Liturgy worship spirituality

preparation for new Missal

Published on July 27, 2010 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: collect, Mass, new zealand, opening prayer, vatican.

Fr Paul Turner has been touring New Zealand to help clergy and laity prepare for the new Mass translation. The intention is that this commence Advent Sunday this year in New Zealand. I am not sure that this timeline will be realised. As I understand it currently, only the Mass text has received the Vatican’s authorisation – the propers, translations of the collects/opening prayer are yet to receive authorisation. This helps to understand why New Zealand appears to be a year ahead of other parts of the English-speaking world. I think the intention is that New Zealand use the new Mass text with the current propers, prayers etc. Also, I understand, central questions like the positioning of the Peace (current RC practice of prior to communion or current Anglican practice of at the Preparation of the Gifts) have not yet been decided or approved. I am very happy in comments to receive anyone’s better information on any of these things.

Thanks to a reader of this site, here are links to the presentations:

Fr_Paul_Turner-Clergy_Workshop_Notes.pdf
Fr_Paul_Turner-National_Workshop_Notes.pdf
Fr_Paul_Turner-Lay_Faithful_Workshop_Notes.pdf

These are from

http://www.nlo.org.nz/missal5.html

Paul Turner has his own excellent website
with a lot of good material on the new Missal

Paul Turner is pastor of St. Munchin parish in Cameron, MO and its mission, St. Aloysius in Maysville. A priest of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, he holds a doctorate in sacred theology from Sant’ Anselmo in Rome, and has published many books.

He is a former President of the North American Academy of Liturgy and a team member for the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. He serves as a facilitator for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

Further reflections on the new Missal on this site:

English Mass translation launch
Further delays in English Missal
pope gives approval to new English Mass translation

Week starting August 1

Published on July 26, 2010 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: collect, lectio, opening prayer, ordinary time.

The readings
textweek resources

collect/opening prayer reflection August 1 and week following [NZPB]

Proper 13 BCP (TEC)

Let your continual mercy, O Lord,
cleanse and defend your Church;
and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help,
protect and govern it always by your goodness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Common Worship (CofE)

Almighty God,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your Church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

You can share any comments as well as any resources, ideas, sermon-starters, children’s activities, hymns, prayers, etc. in the comments section below.

image source

Nagging God

Published on July 23, 2010 in liturgy. 8 Comments Tags: bible, gospel, Jesus, lectio divina, Revised Common Lectionary.

A couple of days ago I asked the question in relation to Sunday’s readings: Does the gospel really imply that nagging God works?

I just want to briefly spend time with part of the readings, Luke 11:5-8. I translate this, pretty literally, but trying to keep some English sense:

5 And he said to them, “Who among you (Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν) will have a friend, and come to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves (of bread)
6 because a friend of mine has arrived from a journey to me, and I do not have anything that I will set before him.’
7 And that one within, having answered, may say, ‘Do not cause me troubles; already the door has been shut and my children are with me in the bed; I am not able to get up and give you (anything).’
8 I say to you, even if he will not give to him, having arisen, because he is a friend of him, yet because of the shamelessness of him (ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ), having arisen, he will give to him as much as he needs.

Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν is used to mean, “imagine the unthinkable” (cf Luke 12:25; 14:5, 28; 15:4; 17:7). Then the story is set in a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean village, an unexpected person arrives, and the mores of hospitality means that this person will be provided with good food, the best, and more than the person would require. I have experienced this personally.

The story presumes the host either does not have good enough, or quantity enough, or both. The person turns to a friend. Key words in what follows are “ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ”.

ἀναίδειαν means “shamelessness” or “impudence” in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, all classical references, and all usages in the early church. A “negative” word. But it has often been translated, incorrectly (IMO), as “persistence”. There is, you will have noticed, no actual persistence in the parable, the friend outside only asks once. Shame is a central motivator in this culture.

αὐτοῦ (of him). It is not clear to whom this refers. (a) Is the shamelessness a reference to the friend indoors? A positive use of “shamelessness” where the one indoors is avoiding dishonour. (b) Is the shamelessness referring to the friend outdoors asking? In the usual negative sense.

