Sunday, April 26, 2020

A Celebration of Spring



Easter 3
Service of the Word
St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Anglican Churches
April 26, 2020

Opening Sentence
Lord Jesus, open to us the scriptures;
make our hearts burn within us while you speak.
                                                                   See Luke 24.32

Gathering of the Community
Introductory Responses
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Let us praise our God
who has given us life and hope
by raising Jesus from the dead.

Let us rejoice, then, even in our distress.
We shall be counted worthy when Christ appears.

O God, you have claimed us as your own
and called us from our darkness into the light of your day.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Introduction
In the heart’s springtime,
the inner self awakens.
Seeds of growth,
hidden in the midst of winter’s bleakness,
germinate and sprout.
That which has been longed for
and greatly desired
is gradually brought forth
and heralded with gladness.
Vision, dreams, and yearnings for the future unfold.
The gray moods, the frozen love,
the sorrow and grief,
the overwhelming angst,
the dread and depression,
all this slowly slips away
as trust and enthusiasm rejuvenate the wintered spirit.
Like the springtime land,
so the inner land is thawed and re-energized.
A sense of loving and being loved
warms the interior places
that were cold and dormant in wintertime.
“The Circle of Life: The Heart’s Journey through the Seasons” by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr
 
Celebrating Spring
Lord, God of all Creation,  
with spring there is hope,  
carried upon the wind,   
filling field and forest, city and town.  

Lord, God of all Creation,  
with joy, we welcome the spring sun  
which warms and feeds our earth with energy and light.  
We welcome you, season of spring.

Lord, God of all Creation,  
teach us the lesson of spring,  
that all creation comes alive—  
trees and bushes, flowers and plants.

Blessed are you, O God of all Creation,
who gives us the season of spring.

Blessed are you, spring, bright season of life awakening.
You gladden our hearts with opening buds and returning leaves
as you put on your robes of splendor.

In you is a life no death can destroy.
As you exchange places with winter
you harbor no unforgiving spirit
for broken tree limbs and frozen buds.

You open the closed buds of our despair
as you journey with us to the flowering places.

You invite us to sing songs to the frozen regions within
and to bless the lessons of winter
as we become your partner in a new dance.

Like Jesus, standing before the tomb of Lazarus,
you call to us: “Remove winter’s stone,
come out, there is life here you have not yet tasted.”

Blessed are you, spring, free gift of the earth.
Without cost we gaze upon your glory.
You are a gospel of good news for the poor and rich alike.

Your renewing rain showers and cathartic storms
nurture the potential that sleeps in Earth’s heart
and in our own earthen hearts.

Bless are you, spring, season of resurrection, sacrament of promise.
Like Jesus you rise up out of the darkness
leaving around you a wake of new life.

Blessed are you, spring, season of hope and renewal.
Wordless poem about all within us that can never die.
Each year you amaze us with the miracle of returning life. 

Blessed are you, O God of all creation,
who gives us the season of spring.

The Proclamation of the Word

Psalm 116.1-3, 10-17 Dilexi, quoniam
I love the Lord
who has heard the voice of my supplication,
who has listened to me whenever I called.

The cords of death entangled me; 
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
I came to grief and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray you, save my life.”

Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
The Lord watches over the innocent; 

I was brought very low,
and the Lord helped me.
Turn again to your rest, O my soul,
for the Lord has treated you well.

For you, O Lord, have rescued my life from death,
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.

I believed, even when I said,
“I have been brought very low.”
In my distress I said, 
“No one can be trusted.”

How shall I repay you, O Lord,
for all the good things you have done for me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon your name.

I will fulfil my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all the people.
Precious in your sight, O Lord
is the death of your servants.

O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.

I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call upon the name of the Lord.
I will fulfil my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all the people of God.

In the courts of the house of the Lord,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.    Hallelujah!

as it was in the beginning,
is now and will be for ever. Amen.

Acts 2.14a, 36-41
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.’

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

The Responsory
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your sting?
Christ is risen from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
The trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised.
Where, O death, is your sting?
We shall not all sleep,
but we shall be changed.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your sting?

