Monthly Archive for October, 2008

Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles

Published on October 28, 2008 in liturgy and liturgy of the hours. Closed Tags: jude, simon.

Collect (Opening Prayer) for today:

O God,
we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles,
and especially on this day for Simon and Jude;
and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission,
so we may with ardent devotion
make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer (TEC USA)

Almighty God,
who built your Church upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets,
with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone:
so join us together in unity of spirit by their doctrine,
that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you;
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. Amen.

Common Worship (CofE)

Father,
you revealed yourself to us through the preaching of your apostles Simon and Jude.
By their prayers, give your Church continued growth
and increase the number of those who believe in you.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Roman Catholic

It is unclear if Jude the apostle is the same as Jude, brother of Jesus, (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55-57) or whether he is the author of the Epistle of Jude. Verse 17 of that letter has a reference to “the apostles” implying the writer does not include himself. Furthermore, comparing Matthew 10:3 and Mark 3:18 leads to identifying Jude with Thaddeus. Jude is clearly not Judas Iscariot. “Jude of James” is found in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. “Judas not Iscariot” (John 14:22) appears to also refer to the apostle Jude. The epistle, because of its encouragement in difficult times, has led to Jude being the patron saint of hope for hopeless cases.

Simon appears in all New Testament lists of the apostles (where he is called Simon the Zealot or the “Cananean”). Tradition has Simon and Jude in Persia and Armenia with both martyred (see the Golden Legend).

Make your own free, simple website quickly

Published on October 27, 2008 in liturgy. 5 Comments Tags: blogging, free websites, simple websites, webmasters, websites, wordpress.

Update February 10 2010: Wordpress has been upgraded since this post. Click for a new version of this post which is available here.

I am surprised (that’s a polite way of say “appalled”) that there are Christian communities, parishes, etc, that do not have a website – or have one that is unattractive, difficult (almost impossible!) to find your way around, and completely out of date!

I am setting myself a task of, from time to time, producing an example of a parish/Christian Community website. It will have the following criteria

It will cost nothing – there will be no cost for anything from software to hosting
It will be simple – so that anyone can set up a website
It will be quick – so that busy people can set it up, and keep it up to date

My first attempt is using wordpress.com. Log in, and play around – if you don’t like it – it really doesn’t matter. There is help for wordpress. Some of the information about wordpress, and the videos, for example, on youtube, often refer to previous versions and can be confusing for the beginner – but, positively, do point to general principles of how to use this platform.

I made the following website in less than an hour: The website of the Parish of St Isidore of Seville. The “Front page” is normally the blog – the vicar, pastor, or any other person, could use it as a blog. I decided to close the comments on all pages and create several “pages” rather than “posts”.

A “page” or “static page” has unchanging content – unless the webmaster changes it – and does not (need to) have a date on it. A “blog” (short for Web log) always has a date (and so is in danger of appearing dated!) It is regularly used as an online personal journal – though clearly that concept can be adapted.

You could use the “front page” like a blog, with weekly updates (or as often as you like), for notices, reflections, sermons, whatever (you can switch comments on or off, and moderate them or not). I’ve got St Isidore’s site looking primarily as a website and less like a blog to show you that option – adapting wordpress (initially a blogging platform) for our needs of making a simple, free website.

Make your website

Click on “Write” and choose “page” to create a new page. Easiest for starting is to use “visual” and under that click the last button on the right (hover to read “show kitchen sink”). Save what you have done – then you can “preview”. Clicking “publish” makes it visible on the web. You can delay what you write being visible on the web and have it appear automatically at a fixed time and date by clicking “edit” above “publish” changing details there and then clicking “publish” (very useful if you want to plan ahead, or you will be away – don’t forget to click “publish” or it won’t appear on your specified date and time).

You can change the look of your website completely in one click under “design”. I chose a design in which you can change the “custom header” and I’ve used a (copyright free from Wikipedia) picture of Canterbury cathedral. All the content of your website is independent from its look – so you can change the look with one click (including when you tire of its current look).

I added a video clip from youtube. Go to the video on youtube you wish to add. Copy the information in the “embed” box, paste it where you want the video to appear. Save. Publish. Done.