First century peasants lived precariously, hand to mouth. Here we have a story where the village looks to be in a hazardous economic situation that the original hearers would immediately identify. The person has gone beyond asking kin for help, to friends. And hospitality is foolishly extravagant, resulting in great vulnerability. This is the kind of generous hospitality acted out in the meals of Jesus, and ultimately in his death (also recalled/relived in a meal).

This parable of three friends reads a bit clumsily, even in the Greek – friendship in that context and in ours is possibly a wonderful image to explore in our relationship with God as a metaphor alongside father in this gospel reading.

This site offers a good variety of tools to access the original texts even for those with limited to no original language skills.

Image: JESUS MAFA. The Insistent Friend, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48293

Good without God?

Published on July 22, 2010 in liturgy. 5 Comments Tags: atheists.

“One million kiwis are good without God”. This is one of the new billboards seen around New Zealand.

One of the intentions of the more than $22,000 raised for these billboards is to start discussion.

I suspect that there is an intended double-meaning: (a) those on the census who registered “no religion” are fine (”good”); (b) those on the census who registered “no religion” live morally “good” lives.

I cannot judge if the former is true – I guess that the billboard-producers have checked them all out to see if none of them sweats about the meaning of life and not one of them ever suffers any existential angst. Great! I am surprised – so thanks for that piece of information at least.

It’s the second contention that fascinates me; that one million kiwis are morally good without God. In the liturgy we say of God, “you are the source of all life and goodness”. As Erasmus would have it, and Jung so famously reinforced: “Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Aderit – Bidden or not bidden, God is present.” It is not the registering of oneself on the census as having a religion that makes God present in one’s life. It is not the registering of oneself as “no religion” on a census that removes God’s presence from one’s life. Wherever there is love – God is present (“Ubi Caritas et Amor, Deus ibi est”). Wherever there is goodness – God is its source.

In fact the opposite is also true. It is not the case, as some might take from the billboard, that three million kiwis are good with God. As if putting one’s religion on the census form means that one is “good”. There are endless accounts of religious people doing evil. In fact there are endless accounts of people using and abusing religion for evil.

Jesus calls us to be salt, and light, and leaven, enhancing the good and minimising evil. I suspect that Jesus, were he alive today (he is alive today!) would horrify some “religious” people (as he did in his own day) by hanging out with “non-religious” types and denouncing some who tout their religiosity.

I am delighted to work in partnership with atheists of good will for the betterment of others and our world. I see God in that. I’m comfortable that others might not.

man created God
There’s probably no God?
antitheist
NZ Atheist Campaign

Week starting July 25

Published on July 21, 2010 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: collect, lectio, opening prayer, ordinary time.

collect/opening prayer reflection July 25 and week following [NZPB]
collect/opening prayer reflection July 25 and week following [BCP TEC]

Common Worship (CofE) – The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Saint James July 25 (BCP TEC)

O gracious God,
we remember before you today your servant and apostle James,
first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ;
and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church
that spirit of self-denying service
by which alone they may have true authority among your people;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Common Worship (CofE)

Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

You can share any comments as well as any resources, ideas, sermon-starters, children’s activities, hymns, prayers, etc. in the comments section below. Eg. does the gospel really imply that nagging God works?…

make a website

Published on July 20, 2010 in liturgy. 7 Comments Tags: blogging, facebook, free websites, simple websites, websites, wordpress.

Having a website, say for your parish or community, is no longer as difficult as it might look, or as you might think.

Rev. Andrew Hedge took the ideas I presented on how to make a free website simply and has produced a most admirable, attractive, and useful website, easy to keep up to date, and all basically free. The essence of my idea is taking the simple, powerful, free blogging platform, Wordpress, and with a little trick – making it the foundation of a website, not only a blog.

Here’s how you make a website
Here’s some more resources

Andrew has, for quite a while, been recording sermons which are accessible through iTunes (another option might be to investigate such free resources as Sound Cloud). Today there is a funeral that family members in America are unable to physically attend. These family members asked if the funeral could be broadcast so that they could be part of it via the internet. Andrew says, “It hasn’t taken much by way of addition to the setup in the church, just a secure internet connection and video camera really, and we’ve been able to broadcast this morning’s service as a test run.” (Here’s the link found on the site).

