- 2 days ago
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00:22Let us pray.
00:28Let us pray.
00:56May all arrogance be ever cast down.
00:59May all longing for the praise of men be extinguished.
01:02May all wantonness of self-conceit be quenched within me.
01:07Give me grace, O Lord, to flee any honour, to hate distinction,
01:11and to submit myself with readiness to all men for your sake.
01:17Praise, honour, and glory be to you, O Christ,
01:20who, as a little child, did with your tender mother suffer persecution,
01:25and did not refuse to be carried as an exile fleeing into Egypt.
01:31Give me grace amidst the storms of adversity and the blasts of persecution and misfortune,
01:37to fly for refuge to you alone, to seek you, to call upon you.
01:44Grant that I may receive all things with gladness at your hands,
01:48may endure all things in meekness of heart,
01:51and may cleave with thanksgiving without wavering to you.
01:56Praise, honour, and glory be to you, O Christ,
01:59who, when you remained behind in the temple,
02:02your mother sought for sorrowing,
02:05and at length with joy found you sitting in the midst of the doctors,
02:09hearing and asking them questions.
02:12May you so give and communicate yourself to me,
02:15that I may never be separated from you,
02:18and never be without the comfort of your blessed friendship.
02:22Drive sloth from my heart,
02:25dispel any dullness that is displeasing in your sight.
02:29Grant me perfect devotion,
02:31and such an ardent thirst after piety,
02:34that my soul may be so affected and possessed by it,
02:38as never to feel satisfied with worshipping you.
02:43Praise, honour, and glory be to you,
02:45who gave yourself up to live in concealment for thirty years,
02:50to be reputed by the Jews the son of Joseph the carpenter,
02:54and be subject to the commands of your mother and the same Joseph.
02:59May your grace, I beg you,
03:02root out and thoroughly pluck up
03:04from the innermost recesses of my heart
03:06any ambition and seeking of glory,
03:10that I may become belittled in my own eyes,
03:13and may love to be unknown and considered of no account,
03:17submitting myself to all,
03:19and obeying them for your honour.
03:22Praise, honour, and glory be to you, O Christ,
03:25who did not refuse to come to the River Jordan,
03:28and be baptised there by your servant John.
03:33May you thoroughly cleanse me by your merits in this life,
03:39that freed from all vices and sins,
03:41I may be filled with the love of you,
03:44and long for my heavenly country.
03:47Make me, I beg you,
03:49before my soul quits this body,
03:52pleasing to you in all things,
03:54that, departing from this life,
03:56I may be for ever in heaven with you,
03:59to see you,
04:01to enjoy you,
04:02and to praise your holy name for ever and ever.
04:06Praise, honour, and glory be to you, O Christ,
04:09who for our sake dwelt in the wilderness,
04:12amongst the wild beasts,
04:14and fasted and watched in prayer for forty days and forty nights,
04:19permitting yourself to be tempted by the devil,
04:21whom you overcame when angels came and ministered to you.
04:26Grant me grace to discipline, overcome,
04:29and bring into subjection my sinful flesh
04:32with its evil affections.
04:37Give me grace to be instant in prayer
04:39and all other spiritual exercises,
04:42and grant that with your continual help
04:45I may completely overcome sins of gluttony
04:48and may escape the snares and schemes of the devil.
04:54Let no temptations, I beg you,
04:56defile me,
04:57nor separate me from you,
04:59but may they rather purify me
05:02and unite and join me with you.
05:06Praise, honour, and glory be to you, O Christ,
05:09who gave himself up to preach repentance,
05:12to call to you disciples,
05:15and from them choose the twelve apostles
05:16to be the special heralds of the faith,
05:20gathering together the children of God
05:22that were scattered abroad.
05:24Draw me after you,
05:26and powerfully excite my heart to love you.
05:30Do not permit me to neglect the grace
05:33with which you called me,
05:35but make me ready to despise the world
05:37and all perishable things,
05:39following you,
05:40taking your humility and charity as my example.
