Today is one of the major festivals of the Church Year – Ascension Sunday, the Sunday after Jesus was taken up into Heaven, and we along with him. It’s also Jerusalem Sunday, the day the National Church has set aside for us to pray for God’s mission of love and peace to be fulfilled in the Diocese of Jerusalem – something tragically especially timely due to the terrible violence of the past several days.
We’re blessed to have Deacon Bob with us in-person to preach, and on tape, to have our Choir and the organ at All Saints’ Church in Oystermouth, Swansea, Wales to lead our Hymns and Offertory music; John M. to give our First Reading; and Stacy to lead us in the Prayers of the People. These Prayers include an Ascension Sunday Litany, a Prayer for Peace in the World, and a Prayer in Response to COVID-19 from the Caribbean Conference of Churches. The Prayers of the People also include a Jerusalem Sunday Prayer, penned by the former Primate, the Most Reverend Fred Hiltz, and read in a video of the Holy Land by the Bishop of Jerusalem.
Our Service is a Holy Eucharist, in which we have the opportunity to partake of Communion, physically as well as spiritually, using Reserved Sacrament from the previous Sunday’s Service. This Reserved Sacrament is available for pick up just inside the main doors every Saturday, from 2 to 2:45, and other times by appointment. The wafers are in individual paper cups, and placed in a sealed baggie, to ensure their safety.
When our Liturgy ends, the service begins: we go in peace to love and serve the Lord, living out our Easter “Alleluia” by sharing the joyous Good News of Easter in all we say and do.
Today’s Service of Holy Eucharist will be livestreamed on our main Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/stpaulscalgary) at 9:30 am. Following the service, the video will be posted on our YouTube Channel, and a link to the service will be added here. To watch this service in full screen mode, please click on the “Watch on YouTube” button in the lower left-hand corner of the video. Please download the Order of Service if you would like to follow along.
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from:
(a) ONE LICENSE with license # A-713985, and/or
(b) CCLI with Streaming License # 20351479.
All rights reserved.