Restore
The Collect
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Old Testament Isaiah 64:1-9
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence-- as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil -- to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.
The Response Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 Qui regis Israel
1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; * shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, * stir up your strength and come to help us.
3 Restore us, O God of hosts; * show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
4 O Lord God of hosts, * how long will you be angered despite the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; * you have given them bowls of tears to drink.
6 You have made us the derision of our neighbors, * and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; * show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
16 Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, * the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
17 And so will we never turn away from you; * give us life, that we may call upon your Name.
18 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; * show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
The Epistle 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind -- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you -- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Gospel Mark 13:24-37
Jesus said, “In those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
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For our adult Sunday School class at HNEC, above are the Propers for the First Sunday in Advent, Year A. Which reminds me, as well as the Collect - - short Prayer of the Day, but we call it the Collect because we Epsicalopians like to use obscure terms as showing our sophistication (like our gesima Sundays that we finally, reluctantly, gave up back in the mid-1970s but some of us still mourn them as late winter proceeds into Lent) - - and the Bible readings, the Propers also include a Proper Preface, that introduces the Sanctus in the Eucharistic Prayer. There's a Proper Preface for each Season, for Advent:
Because you sent your beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life; that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.
and then the Celebrant continues
Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels, and with ...
One of the joys, indeed sometimes it's the main joy, of advancing into extreme old age is its freedom, because instead of going off defensive, the people who love you will excuse and dismiss it as senility, and if they don't love you and are defensive, Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn, is coming out of the shadows and poking fun at our own particular human absurdities. And, believe me, we Christians have more than our fair share, including using the Bible to count back five thousand years to the Beginning of Creation, and also trekking up to the top of a high mountain to wait for the trumpet to sound. Not to mention that I can't imagine why our Reformers added the Mystery of Faith
Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again
to otherwise perfectly good Eucharistic Prayers back in those mid-1970s, if they want something incomprehensible, they should have just left us with our gesima Sundays.
Septuagesima
Sexagesima (it's not what I hoped it was when I was a teenage boy)
Quinquagesima.
Happy Monday, classmates, and may your Thanksgiving Week bring blessings and even unexpected joys.
Tom+