You can authorise a team of people to be able to work on your website – so that several people can be responsible for it (”users”). Children’s ministry updates that section. Someone else adds the text and recording of Sunday’s sermon. Someone else keeps the service times and notices fresh. The sky is the limit. It is free, simple, and fast.

If you have not done anything like this previously PLAY AROUND WITH IT – you cannot damage anything. If it does not look right, or does not work as you would like – all is easily changed.

One final (slightly) tricky bit that will make your site look even cooler.

You can add as many pages to your site as you like – but initially the front page is the blog – and so always has a date. If you want the front page to be a “static page”, not blog-looking:

Create the page you want to be your front page. I made “Welcome to our parish” and put what I wanted there. Save & publish.
If you still want to use the blogging facility somewhere else on your site: create a page where you want that to go (I called mine “This week”) and write nothing on it. Save & publish.

Now, breathe deeply for a moment, here comes the tricky bit:

We want “Welcome to our parish” to be the front page. Go to “Settings” click “Reading” (Settings > Reading) and put Front page displays Front page “Welcome to our parish” Posts page “This week”. Save changes (Don’t forget this!) Last bit: if you now check your site you will find “Welcome to our parish” AND Front page.

We don’t want the same page twice. So we will “bury” the second occurrence deeper into our site: Go to the page “Welcome to our parish” page (Manage > pages – open the actual page). By using “Page parent” bury the second version under another page (in my case I made the page parent “This week”). SAVE (Don’t forget – easily done!). Check your site. All completed.

If you don’t want to use the blog function at all: at the Settings > Reading, leave Front page displays Posts page to “select”.

Don’t forget: if something is not appearing on your site – you may have forgotten to save (changes); you may have forgotten to publish.

THERE IS A PRICE for my efforts at making it easy for you. Please, when you have your website, place a link to “Liturgy” www.liturgy.co.nz. (”write” “links” – go to manage links first and remove the two standard links – you don’t need those).

Enjoy yourself – getting online has never been this easy

Please contact me with any questions or comments that I can incorporate into future assistance.

Showcase of websites following these instructions and further resources

Eight new Eucharistic Prayers

Published on October 25, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: Anglican, consecration, eucharistic prayers, great thanksgiving, holy communion, last supper, Mass, new zealand, prayer book.

Eight new Eucharistic Prayers/Great Thanksgiving Prayers have been added to this website:

Alternative Great Thanksgiving A
alternative to Thanksgiving of the People of God
Alternative Great Thanksgiving B
alternative to Celebrating the Grace of God
Alternative Great Thanksgiving C
alternative to Thanksgiving for Creation and Redemption
Alternative Great Thanksgiving D
alternative to Thanksgiving and Praise
Alternative Great Thanksgiving E
alternative to Form for Ordering the Eucharist
Alternative Great Thanksgiving F
alternative to Service of Holy Communion
Alternative Great Thanksgiving for use with Children A
Alternative Great Thanksgiving for use with Children B

Six of these began as revisions by Rev Ken Booth with the following rationale:

To shorten New Zealand Prayer Book Great Thanksgiving prayers which some found too long and were sometimes pruning ill advisedly. This was achieved by omitting any doublets or “expansions” of key events in the narrative, resulting in up to a sixth reduction. In one case, the Great Thanksgiving for use with the sick (NZPB page 732) was expanded to make it more appropriate for use in contexts beyond the sick.
To standardise responses to allow communities to be less book-bound and use regular sung responses – in line with international ecumenically agreed texts.

(The drafting before the revision which was passed at General Synod)

I was asked for my opinion about them as these texts were heading for General Synod. In the brief time I had available prior to their General Synod submission I suggested that

Seasonal and festal variants could be inserted
The people’s acclamation be moved from directly after the Last Supper story to the more natural break between the remembering/proclaiming/anamnetic material of the prayer and the asking/epicletic material. I also suggested a more appropriate, consistent clear cue.
Minor alternations – adding “sing” to “say” where appropriate. Changing “Your [God’s] body” to “Christ’s body”, simplifying the children’s final acclamation to be consistent with all other final acclamations.

All my alterations (in red or blue) were accepted by all involved with these prayers.

