Happy 7th Day of Christmas!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLIdT8DFI0
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Friday, December 30, 2016
Pray for peace
Pray for peace! Work for peace! Live in peace!
http://archbishopcranmer.com/christian-missionaries-aleppo-crucified-beheaded/
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://archbishopcranmer.com/christian-missionaries-aleppo-crucified-beheaded/
Fr. Troy Beecham
6th Day of Christmas
Happy 6th Day of Christmas!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IDvEwC0wZ-I
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IDvEwC0wZ-I
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, December 29, 2016
5th Christmas & Thomas Beckett
Happy 5th Day of Christmas!
Today the Church also remembers St. Thomas Beckett. Born in AD 1118, Thomas eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. In AD 1170, Thomas was brutally murdered after he confronted the king for his seeking to exert power over the life of the Church.
"Will someone not rid me of this meddlesome priest", said the king. Four knights burst into the cathedral at night, and murdered him at the high altar.
For those who stand up to power, who refuse to be bullied, who work for liberty in conscience, and freedom of religion, St. Thomas Beckett, pray for us.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Today the Church also remembers St. Thomas Beckett. Born in AD 1118, Thomas eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. In AD 1170, Thomas was brutally murdered after he confronted the king for his seeking to exert power over the life of the Church.
"Will someone not rid me of this meddlesome priest", said the king. Four knights burst into the cathedral at night, and murdered him at the high altar.
For those who stand up to power, who refuse to be bullied, who work for liberty in conscience, and freedom of religion, St. Thomas Beckett, pray for us.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Do not fear Herod
Do not fear the Herods of this world...
"But every Herod dies, and comes alone
To stand before the Lamb upon the throne."
-Malcom Guite
Fr. Troy Beecham
"But every Herod dies, and comes alone
To stand before the Lamb upon the throne."
-Malcom Guite
Fr. Troy Beecham
4th Christmas & Holy Innocents
Happy 4th Day of Christmas!
Today the Church also remembers the Holy Innocents, that otherwise nameless and unremembered group of children who were brutally murdered by a power mad king in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus and so eliminate a possible threat to his continued dominion.
How often do we accept when we are told by those holding the reins of power that "collateral damage" is acceptable or inevitable, or do we turn a blind eye towards the suffering of children, when inflicted in the name of maintaining privilege, luxury, access to cheap goods, or dominion?
How long until we see every human person as our own child, our own most beloved, for whom we have the duty of care? How long until we refuse to serve any power, system, economy, or person that reduces anyone into a commodity, a problem to be eliminated, an alien, or as lacking the same human dignity that we demand for ourselves?
...until the day that we are ourselves transformed by the love of God, and the world is renewed...
For the dawning of that day, please, pray.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uhCLwwmtKjs
Fr. Troy Beecham
Today the Church also remembers the Holy Innocents, that otherwise nameless and unremembered group of children who were brutally murdered by a power mad king in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus and so eliminate a possible threat to his continued dominion.
How often do we accept when we are told by those holding the reins of power that "collateral damage" is acceptable or inevitable, or do we turn a blind eye towards the suffering of children, when inflicted in the name of maintaining privilege, luxury, access to cheap goods, or dominion?
How long until we see every human person as our own child, our own most beloved, for whom we have the duty of care? How long until we refuse to serve any power, system, economy, or person that reduces anyone into a commodity, a problem to be eliminated, an alien, or as lacking the same human dignity that we demand for ourselves?
...until the day that we are ourselves transformed by the love of God, and the world is renewed...
For the dawning of that day, please, pray.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uhCLwwmtKjs
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Conversion
Lovely meditation on conversion/transformation of life
http://deankevin.blogspot.co.nz/2016/11/the-three-conversions-of-christian-life.html?m=1
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://deankevin.blogspot.co.nz/2016/11/the-three-conversions-of-christian-life.html?m=1
Fr. Troy Beecham
Pray for peace
Pray for peace. Work for peace. Live in peace.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/persecution-christians-not-here-there
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/persecution-christians-not-here-there
Fr. Troy Beecham
3rd Day of Christmas
Happy 3rd Day of Christmas!
