Timothy, Titus and SIlas, Companions of Paul. A good follow-up since this is never a one man job...

Saturday antiphon on Canticle 12,

A Song of Creation 

God 

saw 

everything 
he
had 
made, 
and 
behold, 
it was 
very good. 

The Conversion of St Paul (who was not yet called Paul, but Saul, so it's really The Conversion of Saul, although, knowing Paul a little, I am sure he needed more than one conversion... as do we all.) Be that as it may, Today ends the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

                                                        Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be accept-able in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. 

Evening

             The Gospel of Mark 4:24

The measure you get  will be 

the measure you give, and still more will be given you. 

The commemoration of the 1944 ordination in Hong Kong of Florence Li Tim-Oi as the first woman priest in the Anglican Communion

                             Psalm 37:9

Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; 

do not fret yourself, it leads only to evil. 

Wednesday Evening Prayer

                                                             Collect for Protection 

we thank you 
for 
the blessings of the day that is past and humbly ask your protection 
through the coming night... 

Wednesday

                                                                                    Isaiah 45:3

I will give you 

the treas-ures 

of dark-ness, & riches hidden in secret place so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, 

who call you by name. 

Feast of St Agnes, martyr at Rome in 304

                                                                                Psalm 39:8.14

And now, O Lord, what 

is my hope? 

My hope is in you. 
For I am a so-journer with you, a wayfarer as all my forebears were. 

Evening Prayer

   Collect for Peace

give

to
us 

that 

peace 

which 

the 

world 

cannot 

give

Inauguration Day in the USA

                               Antiphon: Psalm 25

Lead

me in

your 

truth, 

O Lord, 

and 

teach 

me. 

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

John 2:5

His

mother 

said 

to the 

servants 

“Do 

whatever 

he 
tells 
you.

The Gospel reading today at church is John 2:1-11, This is the third showing forth/manifestation of Christ: to the magi at the Epiphany, his Baptism on the first Sunday after Epiphany and now his changing of of Prodigious amount of water into wine at the wedding in Cana.   The following was part of the commentary on that recently in God Pause, a daily Lutheran offering. I liked it because Jesus’ response in verse 4 to her saying that they had run out of wine at the wedding (“SO?” ...my paraphrase.) has always puzzled me. I  don't think I had ever heard anything that helped make sense of it before so it was an interesting insight for me:  not that Mary somehow forces Jesus hand, but that she knew him so well that she knew, even before he did, that he'd do something….  The ever surprising Mary.

Mary tells Jesus that the wine at the wedding party has run out. Jesus seems to ignore her, saying that his hour has not yet come. Yet Mary just knows that Jesus is going to do something, so she tells the servants to be ready to do whatever Jesus says.

"the last enemy to be destroyed will be death:"

                   Isaiah 43:1                                           

Do
not 

fear, 
for I 
have 
redeemed 
you; I have 
called you 
by name; 
you are mine. 

The Confession of St Peter (actually he was not called Peter yet, but Simon Son of Jonah. The Confession occasioned the name change) Today begins The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

                                                            Matthew 16:17

Blessed are you Simon Son of Jonah! For 

flesh and blood has not revealed this to you 

Evening Prayer

Psalm 18:26

               With the 

               faithful 

               you show 
               yourself 
               faithful, 
               O God; 
              & with the
              forthright 
              you show 
              yourself 
              forthright. 

Thursday, my friend Marilee's 80th birthday

Psalm 18:1a 

I
love
you, 
O 
Lord, 
my 
strength

Mid-work week

 The Venite 

The sea 

is His 

for He

made it, 
and his 
hands 
have molded
 the dry land. 

Evening Prayer, thinking of Joyce and Mary and the family, Turtle Tack Tufts and all....

Collect against Perils 

Be 

our 

light 

in the 

darkness,

 O Lord....

The middle of January

                                                                                      Psalm 5:3

In the morn-ing, Lord, you hear my voice; early in the morning 

I make my appeal and watch for you. 

A clear, crisp Monday Morning

                          An antiphon on the Venite in Ordinary Time 

  The 
  earth
  is the 
  Lord’s
  for 
  he 
  made 
  it: 
  Come,
  let us adore him. 

E.P.

 

                                                                                     John 1:32

John 
 testified

  "I saw 
   the Spirit
    descending

     from heaven 
      like a dove 

       and it 
        remained
          on him.” 

The First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of Jesus

     

God grant you
to be 

strengthened 

with might 

by his 

Holy Spirit, 

that Christ, 

dwelling in 

your hearts 

by faith,  

you may 

be filled

with all 

the fullness 
of God. 
    
      Memorial of Baptism

Saturday after the Epiphany

Antiphon on the Venite*

The 

Lord 

has 

shown 

forth 

his 

glory; 

Come, 

let us 

adore 
him. 

This is too lovely not to share in this season of light: 

I imagine God taking in his hand what has lain apart from time and space and snapping it crisply like a cloak dusted with snow, shaking free a sparkling shower of light. Fiat lux! Let there be light! A universe emerged from chaos. (...This light sustains us) through the unremarkable as well as the unbearable... Fiat lux! Let the light of the Gospel flame in our hearts, may we learn from Mary how to shelter it with prayer and be warmed by its contemplation. Fiat. Let God’s will be done in us, shaking free a Light undimmed in its sharing.  Michelle Franci-Donnay in  Give us this Day from January 1st. 

