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Priest-in-Charge, October 2024 to September 2026
Anglican Parish of Opawa - St Martin’s. Chaplain of St Mark’s School, Opawa
Every April 25th we pay our respects to Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in World War I, at Gallipoli in Turkey. One of the best ways we can show respect to our fallen soldiers is by understanding the breadth of Anzac history.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows (Psalm 23)
We are all called to accept Jesus and proclaim the Good News of the Gospel to all people.
With our journey through Holy Week Palm Sunday to Easter Day, we are led deeper into a sombre reflection and reverence of the final days of Jesus 's life.
Just like the blind man in last week’s readings, Lazarus represents us all. Lazarus represents all of humanity (all “dead men”) that Jesus loves and wants to liberate from the clutches of sin and death.
Now, he is in the light, not just of his physical sight, but because a deeper insight opens him up to Jesus who is the Light of the world.
The Holy Spirit that is present in Baptism. Baptism, the ritual which is the is the outward symbolic sign of a deep reality, the coming of God penetrating every aspect of a person’s life.
This Sunday we look to the internal struggles within a faith community, faith versus works as the means to be in relationship with God.
But, in Christ that we are not alone as we are united to Christ. It is in union with Christ that we face temptation and receive salvation.
By the 6th Century ashes were an important part of the Lenten journey in public acts of penance. The practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of all believers on the first day of Lent (Ash Wednesday) became common by the 10th century.
The Church uses the term Ordinary Time to the order of Sundays in the church year that do not fall into the major liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter.
Candlemas is one of the oldest Feast Days from the ancient Christian Church, dating back to at least the fourth century (The pilgrim Egeria recorded its celebration in Jerusalem in the 380s...)
Thankfully, now Lent is generally observed as a time of restraint from excess, by almsgiving, and by devoting more than the usual time to religious exercises such as prayer.
We pray to God, knowing our illumination, restoration and our salvation, depends on God. So it is in trust as well as longing that we cry out to God who is tenacious in faithfulness to us all.
This Sunday we celebrate the third Sunday in Advent. This is often called Gaudete (meaning rejoice) Sunday.
The season of Advent, the season of waiting in Hope, Peace, Joy and Love is in opposition to the frenzy that the lead up to Christmas can easily be. It is a time of year in that the regular rhythm of prayer can be of particular importance.
Advent teaches us that God is our source of Hope and the foundation of our love in our lives.
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King which reaffirms that the Kingship of Christ holds the place of ultimate authority over all aspects of human life
So the power of love that is within us is the power of God and with it the generosity and faithfulness through all that happens
Vestments are made in different colours to indicate the feast or season of the celebration, and in different shapes and styles, representing the role of the minister or priest and tradition of Christian vesture across the centuries.
One of the ministries or gifts of the Church is the acknowledgment of grief, of lament. We acknowledge the hard reality of death but “in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (ANZPB Committal).
God is praised as the one providing protection, both as a bird nesting her young, and as a shield from the glare of the sun.
Accept our sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise, which we make through Christ our great high priest
Having previously seen a couple of the prayers I have been looking forward to this book for some time. I have now been lucky enough to see a copy of the published book and it is great.
It is also often that we cross ourselves as a sign that we gather or act in the Lord’s name, whenever we receive a blessing, especially the blessing of absolution, before receiving Holy Communion and also when we commend the dead to God.
This Sunday is one to remember and reflect on the humiliating and agonising way Jesus died for us all
Quite simply - will we choose to accept and embrace the radical love of God or not.
To be righteous is to be generous in both giving and lending. The righteous are those who are generous and conduct their business fairly.
The Good News that they shared was, and is, that all people are called to be disciples of Jesus by the gracious Gift of God’s Love.
On Friday we celebrated of the Feast of St Mary the Mother of Jesus. We know from the Gospel according to Luke that Mary was a young Jewish girl living in Nazareth.