I received a significant number of requests for the link to live streaming, or at least a video recording of a recent episcopal ordination here – what our national church was not able to achieve, an ordinary parish church is not finding difficult. Our national church used to have a website with digital resources online such as “For all the saints”, daily reflections, readings, and prayers we could use and cut and paste into our worship. The site clearly needed refreshing, and we look forward very much to the flash new version. But, rather than leave the site up with those resources still accessible to all, it was just taken down a quarter of a year ago. We are a small church (we don’t keep statistics, but I’m guessing that maybe only 0.8% of the population was in an Anglican Church here on Sunday?) I wonder if we are unable to accept how small we actually are, and work fruitfully to produce simple, appropriate resources from that acceptance. Here’s a website I made in half an hour. It is free. Moral of the story? Keep it simple?

Rev. Peter Carrell on his site is reflecting on “Fresh Expressions“. He suggests, “Install a webcam and feed services live”. He is more cautious than I about this, and concludes, “Ignore the above. That is me trying to second guess (again!) what the Spirit is saying to the church. But do not ignore the Spirit.” Well, I understand what Peter is meaning, and I’m sure he knows me well enough to understand my preparedness to “second guess” the Spirit on this Waiting for the Spirit to indicate that your community needs a website is like waiting for the Spirit to indicate that you need a sign on the road, or a telephone. A website is as essential in the 21st century as a sign and a telephone were at the end of the last millennium. I’ve been told that research shows 80% of new visitors to a church check the website first – my unstatistical experience confirms this. No decent website, and…

Step 1: get a website
Step 2: get a facebook page

If you REALLY can’t bring yourself to follow my simple instructions: buy some pizzas and some coke and get some teenagers to do it for you. Win-win-win!

The website of St Andrews Anglican Church, Cambridge, New Zealand (Vicar: Rev. Andrew Hedge)

Best BP oil spill explanation ever!

Published on July 19, 2010 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: Creation, humor, humour.

OK I’ve got to have some excuse to embed this video. I know: it is part of our mission “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, sustaining and renewing the earth.”

Martha and Mary

Published on July 18, 2010 in liturgy. 5 Comments Tags: Jesus, lectio divina, Revised Common Lectionary.

‘Unauthorised version’ by U.A. Fanthorpe

Of course he meant it kindly. I know that.
I know Josh—as well as anyone can know
The Son of God. All the same, he slipped up
Over this one. After all, a Son is only a son
When you come to think about it. And this
Was between sisters. Marty and me,
We understand each other. For instance, when Lazzie died,
We didn’t need to spell it out between us,
Just knew how to fix the scenario
So Josh could do his bit—raising Lazzie, I mean,
From the dead. He has his own way of doing things,
Has to muddle people first, so then the miracle
Comes as a miracle. If he’d just walked in
When Lazzie was iII, and said OK, Lazzie,
You’re off the sick list now — that’d have lacked impact.
But all this weeping, and groaning, and moving of stones,
And praying in public, and Mart saying I believe, etcetera,
Then Lazarus, come forth! and out comes Lazzie
In his shroud. Well, even a halfwit could see
Something out of the ordinary was going on.
But this was just ordinary. A lot of company,
A lot of hungry men, not many helpers,
And Mart had a go at me in front of Josh,
Saying I’m all on my own out there. Can’t you
Tell that sister of mine to take her finger out,
And lend a hand? Well, the thing about men is,
They don’t realise how temperamental good cooks are.
And Mart is very good. Believe you me.
She was just blowing her top. No harm in it.
I knew that. But then Josh gives her
This monumental dressing-down, and really,
It wasn’t fair. The trouble with theology is, it features
Too much miraculous catering. Those ravens feeding Elijah,
For instance. I ask you! They’d have been far more likely
To eat him. And all those heaven-sent fast-food take-aways—
Quail, and manna, and that. And Josh himself
The famous fish-butty picnic, and that miraculous
Draught of fishes. What poor old Mart could have done with
Was a miraculous draught of coffee and sandwiches
Instead of a ticking-off. And the men weren’t much help.
Not a thank you among them, and never a thought
Of help with the washing-up.
Don’t get me wrong. Of course I love Josh,
Wonder, admire, believe. He knows I do.
But to give Marty such a rocket
As if she was a Pharisee, or that sort of type,
The ones he has it in for. It wasn’t right.
Still, Josh himself, as I said—well, he is only
The Son of God, not the Daughter; so how could he know?
And when it comes to the truth, I’m Marty’s sister.
I was there; I heard what was said, and
I knew what was meant. The men will write it up later
From their angle, of course. But this is me, Mary,
Setting the record straight.

