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<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica; font-size: 10pt; color: black;">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Fr HC Smith <howard.smith@anglican.org.au><br>
To: propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Fri, Apr 22, 2011 5:42 am<br>
Subject: Re: [propertalk.topic] Fwd: [Propertalk] Great Vigil Homily<br>
<br>
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<div>Thank you, Robert, for a very appropriate reflection on the Great
Triduum. It was also wonderful to enter into your use of the NZ Prayer
Book, from a fellow down under neighbour.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Howard </div>
<div> </div>
<div style="font-family: 'Arial'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt;">* * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * *<br>
The Rev'd Dr H.C. Smith<br>
Retired Anglican
Priest<br>
Orange NSW<br>
Phone (+612) 6362 3375<br>
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * *<br>
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<div style=""><b>From:</b> <a title="joeparrish@compuserve.com" href="mailto:joeparrish@compuserve.com">Joe Parrish</a> </div>
<div><b>Sent:</b> Friday, April 22, 2011 1:58 PM</div>
<div><b>To:</b> <a title="propertalk.topic@ecunet.org" href="mailto:propertalk.topic@ecunet.org">propertalk.topic@ecunet.org</a> </div>
<div><b>Subject:</b> [propertalk.topic] Fwd: [Propertalk] Great Vigil
Homily</div>
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<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica; color: black; font-size: 10pt;">-----Original
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From: robertpmorrison <<a href="mailto:robertpmorrison@charter.net">robertpmorrison@charter.net</a>><br>
To:
Propertalk <<a href="mailto:propertalk@stsams.org">propertalk@stsams.org</a>><br>
Sent: Thu, Apr 21, 2011 12:23
am<br>
Subject: [Propertalk] Great Vigil Homily<br>
<br>
<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-family: tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px;" id="AOLMsgPart_0_307af8fa-7df4-4ec8-ba14-95eec2319428"><pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>Tenebrae under our belt, Thursday coming up fast, dark humour building <br>
<br>
<br>
up! Must be Holy Week 8 - )<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
This hasn't been touched for about a week. Now for editing ...<br>
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<br>
<br>
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<br>
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER <br>
<br>
<br>
- A<br>
<br>
<br>
READINGS AND PSALMS OF THE OLD COVENANT 23rd APRIL, 2011<br>
<br>
<br>
ROMANS 6:3-11<br>
<br>
<br>
MATTHEW 28:1-10<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Lord,<br>
<br>
<br>
it is night.<br>
<br>
<br>
The night is for stillness.<br>
<br>
<br>
Let us be still in the presence of God.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
It is night after a long day.<br>
<br>
<br>
What has been done has been done;<br>
<br>
<br>
what has not been done has not been done;<br>
<br>
<br>
let it be.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The night is dark;<br>
<br>
<br>
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and our own lives rest in <br>
<br>
<br>
you.<br>
<br>
<br>
The night is quiet.<br>
<br>
<br>
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,<br>
<br>
<br>
all dear to us,<br>
<br>
<br>
and all who have no peace.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The night heralds the dawn.<br>
<br>
<br>
Let us look expectantly to a new day,<br>
<br>
<br>
new joys,<br>
<br>
<br>
new possibilities.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In your name we pray.<br>
<br>
<br>
Amen. 1<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
This is a favourite prayer of thousands of people around the world. It’s <br>
<br>
<br>
part of the office called “Night Prayer”, contained in “A New Zealand <br>
<br>
<br>
Prayer Book”. 2 The way the lines seem to hang in the air, the care <br>
<br>
<br>
taken over the scansion, the word-painting – everything about it talks <br>
<br>
<br>
of the work an exquisite linguist who spent hours working to craft just <br>
<br>
<br>
the right expression.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
But that’s NOT how it came to be. The story is almost as famous as the <br>
<br>
<br>
prayer itself.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
A liturgical committee of The Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand <br>
<br>
<br>
and Polynesia in the South Pacific had been charged with producing a new <br>
<br>
<br>
Prayer Book which would reflect both the Anglican heritage which was <br>
<br>
<br>
theirs and the culture and flavour of these island peoples. Like all <br>
<br>
<br>
such committees, there was a tremendous amount of hard work to be done. <br>
<br>
<br>
And there was an incredible amount of tension. At the end of one <br>
<br>
<br>
particularly contentious and long day, people decided to call an end to <br>
<br>
<br>
that session and take up again in the morning, when emotions might be <br>
<br>
<br>
less frayed and a calmer mood might prevail. One of the committee <br>
<br>
<br>
members had been doodling on his note pad, as had several others. As <br>
<br>
<br>
they all got up to leave, he tore that top sheet off his pad, balled it <br>
<br>
<br>
up and dropped it in the waste basket, not without some show of <br>
<br>
<br>
exasperation!<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
A colleague, walking behind him, stooped down and surreptitiously picked <br>
<br>
<br>
up that crushed page, put it in his pocket and set off for his hotel <br>
<br>
<br>
room.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
There, in the surroundings of a typical guest room, he smoothed out the <br>
<br>
<br>
page and discovered the prayer I just read.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Such calmness; such trust; such hopefulness – all expressed in words <br>
<br>
<br>
