THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTIOR. ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!
LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.
GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.
On this Sexagesima Sunday we continue our pre-Lenten preparations with the Parable of the Sower where we are encouraged this Lent to cultivate the soil of hearts so that “hearing the word of God, we might hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.” In our Epistle lesson St. Paul describes just how much need there is for patient endurance in the face of outward circumstances and inward weaknesses that would impede our progress, on account of which need to encourage one another in community and pray for God to defend us against all adversities.
THE LESSON: 2 Corinthians 11:21-29
To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever any one dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 8:4-15
When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secretsof the kingdom of God; but to others I speakin parables, so that “looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.” ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
PARISH LIFE NOTES
LOWER HALL RENOVATION UPDATE. Our thanks to Simon, Len, and Nino for their work on Thursday and Friday in painting the walls of the Lower Hall. Next week, a professional painter will be spraying the ceiling, and we look forward to the installation of new flooring at the end of the month.
2023 TAX RECEIPTS will be available in the coming weeks. If you would like to receive yours electronically, please send Blair a note. If you have previously received yours by email, Blair will email your 2023 receipt when it is ready.
2024 PLEDGE CAMPAIGN. To date we have received 38 pledges for a total of $$115,280. If you have not submitted a pledge for the coming year, please be encouraged to do so, and so aid the Vestry in its plans and stewardship.
RECTOR’S FORUM will follow the service today (Sexagesima).Topic: Making the most of Lent. What is Lent? Where did it come from? How can I enter into Lent with depth of purpose and meaning?
BURNING BUSH ALERT! Please visit the “Burning Bush Exhibit” in the Upper Hall from the story of Moses and the Burning Bush ( Exodus 3.1-14) which the Faith Quest children are studying. What is God telling you, challenging you, or promising you? Write a prayer on the flame and tape it to the bush.
CONFIRMATION SERVICE. On February 11th, Bishop Helen will be at St. Mary’s to administer the laying on of hands with Prayer to Anya. Salad Sunday lunch will follow in the Parish Hall. Please bring finger food/salads to share.
NOMINATIONS FOR 2024. Our Churchwardens, Andrew and John will be seeking out nominations for people to serve as warden and vestry members for the coming year.
ANNUAL MEETING has been scheduled for Sunday, March 3rd. The business will be to review ministry reports, financial statements and to elect parish officers for the coming year.
LENTEN MISSION 2024
XIR193456 Sermon on the Mount, Scenes from the Life of Christ (mosaic) by Byzantine School, (6th century)
mosaic
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy
Giraudon
out of copyright
Blessed are You:Living the Beatitudes
Guest Speaker: Dr. John Patrick, President and Professor of the History of Science, Medicine and Faith Augustine College, Ottawa
February 23 – 25 Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Sunday at 10.30 a.m.
PUBLIC LECTURE with Dr. John Patrick: “What Hyppocrates Knew and The Practice of Medicine in the Modern Age.” The loss of transcendent values and religious faith in the modern age has had a profound effect on the practice of medicine for physicians and patients alike. What role, if any, does faith play in the practice of medicine, and what does Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” have to teach us? Saturday, February 24 10.30 a.m.
WORSHIP THIS WEEK
Morning Prayer: Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.
THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTOR. ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!
LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.
GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS.
Today is Septuagesima (from the Latin word for 70) Sunday, which marks the beginning of the season of Pre- Lent, and our symbolic “countdown” to Easter ( March 31) and the 40 days of Lent. (February 14). It is time for us to begin thinking about the spiritual labour and the pilgrimage or journey that is Lent. Our Epistle reading speaks to us about the necessity of learning self control so that we may not be disqualified from the prize that is the new life in the Spirit through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In our Gospel lesson Jesus tells the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard where we learn that both the invitation to spiritual labour, and the reward is sheer gift and grace.
THE FATHER IS MY HOPE; THE SON IS MY REFUGE; THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY PROTECTOR. ALL HOLY TRINITY, GLORY TO THEE!
LIVE AUDIO STREAMING during today’s service is available on the Order of Service page. Recorded audio will be added following worship.
GETTING READY FOR SUNDAY: PREVIEW OF THE READINGS
In this season of Epiphany, the Church continues to celebrate and rejoice in the manifestation of the God/ Man Jesus Christ, and holds before our eyes some of the most wonderful and powerful manifestations of Christ’s Divinity described in the Gospels. Today’s Gospel describes the miracle and sign Jesus gave at the wedding at Cana in Galilee. In today’s Epistle Paul describes how it is that through the gift of the Spirit we, in turn, manifestations of the glory of Christ, who renews our life in brotherly love, turning water into wine.
Here’s an epiphany to have and hold, A truth that you can taste upon the tongue, No distant shrines and canopies of gold Or ladders to be clambered rung by rung, But here and now, amidst your daily living, Where you can taste and touch and feel and see, The spring of love, the fount of all forgiving, Flows when you need it, rich, abundant, free. Better than waters of some outer weeping, That leave you still with all your hidden sin, Here is a vintage richer for the keeping That works its transformation from within. ‘What price?’ you ask me, as we raise the glass, ‘It cost our Saviour everything he has.’
Malcolm Guite
January 14, 2024
Organ Prelude: Improvisation – Flor Peeters (1903-1986)