Friday Evening Prayer

                                                                     Psalm 91:1, 11

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, abides under the shadow of the Almighty,.. 

He will give his angels charge of you, 
to keep you in all your ways. 

Friday after Epiphany

Psalm 150:6

Let 

every-
thing 
that 
has 
breath 
praise 
the 
Lord; 
hallelujah! 

The Thursday after the Epiphany

                                                                                             Psalm 138:4

             When 
                   I 

            called, 

              you 

      answered 

              me, 
             you 

     increased 

             my 
      strength 

    within me. 

The Wednesday after Epiphany

                                                          Collect of the week

O God, by the leading of a star, you mani-fested your only Son to the peoples of the earth; Lead us, who know you now by faith, 
to your presence where we may see 
your glory face to face... 

A Tuesday evening

                                                                     Psalm 113: 2

From the rising of the sun 
to it’s going down let the name of the Lord be praised.  

A Tuesday after Epiphany...

                                                           Revelation 2:4

You’re
doing 

all the 
right 
things, 
But i 
have 
this 
against
you, 
that 
you 
have abandoned 
the love you had aT first. 

Heading home

For Those Who Have Far to Travel

An Epiphany Blessing

If you could see
the journey whole
you might never
undertake it;
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.

Call it
one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it
only by stages
as it opens
before us,
as it comes into
our keeping
step by
single step.

There is nothing
for it
but to go
and by our going
take the vows
the pilgrim takes:

to be faithful to
the next step;
to rely on more
than the map;
to heed the signposts
of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you
will recognize;

to keep an open eye
for the wonders that
attend the path;
to press on
beyond distractions
beyond fatigue
beyond what would
tempt you
from the way.

There are vows
that only you
will know;
the secret promises
for your particular path
and the new ones
you will need to make
when the road
is revealed
by turns
you could not
have foreseen.

Keep them, break them,
make them again:
each promise becomes
part of the path;
each choice creates
the road
that will take you
to the place
where at last
you will kneel

to offer the gift
most needed—
the gift that only you
can give—
before turning to go
home by
another way.

By Jan Richardson I think

Post Epiphany

                                                       Matthew 2:12 

          

          And 

          having 

          been 

          warned 

          in a 

          dream 

          not to 

          return 

          to Herod, 

          they left 

          for their own 

          country by another road. 

This single line says so much in such a little space! It’s one of my favorites. The wise men’s quest is over, their gifts given, and it is time to return to ordinary life  And, while you might miss the meaning of the angel pointing the way in the stained glass window, you cant’s miss it in this little black and white graphic. Here we see not "wise men", but the angel alerting vulnerable, all too human sleeping men, all tucked into bed. And a good thing they listened to the dream, even though it would have put them at odds with Herod - in "bad odor" as it says so delight-fully somewhere in Scripture. Herod had told them that once they had found the child, to return and tell him exactly where he was so he too could go and worship as well. But we know that, out of fear for his own kingship, Herod's real intent was to go and kill the child.. And so, these foreign men, heeding the angel’s warning, saved the infant Savior’s life. A lot in a little line, no? 

Second Vespers of Epiphany

                                                                              One of the Epiphany 

                                                                               Antiphons on the Magnificat

From the east there came wise men to Bethlehem 

to worship the Lord; and when they opened their treasures, they presented to him precious gifts: 
gold as to a mighty King, incense as to the true God, 
and myrrh to foreshadow his burial; alleluia 

Epiphany

                        Epiphany antiphon on the Venite

The Lord has shown forth 
his glory: Come let us adore him.

Christmas is the manifestation of Jesus to his own people, the Jews, in the people of the shepherds who responded to the angel’s message and came to the creche.  Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles, to all of us, in the form of the 3 sages or wise men who had followed the star for who know how long.... One of my favorite lines in the story is “When they saw that they star has stopped, there were overjoyed.”  I guess! 

Eve of the Epiphany

                                                                              Matthew 2:8

King Herod sent 

them on say-ing, "Go and search diligently for the child and when 

you have found him, bring word to me..."

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

                                                                            Psalm 110:3 

Princely state has been yours since the day of your birth; 

in the beauty of holiness have I begotten you, like dew 
from the womb of the morning. 

Friday Evening Prayer

                                                                   Psalm 89:1

Your love, 

O Lord, 

for ever 

will I sing;

from age 

to age 

my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness. 

January 4

                                         Genesis 28:19  

How 

awesome 

is this 

place! 

This is none

other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. 

January 3rd

                                            Based on a collect, bcp pg 213  

Grant that this new light may shine in our lives and lead us to you.  

January 2

                                            Psalm 34:5a

              

               Look 

               upon 

               him 

               and 

               be 

               radiant 

Evening Prayer Holy Name

    Revelation21:3

See,
the 

home 
of 
God 
is 
with 
mortals  

Holy Name Day

                                 Antiphon on Psalm 103 for Holy Name Day 

Let all

that is 
within 
me 
bless 
God’s 
Holy Name.