Bryan Sherwood

Nuts and Bolts of Anglican Liturgy

Some of you have already seen this via InternetMonk's blog. However, for those of you who haven't, this video is definitely worth watching as Fr. Eric from St. Peter's Anglican Church explains Anglican liturgy. Check it out. I bet even some of my Roman Catholic friends might learn a thing or two!

The Nuts and Bolts of Anglican Liturgy from St. Peter's Anglican Church on Vimeo.

It's Over!

What a relief – the summer term of grad school is finally finished. I don’t mind telling you it’s been the l-o-n-g-e-s-t term of my grad school experience so far. The good news is I actually get a short break and don’t have classes resume until Sept. 21.

What’s this mean? It means I’ll have more time to enjoy with my family and friends. It means I can read books that I WANT to read. It means I won’t have to spend my lunch break doing homework. And it means I’ll get a lot more sleep between now and Sept. 21. All of those are very good things!

You may even notice more frequent blogging here. It’s unfortunate but blogging must take a backseat to most everything else. Hopefully, you’ll keep coming back though since I do try to keep my blog updated as much as I’m able.

I am looking forward to finishing a book I’ve been trying to read for weeks: Thomas Merton’s The Monastic Journey. Although I’m not even half way through, I’ve found it to be a helpful book as Merton writes about the monastic life. Like most of us, he can write about what he knows about and he has lived and knows the life of a monk with its challenges and blessings. Here’s a quote from my lunch hour reading today:

It is in the Mass and the liturgy that we are most truly and perfectly monks, because it is there that we most fully live our life in Christ, finding Him whom we have come to seek, submitting in and with Him to the Father’s will. (p. 28)

Chew on that for a while.

Okay, I better get busy; work beckons. Peace to you.

Today's Responsorial Psalm - A Reflection

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Heather and I attended Mass today at the Abbey of Gethsemani.  I missed my monthly visit a few weeks ago and so decided to go today instead.  The above sentence was the response to today's Psalm - Psalm 34.

R.       Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R.       Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

R.       Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

R.       Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

As I listened to this Psalm, I couldn't help but think how difficult it is to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord."  Sure, when all is going well in life, it's easy to see the goodness of the Lord.  However, what about when life is full of hurt and trouble?  All one has to do is look around and immediately recognize there are many who are facing great difficulties . . . some even to the point of severe suffering.  I don't pretend to be tough enough to handle what many of my friends and acquaintances deal with.  Yet, in a church full of people, many of them hurting, depressed, suffering . . . and somehow we all responded with the words "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."

What does this mean?  I think the Spirit was making it clear to me today that I must take seriously the call to prayer and to remember to pray for those who are suffering. 

St. Therese, pray for us.

Collects for Sixth Sunday After Trinity

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking:  Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, 1979 ed.)

+

O GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man's understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, 1928 ed.)

Oremus Podcast

Check out the latest Oremus podcast that's produced by my friend Alan.  He and I talked a little bit about liturgical prayer today - one of my favorite subjects.  Enjoy!

A Few Thoughts on Church - Part 2

I left off with a statement about how our time in a house church was a pivotal time for me and Heather.  Why was that?  Here are a few thoughts that come to mind.

The Divine Office

I was just beginning to learn about the divine office and liturgical prayer.  Being part of Vine & Branches solidified this practice in our lives.  Although I enjoy praying the office in a large group setting, there's something about a small band of people praying the Psalms together.  Even apart, they bind us together. 

Community

Community is a word that's been thrown around quite a bit.  I learned much of what this means at VBCC.  One of the ways I would describe community is just "regular."  Living every day life with others.  That might be as simple as sharing a meal together, playing games, or watching TV.  There wasn't some big organized program to build community.  No workbooks.  No simulcast.

In the last few years "community" has brought a lot of difficulty too.  It's NOT easy to make room for others and live in a way where you are accountable to a small group of people.  In the end, it's been the most difficult thing I've ever participated in but also the most life-changing and rewarding thing.

At Saint Patrick's, we see this lived out in priories - small groups of people covenanted together.  Our second year in a priory is almost over and I have hope that these priories will continue to be a way in which we can learn to live like Kingdom people.

Life in the kingdom isn't to be lived alone.  This kind of interaction is important for us to understand things like forgiveness, grace, humility and honesty.

Liturgy

As a guy who grew up in the Southern Baptist and Christian Church traditions, I knew nothing about liturgy.  I had always written it off as something "rote" and repetitive and of no real value.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  I found out fairly quickly that repetition can be good.  It's forming.  As I pray the prayers over and over or say the Creed over and over, it begins to sink in.  It begins to inform my own theology and view of God.  It's a bit like having that favorite hymn that you know the words to.  It becomes a part of you.

It's my opinion that these are important practices for Christians to engage in.  Notice, they aren't short in duration.  These are practices that are meant for the long haul.  They form us and change us over time.

