Part of My New Rule of Life

In addition to the other aspects I have listed in my 2010 Rule of Life below, I have decided to make Sundays as low-tech as possible. Doing so means that I will not be posting to this blog on Sunday unless it is a Scripture verse, Collect (prayer), or something else very quick. I plan basically to have Sundays as e-mail only days so I can spend more time reading, playing board games with my kids, etc. We'll see how it goes....

So for today I post the Propers (Collect, Epistle, and Gospel) from this morning, the Second Sunday of Christmas, at Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity. We rarely worship there on Sundays, but it worked today because: 1) Jack, the senior acolyte and most advanced guitar player in the Free Teen Guitar Class, is on travel in Australia, so having Jonathan there to help out the other guitarists on the First Sunday of the Month (FTGC Sunday) was a good thing; 2) Elizabeth had to be at work around 11 AM because of groups leaving and another checking in, so traveling down to Lake Murray would have cut us a little too close; and 3) Keith, who isn't "into" the Anglican mode of worship, was helping a friend redo his kitchen, so he wasn't able to worship with us this morning.

And we got to sing more Christmas carols -- bunches and bunches of them!!  Aaaah, be still, my heart!! (Um, so much for not writing much on the blog, huh?)

Second Sunday of Christmas:
Collect:
ALMIGHTY God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


The Epistle: from Isaiah 41:
THE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

The Gospel: St. Matthew ii. 19.
WHEN Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Wishing you all a most Blessed Second Sunday after and 10th Day of Christmas!