Today the Church also remembers John, the "beloved disciple", who as a young man was one of the early disciples of Jesus. Of all the male apostles, John is the only one who did not run away when Jesus was arrested and crucified. He stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of the the cross, and there Jesus commended the duty of care for his mother to him. John cared for Mary until her death many years later.
He lived to old age, even though he faced exile, deprivation, and torture because of his faith in Jesus. He wrote many of the works that are part of the Christian holy scriptures, perhaps most famously the words that begin with "God so loved the world..." and "God is love".
In gratitude we remember John, faithful witness of Jesus and his astonishing revelation that the nature of God is love.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Today the Church also remembers John, the "beloved disciple", who as a young man was one of the early disciples of Jesus. Of all the male apostles, John is the only one who did not run away when Jesus was arrested and crucified. He stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of the the cross, and there Jesus commended the duty of care for his mother to him. John cared for Mary until her death many years later.
He lived to old age, even though he faced exile, deprivation, and torture because of his faith in Jesus. He wrote many of the works that are part of the Christian holy scriptures, perhaps most famously the words that begin with "God so loved the world..." and "God is love".
In gratitude we remember John, faithful witness of Jesus and his astonishing revelation that the nature of God is love.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, December 26, 2016
St Stephen - the 2nd Day of Christmas
On this second day of Christmas the Church remembers St. Stephen, a deacon of the early Church of Jerusalem, who was the first Christian martyr, murdered for being a known disciple of Jesus.
It seems an odd thing for the Church to honor a victim of such a horrible death on the day after it celebrates the birth of the Holy Child. It asks us to consider our religion, ask what place and importance it has in our lives, and begs the question if our lives are any different, any more true, because we follow Jesus.
This is the prayer for the feast of St. Stephen:
We give thee thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to thy Son Jesus Christ, who standeth at thy right hand; where he liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Here's a lovely meditation for this second day of Christmas:
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/12/26/christmas-is-about-martyrdom-the-lesson-of-st-stephen/
Fr. Troy Beecham
It seems an odd thing for the Church to honor a victim of such a horrible death on the day after it celebrates the birth of the Holy Child. It asks us to consider our religion, ask what place and importance it has in our lives, and begs the question if our lives are any different, any more true, because we follow Jesus.
This is the prayer for the feast of St. Stephen:
We give thee thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to thy Son Jesus Christ, who standeth at thy right hand; where he liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Here's a lovely meditation for this second day of Christmas:
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/12/26/christmas-is-about-martyrdom-the-lesson-of-st-stephen/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, December 25, 2016
O Great Mystery
For those faithful who see the wondrous, loving face of God in the fragile uncertainty of the baby Jesus, who's birth we celebrate today, I offer this hymn of astonished praise:
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.
O great mystery
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord
lying in a manger!
O blessed is the Virgin, whose womb
was worthy to bear Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj9-2RgM6p4
Fr. Troy Beecham
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.
O great mystery
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord
lying in a manger!
O blessed is the Virgin, whose womb
was worthy to bear Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj9-2RgM6p4
Fr. Troy Beecham
Friday, December 23, 2016
O Emmanuel
The final Antiphon for Evening Prayer tonight
Latin:
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,
exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.
English:
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh2S2lh2ekY
Fr. Troy Beecham
Latin:
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,
exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.
English:
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh2S2lh2ekY
Fr. Troy Beecham
O Rex Gentium
The sixth O Antiphon for Evening Prayer
In Latin:
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.
English:
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-zf5q8gBKpk
Fr. Troy Beecham
In Latin:
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.
English:
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-zf5q8gBKpk
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
O Oriens
The fifth Antiphon for Evening Prayer tonight.
Latin:
O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
English:
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyIyHgW4AI
Fr. Troy Beecham
Latin:
O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
English:
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyIyHgW4AI
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
How to help
Folks have asked how they can help our sisters and brothers in Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan in a practical way.
There are many charitable organizations involved in international relief work, not all of them of equal value. Please check the charity navigator website before giving.