Some will notice that some of the original intentions of the Prayer Book versions have been diluted. Celebrating the Grace of God, originating with Bishop Brian Carrel, eschewed the use of “Blessed is he…” (words unpopular for some in the Eucharistic Prayer). Those two lines have now been restored. The intention of Rev. Richard Easton in his work resulting in Thanksgiving and Praise was to not merely have the congregation echo the priest, but have the congregation move the eucharistic prayer forward in ways that more traditionally would have been left to the presider. Those parts have been returned to the priest. Those who have especially strong convictions along these two lines still have the full use of the original prayer book versions.

A weakness in practice is that congregations used to a particular prayer can sometimes start on remembered responses that have either been removed, altered, or moved in these new prayers.

I am not as convinced about the Alternative Great Thanksgiving for use with Children A in which children have to learn a new responses (without a consistent cue) [and hence prefer the Alternative Great Thanksgiving for use with Children B or my own Eucharistic Prayer 2]

On balance, however, I am highly enthusiastic about the opportunities provided by these new resources.

In the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia these only needed a majority of synods of the episcopal units to assent to General Synod’s approval. If you are reading this in another context, you will know your own requirements for eucharistic prayers.

Catholics and Anglicans again pray the same prayer

Published on October 24, 2008 in liturgy and liturgy of the hours. Closed Tags: Anglican, collect, episcopalians, opening prayer, roman catholics.

This Sunday (October 26) Catholics and Episcopalians (Anglicans) again pray the same prayer. Catholics will pray:

Almighty and ever-living God,
strengthen our faith, hope, and love.
May we do with loving hearts what you ask of us and come to share the life you promise.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Anglicans will pray:

Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity;
and, that we may obtain what you promise,
make us love what you command;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Both are translations of:

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei, et caritatis augmentum:
et ut mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare quod praecipis.

This is now the fourth time I have noticed this similarity recently
October 12
October 5
August 31
I think this is beyond accidental and would now suggest that, although no commentator I can find has ever suggested or acknowledged this, in the BCP revision, not only was the lectionary drawn from that resulting from Vatican II, but so were some of the placings of traditional collects.

The reflection on this week’s collect/opening prayer is found here.

Let us widen the circle that prays this prayer together this coming weekend and week.

Bishop Victoria Matthews installed as Warden

Published on October 22, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: Christ's College, christchurch, installation, new zealand, victoria matthews, warden.

On Sunday night I led a very dramatic service in which the eighth Bishop of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews, was installed as Warden in Christ’s College, Canterbury, the school where I serve.

Ancient and contemporary combined: organ, brass, timpani, violin, French horns, fanfare trumpets, choirs, and board, staff, families, and students at full voice sang Maori, Latin, and English – from the ancient Psalm 100 sung in powerful canon, to twenty first century renditions. Mr Robert Aburn (Director of Music) and Mr Matthew Cook (organist) led this music superbly. Justice Young, Acting Board Chairman, received the legal requirements from Bishop Victoria and, after promises made by her and by us all, he inducted her and assigned her the seat of her office to loud applause.

Bishop Victoria preached on the readings of the day read by the Head Prefect, Winston Cosgrove, and the Headmaster, Mr Simon Leese. As warden she encouraged and challenged us all to grow into the image of God given to us. A significant, memorable service, with strong pacing and full, enthusiastic participation. As I said at the start of the service: “We meet to install our Warden. We meet to worship God.”

Further photos
Photo above L to R: Rev. Bosco Peters, Bishop Victoria Matthews, Justice William Young
All photos by Mr David Johnson

Saint James of Jerusalem, brother of our Lord

Published on October 22, 2008 in liturgy. Closed

Tomorrow (October 23) is the feast of Saint James of Jerusalem, brother of our Lord. A collect for this feast is:

Grant, O God,
that, following the example of your servant James the Just,
brother of our Lord,
your Church may give itself continually
to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

There is considerable confusion about the different people called “James” in the New Testament, as well as the relationship of this James and Jesus. He is called the “brother of the Lord”, James the Just (out of respect for his piety and strict observance of the Law) or James Protepiscopus (First Bishop of Jerusalem). The Epistle of James and the Liturgy of St. James are attributed to him.

