(With thanks to Lindsay Meader and St James Piccadilly)
A pdf of the Daily Office for Ordinary Time is available here.
If you would like to read the Daily Office for Ordinary Time go here.
If you would like to print out a copy of the Weekly Collect and Daily readings for 22 January to 4 February 2012 as a pdf file click here.
Holding on to the Silence 2012
Weekly Collect and Daily Readings from Sunday 22 January to Saturday 4 February 2012
Collect for Sunday 22 - Saturday 28 January:
God our creator, who in the beginning commanded the light to shine out of darkness: we pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ may dispel the darkness of ignorance, and shine into the hearts of all your people, to reveal the knowledge of your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Collect for Sunday 29 - Saturday 4 February:
God of goodness and grace, whose beloved Son Jesus Christ was presented in the Temple as an innocent baby and acclaimed the glory of Israel and a light to lighten the nations: grant that in Christ we may be presented to you in purity and innocence of heart and in the world may live to your glory; in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Daily Readings:
Sunday 22 January
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10
A life of faith is not an easy escape, a comfortable option. It requires a transformed vision of reality, a willingness to grow and take responsibility for our freedom. Gemma Simmonds, Glimpses of the Divine
Monday 23 January
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. *1 Peter 2:11-12
You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. Annie Lamott, Travelling Mercies
Tuesday 24 January
For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme,or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. 1 Peter 2:13-15
’Resurrection’ means a life that bursts through the dimensions of time and space in God’s invisible, imperishable, incomprehensible domain. This is what is meant by ‘heaven’ – not the heaven of the astronauts, but God’s heaven. It means going into reality, not going out. Hans Kung
Wednesday 25 January
As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor. 1 Peter 2:16-17
It is precisely in transcending even the highest reach of the human mind, in passing beyond all symbols and expressions of itself, that faith reveals itself in its essential purity. This is the essential ‘void’ in which alone the human is open to and able to hear the eternal word. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thursday 26 January
Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 1 Peter 2:18-19
John [the Baptist] does not seek the Holy One of Israel in the safety of the temple but in the dangerous desert where God offers a freedom that cannot be made tame. God’s ways are not our ways, and John’s hesitation about Jesus shows that even prophets have to learn to recognize a God beyond their own limited images. Gemma Simmonds, Glimpses of the Divine
Friday 27 January
If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:20-21
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Theodore Roosevelt
Saturday 28 January
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:22-25
I think we would be able to live in this world more peaceably if our spirituality were to come not just from looking into infinity but very closely at the world around us – and appreciating its depth and divinity. Thomas Moore
Sunday 29 January
Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 1 Peter 3:1-2
I have learned from the monastic teachers that prayer is a back and forth movement between us and God in the whole of our lives, between God’s continual grace and our continual response. It is also a movement between our receptivity and friendly silence in God’s presence and our continual reflection on the meaning of what we learn about God, ourselves, and others from the experience of our prayer as we grow in love. Roberta C Bundi, To Pray and to Love
Monday 30 January
Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight. It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands. 1 Peter 3:3-5
Faith is taking the first step when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King Jr.
Tuesday 31 January
Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you.Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honour to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life—so that nothing may hinder your prayers. 1 Peter 3:6-7
Believe in God like you believe in the sun. Not because you can see it, but you can see everything because of it. Anon
Wednesday 1 February
Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:8-9
Being a follower of Christ is not a pursuit for isolated individuals or lone rangers. We are called into a community of sisters and brothers in his name. We are part of one body, where each one is invited to touch and be touched by the body of Christ, made visible in others. Gemma Simmonds, Glimpses of the Divine
Thursday 2 February
For “Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:10-12
God knows how mixed our motives are, how divided our hearts. Not content to sit far away, untouched by our questions, God reaches out in the very heart of the struggle, in the tangle of our minds, in the contradictions of our lives. Gemma Simmonds, Glimpses of the Divine
Friday 3 February
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. 1 Peter 3:13-16a
“Hope” is the thing with feathers —
that perches in the soul —
And sings the tune without the words —
and never stops — at all—
Emily Dickinson
Saturday 4 February
Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:16b-17
Parable, mantra, canticle or chant,
the fresh naming of things by children,
words of love from a friend,
they can all turn locks in our hearts
so that the unnameable Presence,
the Word beyond all words,
can pour itself into our lives.
Joy Cowley, from ‘Language’ in Aotearoa Psalms