A few of the top rated organizations are:
episcopalrelief.org
care.org
heifer.org
jrsusa.org
catholiccharitiesusa.org
Fr. Troy Beecham
There are many charitable organizations involved in international relief work, not all of them of equal value. Please check the charity navigator website before giving.
A few of the top rated organizations are:
episcopalrelief.org
care.org
heifer.org
jrsusa.org
catholiccharitiesusa.org
Fr. Troy Beecham
O Clavis David
The fourth antiphon for Evening Prayer
Latin:
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
English:
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7C6N5w4-a4
Fr. Troy Beecham
Latin:
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
English:
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7C6N5w4-a4
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, December 19, 2016
O Lord, save us!
Bombings in Jordan, Turkey, Yemen, and Libya over the weekend; the people of Aleppo are enduring horror beyond imagining; political assassination of an ambassador on live tv today; South Sudan on the verge of genocidal civil war; Congo on the brink of civil war...we cannot seem to help doing our best to deliver each other into the hands of darkness, terror, and suffering.
God, help us! May your kingdom come! Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, help us! Help us, who call ourselves your disciples, to become peacemakers, healers, and humble servants of all.
O come, O come Immanuel!
Fr. Troy Beecham
God, help us! May your kingdom come! Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, help us! Help us, who call ourselves your disciples, to become peacemakers, healers, and humble servants of all.
O come, O come Immanuel!
Fr. Troy Beecham
O Radix Jesse
The third O Antiphon for Evening Prayer tonight
Latin:
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
English:
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPlfJuq2QZw
Fr. Troy Beecham
Latin:
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
English:
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPlfJuq2QZw
Fr. Troy Beecham
One identity, one calling
The Church of England cannot be saved without the Church of the East, nor the Church of Rome without Protestantism; nor can England be saved without Serbia, nor Europe without China, nor America without Africa, nor this generation without the generations past and those to come. We are all one life, one organism. If one part of this organism is sick, all other parts should be suffering.
Therefore let the healthy parts of the Church take care of the sick ones. Self-sufficiency means the postponement of the end of the world and the prolongation of human sufferings. It is of no use to change Churches and go from one Church to another seeking salvation: salvation is in every Church as long as a Church thinks and cares in sisterly love for all other Churches, looking upon them as parts of the same body, or there is salvation in no Church so long as a Church thinks and cares only for herself, contemptuously denying the rights, beauty, truth and merits of all other Churches. It is a great thing to love one’s Church, as it is a great thing to love one’s country, but it is much better to love other Churches and other countries too.
Now, in this time, when the whole Christian world is in a convulsive struggle one part against the other, now or never the consciousness of the desire for one Church of Christ on earth should dawn in our souls, and now or never should the appreciation, right understanding and love for each part of this one Church of Christ on earth should dawn in our souls, and now or never should the appreciation, right understanding and love for each part of this one Church begin in our hearts.
We must return to the only source of Christian strength and majesty—to the spirit of Christ. This rebirth and the revival of Christianity are possible only in a united Church of Christ. This unity is possible only if built on the foundations of the original Church.
Liberalism, conservatism, ceremonialism, right, nationalism, imperialism, law, democracy, autocracy, republicanism, socialism, scientific criticism, and similar things have filled Christian theology, Christian service, Christian pulpits as the Christian Gospel. In reality the Christian Gospel is as different from all these worldly ideas and temporal forms as heaven is different from earth.
St. Nikolai Velimirovich, The Agony of the Church
(An Orthodox bishop and theologian, in the ecumenical meetings and dialogues between the two World Wars, and later he was present, as the accredited visitor, at the meeting of the World Council of Churches in Evanston, Illinois, in 1954. Bishop Nikolai considered the prerequisite for the achievement of union among the Churches to be mutual love.)
Fr. Troy Beecham
Therefore let the healthy parts of the Church take care of the sick ones. Self-sufficiency means the postponement of the end of the world and the prolongation of human sufferings. It is of no use to change Churches and go from one Church to another seeking salvation: salvation is in every Church as long as a Church thinks and cares in sisterly love for all other Churches, looking upon them as parts of the same body, or there is salvation in no Church so long as a Church thinks and cares only for herself, contemptuously denying the rights, beauty, truth and merits of all other Churches. It is a great thing to love one’s Church, as it is a great thing to love one’s country, but it is much better to love other Churches and other countries too.