Part 3 will be all about why Heather and I have ended up in Anglicanism.  More to come.

A Few Thoughts on Church - Part 1

I've been in church since I was a boy.  I remember going to Vacation Bible School and Sunday School when I was six or seven years old.  Vacation Bible School was always fun.  Heck, they had great snacks like ice cream in a cup and Popsicles.  What's not to like about that?  Of course, there were always crafts, singing, and even memorizing a verse of Scripture or two.  Good memories.  I remember being given a New Testament Bible for memorizing Luke 2.8-14 during VBS one year.  I'm thankful for those caring Baptists who instilled in me a great love for Scripture.

In my teen years, my family became involved in an independent Christian Church.  The Christian Church also had a very high view of Scripture.  Baptism was emphasized in the church's teaching and the Lord's Supper was celebrated weekly.  I always appreciated the emphasis placed on a weekly celebration of Communion.  I went off to Bible College at Kentucky Christian College and graduated with a BA in Bible and Preaching.  I spent about ten years in ministry mostly in the Independent Christian Church tradition until I helped plant a SBC church near Cincinnati Ohio in early 2001.

Heather and I returned to Lexington in 2003.  We soon became involved in Vine & Branches Christian Community which was a great experience for us.  In some ways, it was the opposite of what we had just left in Cincinnati.  Instead of worship with a band, video clips, and PowerPoint slides, we were meeting in a living room.  Typically, we gathered around the kitchen table and shared a meal together.  We prayed the office and received Communion.  There was no worship band.  No music.  No PowerPoint.  No sermon series.  There was liturgy.  There was prayer.  Jesus was present.  Stripped down, bare, real worship.  Good stuff.

A few years on the other side of this, I now realize what a pivotal time this was in our lives.  Heather and I were pretty burned out of trying to make the "church machine" go.  All of the preparation for a seeker sensitive type of worship had been exhausting.  We were tired.  God brought us to a place that was radically different than anything we had ever experienced before.  This experience of church changed us forever.

(Part 2 to come)

Nunc, Sancte, nobis, Spiritus

Nunc, Sancte, nobis Spiritus is a Christian hymn that is traditionally prayed at the hour of Terce.  It's thought that St. Ambrose authored this wonderful hymn.  Enjoy!

Translation by John Henry Newman, 1836.

Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One
Art with the Father and the Son;
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls possess
With Thy full flood of holiness.

In will and deed, by heart and tongue,
With all our powers, Thy praise be sung;
And love light up our mortal frame,
Till others catch the living flame.

Almighty Father, hear our cry
Through Jesus Christ our Lord most high,
Who with the Holy Ghost and Thee
Doth live and reign eternally.

When Eastertide Feels Like Lent

He is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Mark xvi. 6; Luke xxiv. 34.

It's Eastertide.  Lent is officially over (can I get an Amen?).  The liturgy calls us to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The tomb is empty.  And so will our graves too be empty one day.  That's the promise.  We read Scriptures like:

¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.  ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  1 Cor. 15:19-20

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.  Rev. 1:17-18

⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  1 Cor. 15:52

I find a lot of hope in these passages of Scripture.  Eastertide runs over with hope and good news.   Yet, ironically, much of life still seems dark and the news doesn't seem so good.  I have friends losing their jobs.  I have brothers and sisters in Christ fighting illness.  I work in a place where people are downtrodden.  It's as though darkness, hardship, disappointment and brokeness are all around.

So, in some says, Eastertide can seem puzzling.  It feels as though there is a disconnect between what we know to be true and what life throws at us.  For instance, I know I see through a glass darkly.  I know that I too will be bodily resurrected.  I know that the Lord is faithful.  However, sometimes the present circumstances of life distract me to a point that I forget.

Perhaps these fifty days of Eastertide can serve as a wonderful reminder of the sheer love of God for us?  I need to be reminded.  The liturgy calls us back to what is true.  Day by day, hour by hour, the liturgy calls us back to God's reality.

The Liturgy and Holy Week

I received this quote from the Merton Institute today. 

So, going into Passion Week, my mind is in tune with the Liturgy and with [the prophetic words of] Jeremias. At Communion it is Christ in the garden Who prays in me. I don't feel like writing anymore.  (Thomas Merton, Entering the Silence: 184).

I think the liturgy can be powerful in the way it draws us into the life of Christ.  The truth is, it's not always fun to be there.  This week we call Holy Week is full of difficult moments.  Jesus' betrayal.  His trial.  His scourging.  His crucifixion.  Not exactly happy things to think about.  Yet, isn't that the good thing about the liturgy?  It helps us remember this week and the dark, difficult moments.

In my time as a Christian who wasn't in a church tradition that valued the church calendar, it seemed that we jumped from Christmas to Easter!  Of course, the Resurrection is the high point of Holy Week and the liturgy certainly reflects that but there is much that comes before it.  I for one need to be reminded of those difficult moments in order to celebrate the good news of the Resurrection!

Pax.