1 Peter 1.17-23
If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church
Thanks be to God.

A Song of the New Creation (Isaiah 43.15, 16, 18, 19, 20c, 21)
‘I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your Sovereign.’
Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
‘Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself,
that they might declare my praise.’

Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the beginning,
is now and will be for ever. Amen.

Gospel
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Luke.
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 24.13-35
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
          
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Sermon 
Hear, O Israel
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.

This is the first and the great commandment.
The second is like it:
Love your neighbour as yourself.

There is no commandment greater than these.

The Prayers of the Community

Anglican Communion
   Pray for the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East
      The Most Reverend Michael Lewis
         Archbishop, Jerusalem & the Middle East
         & Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf
Anglican Church of Canada
   Diocese of Central Newfoundland
      the Right Reverend John Watton, Bishop
Council of the North
Diocese of the Arctic
      The Right Reverend David Parsons, Bishop
      The Right Reverends Annie Ittoshat
         Lucy Netser and Joey Royal, Suffragan Bishops
The Diocese of Edmonton
   The retired clergy of the Diocese of Edmonton
   Buyé Diocese, Kigina Parish
         Emmanuel Ntakirutimana, Rector
   Frog Lake First Nation 
(I will not place our individual parish prayers on the internet. 
We know who we pray for each week. 
Rest assured that your loved ones continue in our prayers.)

We continue to pray for Burundi and our twinned parishes
      Kabanga and St. Luke’s Bigombo
We also pray for the Canadian Armed Forces
  serving at home and abroad.

Loving God,
whose peace passes all our understanding:
as we face this present pandemic,
and experience fear and anxiety,
may we hear your voice,
bringing calm to the storms of our time.

Strengthen those who work
to limit the spread of infection,
and those who seek to care for the sick,
and keep us mindful of those most vulnerable.

May we shape our living to protect one another,
and may our changing habits,
practices and sacrifices,
be for the greater love of our community
and all your people.  Amen.
From the Diocese of Niagara.

That we will appreciate and enjoy the beauty of each season, we pray:
Lord of Life, hear us and bless us.

That we will continue to be people of hope, we pray:
Lord of Life, hear us and bless us.

That farmers will be blessed
with a good planting and growing season, we pray:
Lord of Life, hear us and bless us.

That we will have a great respect
for all of creation around us, we pray:
Lord of Life, hear us and bless us.

That this season of new life and birth
will fill our hearts and souls with gladness, we pray:
Lord of Life, hear us and bless us.

That the Resurrection event
will remind us that sin, death, gloom and despair
are conquered and that Christ is our Eternal Spring, we pray:
Lord of Life, hear us and bless us.
 
As the earth once again turns to face the sun
we rejoice in this season of spring.
We give thanks, O God,
that each day grows longer in light
and that the earth has been liberated from the grip of winter.

We remember the resurrection of Your Son Jesus
from the depths of death's decay in the tomb,
we lift our hearts to You in gratitude.
We thank You for the gift of a day and all the graces it holds. 

We ask for the grace, O God,
to live in a new way.
Grant us fresh dreams and new visions.
May this day come upon us like Spring herself,
so that our hearts may be filled with hope.
May we thus taste more deeply the joys of simply being alive.
May we find the countless hidden treasures
that You have scattered throughout this day and season!
May Your peace rest upon all the members of the earthen family
with whom You have made us one. Amen.
        
The Collect of the Day
Risen Christ, companion on the way:
break through the disillusionment and despair
which cloud our vision,
so that we may find our way
and journey on as messengers of your good news.  Amen.
Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002) alt.
    

The Lord’s Prayer
Trusting in the compassion of God
and gathering our prayers and praises into one,
let us pray as our Saviour taught us,

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

Dismissal
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace
in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God.  Alleluia.  Amen.

Morning Prayer from Easter to Ascencion
adapted from:
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
Morning and Evening Prayer for the Seasons of the Church Year
Prepared by the Ven. Dr. Richard Leggett
for the Faith, Worship, and Ministry Committee Of the Anglican Church of Canada

The psalm is from:
A Liturgical Psalter
General Synod 2016 Edition

The Psalter of The Book of Alternative Services Emended for Contemporary Liturgical Use

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