Hannah Grier Coome

Hannah Grier Coome          9 February
Religious, Founder of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine,k 1921 -- Commemoration

The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine is an order of Anglican nuns founded in Canada in 1884 and dedicatied (as its Rule states) to "personal sanctification and active charity."  Today we remember Hannah Grier Coome, who was its founder and first Mother Superior.

Born in Ontario, she married an Englishman and spent most of her married life in Britain.  In 1877 her husband's business sent him to Chicago, where he died of cancer the following year.  Mrs. Coome remained in Chicago for another three years, then decided to return to England and try her vocation as an Anglican nun.  On her way back she visited her family in Toronto and discovered a group of Anglicans who wished to found a Canadian sisterhood.  She accepted their invitation to take the first step and performed her novitiate in the United States.

Mother Hannah returned to Toronto in September, 1884, and launched the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine.  She and her new community initially faced a good deal of harassment, but their work during the Riel Rebellion, serving in the government's field hospitals, overcame these prejudices.  The Sisters eventually founded a hospital of their own, where over half their patients recieved medical attention free of charge.  Later they established a nursing home for the elderly, one of the first in Canada, and took charge of a school for girls.

Mother Hannah guided these enterprises, and the everyday life of the Sisters, with holiness, practical wisdom, and a sense of humour that pierced high-flying pretensions and unseasonable gloom.  She retired from the office of Superior in 1916 and died on Ash Wednesday five years later.  In her life she learned to be a light which kindled righteous deeds in others, and her community continues in the same work to this day. 

Eternal God, you clothed your servant Hannah with the habit of prayer and the robe of wisdom, to guide her sisters in this nation in the ways of holiness and the works of mercy and love.  Deliver us, we pray, from an inordinate love of this world, that we may be freed for the worship of your Name and for deeds that reveal your grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.   

Martyrs of Japan

Martyrs of Japan          5   February
1597 -- Memorial

On this day in 1957, twenty-six Christians were crucified near the Japanese city of Nagasaki.  We remember their faithfulness under great suffering and honour them as the protomartyrs of Asia.

Jesuit missionaries had been active in Japane for over forty years, and they had converted large numbers from every class of Japanese society.  The ruling Shogun eventually banned all missionary activity because he feared that the growth of the Christian Church among his people would prepare the way for an invasion by Europeans.  The Jesuits took care not to offend the Shogun and were able to continue with their work by becoming as much like the Japanese in dress and habits as they could.  But in 1593 a group of Franciscans arrived, who openly flaunted the decree against missionary activity.  The Jesuits tried to warn the newcomers that they were endangering not only themselves but also the whole Christian enterprise in Japan.  The warning went unheeded.  Soon afterwards the Shogun ordered the arrest of six Franciscans and twenty Japanese Christians.  The Jesuits quietly intervened in an effort to save the prisoners' lives, but the authorities turned a deaf ear to their appeals.  The prisoners were subjected to torture, then marched from Osaka to Nagasaki.  There, on a hill overlooking the city, they found twenty-six crosses planted in a row.  Each prisoner was tied to his cross; then the executioner went down the row, piercing each one twice with a spear.

After the crucifixions at Nagasaki, the Shogun and his successors relented, and the Church enjoyed twenty years of peace.  But persecution was renewed in waves during the first half of the seventeenth century and continued even after Japan`s rulers closed their country to foreigners.  Nevertheless, when Europeans once again entered Japan in the mid-nineteenth century, they found many pockets of Japanese who had preserved in secret some living vestiges of Christian faith and practice. 

We bless you, Almighty God, for the twenty-six martyrs of Japan who were crucified on this day because they would not renounce your Son.  Grant that your Church in Japan and your people throughout the world may dwell in peace with their neighbours and continue in steadfast witness to your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Anskar

Anskar          3 February
Apostle of Scandinavia, 865 -- Commemoration

Today we remember Anskar, a ninth-century missionary who strove to bring the gospel of Christ to the people of Denmark and Sweden.

