So, tomorrow is the BIG DAY, when Canadians go to the polls. I have been mulling over the Collect in The Book of Common Prayer for an election, where we ask that God to “which guide and direct the minds of those who are called at this time to elect fit persons to serve in the Parliament… that in the exercise of their choice they may promote God’s glory and the welfare of this Dominion.” (BCP p. 50).
Continue reading “Trinity 18 – October 20, 2019”Harvest Thanksgiving October 13, 2019
Revd Canon Claude Schroeder
So today is Harvest Thanksgiving, and it’s a signal to us of the importance the Church attaches to this celebration that the furnishings in the church and the clergy are vested in white, which of course is the color for Christmas and Easter. So what’s the connection between the coming in the flesh of the God/ Man Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, and Harvest Thanksgiving? I’ll come back to this a little later in the sermon.
Continue reading “Harvest Thanksgiving October 13, 2019”Trinity 14 – September 22, 2019
Canon Claude Schroeder
Sermon on Luke 16. 1-13
Well, this is one strange story Jesus tells us here in Luke, Chapter 16. A story that stinks to high heaven of corporate greed and corruption. I have been banging my head against the wall all week over this one, trying to answer the question, Where is God in all of this?”
Continue reading “Trinity 14 – September 22, 2019”Trinity 13. Sept 15, 2019 Canon Claude Schroeder
Sermon on Luke 15. 1-10
So we are at a point in the story today in St. Luke’s Gospel where Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem to be crucified and on the third day rise again. His ministry moves between blocks of teaching on what it means to follow Him, in the way of the Cross, and responding to the mounting opposition and criticism from the religious leaders, who are becoming increasingly disturbed and alarmed by the things Jesus is saying-. and doing.
Continue reading “Trinity 13. Sept 15, 2019 Canon Claude Schroeder”Trinity 6, – July 28, 2019
St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Trinity 6, July 28.2019. Canon Claude Schroeder. (Luke 11. 1-13)
“Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after He had finished, one ofthe disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray.”
So today it’s going to be all about prayer, and the three part teaching on prayer which Jesus gave his disciples in today’s Gospel reading. In the first part, we have the words of a prayer Jesus gave his disciples to pray, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which we should actually call “The Disciples’ prayer.” Then we have a parable about prayer. Jesus preferred method of teaching was to tell a parable. Here it’s the story of the man who when to his friend at midnight to ask for bread, and then, thirdly, we have some sayings on prayer.
Continue reading “Trinity 6, – July 28, 2019”Image of the Invisible
July 21, 2019
Beth Christianson
I indulged in a flight of fancy this week. I imagined the preacher as preschool teacher, and the authors of our various lections as mini, four-year-old versions of themselves. Over there is Amos, watching the news on television and scolding the authorities who are explaining why tearing down an old and poverty-stricken neighbourhood to make room for a shopping mall is a good idea. And in that corner, little Paul is standing on a chair looking out the window, declaiming poetry to the squirrel in the tree outside. And here in front of me is sweet Luke. He’s got a big idea for a great story, and he’s sitting at the little tab!e with his crayons and a big sheet of drawing paper, making a map to go with his story world, a la J.R.R. Tolkien. The psalmist is the little girl sitting in the playhouse singing to her doi!. Even little Collect is there. She’s the kid who invariably catches you if you stub your toe and swear. and she mostly only speaks in short, declarative sentences. Working with these preschool iections is a little bit like herding cats. It takes a light touch and a little bit of reverse psychology, but the trick is to get them to realize that in fact, they are all telling the same story.
Continue reading “Image of the Invisible”Trinity 2 – June 30, 2019
Canon Claude Schroeder (Luke 9-51-62)
In our Gospel today Luke tells us, “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This marks the beginning of what the bible scholars call the “Travel Narrative” in St. Luke’s Gospel, in which, over the course of ten chapters Luke tells us what happened as Jesus left Galilee with his disciples, and walked down the pilgrimage route to Jerusalem. Starting today and continuing to the end of November, we are going to be taking in some of the highlights of Luke’s Travel Narrative, which is for us an extended teaching on the Christian life, what does it mean for us to follow Jesus on His journey to Jerusalem?
Continue reading “Trinity 2 – June 30, 2019”Sunday after Ascension – June 2, 2019
St. Mary’s Anglican Church – Revd. Canon Claude Schroeder
Well, for the last six weeks since Easter Sunday we have been proclaiming and celebrating in church the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead. And we are not quite finished yet! Alleluia, Christ is Risen!….
And then last Thursday, the 40th day after Easter, we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus into heaven.
For those who missed the service, happily for us at St. Mary’s, there is no avoiding the Ascension of Jesus Christ. It is something that literally stares us in the face every Sunday morning, in the window above the altar.
At our open house Saturday before last, I explained to the people on the church tour, that in the Ascension Jesus does not become the world’s first astronaut, blasting off the earth and going up into heaven out there somewhere beyond the stars. The Ascension is Jesus into heaven is His entry into the eternity of God.
Continue reading “Sunday after Ascension – June 2, 2019”Easter 5 / Rogation Sunday – May 26, 2019
Creation and New Creation – Beth Christianson
Well, we are now coming up on the end of the Easter season. This Thursday will be AscensionDay, the 40th day after Easter. Ten days after that, the 50th day after Easter, is Pentecost Sunday. There has been a tradition in the church since the 5th century that the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension are Rogation Days. Over time, this Sunday has been attached to those Rogation Days, becoming known as Rogation Sunday.
Continue reading “Easter 5 / Rogation Sunday – May 26, 2019”Palm Sunday – April 14, 2019
St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Canon Claude Schroeder
Today, Palm Sunday, marks the beginning of what in traditional Christian churches is called Holy Week. It is the most spiritually intense week of the year for Christians. It’s the time of year we seek to enter more deeply into the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To set the scene we just heard St. Matthew’s account of the Passion of Christ. If we were to follow the plan as it is laid out in the Book of Common Prayer, we would be back in church every day this week, where in the service of Holy Communion on Monday and Tuesday we would read through Mark’s account of the Passion; Wednesday and Thursday we would read through Luke’s account of the Passion; and on Friday, Good Friday, we would bring have the climatic reading of the Passion according to John. That’s pretty intense.
Continue reading “Palm Sunday – April 14, 2019”