‘Unauthorised version’, From U.A. Fanthorpe, Collected Poems 1978-2003, (Calstock, Cornwall: Peterloo Poets, 2005)
H/T Colin Gibson on Dunedin Methodist

image source

for the young and young-at-heart on Martha & Mary Sunday

don’t have anything to wear?

Published on July 17, 2010 in liturgy. 8 Comments Tags: humor, humour, symbolism.

Previously I had a fund-raising appeal amongst followers of this site so that I might purchase the ideal home for a liturgist. Now I’ve seen the ideal thing to wear around that house! So I’m on a fund-raising appeal yet again – I promise you this piece of vesture, is, as those into this sort of thing say, “to die for”! For those types – watch and drool:

Nope – not a historical movie; not even a spoof; not even photoshopped or digitally enhanced by Weta Workshop! This was the Pontifical Solemn High Mass in Washington DC. April 24, 2010.

It’s one of the strongest visual arguments anyone can see against women priests and bishops: why would women want to dress up as men like that?!

There’s another view of the this by Cleansing Fire:

Notice how the people are reverently preparing to celebrate the Eucharist. There certainly isn’t a disproportionate focus on the presider… ummmm… So much so that the anonymous (?) defender “of Truth and Tradition in the Lay-run Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester” who was present cannot even remember or find out the name of the bishop actually wearing the capa magna.

In case you wonder about the liturgical meaning of the capa magna, here’s an explanation – no seriously! This is an allegorical explanation of the symbolism, and regulars here will know how much I love allegorical interpretations of symbolism [For those newer here - hint: NOT! Symbolism IMO should be/is fairly self-explanatory, otherwise it is not a symbol but a sign. My comments in matching maroon italics]:

The capa magna does indeed represent the finery of the world, its power and prestige. That is why after his entrance wearing it, the prelate is publicly stripped of this finery and humbled before the congregation. Then, vestment by vestment, the bishop is clothed in the new man of which St Paul speaks, including the baptismal alb, the dalmatic of charity, the stole of pardon [sic] and the chasuble of mercy [ah - the chasuble of mercy - I'd been wondering all this time what the chasuble actually "meant" - and of course, I love the Russian doll system of wearing the chasuble over the dalmatic - don't let on that historically it's essentially the same garment, that would spoil the "symbolism"]. When finally clothed in Christ, the prelate makes a second entrance into the church to begin the eucharistic celebration in persona Christi, the visible head of the body, the church.

It was a clear statement that the power and prestige of the world have no place at the altar, but it is expressed in a liturgical ritual or symbol, which, unfortunately, are often lacking in the contemporary rites and thus hard to grasp.

Unfortunately no one told this prelate that the whole point of wearing the capa magna is the stripping off! He’s still wearing it at the end of the Eucharist!

Even the source of our second clip, Cleansing Fire, hasn’t been properly educated in the allegorical meaning of the capa magna and is confused enough to suggest that “things like this cappa magna lend an air of majesty to church.”

So – I’m receiving donations for my capa magna now. Those who donate will be allowed to wear it for a bit when they come to dinner in my house in Hobart.

ps. did I tell you I’ve been reading quite a lot on St Francis of Assisi lately… fascinating…

finding God in the ordinary

Published on July 15, 2010 in liturgy. 7 Comments Tags: baptism, eucharist, Mass, rule of st benedict.

…When people tell me that they find Mass boring, I want to say to them: it’s supposed to be boring, or at least seriously underwhelming. It’s a long-term education in becoming un-excited, since only that will enable us to dwell in a quiet bliss which doesn’t abstract from our present or our surroundings or our neighbor, but which increases our attention, our presence, and our appreciation for what is around us…

a quote from James Alison.

On page 861 of the BCP (TEC), the catechism asks:

Q. Is God’s activity limited to these rites?
A. God does not limit himself to these rites; they are patterns of countless ways by which God uses material things to reach out to us.