Anskar began his labours in the year 826, when the emperor of the Franks asked him to open a mission in southern Denmark.  Even with the backing of the local king, his successes were modest.  Nevertheless, after a couple of years in Denmark, he decided to cross the Baltic and launch a mission among the Swedes.  When he returned he found that the Pope had appointed him archbishop of Hamburg, with jurisdiction over all the missions in Scandinavia.

From the moment of his appointment until his death over thirty years later, Anskar experienced very little except disappointment and frustration.  Unable to find enough staff, his mission to Sweden soon withered.  A rebellion in Denmark overthrew the king who had supported him, and the rebels quickly smothered the young Danish church.  In the year 845 Hamburg itself was burned to the ground by Viking raiders, and he moved his missionary base to Bremen, which nearly suffered the same fate several times over.  He laboured to end the Baltic slave-trade, and though he redeemed countless thousands from bondage, Viking slavers continued to operate with impunity. 

Despite all these setbacks Anskar persevered in his mission, and whenever one opportunity was cut off, he sought another avenue for spreading the gospel.  His persistence had one small return in 854, when a new king in southern Denmark allowed him to re-open his mission and begin rebuilding the Danish church.  He died on this date eleven years later.

The Church honours Anskar as the Apostle of Scandinavia because his tenacious efforts in the face of disaster and discouragement were like the seed mentioned in the gospel itself.  They were a small beginning which eventually bore a rich harvest two centuries later, when Christianity at last found a home among the children of the Vikings.

Almighty God, you sent forth your servant Anskar and became his stronghold against despair when prejudice was deaf to his preaching and violence overthrew his labours.  Sustain your Church in days of discouragement, that we may ever trust you to preserve and bring to perfect fruition what your own right hand has planted; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Presentation of the Lord

The Presentation of the Lord          2 February
Holy Day

Luke the evangelist tells us that Jesus was presented in the house of God, as the Law of Moses required.  He also records how the Christ-child was greeted by Simeon and Anna, two figures who represented Israel's longing to see the Redeemer promised by God.  The evangelist gave Simeon a song to sing, the Nunc dimittis, which acclaims Jesus as the saving Light of God.  To symbolize the enlightening truth of Christ the western Church developed the custom of blessing candles on this feast -- hence its other title, Candlemas.

The chief title of today's feast, "The Presentation," comes from the ancient Jewish law that every firstborn son had to be dedicated to God's service.  But the Law of Moses allowed parents to redeem their child by offering something else in his stead.  In Jesus's case, Mary and Joseph offered the redemptive substitute which the law appointed for the first-born of poor parents, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."  Thus, paradoxically, the Redeemer himself was redeemed.

Many Christian writers have delighted to see the deepening of this paradox in the story of Simeon.  In the fourth century, Ephrem of Edessa wrote:  "When Simeon the priest received Christ into his arms and presented him to God, he understood that he was not offering Christ, but was himself being offered."

In celebrating the feast of the Presentation, the people of the Church become like Simeon, who cradled the infant Light of salvation in the crook of his arm and knew him to be as fragile as a candle-flame.  In baptism, in meditating upon Scripture, and in the eucharist Christians cradle the same Light and take responsibility for the life of Christ in our world.  And yet the paradox continues.  Even as they hold Christ in their hands, they may discover that they are really in the crook of Christ's arms, being presented by him in the sanctuary of God's joy and glory.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, for you have sent us your salvation.  Inspire us by your Holy Spirit to recognize him who is the glory of Israel and the light for all nations, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Weekly Meditation

Blackfriars Meditation for the 5th Sunday in Epiphany


When I first looked over this weeks scripture for praying, I became enthused when I came to the Gospel, Luke 5:1-11, for long before I became a fisher of men, I was a fisherman. It spoke my language. Lessons I learned on the banks of a creek have stood me well later in life in my chosen vocation.

Just as Jesus called Simon and James and John to fish, so too are we called as Dominicans to be fishers of men. But just as with fishing for fish, one doesn't catch anything unless the hook is baited. In these verses Jesus shows us how to bait the hook.

He did so by expressing an interest in what they were doing. Jesus was not a fisherman but He showed interest in these men. He asked Simon to put out, He spoke, then told Simon to head for deeper waters and drop nets. Even though tired Simon did so, and was rewarded. A good example of blessings that come from obedience.

