last month.)
Keep it simple. That is the essence and brilliance of Back To Church Sunday. It is one person inviting another person to come with them and attend a church service. It is not about glossy advertising or jazzy websites, but our personal relationships bringing people back to church.
Consider this true story from one parish and be encouraged: “Cheryl Evans knocked on the door and said, “I want to invite you to Back To Church Sunday….” “Cheryl, because it is you, we will.””
People can always say no, but remember the power of invitation.
Back to Church Sunday Prayer
O God, whose will it is that,
in loving you above all things,
we should open the doors of our hearts
and of your Church
to love our neighbours as ourselves:
Send your Holy Spirit to lead us
in seeking out those who need you but who,
for whatever reason,
are not presently connected to your Church,
[especially _____________ ,]
that we may share your love with them,
and draw them into relationship with your Son,
who in love for us all
laid down his life on the cross
that we may live in his eternal joy,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Rector’s Corner
On Tuesday, November 17, the Church remembers St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, of whom there is a beautiful stained glass window directly across from the upstairs entrance to our elevator. It was given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Owen and Dorothy Branscombe, life-long members of St. George’s.
You will notice a white swan in this window along with a child, and a monk in the distance. Why? What is the story behind them? Well, let’s start at the beginning.
Hugh was born into a noble family in 1135 at Avalon, Burgundy, in what is present day France. However, he was not satisfied to be comfortable, and sought God in an austere lifestyle in a desert monastery while still a young man in his twenties. His reputation for holiness became widespread and in 1181 he was summoned to England to take charge of his religious house in Somerset. Hugh agreed to go on two conditions: first, that those who had been displaced in the building of the house be recompensed; and second, that the King provide the house with a suitable library. King Henry agreed, and he must have liked Hugh’s style and convictions because he made him the Bishop of England’s largest diocese, called Lincoln, in 1186. Again, however, Hugh had conditions before he accepted the office: he insisted that the people be given the opportunity to elect their own bishop. This they did, confirming the King’s appointment of Hugh.
As Bishop, Hugh was a vigorous opponent of injustice of any kind. For example, he bravely supported the peasants in defiance of the King’s harsh forest laws; on two occasions he faced, alone, rioting mobs and rescued their Jewish victims from being murdered; and he refused to let the powerful and popular King Richard I use the Church’s treasury to support his crusades.
However, these battles for justice were really signs of his great love for the poor and the oppressed under his care. He was always out visiting somebody who was in need, including those with leprosy. As one of his biographers wrote:
“On lepers especially he lavished alms, besides refreshing them with food and drink, and he would often wash and dry their feet with his own hands and caress them with kisses. He frequently paid calls on these people (gathered together as they were at hospices) and, taking his seat among them in a small out-of-the-way room, he would lift their spirits with words of hope and relieve their sorrows with the mother’s gentleness, as he encouraged those who were wasted and afflicted in this present age to hope for an eternal reward.”
Sometimes it is hard for us to see the relevance for today in someone like St. Hugh. He lived more than 800 years ago; and, he was a Bishop in England. What does that have to do with me? The same type of question was asked then by those of his diocese who were frustrated with life. Here is what their Bishop told them:
“On the last day, when the Lord will judge each and every person, he will not blame someone because he was not a monk or a hermit, but rather because he was not truly a Christian. For three things in particular are demanded of a Christian, and if he is without any of them when he comes to judgement, the name of Christian will do him no good. On the contrary, the name without the reality will only do harm, because living a lie is more damnable in someone who professes the truth. But it is essential that the virtue and truth of this blessed name be possessed. So those who always have love in their hearts, truth in their mouths, and chastity in the bodies are not falsely Christians.”
In closing, what about the swan? As Father Mercer (who designed the picture) described it, here is the full meaning of the window:
The canopy at the top of the window represents the Kingdom of Heaven. Beneath the canopy we see the Bishop himself dressed in full Episcopal Eucharistic Vestments holding his pastoral staff and giving his blessing. On the left we see the monastery that he founded and left to become the Bishop of Lincoln. On the Bishop’s right we see a Jew. He represents the Jews Hugh protected and the poor of his Diocese for whom he had such love and care. At the Bishop’s feet we see the child who represents the children Hugh enjoyed so often having left the councils of the King. Finally on the right we see the famous tame swan that followed the blessed Bishop wherever he went in Lincoln.
Copies of a sermon entitled “Controversy” by W.C.E. Newbolt, a Canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England in the early 20th century, are available for the taking. |
Saint George's Anglican Church