Is God’s activity limited to these rites – Is God’s activity limited to eucharist and baptism and so on? And the official answer of the church is, “no”. God does not limit himself to these; they are patterns of countless ways by which God uses material things to reach out to us.

God does not limit himself to eucharist and baptism and so on; eucharist and baptism and so on are patterns of countless ways by which God uses material things to reach out to us.

What we do in church is practising for the ordinary everyday lives we live outside of the church service.

In the sixth century Rule of St Benedict (Chapter 31) it says that we should treat everything “as if they were the sacred vessels of the altar”. We should have the same reverence for everything as we have reverence in church for the bread and wine, the chalice and altar. Everything in the world, in our lives, may look ordinary – but everything is shot through with the sacred, with meaning.

Week starting July 18

Published on July 13, 2010 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: collect, lectio, opening prayer, ordinary time.

collect/opening prayer reflection July 18 and week following [NZPB]
collect/opening prayer reflection July 18 and week following [Common Worship CofE]

Collect from BCP (TEC):

Almighty God,
the fountain of all wisdom,
you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking:
Have compassion on our weakness,
and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not,
and for our blindness we cannot ask;
through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

You can share any comments as well as any resources, ideas, sermon-starters, children’s activities, hymns, prayers, etc. in the comments section below.

silence

Published on July 12, 2010 in liturgy. 19 Comments Tags: monastery, prayer, silence, Taizé, worship.

I regularly, sadly, find myself in situations where people appear to think that liturgy is essentially singing and reciting lovely poetry to one another. My trying to shift towards some balance by stressing action, gesture, environment, structure, etc. in those contexts is usually met with bemused confusion.

Let’s think about silence in liturgy.

Claude Debussy said, “Music is the silence between the notes.”

Where is there silence in your service? Canada’s Book of alternative Services has optional silence before the presider proclaims the collect, and after the sermon. Silence is required prior to the confession, after the Lord’s Prayer, and prior to the Prayer after Communion. The BCP (TEC) adds a required silence after breaking the bread. New Zealand’s Prayer Book has these, and suggests silence after each reading and the Gospel, and periods of silence in the Prayers of the People.

Because people have such a tendency to clutter the liturgy, my regular instruction is to tell new worship leaders that “may use” means “leave it out”. In the case of silence I would tend towards the opposite – “may” means “should”. On the other hand I have experienced worship leaders who clutter the service with little silences, not increasing the depth of worship, but giving the impression that the leader is lost and trying to remember what to do next. Some good, solid, longer silences at appropriate places can deeply enhance worship. Taizé has a silence of about seven minutes in every service. Don’t tell me children and young people cannot cope with silence. I am well aware of highly active children who, in the right context and atmosphere (a monastery, Taizé) can participate in very long silence. It is more about taking worship seriously, about modelling and expectation, than about adult prejudices that children cannot participate in silence.

In my book Celebrating Eucharist I write

Worship is not just words and actions and symbols, it is also silence. In silence we call to mind our sins. Silence may precede the Collect and follow each reading. A time of silent reflection appropriately follows the Sermon. Periods of silence may be kept in the Prayers of the People. The holy table may be prepared in silence, or silence may precede or follow the Great Thanksgiving. The bread is broken in silence. After communion there may be silence. Communities may need to be taught to use silence, and silences may have to be introduced gradually, and lengthened week by week. A worship leader unaccustomed to silence may need to time the silences as at first they will appear much longer than they actually are.

How do you use silence in your life? In your community worship? What works? What doesn’t? Suggestions…??

animal parables

Published on July 10, 2010 in liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: film, movie.

H/T to Fran and Padre Mickey

One of the most memorable days of my life was going into the jungle in Rwanda to visit the gorillas. These are three of my photos – I’m in orange (just in case you can’t tell who is who in the photos!):

Christian’s story. Full ending and original soundtrack to the film “Christian, The Lion at World’s End”. Directed by Bill Travers,Commentary by Virgina McKenna, founders of the Born Free Foundation.