According to Josephus “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James” met his death after the death of the procurator Porcius Festus, yet before Lucceius Albinus took office (Jewish Antiquities 20,9)

The gospel reading appointed for today Matthew 13:53-58 is:

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
54 He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?”
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.”
58 And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

Mary (”Miriam”), Jesus’ mother, bears the same name as Moses’ sister, a strong woman. She is married to Joseph – another name from the early period in Genesis. The names of the rest of the family are also names reminiscent of the early history of liberation. Jesus (Joshua = “God saves/liberates/sets free”), James (Jacob), Joseph, Simon (Simeon), Judas (Judah). Jesus had at least two sisters. It is also significant that we don’t know their names!

Does your family go in for royal names (George, James, Henry, William, Elizabeth, Anne)? Famous sportspeople? Jesus’ family seemed to choose early liberation names. Jesus’ family chose names from the foundational deliverance stories of their nation. You can imagine what the Roman oppressors thought of people with names like this.

When the new Joshua (Jesus) crosses the Jordan (baptism) from the far side (Jn 1:28), re-entering the Promised Land, one can imagine the emails that hit Pontius Pilate’s PC from the equivalent of MI5 or the SIS. This is someone to keep an eye on!

collect – four parts

Published on October 21, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: Anglican, collect, episcopalians, eucharist, litany, Mass, opening prayer, presider, roman catholics, silence, silent prayer.

The collect (opening prayer) has four parts [not the parts I suspect you are thinking of - see * at the bottom of this post]. The collect I believe is a key to liturgy. Not as we so regularly experience it – a few seconds of just another little prayer near the start of a service, even read together from a printed pew-sheet for the day (reducing it to merely one part).

The word “collect” in Latin is collecta – gathering together. A collect gathers a litany (list of petitions) together into a final, single prayer. Or a collect gathers silent prayer together into a single prayer. This is what the collect is in the Entrance Rite – the Gathering of the Community. As it gathers the silent prayers of everyone it functions to gather the individuals into a praying community.

The bidding: The presider invites the community to prayer – “Let us pray”. Or in a more extended way, something like: “Let us pray in silence that God will make us one in mind and heart”.

The silence: This is the heart of the collect. This deep silent praying of the community is what the collect is collecting. No silent prayer and it is not a collect, there is nothing to collect. Without this silence the “collect” is reduced to merely another little prayer cluttering the vestibule at the start of our service.

The collect:* After sufficient silent prayer the presider proclaims the collect, gathering the prayers of the community, and articulating the prayer of the church – the body of Christ. As Christ’s body the collect is addressed in Christ’s name, on Christ’s behalf, to God the Source of all Being, in the power and unity of the Holy Spirit.

Amen: The community makes the collect its own by a strong “Amen” – “so be it”.

*The collect prayer itself can have up to five parts in its composition. There is more about that in the Gathering of the Community in Celebrating Eucharist. Some further history of the collect is included here.

The collect when well understood and aptly used can powerfully gather the community, deepen our prayerfulness, and profoundly express much at the heart of Christian spirituality.

Christmas NOW!

Published on October 20, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: advent sundays, advent wreath, christmas, halloween, recession, share market.

There was a business news story a couple of days ago in response to the plummeting share market and talk of recession: get your Christmas stuff into your shops now! While people are still buying. And with longer to purchase… I thought it was a further cynical cheapening and abuse of one of the most sacred Christian festivals. What other world religion do people so cheerfully turn into a consumer event? And not merely consumerise the festival. But actually move the festival – forward by more than a sixth of the year?

But a walk in town confirms it. Barring the (non liturgical) Christmas ditties piped through the omnipresent speakers you can get all your Christmas things now. Do not pass All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween), do not collect Advent Sundays or light your way around the Advent wreath – go straight to Christmas.

website quoted in newspaper

Published on October 18, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: anglicanism, archbishop of canterbury, archbishop rowan williams, church of england newspaper, protestant truth society, roman catholics.

