Sorry, I’m late in posting this week…

This Wednesday, September 23, 7pm at Christ Church is the final Campfire Communion of the season. (It was moved from last Wednesday).

Next movie night will be Friday, October 16, 6pm in the Trinity Centre. (I’ll let you know what the movie will be as soon as we decide).

Next $5 monthly meal is Friday, October 2. We’ll be barbecuing sausages and hot dogs. 5pm take-out and 5:30pm eat-in. Please email me (susan.montague2@gmail.com) or phone 705-254-1692 to order.

Don’t forget St. Luke’s fundraiser on Oct.1 at Icebreakers…Call for tickets and more info: 705-254-7144.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Christ Church ACW ladies are taking orders for apple pies. Orders for pies will be taken up to Friday, October 2nd. Cost for the pies are–large $16.00 and small $8.00. Pies will be ready for pick up Oct. 7 and 8th. Those ordering pies will be called when their pies are ready for pick up. Contact Bonnie 705-779-2858 or lyons.bonnie@gmail.com OR Laura 705-254-2477 or lau_ave88@hotmail.com.

Thank you for supporting Christ Church.”

A Liturgical Note For You:   Praying for the Tax Collectors

Since we acknowledged Matthew yesterday, it’s a good time to talk about praying for leaders in our secular society – for all those in authority, as we often say in our Prayers of the People.

First some general information about the Prayers of the People and its role in our liturgy: Our worship services are a ritual enactment of our overall life and practices that we should be engaged in throughout the week. It is also a ritual rehearsal of life in the kingdom of God. Thus, as a ritual enactment, we don’t include everything. For example, we hear the word of God but we don’t do a bible study or hold theological debates. We share the bread and the wine but we don’t eat the meal that came in between those two things. We pray for the world but we don’t include every issue, every concern, every person, every week. Members of the congregation would then uphold the concerns mentioned, and other personal concerns, during their personal devotions throughout the week. As a ritual rehearsal for life in God’s kingdom, our intercessory prayers are very eschatological in nature. By that I mean that we pray now for the perfection of the world that we know will be a reality in the future when God’s kingdom is fully realized here on earth as in heaven.

Different liturgical scholars have different ways of wording this but, it amounts to the same thing…The Prayers of the People is the people of God “praying the world to God”. We pray for the needs of the church and the world. Traditionally, it was a deacon who led the Prayers of the People (first called The Prayers of the Faithful – only baptized members of the Church were permitted to be present and participate in these prayers before receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion). The deacon is the link between the Church and the world – the deacon brings the love of God found within the Church out into the world and brings the cares and concerns of the world back to the Church to be upheld in prayer. Here is an example of a very early intercessory prayer – in fact, it is the earliest prayer of this kind that we have. It was written by Clement of Rome in about 95 A.D.:

Save the afflicted among us,

have mercy on the lowly.

Raise up the fallen,

show yourself to those in need.

Heal the sick

and bring back those who have strayed.

Fill the hungry,

give freedom to our prisoners,

raise up the weak,

console the fainthearted. Amen.

Back to praying for secular leaders…We know that God raises up leaders for us when we need them. Scripture does tell us that (indeed, that’s the main driving force behind the plot in the book of Judges). We also know that not all leaders are chosen by God and not all leaders follow God’s ways. That is what we pray for – that all those in authority will govern according to God’s ways of love, peace, and justice (which do differ from our human ways). When that happens, we will certainly be much closer to the fulness of God’s kingdom and God’s will on earth as in heaven. Here is a prayer for upcoming elections:

Prayer for Election Day: Lord, keep this nation under your care. Bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. Help us elect trustworthy leaders, contribute to wise decisions for the general welfare, and thus serve you faithfully in our generation to the honour of your holy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BAS p.678)

For Your Devotions:   

Monday, September 21^st is the Holy Day of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist.  Matthew, generally thought to be a tax collector, was, in the opinion of many other Jews, one of Jesus’ questionable companions – tax collectors were seen as corrupt betrayers of the Jewish people working for the Romans. It is quite ironic then that Matthew’s Gospel is considered the most Jewish of the Gospels – he skillfully and deliberately made sure he portrayed Jesus as being faithful to his Jewish heritage. Being a tax collector earned him the designation of ‘patron saint of bankers’ in the Roman Catholic Church. Although his name is traditionally attached to one of the Gospels, many scholars don’t believe it likely that he actually was the author. Attributing authorship to a well-known individual to give authority to a piece of writing was quite a common thing to do at that time. It could very well be the case that Matthew’s oral stories and teachings were written down later by his followers. Tradition says Matthew died about 90 A.D but legends don’t agree on whether he died of old age or if he was martyred. For more info:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Matthew

Friday, September 25th is the commemoration of Sergius, Abbot of Holy Trinity, Moscow, and Spiritual Teacher, who died in 1392. At a young age, Sergius and his brother decided to become hermits living in the Russian forest. However, in a time when Christians in Russia were disheartened and confused, news of their wisdom, gentleness, compassion, and spirituality spread and they soon had a monastery forming around them. Sergius was instrumental in the eventual formation of an independent Russia. To find out more:   http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/251.htmlSaturday, September 26th is the commemoration of Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, who died in 1626 (I love his name – it reminds me of Sir Lancelot of Arthurian legend). Andrewes is one of the greatest Anglican scholars – he knew 15 languages and contributed greatly to the King James Version of the Bible.  You can read more here:  http://prayer.forwardmovement.org/the_calendar_response.php?id=400926