05:44Give me grace to look for you alone
05:46and with earnest longing
05:48to sigh continually after you.
05:52Amen.
05:56O Lord, open our lips,
05:59and our mouths shall sing your praise.
06:08O be joyful in the Lord,
06:13holy land,
06:15serve the Lord with gladness,
06:19and come before His prayers and river-tong.
06:26He is sure that the Lord,
06:29He is God,
06:32He is He that has made us,
06:34and must be ourselves.
06:37We are His people,
06:40and the sheep of His pasture.
06:45O glory, O praise,
06:47to His peace with high strength,
06:50and into His cross with grace,
06:55be thankful unto Him,
06:59and speak to the Lord of His name.
07:04O the Lord is gracious,
07:08His mercy is everlasting,
07:13and His glory,
07:16and his truth and joy from generation
07:19To generation
07:26Glory be to the Father
07:30And to the Son
07:33And to the Holy Ghost
07:38As it was in the beginning
07:41Is now and ever shall be
07:47World without end
07:55Amen
08:05If the Lord himself
08:08Had not been on our side
08:11Now may Israel say
08:16If the Lord himself
08:20Had not been on our side
08:22When men rose up against us
08:28They had swallowed us up quick
09:02When they were so wrathful
09:04And he had not been on our side
09:09But praise him in our Lord
09:14Who hath not given a song
09:18Before our prayer to the tree
09:22The soul is escaped
09:26The soul is escaped
09:28Even as a burden
09:29Of the smell of a flower
09:32The smell is broken
09:37And we are healed
09:41God has not been on our side
10:03Who hath made
10:08As it's lost in the beginning, it's now and never shall be, world without end.
10:27Amen.
10:39A reading from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter 12.
10:45Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
10:49Be like people waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration,
10:54so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him.
10:59Blessed are those slaves whom their master finds alert when he returns.
11:04I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, have them take their place at the table,
11:10and will come and wait upon them.
11:13Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert,
11:18blessed are those slaves.
11:22Understand this, if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming,
11:27he would not have let his house be broken into.
11:30You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect
11:35it.
11:38Peter asked,
11:40Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?
11:44The Lord replied,
11:56Blessed is that slave whom his master finds at work when he returns.
12:01I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions.
12:06If that slave should say to himself,
12:08My master is delayed in returning, and begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women,
12:14and to eat, drink and get drunk,
12:16then the master of that slave will come in on a day when he does not expect him,
12:21and at an hour he does not foresee and will cut him in two,
12:26assigning him a place with the unfaithful.
12:29That servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or do what his master asked
12:35will receive a severe beating.
12:38But the one who did not know his master's will and did things worthy of punishment
12:42will receive a light beating.
12:45From everyone who has been given much, much will be required,
12:50and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
12:53even more will be asked.
12:57I have come to bring fire on the earth,
12:59and how I wish it were already kindled.
13:02I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished.
13:08Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth?
13:11No, I tell you, but rather division.
13:15For from now on there will be five in one household divided,
13:18three against two, and two against three.
13:21They will be divided father against son, and son against father,
13:25mother against daughter, and daughter against mother,
13:28mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law,
13:31and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
13:37Jesus said to the crows,
13:39When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once,
13:42A rainstorm is coming.
13:44And it does.
13:46When you see the south wind blowing, you say,
13:48There will be scorching heat, and there is.
13:51You hypocrites!
13:53You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky,
13:57But how can you not know as we interpret the present time?
14:02Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?
14:07As you are going with your accuser before the magistrate,
14:10Make an effort to settle with him on the way,
14:12So that he will not drag you before the judge,
14:15And the judge hand you over to the officer,
14:17And the officer throw you in prison.
14:20I tell you,
14:21You will never get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.
14:27This is the word of the Lord.
14:30Thanks be to God.