In 1969 a young Australian, John Rendall and his friend Ace Bourke, bought a small lion cub from Harrods pet department, which was then legal. ‘Christian’ was kept in the basement of a furniture shop on the Kings Road in Chelsea, the heart of the swinging sixties. Loved by all, the affectionate cub ate in a local restaurant, played in a nearby graveyard, but was growing fast…

A chance encounter with Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna led to a new life for Christian. He came to live in a huge enclosure and to sleep in a caravan at their Surrey home. Then in 1971 he was flown to Kenya, his ancestral home, and returned to the wild by lion-man George Adamson. Nine months later in 1972, John and Ace returned to Kora in Kenya. This clip is of their reunion at that time.

It was an emotional reunion: “He ran towards us, threw himself onto us, knocked us over and hugged us, with his paws on our shoulders.”

the homily

Published on July 8, 2010 in liturgy. 7 Comments Tags: bible, lectionary, sermon.

In 2008 the Roman Catholic Church had a Synod of Bishops on the Bible. Earlier this year a book, “The Word of God” was published as one of the results of this synod. It includes advice on homilies (sermons) by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.

“Homilies should be no longer than eight minutes, a listener’s average attention span”, Nikola Eterovic said.

“Priests and deacons should also avoid reading straight from a text and instead work from notes so that they can have eye contact with the people in the pews.”

In his book, Nikola Eterovic wrote that it’s not unusual for preachers to recognise that they have less-than-perfect communications skills or that they struggle with preparing homilies. “Everyone should spend an appropriate amount of time to craft a well-prepared and relevant sermon for Mass”.

While he explained that Pope Benedict XVI starts working on his Sunday homilies on the preceding Monday so that there is plenty of time to reflect on the Scripture readings from which the homily will draw, I wondered how his advice about reading from a text related here. Does the pope avoid reading straight from a text and instead work from notes so that he can have eye contact with the people? Also, I am not convinced that a week is actually sufficient time. I think planning needs to be over a far longer period of time so that the scriptures and sermons from one week to the next are not disconnected or repetitive.

The lectionary encourages an ongoing series of sermons. If connections are to be made with the prayers being prepared by someone else, with music, with choir, hymns, and even the look of the worship environment, far more than the pope’s practice of six days, IMO, will be required. There needs also to be an overview of what is being covered in sermons. Over the longer term, what messages, applicable in ordinary daily life, are being given to a regular worshipper in your community? Over an extensive period, what messages are not being talked about? Thought about?

Two hints: in my sermons I normally try to include something to think about, something that touches the heart, something to do.

If you use a full text, I once read the helpful suggestion that in rehearsing it you read the last paragraph, then the last two paragraphs, then the last three, until you reach the start of your sermon – that way as you get further into actually preaching it you reach increasingly well-rehearsed material.

What ideas and practices can you suggest for others in the comments here?

Week starting July 11

Published on July 6, 2010 in liturgy. 2 Comments Tags: collect, lectio, opening prayer, ordinary time.

Image obviously by Van Gogh and points to the well-known gospel story this Sunday. How can we say something fresh about this? Or is that asking the wrong question? Do we notice that this story is an answer to a question? Or do we notice it doesn’t actually answer the question, who is my neighbour – but Jesus changes it to answering, who is neighbourly?

collect/opening prayer reflection July 11 and week following [NZPB]
collect/opening prayer reflection July 11 and week following [Common Worship CofE]

Collect from BCP (TEC)

O Lord,
mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you,
and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Earliest occurrence of this collect is in the Gregorian Sacramentary for a Sunday after Christmas (86), and in the supplement for the first Sunday after Epiphany (1096). The Sarum Missal has it for the Sunday after the octave of the Epiphany:

Vota, quaesimus, Domine, supplicantis populi coelesti pietate prosequere: ut et quae agenda sunt videant, et ad implenda quae viderint convalescant.

BCP 1549 has for the first Sunday after the Epiphany:

LORDE we beseche the mercyfullye to receive the praiers of thy people which cal upon thee; and graunt that they maie both perceave and knowe what thinges they ought to do, and also have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same [through Jesus Christ our lord - added 1552]

It is a good summary of prayer: to learn God’s will, and to be strengthened to do it.

You can share any comments as well as any resources, ideas, sermon-starters, children’s activities, hymns, prayers, etc. in the comments section below.