Scripture texts
Textweek resources
• collect/opening prayer reflection for January 30 and week following (NZPB)
BCP (TEC):
Almighty and everlasting God,
you govern all things both in heaven and on earth:
Mercifully hear the supplications of your people,
and in our time grant us your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Candlemas/The Presentation
Introduction to Candlemas and collect
BCP (TEC):
Almighty and everliving God,
we humbly pray that,
as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple,
so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts
by Jesus Christ our Lord;
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
As well as ordinary comments, you can add ideas, resources, hymns,… for celebrating Candlemas…
Would you address human trafficking to make citizens conscious of this growing global problem?
Slavery/human trafficking/forced sex labor – there’s a vast of research information on the internet. It happen to Joseph, it happen to Esther. It happen to me.
Just an idea. Be well. Be blessed brother in CHRIST. =)
http://www.insidebayarea.com/fremont/ci_17163837
I fail to recall where Ester was involved in slavery, human trafficking or sexual slavery, she was a contestant and ultimately the winner of an ancient beauty pageant.
Ah, but Queen Vashti’s demand to appear before Xerxes wearing the crown (and, presumably, little to nothing else) could be the subject of a sermon about the objectification of women (or of anyone, frankly); and from there a preacher could develop Christian responses to human trafficiking, sex tourism, etc. — practices that, like Xerxes’ treatment of Vashti, demean and denigrate a person created in the image of God.
Mohandas K. Gandhi was assassinated on this day January 30, 1948, and the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel text for today (this year) was the Beatitudes. In ’48 this was a Friday. I wonder what text would have been used in most churches on the Sunday, two days after his death, Epiphany 4. I wish I could read some sermons from that day to see if pastors made the connection between those events and the Gospel.It seemed fitting to hear the Beatitudes on this day. Gandhi was, in fact, the embodiment of so much that Jesus taught in that passage. Sometimes the Gospel is played out before our eyes. The challenge is to recognize it, when it happens.
What an insightful connection, Wendy. Thank you.
For the 1948 reading, the RCL is relatively new, so we would be looking at the old lectionary. Easter that year was 28 March, so Sunday 1 Feb (I hope I have this right) would have been Sexagesima (2 Sundays prior to Lent) with the epistle 2 Corinthians 11:19-33,12:1-9 and the gospel Luke 8:4-15. The first is about Paul’s suffering; the second is about seed that bore much fruit.