MINISTERS FOR SUNDAY

WORSHIP NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY

The First Sunday of Lent   February 22, 2015

This Sunday begins the five weeks of Lent that lead to Holy Week and Easter. As we heard in the exhortation on Ash Wednesday, in the Church the season of Lent has traditionally been a time of preparation and instruction for converts to the faith for baptism at Easter. For them, as for others who through their sins have been separated from the Body, Lent was a time of special discipline and penitence. It remains such a time for us, as we prepare ourselves for the new life that Easter will bring. 

Our worship during Lent has always been marked by a relative quietness and simplicity, allowing us to focus our hearts and minds on following in the way of Christ. You will notice the familiar service music from previous years, as well as the familiar lessons of the season. Our Flower Guild will mark our progress through Lent with altar arrangements that move from bare branches to buds to blossoms.

The most notable change in our Lenten experience this year will be the use of Rite One worship on Sunday mornings. This is not because Rite One is arguably more penitential or somber. Rather, it is because this form is an important part of our heritage as Episcopalians; it remains a part of our Book of Common Prayer, and we would be remiss to allow it to fall into such disuse that our children and newcomers to our tradition are not familiar with the beauty of its language and the depth of its expression of our faith. It doesn't need to be relegated to an early morning service without music for "old-fashioned" Episcopalians! It belongs to us all. I hope that this five-week change will strike familiar chords with those reared on the 1928 prayer book. Above all, I hope that our younger members and those newer to our church will find in it enrichment of their faith and a deepening of their sense of our tradition and heritage. I will highlight a particular aspect of this rite in my notes and sermons each week.

On this first Sunday in Lent, we will begin with the Penitential Order. It begins with a responsorial version of the Decalogue. Then following a sentence of scripture, it concludes with the confession and absolution.

The lessons for this Sunday emphasize twin themes of Lent: patience and mercy. Patience is demonstrated in God's continuing renewal of covenant with his people and in our own discernment, following Jesus' way. Mercy is apparent in God's dealing with Noah and in his sending of Jesus Christ to "suffer for sins once for all." Even in Jesus' time of temptation in the wilderness, the "angels waited on him." As captured in Mark's gospel, Jesus' baptism, followed by his time in the wilderness and the beginnings of his ministry, again echo the themes of Lent: preparation for baptism and sharing the good news and concentration in examination of self. 

I hope that you will be present this Sunday to participate in this beginning of a holy Lent. 

THE BIBLE CHALLENGE

The Bible Challenge

Week One: 1 Lent, February 23-28, 2015

For those of you who have expressed interest in taking the "Bible Challenge" of reading the Bible in a year, this is the first in a series of weekly notes of encouragement and support. I began this challenge on the first week in January, and it has become the most important moment in the beginning of my day. I have been using the guidebook available in our office and through Amazon, The Bible Challenge: Read the Bible in a Year, edited by Marek Zabriskie, and I commend it to you. Each day has a brief reflection, authored by various writers and teachers in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, as well as a couple of questions for personal reflection and a short prayer. The reading for each day takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your speed, and includes (usually) three chapters from the Old Testament, a psalm, and a chapter from the New Testament. The devisers of the challenge suggest that you begin on a Monday and continue every day through Saturday; Sundays are "free," as you get to hear the Bible read in church!

Week One begins with Genesis, the great, sweeping narrative of God's creation and his love for his people, difficult as they may be. You will read about the Garden of Eden and the fall, and then the first murder. Then follows Noah and the great flood, and after that the Tower of Babel. You will begin the long story of Abraham and his family, including the story of Lot and the making of the first covenant. The New Testament begins with Matthew's gospel: the genealogy of Jesus Christ and his birth, the visit of the Magi and Herod's terror, the flight into Egypt and return, John the Baptist, Jesus' baptism, and then the beginning of his ministry and the Sermon on the Mount.

Reading in sequence through these narratives, on a daily basis, can be a powerful experience of being swept up in the story of God's people, and I hope that it will inspire in you a sense of your own place in that great story. You will hear echoes among these readings, and if you listen closely and prayerfully, you will be able to hear them reverberate in your own life and time. I look forward to reading with you, talking with you, and exploring God's Word with you in this challenge.

