One of the things I love about our Anglican Tradition is the Collects (prayers that communicate the day and/or theme we're celebrating) and I especially love the Collect for the 1st Sunday in Advent...
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; thatr in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorius majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through himwho loves and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Morning
- Said Eucharist in the Chapel with the Decalogue (Ten Commandments)
- Adult Ed Hour on The Sermon on the Mount
- I'm thoroughly enjoying this study. Just a reminder of how true a statement it is that Jesus was the best Teacher who ever lived. Amazing.
- Sung Eucharist in the Sanctuary with the Decalogue
- Our sermon series for Advent is "When God Draws Near..." and this week's theme was "...Our Hearts Become Strong." I shared the story of the great Antarctic Explorer Sir Earnest Shackleton's rescuing his entire 27 man crew from over a year trapped on polar ice floes in 1915 by a daring 800 mile voyage across the open Antartic Ocean in (essentially) a rowboat. Not one of his men suffered injuries greater than frostbite. His men's hearts were made strong because they knew "The Boss" would come back for them. Just as Jesus says in today's Gospel "when you see these things happening, stand up, raise your head, for your redemption is drawing near."
- Had a lovely afternoon with our Seminarians Pedro and Gloria Lara and their daughter discussing the season of Advent and doing our Advent Family Devotions together. We feasted on Appetizers from Chili's compliments of a gift from my new friends Tom and Lisa Seward.
- Read my hero Fr. Alexander Schmemann's Introduction to Liturgical Theology to revisit his excellent treatment of the Christian Calendar and how much time he spends emphasizing that the foundation for the Christian Calendar is a Messianic drawing-forward of the Jewish Calendar. This issue of the Jewish & Christian Calendars and their rhythm of Feasting & Fasting is dear to me and, I believe, so essential to discipling people / forming them in the Faith (see Leviticus 23). One issue I continue to press into is "When did the Christian Calendar become divorced from the biblical Jewish Calendar and Why?" and "If it wasn't for a good reason, why are we not correcting this?"I fear I may be swimming against a tsunami though.
MONDAY 11.30.15
Morning
- Prayed Morning Prayer from the Daily Office in the Sanctuary.
- Time in the Office on Administrivia and reviewing my Calendar for the Week.
- Spent the majority of the day helping one of our parishioners move: an older, single woman with no family. Was rejoicing to see how the Lord provided her with a beautiful new apartment.
Afternoon
- Continued moving help. Note: the drive on ES through southern Wisconsin between Elkhorn and East Troy never ceases to be breathtaking.
- Wrote one of my articles for the Parish Newsletter based on reading from Schmemann.
Evening
- Mancub's Basketball Game. He put up a nice three-pointer. His skills are getting better and better and he's becoming more confident. I'm not a sports guy but I LOVE watching his games.
- Homework with Mancub.
- Watched an excellent documentary recommended by my dear friend Fr. Mario Bergner "Winston Churchill - Walking With Destiny". It's on Netflix.
No comments:
Post a Comment