(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 5 to 21 February 2012 as a pdf file click here.
Holding on to the Silence 2012
Weekly Collect and Daily Readings from Sunday 5 February to Tuesday 21 February 2012
Collect for Sunday 5 - Saturday 11 February:
Vulnerable God, you challenge the powers that rule this world through the needy, the compassionate, and those who are filled with longing. Make us hunger and thirst to see right prevail, and single-minded in seeking peace; that we may see your face, and be satisfied in you, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Collect for Sunday 12 - Saturday 18 February:
God, source of all life; you have created the heavens and the earth and made people in your own image.
Teach us to discern your hand in all your works,
and to serve you with reverence and thanksgiving;
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Collect for Saturday 19 – Tuesday 21 February:
Christ, our only true light, before whose bright cloud at the transfiguration your friends fell to the ground.
May we refuse to be prostrated before the false brightness of any other light, looking to you alone for hope and renewal and resurrection from the dead. Amen.
Sunday 5 February
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 1 Peter 3:18-20
Let me keep my distance,
always from those who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Mary Oliver, ‘Mysteries’ in Evidence
Monday 6 February
And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. 1 Peter 3:21-22
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy. Jonathan Swift
Tuesday 7 February
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin),so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 1 Peter 4:1-3
Think not thou canst weep a tear
And thy maker is not near. William Blake
Wednesday 8 February
They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme. But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does. 1 Peter 4:4-6
The world was not left to us by our parents,
it was lent to us by our children. African Proverb
Thursday 9 February
The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 1 Peter 4:7-9
When you read God’s word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, ‘It is talking to me, and about me’. Søren Kierkegaard
Friday 10 February
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10-11
Loneliness is being unaware of the One that is with us everywhere. E.A. Gloeggler
Saturday 11 February
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:12-13
. . . the sudden illumination--
We had the experience but missed the meaning. T.S. Eliot
Sunday 12 February
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. 1 Peter 4:14-15
Protect your solitude. Simone Weil
Monday 13 February
Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?1 Peter 4:16-17
Faith
is the instructor.
We need no other. Mary Oliver, ‘Spring’ in Evidence
Tuesday 14 February
And “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?” Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good. 1 Peter 4:18-19
God is the still point at the centre. Julian of Norwich
Wednesday 15 February
Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. 1 Peter 5:1-3
Choose companions who are also pilgrims. Rumi
Thursday 16 February
Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:3-5
I think it’s kind of funny
that we have only one word for prayer
when we come to God in so many ways.
Joy Cowley, ‘Prayer’ in Psalms Down Under
Friday 17 February
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7
There is no greater sin than to believe that one’s own guilt is greater than God’s forgiveness. Druze saying
Saturday 18 February
Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 1 Peter 5:8-9
Joy is the serious business of heaven. C.S. Lewis
Sunday 19 February
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11
Thus does the world forget You, its Creator, and falls in love with what You have created instead of with You. St. Augustine of Hippo
Monday 20 February
Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 1 Peter 5:12
An unimaginative person can neither be reverent nor kind. John Ruskin
Tuesday 21 February
Your sister church in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. 1 Peter 5:13-14
What constantly marked the life of Jesus was not nonviolence but in every situation the choice not to use power. This is infinitely different. Jacques Ellul