Sunday Evening Prayer

               Turn 

               from 

               evil 

               and 

               do 

               good;

               Seek 

               peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Set us free, 

O God, from the bond-age of our sins 

                      Today’s collect 

Evening Prayer

         He restoreth my soul

                                      The 23rd Psalm 

Cornelius the Centurion, the first Gentile convert to the Christian faith

You 

have 

not 

come to 

something

that can be 

touched, 

a blazing 

fire and 

darkness 

and gloom 

...but to Jesus, 

the meditator a new covenant...

Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews 12: 18,24,25

Anskar, missionary to the Scandinavians. whose mission was largely a failure in his own day.

Let not those 

who hope in you

be put to shame 

through me,

Lord God of hosts; 

let not those 

who seek you 

be dismayed

because of me, 

O God of Israel. 

Psalm 69:7

              “Keep your church from discouragement in 

                  the day of little things, knowing that when 

                  you have begun a good work, you will bring 

                  it to a fruitful conclusion...” Collect for Anskar

The Presentation of Our Lord

You 

are 

my 

hope, 

O Lord 

God, 

my

confidence 

since 

I was young. 

Psalm Antiphon:Psalm 71

                  Saints and Seasons 

The creches stayed out longest, as usual, waiting for the arrival of the magi. Not that Mary and Joseph themselves awaited the sages from the east - they had no way of knowing that they were even on their way, and had been this long time, bringing their strange treasures. They were busy just getting by, trying to get used to having a child, struggling to keep him warm and dry and fed. The magi themselves knew not where their journey would end; the child was 2 by the time they arrived.

We have managed to take that sacred moment when God took flesh, and have frozen it in time. I wonder if Mary and Joseph don’t look down at our creches and chuckle a little.  In can hear Mary laugh and say  “‘ The Little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes!’ Remember how he cried, Joe? Sometimes  I wondered what I’d gotten myself into! Look at me kneeling there- you’d think we had nothing to do but be lost in adoration! Oh, we did have our moments of wonder, but they were usually after Jesus had  finally fallen asleep and we lay exhausted among the animals.”

But now the mystery of that Incarnation is packed away til next year,  along with it’s amazing implications,  Already, in mid-January, Valentine’s Day is being hawked in the stores; love for sale. Packed away also is the fact that, at least from the outside, the story doesn’t have a happy ending. 

But before we leave the mystery of Christmas behind altogether, the Church offers us a chance to pause and consider it once agin as we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the temple on February 2. (Luke 2:22-38) Much as we do at Baptism, Mary and Joseph bring the offering of their son to the temple. Two faithful people who have watched and waited for the Hope of Israel see and recognize Jesus that day: the prophet Anna, aged 84, who had been married a scant seven years and since then has lived as a widow in the temple until that day. And so did the aged prophet Simeon, who takes Jesus in his arms and proclaims that now he can die in peace, having seen the arrival of the “light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.” (BCP Pg 120) 

But even in the midst of fulfillment, of recognition and celebration, the shadow of the cross hangs over them here as Simeon turns for her SOn to Mary and says “and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  And ours as well. 

Louise Buck 

February 2012

Saints and Seasons @ is a monthly (except for August) column written by Louise Buck for the community at St David's Episcopal Church, 5050 Milton St, San Diego CA.

Brigid, 6th century founder and abbess of Kildare in Ireland.

God 

him-self 

will pro-vide the lamb 

for the burnt offering. 

                    Genesis 22:8

I love this story and am always sorry when people get stuck on the literal details: I don’t think that’s what the Bible is about - in fact, it just keeps us on the surface.  The creation story, for instance, is not about how God created the earth, but that he did! so if you don’t get stuck on “human sacrifice, that’s terrible!” you can sink into the depths of this amazing story. the hard truth of it is that sometimes, without understanding how or why  or whether things will turn out at all, we have to be willing to sacrifice the very thing that seemed the answer to not only our prayers, but god’s very promise ....  stories get us much farther into the life of god and the reality of the kingdom than mere facts. Maybe that’s why Jesus told parables and stories rather than answering questions....