Now, in this time, when the whole Christian world is in a convulsive struggle one part against the other, now or never the consciousness of the desire for one Church of Christ on earth should dawn in our souls, and now or never should the appreciation, right understanding and love for each part of this one Church of Christ on earth should dawn in our souls, and now or never should the appreciation, right understanding and love for each part of this one Church begin in our hearts.
We must return to the only source of Christian strength and majesty—to the spirit of Christ. This rebirth and the revival of Christianity are possible only in a united Church of Christ. This unity is possible only if built on the foundations of the original Church.
Liberalism, conservatism, ceremonialism, right, nationalism, imperialism, law, democracy, autocracy, republicanism, socialism, scientific criticism, and similar things have filled Christian theology, Christian service, Christian pulpits as the Christian Gospel. In reality the Christian Gospel is as different from all these worldly ideas and temporal forms as heaven is different from earth.
St. Nikolai Velimirovich, The Agony of the Church
(An Orthodox bishop and theologian, in the ecumenical meetings and dialogues between the two World Wars, and later he was present, as the accredited visitor, at the meeting of the World Council of Churches in Evanston, Illinois, in 1954. Bishop Nikolai considered the prerequisite for the achievement of union among the Churches to be mutual love.)
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, December 18, 2016
O Antiphons
The second O Antiphon of Evening Prayer.
Latin:
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
English:
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvafrxZ_Ww4
Fr. Troy Beecham
Latin:
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
English:
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvafrxZ_Ww4
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, December 17, 2016
O Antiphons of Advent
As we enter the last week of Advent and draw near to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we sing these antiphons as part of vespers.
Latin:
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
English:
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VcoYzoSfZUc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Latin:
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
English:
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VcoYzoSfZUc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Aleppo
Pray for the people of Aleppo, and all those who seek to help them in their time of need.
https://www.facebook.com/FrJamesMartin/posts/10154021085806496
https://www.facebook.com/FrJamesMartin/posts/10154021085806496
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
South Sudan
Pray and work for peace
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/dec/14/south-sudan-swift-action-genocide-un-human-rights-chief
Aleppo
Aleppo
Dear God, help us.
What darkness arises out of our brokenness and estrangement from your grace! We continue to devour ourselves and the world around us through the horrors of war, genocide, slavery, and tyranny.
We continue to believe the lie that we are able to engineer our own paradise, a belief that inevitably leads us to doing wicked things to each other because we always end up identifying someone as being expendable in the pursuit of our vision of peace.
Help us with your grace to turn away from the darkness that rages in our hearts and consumes our spirits, turning us into beasts bent only on satisfying our basest desires.
Help us, Lord Jesus, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to find our life, our hope, our paradise, and our salvation in you, by offering ourselves to God and each other in self-emptying love, your love that makes for peace, empties the darkness in our hearts of any power, and restores us to the life of grace.
We pray for the people of Aleppo. Help us, O Lord our God!
Worship
Thoughtful article on the nature and purpose of Christian worship.
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/12/14/worship-or-works-engaging-michael-curry-and-richard-rohr/
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Christmas giving
Give to those in need this Christmas and Hanukkah:
heifer.org
ajws.org
episcopalrelief.org
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
St. Nicholas
Today, the Church remembers and give thanks for St. Nicholas.
Before being merged with a north European pre-Christian deity and turned into Santa Claus, St. Nicholas was a real man who lived in Asia Minor in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. Nicholas suffered terribly during the last official persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, yet never abandoned his faith. He became known for his many acts of generosity...a radical Christian generosity which led him to give away his great inherited wealth.
Eventually he was chosen to be a priest and bishop of the small Christian community in Myra because of his faithfulness and endurance during the deadly persecution and for the witness of his astonishing humility and charity in giving away his wealth to save others from slavery and starvation.
We thank God for the living witness of St. Nicholas, who shows us that a life of faith, humility, and compassion is possible and so very needed in our human family.
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