You can imagine my surprise when a friend of mine informed me that I am quoted in this week’s edition (17 October) of the Church of England Newspaper. The author of the article has read my reflection Roman Catholics accept Archbishop of Canterbury’s orders? and this is what s/he writes:

Lourdes questions for Dr Williams

Critics have lambasted Dr. Williams for departing from Anglican tradition and acceding to the Roman Catholic dogma of the immaculate conception of Mary. While the content of Dr. Williams’ sermon has aroused the ire of Protestants, the fact that his sermon took place during a Roman Catholic mass has intrigued liturgists, who note that Roman Catholic canon law only permits Catholic clergy to preach at a mass.

New Zealand liturgist, the Rev. Bosco Peters, observed that by allowing Dr. Williams to preach at Lourdes, “Roman Catholics appear to be accepting that the Archbishop of Canterbury is validly ordained.”

The Rt. Rev. Jacques Perrier, the Catholic bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes invited Dr. Williams to preach at the international mass, where Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, celebrated.

While Canon 766 permits Catholic bishops to authorize lay persons to preach in Catholic churches, canon 767 restricts preaching at masses to Catholic clergy. “Every Catholic seminarian would know this from seminary’s Liturgy 101. So in inviting the Archbishop of Canterbury to preach at such an internationally significant Roman Catholic Mass are they acknowledging that Archbishop Rowan Williams is validly ordained?” Mr. Peters asked.

The Rev. Jeremy Brooks, Director of Ministry of the Protestant Truth Society took umbrage at Dr Williams’ visit and homily at Lourdes, calling it a “wholesale compromise” and “complete denial of Protestant orthodoxy.”

In his Sept 26 homily Dr. Williams stated that “when Mary came to Bernadette, she came at first as an anonymous figure, a beautiful lady, a mysterious ‘thing’, not yet identified as the Lord’s spotless mother.” The archbishop further stated that in response to the apparition of Mary, “Bernadette – uneducated, uninstructed in doctrine – leapt with joy, recognising that here was life, here was healing.”

These assertions go against traditional Anglican formularies as found in the Articles of Religion, critics asserted. Identifying Mary as the “Lord’s spotless mother,” a reference to her immaculate conception and perpetual virginity, contradicts Article XV. “Of Christ alone without Sin.”

The statement that in Mary, “here was life, here was healing,” appears to contradict Article XVIII, that life and healing along come from Christ, which states “For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.

“Lourdes represents everything about Roman Catholicism that the Protestant Reformation ejected, including apparitions, Mariolatry and the veneration of saints,” Mr. Brooks said.

“At a time when our country is crying out for clear Biblical leadership, it is nothing short of tragic that our supposedly Protestant archbishop is behaving as little more than a papal puppet,” he charged.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit to Lourdes last month continues to be a source of controversy within the Anglican Communion and the wider Christian church.

WORSHIP FIRST

Published on October 16, 2008 in liturgy and spirituality. Closed Tags: anglicanism, blogging, common prayer, liturgy, webmaster, websites, worship.

Discussion has led to producing this WORSHIP FIRST badge to add to blogs and websites.

The HTML for adding this badge to your blog or website is:

I contend worship of God is primary and central to our Christian life and mission. Most of us, I think, understand that, and so Christian community mission statements (and individuals’ ones) normally include – and regularly lead off – with a commitment to worship.

Hence, my astonishment when significant mission statements do not. The Anglican mission statement, good as far as it goes, is one that immediately springs to mind as one that does not include worship in the mission of the church:

To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
To respond to human need by loving service
To seek to transform unjust structures of society
To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth
(Bonds of Affection-1984 ACC-6 p49, Mission in a Broken World-1990 ACC-8 p101)

I understand that the Anglican Consultative Council has discussed incorporating worship into the mission statement, but has not come to any agreement. Worship, liturgy, was once regarded not only as central to the mission of the Anglican Church, but one could argue, that in Anglicanism, more than any other denomination, it was worship that was the glue that held it together. Worship within Anglicanism was a shared, agreed, common spiritual practice – common prayer, common worship – and one might have various interpretations held around the agreed common practice. In my opinion, the diminution of the focus on worship and the increasing fragmentation of Anglicanism are causally related.