The Very Reverend Beverly F. Gibson

Dean

Christ Church Cathedral

"Worship Notes for this Sunday" are posted and archived each week on the Cathedral website.

http://www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org/worship-notes-for-this-sunday 

Visit the Cathedral website to download text from past sermons and listen to the recordings:

http://www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org/sermons.html 

MUSIC  NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY

The First Sunday of Lent          February 22, 2015

This Sunday at Christ Church we hear the story of Jesus fasting in the wilderness after being baptized by John. Perhaps it is here that Jesus discerns the true depth of his calling to be the Christ, the Messiah. If even Christ needed prayer and meditation, how much more appropriate it is for us to do the same! This week, you will notice several changes to our liturgy. Firstly, we will use Rite One instead of Rite Two for our Eucharistic celebration. Secondly, our music will have a slightly quieter character to enhance the meditative quality of the service. Thirdly, our service music (Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) changes to a setting using Rite One language to match all the other prayers. These changes are not intended to alarm, but rather to help us all appreciate the beauty of our tradition and to make things intentionally different as we venture into our own places of discovery.

The service music, also known as the Mass setting, refers to the sung portions of the service that are always the same except for minor modifications, namely, the Kyrie (Lord have mercy), Gloria (Glory to God), Credo (Creed), Sanctus (Holy), and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). Here at Christ Church we only sing some of these on a regular basis, and during Lent some things are omitted and others included. All of these pieces together, whether sung or spoken, form part of what is known as the Ordinary. The Ordinary refers to that which basically stays the same each week, and the Propers (discussed in previous articles) refer to antiphons, psalms, and other things that do change every week. During Lent, the Kyrie will replace the Gloria, and the Agnus Dei will be included. There are many service settings available, but we will use the Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena by Healey Willan (1880-1968). 

Born in England but moving to Canada to accepting a professorship at the University of Toronto in 1913, Willan was soon to become the brightest star among the church musicians of Canada. Composing roughly 700 pieces of church music and 150 secular works, Willan devoted his life to his work, and in doing so, influenced the compositional styles of church music composers all over the world. He was appointed as organist/choirmaster of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Toronto in 1921 and would retain this position until his death in 1968. Upon his arrival, nothing much was happening at the church - they didn't even have a real choir! Undaunted, Willan industriously began recruiting choir members and charging them a recurring 10 cent fee (this was apparently possible way back when). By doing this, he created a self-sufficient music budget and was able to buy music and hire professional singers to bolster his choir. If you would like to watch an interview with Willan at the age of 86, you can view it HERE.

 When visiting the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York city, I was surprised to discover a plaque bearing the following inscription on the door of the organ gallery staircase. I remarked to a friend how amazing it is that one person's industry and simple, quiet devotion to their craft can have such far-reaching influence.

HEALEY WILLAN

1880-1968

Canada's gift to the voice which Christians have lifted to their God.

MEMORY ETERNAL

For me, Willan's music has a beautifully solemn mood with joy and enthusiasm at its heart. It is a perfect fit for Rite One because its musical language and the words of the rite place us back into a world of devotion that often disappears today. We may view this solemn piety differently than our forebears, but that is part of the beauty of the experience.

The choir will present My eyes for beauty pine by Herbert Howells (1892-1983). Music like the music of Healey Willan, Howells' piece has long musical phrases imbued with a sense of quiet majesty. The text of this anthem, by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844-1930), is mystical and inspiring and deserves to be quoted here.

My eyes for beauty pine, 

My soul for Goddes grace: 

No other care nor hope is mine, 

To heaven I turn my face. 

One splendour thence is shed 

From all the stars above: 

'Tis named when God's name is said,

'Tis Love, 'tis heavenly Love. 

And every gentle heart, 

That burns with true desire, 

Is lit from eyes that mirror part 

Of that celestial fire.

In closing, please consider attending one of our Lenten Noonday Concerts this year. Every Wednesday from February 25 through March 25, there will be a concert at noon with lunch to follow. This week (February 25) we host Dr. Lynne A. Lauderdale, pianist, and Charles W. York, baritone. Together, they will present music ranging from German art songs to The trumpet shall sound from The Messiah. We hope to see you there!

"Music Notes for this Sunday" are posted and archived 

each week on our new website here: