A Collect for Peace.
O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee, we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
For those of you, who regularly attend BCP Evensong this Collect ( Prayer ) is very familiar. For me as a lifetime Anglican Christian and now an Anglican Catholic Priest it is indeed a very comforting and wonderful prayer to pray in earnest.
Especially now in the extremely evil world we live in. We only , i.e. in Australia have to put on channel 7 news on the tv and horrible crimes and misery are displayed there for young and old to see . On top of all that we have to hear time and time again about the antics of our politicans, a treasurer who has come up with a budget to hit the poor of this country as hard as he possibly can.A Prime Minister, who has not kept any of his election promises. The war on the Gaza strip and the situation in the Ukraine. How can this situation change and how can you and I keep standing up in this world?
The Collect from the service of Evensong, which I quoted above does say it so well " Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give". What peace am I talking about ? The Peace of Jesus Christ, which can only become real for us if we give our lives over to Him and obey the most important commandment " first of all , love Me ( Jesus ) and that love others. Because if we knew how to love one another, to care for one another and to put any agressive and selfish thought and action behind us, then it would be a better world and then we work closely together for the establishment of God's Kingdom upon the earth. If we turn to Christ , the rest and quietness will come to some extent, because as Saint Augstine once said " Restless until we rest in Thee". Peace and quietness can be obtain by going to Mass or just going into an empty Church and pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
It is my prayer for you this morning , that you too may pass your time in rest and quietness and indeed through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church /Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo Australia
