Posts

Posted on

A Prayer Posture in a Time of Uncertainty

by Henry Friesen

Almost exactly nine years ago my family and I were in Saskatoon attending the evening prayers and the funeral service for one of my older brothers.  As he and his family were members of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, both services involved the liturgy of scripture, songs, prayers and acknowledgements. The open casket with my brother’s body was there and all of us had time to view him and pause for a few moments with the body.

Continue reading “A Prayer Posture in a Time of Uncertainty”
Posted on

Easter 1 Sermon – April 19, 2020

Canon Claude Schroeder (John 20. 19-31)

Today we are continuing our celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Easter, in the Church calendar, is not a day, it is a season that lasts 50 days. Easter is for us a season of joy, of spiritual joy, in the restoration of our Communion with God through the forgiveness of our sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is eternal life. Easter is the celebration of the victory that Christ has won for us over Satan, sin, and death. 

Continue reading “Easter 1 Sermon – April 19, 2020”
Posted on

Easter Sunday – April 12, 2020

St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church, Canon Claude Schroeder

Well, let me begin this morning wishing you all a very Happy Easter, in fact the very happiest of Easters!

Given the current circumstances, that probably comes across as something of a provocation. I mean, how can I wish you a happy Easter when all the things that we associate with the celebration of Easter, Easter flower arrangements and Easter music, a sense of new life associated with the coming to life of the earth again at springtime, Easter brunch with family and friends, and the delight and joy of children hunting for Easter eggs, has been taken from us? And we find ourselves plunged into this nightmare of a pandemic that has enshrounded the world in blanket of sickness, death, fear and anxiety and that has left many of us wondering, if, how, and when we are ever going to recover from this?

Continue reading “Easter Sunday – April 12, 2020”
Posted on

THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK (MAUNDY THURSDAY) – APRIL 9,2020 SEVEN THIRTY o’ CLOCK

THE ORDER OF SERVICE FOR EVENING PRAYER

O Lord, open thou our lips;
And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.                                                                                                                                

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord;The Lord’s Name be praised.

Continue reading “THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK (MAUNDY THURSDAY) – APRIL 9,2020 SEVEN THIRTY o’ CLOCK”
Posted on

Love Wash Eat Drink Remember—for Maundy Thursday 2020

Jesus knew that his time had come. John tells us that in the very first verse of our Gospel passage this evening. The hour had come for him to depart out of this world and to return to the Father. Knowing that, Jesus continued to love his own who were in the world, and to love them to the end.[1] He still does. Endlessly. It’s the John 3.16 kind of love—much more than just warm fuzzies—like the fierce love of a mother or father—“a love that needs no love in return, that is is intelligent and purposeful, always directed to the need of the other.”[2] Love that is imperative. Like the Maundy in Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin, mandatum, meaning commandment as in the gospel reading

Continue reading “Love Wash Eat Drink Remember—for Maundy Thursday 2020”