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Image: "Sermon on the Mount" (1896), Károly Ferenczy, 1862-1917, painting (detail). Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary.

Theme of the Day

Blessings and curses abound on the sixth Sunday after Epiphany. We would do well to listen closely to whom the “blessed ares” and the “woe tos” are directed and to find our place in the crowd among those who desire to touch Jesus. The risen Christ stands among us in the mystery of the holy supper with an invitation to live in him, and offers power to heal us all.

The Collect for Sunday

Living God, in Christ you make all things new. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

Prayer Intentions

The prayers of the church are offered especially:

  • for the needs of the world, especially at this time global pandemic;
  • for all medical personnel and caregivers, especially for those who work with those who are most ill;
  • for those who are sick and those awaiting surgeries postponed;
  • for research workers and scientists and medical personnel who are working to protect us, provide adequate testing, and to develop, deliver and administer vaccines;
  • for the safety of front line workers;
  • for those who are particularly vulnerable to this virus;
  • for those who are isolated and anxious;
  • for the healing of racial inequality, prejudice, bigotry, systemic racism, injustice, and hatred;
  • for the First Peoples of this land and for the work of healing and reconcilation; 
  • for all who grieve for lost children, for the survivors of Indian Residential Schools, and for generational healing;
  • for those who are hungry and homeless;
  • for those who are unemployed or underemployed;
  • for all those who mourn, who are lonely, or suffer from depression;
  • for Elizabeth our Queen and all those set in authority under her, for Justin, the Prime Minister of Canada and all members of parliament; Doug, the Premier of Ontario and all members of the legislature; Fred, the mayor of Hamilton and those who serve city council; for the First Nations of this land, for elders, chiefs, and band councils; for all in civil authority and for all citizens that we might work together for the common good;
  • for the whole church: for Susan, our Diocesan Bishop; for David and Brian, our priests; for Tom, our intern; for all bish­ops, priests and dea­cons; and for all the bap­tized: that God may accomplish God's work in and through us for the sake of the world;
  • for all for whom we have been asked to pray, (especially Betty, Mary, Alistair, Olga), and for the many we know who are infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus, that God will bring them healing and wholeness;
  • for those who are dying and all those who have departed from this life and are at rest.

In our cycles of prayer:

  • In the Worldwide Anglican Com­mun­ion: The Anglican Church in Japan (The Nippon Sei Ko Kai).
  • In the Diocese of Niagara: St. Alban's, Acton, the clergy and lay leaders during a time of transition, and the people of this parish.
  • In our neighbourhood: for our local schools—Earl Kitchener, St. Joseph’s, Ryerson, and Westdale—their administrators, faculty, and students and for all who teach and all who learn in our neighbourhood.
  • For one another, especially for Craig, Adrienne, James, Tamara, Rowan, Hazel, Finnegan, John, Sarah, David, Miriam, Tom, Giselle, Bryan and Peggy.

Prayer requests to be included on the following Sunday can be submitted here by the Thursday morning before.

The Readings for Sunday

First Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10

These verses compose a poem that is part of a larger collection of wisdom sayings that contrast two ways of life. Life with God brings blessing; the power and vitality of God is active in our life. Life without God brings a curse, the power of death.

 5Thus says the Lord:
 Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
  and make mere flesh their strength,
  whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
 6They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
  and shall not see when relief comes.
 They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
  in an uninhabited salt land.

 7Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
  whose trust is the Lord.
 8They shall be like a tree planted by water,
  sending out its roots by the stream.
 It shall not fear when heat comes,
  and its leaves shall stay green;
 in the year of drought it is not anxious,
  and it does not cease to bear fruit.

 9The heart is devious above all else;
  it is perverse—
  who can understand it?
 10I the Lord test the mind
  and search the heart,
 to give to all according to their ways,
  according to the fruit of their doings.

Psalm: Psalm 1

They are like trees planted by streams of water. (Ps. 1:3)

 1Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel | of the wicked,
  nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats | of the scornful!
 2Their delight is in the law | of the Lord,
  and they meditate on God’s teaching | day and night. R
 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that | do not wither;
  everything they | do shall prosper.
 4It is not so | with the wicked;
  they are like chaff which the wind | blows away.
 5Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when | judgment comes,
  nor the sinner in the council | of the righteous.
 6For the Lord knows the way | of the righteous,
  but the way of the wicked shall | be destroyed. R

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

For Paul, the resurrection of Christ is the basis for Christian hope. Because Christ has been raised, those who are in Christ know that they too will be raised to a new life beyond death.

12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
  20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

Gospel: Luke 6:17-26

After choosing his twelve apostles, Jesus teaches a crowd of followers about the nature and demands of discipleship. He begins his great sermon with surprising statements about who is truly blessed in the eyes of God.

17[Jesus] came down with [the twelve] and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.18They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
  20Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
 “Blessed are you who are poor,
  for yours is the kingdom of God.
 21“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
  for you will be filled.
 “Blessed are you who weep now,
  for you will laugh.
  22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
 24“But woe to you who are rich,
  for you have received your consolation.
 25“Woe to you who are full now,
  for you will be hungry.
 “Woe to you who are laughing now,
  for you will mourn and weep.
  26“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

This Week

  • Sunday (Feb 13): The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (The Lord's Day), Proper 6. 
  • Monday (14): Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs, 869, 885 (Memorial). 
  • Tuesday (15): Thomas Bray, Priest and Missionary, Founder of SPG adn SPCK, 1730 (Memorial). 
  • Wednesday (16): Feria. 
  • Thursday (17): Feria. 
  • Friday (18): Feria. Day of discipline and self-denial. 
  • Saturday (19): Feria. Eve of Sunday. 
  • Sunday (20): The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany (The Lord's Day), Proper 7. 

For readings appropriate to the day visit here.

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