Commentary on the collect for today and the week following, from NZPB
It is Fathers Day in Australia and New Zealand, but not in Canada, USA, or UK,…
This is the start of the Creation Season for some. This site is against abandoning the RCL, or RC three year lectionary. In my opinion, it is possible to make allusions and references to creation, including from the set readings. I have recently been arguing against the increasing of “Special Sundays“.
A creation reading of the lectionary:
The First Testament readings and psalms has creation like clay in the potter’s hand. We are known and formed – my inward parts – you knit me together in my mother’s womb. They speak of land, heaven, and earth, life and death, trees planted by streams of water. The gospel speaks of calculating the cost and simplifying our lifestyle.
The month of September, launched by the Eastern Orthodox starting of the liturgical year on September 1 and preparing for the feast of St Francis, has increasingly a focus on creation. This site is committed to the three year lectionary (RC) and its derivative, the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). Rather than departing from that lectionary, resources will be provided here that can be used to have a particular focus.
The historic 1989 encyclical letter (link off this site) of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I in which he urged Christians to observe September 1st as a day of prayer for the protection of the environment.
Drawn from Creation Season where you will find further resources.
Other Collects in use today
Common Worship (CofE):
Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
BCP (TEC USA):
Grant us, O Lord,
to trust in you with all our hearts;
for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength,
so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Please add ideas for sermons, hymns, ways to adapt for Fathers Day, Creation Season, etc.
Father’s day this Sunday? I guess the creators of the RCL did not consult with NZ when they choose the Gospel for this week. God (and the congregation) have mercy on the preacher who preaches “unless you hate your father you cannot be my disciple.”
Thanks Joel. Yes – I’ve been waiting for someone to notice! What has surprised me so far is no murmurings of panic amongst the preaching community here. Maybe they don’t start preparing until after Tuesday???