14:36In one of his clearest warnings of the final judgment,
14:41Jesus provides us with the example of the slaves or servants,
14:44Who are waiting for the bridegroom to return from the wedding celebration.
14:49Just as they were expected to be ready and waiting,
14:52Regardless of the time of day or night of his arrival,
14:55So we are also called to be alert, ready and waiting.
15:01Just as the servants did not know the hour of the master's return,
15:05We also are unaware of the hour of the master's return.
15:09Just as the servants knew he would return,
15:12We have also been told repeatedly that he will come.
15:17The time is the secret of heaven,
15:19That only the Father himself knows.
15:24Let us beware then of falling into complacency,
15:27For every moment of the day or of the night could be our last.
15:32Let no sin ever pass unconfessed and unforgiven,
15:36But let us continually examine ourselves for the things that cause us trouble.
15:41If we find ourselves falling into a particular sin on a regular basis,
15:46Pray and meditate on our behaviour,
15:48That we might find a way to avoid the circumstances that could rise to that sin.
15:55Suppose, for example,
15:56That when we are tired,
15:58We tend to become irritable.
16:01Let us try and order our lives,
16:03So that we can be more certain of getting sufficient sleep or rest.
16:08Above all,
16:09Let us use the weapons in our armoury to fight off indifference,
16:13The thought that it will not be today or tonight.
16:17There are those who are terminally ill,
16:19Who are determined to live life to the max while they can,
16:23And while not following in their example exactly,
16:26We can adopt that sentiment,
16:28And live our lives to the max,
16:31Cleansing and nurturing our soul to the very best possible health as all times.
16:39Having given the general warning about keeping alert,
16:43In response to the question posed by Peter,
16:45Jesus issued an even stronger warning to those called to leadership in the church.
16:52As we have already considered,
16:54We know that Jesus is returning,
16:56But we do not know the hour.
16:58It is our duty to be in a constant state of preparation.
17:03Those of us who are shepherds to his flock,
17:06Carry a special burden,
17:08For they have been especially warned,
17:10To be watchful and to ensure that the flock is properly prepared.
17:15In the words of Jesus,
17:17The servant who knew the master was coming,
17:19But failed in his preparation,
17:21Will get a severe beating.
17:26Jesus will not return,
17:28Unexpectedly,
17:29For time and time again,
17:31He has told us he is coming,
17:32And therefore he is expected.
17:35As I have pointed out though,
17:37It is easy for us to backslide in our preparation.
17:42When we first become Christians,
17:44We are busy with the broom,
17:45Clearing out the old and replacing with the new,
17:48Trimming our lamps and keeping vigil.
17:51However, every day that passes,
17:54We are tempted more and more to think that he will not come today.
17:58How dangerous this is,
18:00And how totally illogical.
18:02With every day that passes,
18:04His return becomes more likely,
18:06Not less likely.
18:08Unless, of course,
18:09We call him a liar,
18:11And say that he will not ever come.
18:15No, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
18:18He is coming,
18:19And his arrival is 2,000 years nearer than it was before.
18:24Every day we must heighten our vigilance,
18:27Our preparation and our prayerfulness.
18:31Those of us in positions of leadership,
18:33Must continually inspect the troops,
18:35To make sure that they are ready,
18:37And fit for purpose,
18:38Spiritually,
18:39Or risk our punishment for incompetence.
18:47We conclude with a passage,
18:49Which seems to be counter to what Jesus had taught previously.
18:53He said he wanted to set the earth on fire,
18:55And bring division within families.
18:59For someone who preached love and peace,
19:01This seems to be a little strange,
19:03But let us take two ideas in order.
19:09First of all,
19:10Jesus said he had come to bring fire to the earth.
19:15Again, there are two aspects to this.
19:19In the Holy Land,
19:20It is customary to regularly burn the undergrowth in the spring,
19:25Before it becomes too dangerous,
19:27So that the trees and the crops,
19:29Are not swallowed up and starved,
19:31Of the precious water.