In my own province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, I understand it was Archbishop Brian Davies who encouraged the inclusion of worship in our province’s constitution with declarations that the church

is called to offer worship and service to God in the power of the Holy Spirit

and a reworking of the five-fold mission statement in the constitution to read

the mission of the church includes
teaching, baptising and nurturing believers within eucharistic communities of faith.

poverty and prayer

Published on October 15, 2008 in liturgy and spirituality. Closed Tags: blogging, justice, poverty.

It is Blog Action Day, October 15, when bloggers all around the world are reflecting on a common theme. This blog action day it’s poverty.

James, Jesus’ brother, picks up the family tradition of strongly speaking his mind when he writes:

If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James 2:15ff)

Yes – let’s pray for those who are poor. Even light a candle for them in the virtual chapel here. But real prayer, if it is expressing our actual hopes and desires – will be expressed in action when it can.

So prayer by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Thirdly – a life of prayer, a lifestyle of prayerfulness leads naturally, inevitably to a simpler lifestyle – eroding our cravings, making us laugh at the ridiculous advertising we so regularly encounter that claims our life will be fulfilled when we have a…

So that’s three ideas on Blog Action Day 2008 for poverty:

prayer and meditation
generosity
a simplifying lifestyle & laughing (together) at advertising

Would you like your computer screen cleaned FREE?

Published on October 10, 2008 in liturgy. Closed Tags: humor, humour.

Just click here if you would like your computer screen cleaned for ABSOLUTELY FREE!

No catch.

No bugs or computer issues.

GUARANTEED!

Anglicans and Catholics pray together again

Published on October 9, 2008 in liturgy and liturgy of the hours. Closed Tags: anglicans, collect, ecumenism, episcopalians, opening prayer, roman catholics.

Last Sunday Episcopalians (Anglicans) and Roman Catholics prayed the same collect (opening prayer). It happens again this Sunday (October 12)! This is now the third time I have noted this. I have informed an expert on collects in Rome and he is delighted with my discovery – we are still trying to uncover the explanation of this wonderful synchronicity.

This Sunday Roman Catholics pray:

Lord,
our help and guide,
make your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself
in our eagerness to do good for others.

This Sunday Episcopalians (Anglicans) pray:

Lord, we pray
that your grace may always precede and follow us,
that we may continually be given to good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Both are in fact different translations of

Tua nos, Domine, quaesumus, gratia semper et praeveniat et sequatur, ac bonis operibus jugitur praestet esse intentos.

Each week on this site I provide a commentary and reflection on the collect/opening prayer. You will find the commentary and reflection on this prayer here.

Let us widen the circle that prays this prayer together from Saturday evening through Sunday and this coming week.

Wall-E

Published on October 8, 2008 in spirituality. Closed Tags: films, movies, pixar, Wall-E.

We just went to see the Pixar movie Wall-E. I unconditionally recommend it. Director/Screenwriter, Andrew Stanton, asks what if humanity had to leave earth and someone forgot to turn the last robot off? What if the most human thing in the universe was a machine? Wall-E has curiosity about life – a desire to connect with life. “Wall-E senses there is something more to life.”

The tag line is “After 700 years of doing what he was built for, he’ll discover what he was meant for.” We normally connect design and purpose – and connect both to God. Can they be separated? Can they have different sources?

Entrancing from its first images, more than the first half hour is essentially a silent movie (am I allowed to compare this with Into Great Silence?)

There are references to Wall-E and Eve, Noah’s Ark, paradise. You will recognise allusions to other films including “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Short Circuit”. Wall-E has a lot to say about perseverance, sacrifice, persistence, friendship, fun, love, the environment, and what we value and why (watch out for Wall-E’s reaction to finding a box with a diamond ring in it).

Don’t miss it.

“Kingdom come” movie update

Published on October 7, 2008 in liturgy and spirituality. Closed Tags: films, kingdom come, life of christ, movies, new zealand.

Many readers of this site are keenly interested in the movie Kingdom Come on the life of Christ which will be filmed in New Zealand in 2009. This photo by John Bisset (Timaru Herald) shows the transformation of Falstone camping area on the shores of Lake Benmore. This morning’s newspaper sought unshaven extras with Mediterranean facial features.