Category: Feasts and Seasons

03May

A Celebration of the Word, for the Fourth Week of Easter 2020

This brief service of music and sacred scripture is offered in praise of God, and for the benefit of any who would like to worship in this manner.

  1. Opening acclamation and organ prelude: “I know that My Redeemer lives”, by Diane Bish, performing from St. Jacob’s Church, Prague, on a program entitled “Easter Alleluias”, used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
  2. First Reading: Acts 2: 42-47, World English Bible.
  3. Psalm 23 “Brother James Air” by unknown artists, uploaded to YouTube by user “mk671tv”, used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
  4. Second Reading: 1 Peter 2: 19-29, World English Bible.
  5. Gospel Reading: John 10: 1-10, World English Bible.
  6. Lord’s Prayer by Malotte: Sung by Kathleen Battle with harp by Nancy Allen, live for the visit of Pope Benedict to the U.S. 2009, uploated to youtube by “kinddude”, used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
  7. Closing prayer: Methodist, abbreviated.
  8. Postlude: Heut Triumphiret Gottes Sohn, BWV 630, performed by Aldo Locatelli.
26Apr

A Celebration of the Word, for the Third Sunday of Easter

In praise of God, and for the benefit of any who might find in it a blessing on this day of continuing isolation due to the COVID pandemic, I offer another audio file of scripture readings and music. The readings and music are taken from audio files that are in the public domain. Readings correspond to the Revised Common Lectionary.

Easter 2020 Week 3 Readings
  1. Prelude: Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C major, RV 537, by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Michael Rondeau. Available at MusOpen.
  2. Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41, from the World English Bible, by Librivox.
  3. Hymn: “Thine Be The Glory, Risen Conquering Son (Traditional Easter Hymn)”, From Internet Archives.
  4. Reading: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19, from the King James Version, by Librivox.
  5. Music: Excerpt from Variations on an American Hymn Tune, by Gordon Young, performed by Paul Pittman. At MusOpen.
  6. The Lord’s Prayer, King James Version
  7. Concluding Prayer: From Church of England.
  8. Choral benediction: C.P. Lutkin. “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” Performed by “The Major Grooves”. Private file donated by a friend, used with permission.
19Apr

A Service of the Word, for the Second Week of Easter 2020

I have put together another audio file of readings and music, offered in praise of God and for the benefit of any who might find in it a blessing on this day of ongoing isolation due to the COVID pandemic. The readings and music are taken from audio files that are in the public domain. Readings correspond to the Revised Common Lectionary.

  1. Prelude: Concerto for 2 Trumpets in D Major, by Johann Molter, MWV 6.30 – III. Allegro. From a European Archive, at MusOpen.
  2. Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32, from the World English Bible, by Librivox.
  3. Music: Hymn: Alleluia – A joyous Easter Hymn, by Frieda Hempel, Soprano, 1924. From Internet Archives.
  4. Reading: Psalm 16, from the King James Version, by Librivox.
  5. Reading: John 20:19-31, from the World English Bible.
  6. The Lord’s Prayer, World English Bible
  7. Song: “Exultate Deo”, by William Byrd; Internet Archives Community Audio.
  8. Concluding Prayer: St. Richard of Chichester
  9. Music: “Amen”, from Magnificat, fauxbourdon by William Byrd. Sung by the Choir of St. Thomas Church 5th Avenue.
  10. Postlude, Organ work: JS Bach, “Christ lag in Todesbanden”, performed by Aldo Locatelli, at MusOpen.
12Apr

A Brief Celebration of Easter

I have put together an audio file of readings and music, offered in praise of God and for the benefit of any who might find in it a blessing on this day of ongoing isolation due to the pandemic. The readings and music are taken from audio files that are in the public domain.

Easter Readings 2020
  1. Prelude: Concerto for 2 Trumpets in D Major, by Johann Molter, MWV 6.30. From a European Archive, at MusOpen.
  2. Reading: Acts 10: 34-43, from the World English Bible, by Librivox.
  3. Music: Te Deum, Orchestral, by Marc Antoine Charpentier; unknown performers, available from Community Audio section of the Internet Archive.
  4. Reading: Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24, from the King James Version, by Librivox.
  5. Reading: John 20:1-20, from the World English Bible.
  6. The Lord’s Prayer, World English Bible
  7. Concluding Prayer
  8. Music: “Amen”, from Magnificat, by Jan Dismas Zelenka; Performed by the Prague Choral Society, at MusOpen (linked above).

10Apr

On Good Friday God’s Privilege Was Checked At The Cross

…the god-man suffers too, with patience. Evil and death can no longer be entirely imputed to him since he suffers and dies. The night on Golgotha is so important in the history of man only because, in its shadows, the divinity ostensibly abandoned its traditional privilege, and lived through to the end, despair included, the agony of death. Thus is explained the “Lama sabachthani” and the frightful doubt of Christ in agony

Albert Camus, Essais (Gallimard, 1965), p. 444. Translated and quoted by Bruce Ward in “Prometheus or Cain? Albert Camus’s Account of the Western Quest for Justice,” Faith and Philosophy (April 1991): 213.

(My hat is tipped to Timothy Keller for bringing this quotation to my attention).

02Apr

Lent in a Time of Privation

“I feel like I shouldn’t have given up anything for Lent”, a patient said to me the other day.  In the midst of a global pandemic, Lent seems to have taken on a new life. As state and local bodies take drastic actions to curb the transmission of COVID-19, we all suddenly find ourselves in a state of government enforced deprivation and fasting.

Many of us are all but confined to our homes.  Travel is restricted, and spring vacations canceled. Schools are closed.  Churches are closed.  Restaurants, theaters, bowling alleys, and museums are all closed.  In grocery stores, masked customers flit about nervously looking for supplies that have sold out, such as eggs or toilet paper.  Some people are lucky enough to have work that is deemed “essential”, while others are furloughed and applying for unemployment.  The social fabric seems to be ripping apart. Accustomed to a land of plenty, we Americans now find ourselves struggling with privations that are alien to us.

Meanwhile, by coincidence, a large segment of faithful Christians are observing Lent. Lent was conceived as a season of fasting, discipline, and self-sacrifice leading up to Christianity’s holiest and most joyful commemoration, namely Easter.  The point of the fasting is to get past ourselves and our own desires, and to intensify our realization of our need for God and his work in our lives.

Whether voluntary or involuntary, this time of deprivation can either be a miserable mess, or it can be something we can see through eyes of faith as a kind of blessing.  The meaning of Lent, and of the tribulations brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic, can best be summarized in a statement passed along to me by a friend: “When we come to the end of ourselves, we see the beginning of God’s faithfulness.”

22Dec

Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

We beseech thee, Almighty God, to purify our consciences by thy daily visitation, that when thy Son our Lord cometh he may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

15Dec

Prayer for the Third Sunday of Advent (Anglican)

Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let thy bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

08Dec

Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent (Anglican)

Merciful God, who sent thy messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.