Good day,

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.

Next movie night will be Friday, October 16, 6pm in the Trinity Centre. We’ll be watching “Dirty Dancing”.

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

Guild of St. Joseph Breakfast is Saturday, October10, 9am in the Trinity Centre. $10 donation appreciated.

A Liturgical Note For You:   Prayers and a Problem

Last week we were discussing the fact that our liturgical intercessory prayer is not the same as our personal intercessions that we prayer outside of our worship liturgies. During the Holy Eucharist, our intercessions are “go big or go home” – we are praying for the fullness of God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven. The Presiders’ Manual for the BAS Eucharist tells us:

[The Prayers of the People] are a moment when the gathered community exercises its priestly role…While we pray for the world as we envision it perfected in Jesus Christ, our intercessions also need to be grounded in the present reality. For example, while a petition to “bring an end to all famine” is clearly grounded in the vision of the new creation, there is also an implicit demand that the Christian community make a tangible response to that petition. The petition would ring hollow if a community did not also respond in contributions to the local food bank, Primate’s World Relief and a heightening of consciousness of the root problems perpetuating world hunger. (p.23)

The brothers of SSJE tell us that God makes us his fellow-workers and uses our love, acting in intercession, to further the reconciliation of all things in Christ. It’s part of our responsibility as God’s stewards here on earth to intercede for others and for the world itself. It is important to be aware that, as we pray our intercessions, the Spirit of God is with us and we allow the Spirit to guide our prayers.

To facilitate the guidance of the Spirit and to ensure that the prayers are relevant to the people present and to the community, periods of silence follow the biddings of the intercessor. For example, when the bidding says that we are asking God “For good weather, and for abundant harvests for all to share”, you may be asking for good weather so that plenty of sap flows into your buckets or you may be asking that the shelves of your local food bank be filled to overflowing, etc.

The Presiders’ Manual for the BAS Eucharist points out a common problem:

One problem frequently encountered is the often excessive length of the prayers. It is important that the prayers do not over-shadow the other elements of the liturgy by their length. It is not necessary to pray for every concern in the parish each time the community gathers. Many of the issues of concern not mentioned by the intercessor will be raised by others in their petitions during the spaces of silence. Exhaustive prayers tend to preclude these petitions and defeat the sense that these are the prayers of the people. We must also assume in our corporate life that we will worship together over an extended period of time; to attempt to include all our needs in one intercessory prayer tends to undermine this. (p.25)

Good advice to keep in mind as we strive to lead and participate in worship that transforms us into God’s kingdom people!

For Your Devotions:   

Tuesday, September 29th is the Holy Day of St. Michael and All Angels (Michaelmas). When this day falls on a Sunday, it is one of the very few days that actually takes precedence over the weekly feast of the Lord – our Sunday celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Michaelmas is also known as “Goose Day” since a well fattened goose was eaten to protect against financial disaster for the coming year. Scottish people cooked St. Michael’s Bannock (a large scone cake) on a lamb skin (thank goodness my mum left out that part of the tradition). Scottish people also had the tradition of allowing you to steal your neighbour’s horse on the Eve of Michaelmas, ride it all the next day, and then return it. Those Scots! 😊 Blackberries had to be picked before “Old Michaelmas Day” because you couldn’t eat them after that – it has to do with Lucifer having a bit of a temper…To find out more:  https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Michaelmas/   Wednesday, September 30th is the memorial of Jerome, Teacher of the Faith, who died in 420. Jerome is known as one of the most learned of all of the Latin Church Fathers. You may have heard of his Latin translation of the bible which is called the Vulgate. Jerome was born into a wealthy Christian family and was well-educated. He tried his hand at being a hermit for a couple of years then agreed to be ordained – as long as no priestly functions were forced on him….Hmm.  He spent many years travelling and learning from various greats (like Gregory of Nazianzus) then ended up in Rome as secretary to Pope Damasus I.  However, his fiery preaching – reprimanding Roman clergy, lax monks, and hypocritical virgins – created such controversy that he left for the Holy Land. He spent the remainder of his life living in a monastery he’d formed in Bethlehem.  To read more:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Jerome

In the joy of Christ,

Susan