19:34So we can see that to his audience,
19:37There was this concept of cleansing,
19:39As the land was periodically cleansed,
19:42Of its undesirable elements,
19:44So should we be cleansed of our sins,
19:46Our impurities and makes it perfect in his sight.
19:51And then we have the fire of the Holy Spirit,
19:54That which we encountered at the Pentecost,
19:56The comforter,
19:57The motivator,
19:58The inspiration and the protector.
20:02When the Holy Spirit descended at first Pentecost,
20:05It was as a flame that settled on the faithful,
20:08Gathered in their room,
20:11In this way,
20:12And filled with the Holy Spirits,
20:14The followers of Christ went out to the four corners of the earth,
20:18And spread the gospel to any who would listen,
20:20And continue to do so to this very day.
20:24If we say that someone is burning or on fire,
20:27We do not normally mean,
20:29That he has flames coming from his body.
20:32No, we mean he is burning with passion.
20:35In our case,
20:36A passion for Jesus,
20:37And a desire to tell others what we know of him.
20:44And then we come to the problem of Jesus telling us,
20:46That he came to set members of families against each other.
20:51This is not intentional upon his part,
20:54But is a byproduct of his very being and coming,
20:58Because some will believe,
20:59And others will refuse even to listen.
21:02A conflict between those who are for Christ,
21:05And those who are not.
21:09For Jesus told us,
21:11That if you are not for him,
21:12You must therefore be against him.
21:17Matthew 12.30 says,
21:20Whoever is not with me is against me,
21:22And whoever does not gather with me,
21:24Scatters.
21:27It follows therefore that in every family,
21:29We are warned that for each that gathers in the name of the Lord,
21:32There will be one who destroys.
21:36If we have a family that is united in its faith,
21:39We are exceptionally blessed.
21:41For it seems even in Christian families,
21:44There can be those whose faith is lukewarm,
21:46Or nominal.
21:48Those who resent going to church,
21:51Who consider going to church of burden,
21:53And who seek excuses for not going.
21:58So, we are warned.
21:59Let us pray that we can indeed stand united as families,
22:03Firm in our faith,
22:04And on fire with the zeal of the Holy Spirit.
22:12Having taught the disciples,
22:14Their grave responsibility,
22:16In keeping their flock in a state of preparation,
22:19Jesus turned to the people at large,
22:21The crowd attending,
22:22And had strong words for them.
22:25He used the example of the weather,
22:27Which is one that we can all understand.
22:31We see clouds blowing up,
22:33On the mountains on the horizon,
22:34And our experience of life,
22:36Tells us that we will expect a storm.
22:40Those Jews,
22:41To whom he was speaking,
22:42Would have heard the words taught,
22:44By the prophets in their synagogues,
22:47And so they would have known very well,
22:48What to expect from the Messiah.
22:51But even so,
22:52They failed to grasp the significance,
22:53Of what they saw and heard for themselves.
22:58This is a warning for all of us.
23:00We are all going to be presented,
23:02Before God's judgment bar.
23:04We do not know the date or the time,
23:07But we know that we are going,
23:09That one day his bailiffs will come,
23:11And take us away.
23:13However,
23:14We have one opportunity through Jesus,
23:16To settle out of court,
23:18Our differences with God.
23:21To have our debts forgiven,
23:23And wiped away,
23:24So that when we are presented in court,
23:26Our charge sheet is clean,
23:28And we have no debts.
23:32There is not one single person in the world,
23:34Who would want to spend eternity in the prison,
23:37Where the devil is the jailer.
23:44Let us pray.
23:47Grant, we beseech you,
23:49Merciful Lord,
23:51To your faithful people,
23:52Pardon and peace,
23:55That they may be cleansed from all their sins,
23:58And serve you with a quiet mind.
24:02Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
24:05Amen.
24:11May the Lord bless us,
24:13And keep us from all evil,
24:15Bringing us to everlasting life.
24:18Amen.