that convey a mood of generosity of spirit and love and joy; all written <br>
<br>
<br>
as if the author had hardly a care in the world.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
That room – the work session room – must have felt like an oppressive <br>
<br>
<br>
cave by the evening hours. But the faith of the prayer spoke of Light, <br>
<br>
<br>
of confidence; of trust.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
And that’s what we do here, gathering albeit it in some degree of <br>
<br>
<br>
brightness – which will, this year, still be there as we leave this <br>
<br>
<br>
building in about another forty-five minutes or so, leaving with joy <br>
<br>
<br>
that the meanness, and vindictiveness, and desperation of the past few <br>
<br>
<br>
days have been overcome. Not eradicated – that never happens, in this <br>
<br>
<br>
life, anyway – but overcome, with firm acknowledgement that nothing is <br>
<br>
<br>
so dark that God will not help us to overcome it.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
We’ve listened to readings talking about the promise of creation, then <br>
<br>
<br>
the way in which we’ve “violated it, abused one another, and rejected <br>
<br>
<br>
God’s love.” 3<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
We’ve heard prophets warn of poor behaviour and how that hurts all <br>
<br>
<br>
humanity, but the prophets have also spoken of hope and of the love of <br>
<br>
<br>
God.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
We’ve lived through the retelling of the worst that humans can do to one <br>
<br>
<br>
another, as if it were a news programme<br>
<br>
<br>
on TV, bringing the horrors of repression, and revolution, and genocide <br>
<br>
<br>
right into our living rooms. We saw Jesus depicted once again as being <br>
<br>
<br>
crucified – tortured mercilessly for the sake of making a point about <br>
<br>
<br>
rocking the establishment rule.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
We went home on Friday night, and possibly came in this morning, to hear <br>
<br>
<br>
of Jesus’ beaten, bloody body placed in the stone cold tomb. Our world <br>
<br>
<br>
felt as if it ended in nothingness.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
It’s not hard to put ourselves in the place of the disciples, and to <br>
<br>
<br>
despair of Love, of Justice, of Mercy, of Truth ever being the only <br>
<br>
<br>
guides by which government throughout the world shall be administered. <br>
<br>
<br>
Even those with a little faith admit that we’re made to despair as we <br>
<br>
<br>
see Rome’s viciousness repeated again and again.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Time and again, even at this stage of human life and faith, we’re <br>
<br>
<br>
tempted to feel as if darkness once again covered the face of the earth.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Until we come to the beginning of a new day – the third day, which <br>
<br>
<br>
arrives, officially, at sundown. On this Third Day we see where that <br>
<br>
<br>
tired writer found the hope to continue with his work. When the Third <br>
<br>
<br>
Day’s Light was enough by which to navigate narrow streets, Mary of <br>
<br>
<br>
Magdala found that the stone had been wrenched away from that cave and <br>
<br>
<br>
Light had flooded in to conquer darkness for all time.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Mary, in her great pain and despair, sought out that dark spot so that <br>
<br>
<br>
she could rest her head against the place where Jesus lay trapped – only <br>
<br>
<br>
to discover that God NEVER allows Light to be trapped.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
That was the power of God – to respond to Jesus and to affirm that His <br>
<br>
<br>
Life would neither have an end nor be in vain.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Can we say HOW it happened? No. Faith takes a stab at an explanation, <br>
<br>
<br>
but we become poets in the process. We can’t even say WHEN it happened – <br>
<br>
<br>
simply sometime in the darkness. And maybe that’s where the key lies. <br>
<br>
<br>
When no one can see a way out of being crushed, when everything appears <br>
<br>
<br>
taken away from us, that’s when God acts to bring such energy and <br>
<br>
<br>
renewal that our breath is taken away and we can scarcely believe our <br>
<br>
<br>
eyes.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
When we feel we’ve come to an impossible end, that things can never <br>
<br>
<br>
improve, we can never find anything which will make us laugh except out <br>
<br>
<br>
of fear and despair – when we think that pain, and loneliness, and <br>
<br>
<br>
lovelessness are all that is left to us – THAT’S when God speaks to us <br>
<br>
<br>
in such a gentle way that we become convinced that we too will be <br>
<br>
<br>
raised. No matter how long the night is, how much doubt and sorrow we <br>
<br>
<br>
may have, we’re shown that the dark night of the soul and mind leads to <br>
<br>
<br>
the dawn of the Third Day.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Inexorably, in the vision and design of God:<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The night heralds the dawn.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Let us look expectantly to a new day,<br>
<br>
<br>
new joys,<br>
<br>
<br>
new possibilities.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Amen.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
NOTES:<br>
<br>
<br>
1 “A New Zealand Prayer Book”, page 184.<br>
<br>
<br>
2 A New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, authorized <br>
<br>
<br>
by General Synod on 26 May 1988<br>
<br>
<br>
3 “Eucharistic Prayer 1: Enriching our Worship 1”. © Church Publishing <br>
<br>
<br>
Incorporated. January 2000.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Robert P Morrison<br>
<br>
<br>
Interim Vicar<br>
<br>
<br>
The Episcopal Church of St Alban<br>
<br>
<br>
PO Box 1556<br>
<br>
<br>
Albany OR 97321 541-921-1076 (cell)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
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