Location is important. We have to go to the fish, for they surely won't come to you. Jesus told Simon to head for deep waters, and we all know the deeper the water the bigger and more plentiful the fish. God energizes us to go to out and impact the world.

Change bait. Different fish are attracted to different bait. Same as people. I find that when addressing mature people I must come across differently than if I were speaking to teenagers. Different topics, different metaphors for different audiences.

Jesus met their need. These men were in the fish business, so Jesus didn't give them vegetables, He helped them fill their nets with fish. We must learn to meet the needs of the people we encounter by understanding their situation in life.

Fishermen don't get sidetracked by disappointment. They find a new hole, or keep at it, or try again later. The spiritual growth of our ministry depends on the spiritual depth of our committment.

Fishermen learn by on the job training. We should never be too proud to learn from the youngest or the oldest among us. As an adult I learned how to cast into weeds from a 7 year old girl, and as a child it was my great-uncle who taught me to preserve my catch. The same applies when fishing for men.

So, Brothers and Sisters, don your hip-waders, cast far and cast wide, and until I return,
Dominus vobiscum

Oblate Douglas

Challenge question of the week: What bait do you use, and how? Please share with me.

Charles Stuart

Charles Stuart         30 January
King of England and Scotland,  1649 -- Commemoration

Today we remember Charles I, who became King of England and Scotland in 1625.  A shy man with refined tastes and a mild stutter, he was in private life a devoted husband and a loving father.  As Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Charles's commitment to its life was whole-hearted.  he usually began his day with two hours of private devotions, and he loved to attend the public liturgy, especially the Lord's Supper.

For eleven years Charles counted himself "the happiest king in Christendom"  -- and with good reason.  Since England was at peace, he had no need to support a standing army or a large navy, and therefore no need to summon Parliament.  His government was able to meet its needs by exploiting the customary prerogatives of the Crown.  But behind the nation's apparent tranquillity, Charles's subjects seethed with greivances; and when he finally did call a Parliament, its members proved militant in their demands for redress and reform.  In 1642 he felt he had no choice but to raise the royal standard against them.  After three years of civil war Charles's armies were defeated in the field, and he was taken prisoner.  Parliament wished to reform the Church of England according to a presbyterian model, but Charles refused to surrender episcopacy and the Book of Common Prayer.  An attempt to renew the civil war led the House of Commons to set the King on trial.  The tribunal's verdict was a foregone conclusion, and Charles was sentenced to death.

On January thirtieth, 1649, he stepped out on to a public scaffold.  "I have a good cause," he said, "and I have a gracious God; I will say no more.  But a little after I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can be, no disturbance in the world."  The King knelt, said a brief prayer, then laid his head on the block.  He died under one stroke of the axe.

O God, the Judge of all, you anointed Charles Stuart to be King of England and Scotland and sustained him in prayer through all his troubles, even to death at the hands of his enemies.  Grant that all rulers among the nations may use the power entrusted to their care to vindicate the cause of those who suffer wrong and to rescue the needy among the people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas          28 January
Priest and Friar, Teacher of the Faith, 1274 -- Memorial

Thomas Aquinas was a thirteenth-century Dominican friar who spent most of his adult life teaching in universities.  His powers of concentration were legendary.  He once stood in front of three different scribes and dictated three separate works at the same tiem, without losing the train of his thought in any of them.  Thomas was also a man of constant prayer:  his students often found him kneeling beside his desk when he was working on a difficult theological question.  He understood that he had his gifts to help the Church lay hold of  "the truth as it is in Jesus."

Unlike many other theologians at that time, Thomas saw no contradiction between human reason and God's revelation.  He once said that God gives grace not to destroy creation but to make it perfect -- to raise it above itself, so that the whole human being, through its reason, might actively share in God's own life.  This insight has been gladly confirmed by the Church -- and particularly by our own Anglican tradition.

O God, you blessed your servant Thomas Aquinas with singular gifts of wisdom and insight, that your people might love with their understanding what you give them to know by faith.  Grant us the freedom to embrace your Church's teachings and the obedience to deepen its faith, that our knowledge may be perfected in worship and our faith may be fulfilled in love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.