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The Gift

The Gift

By Timothy Curtis

Homilies by Fr Timothy Curtis, on the theme of the great Gift of salvation, the way in which the Christian life is an exchange of a Gift between God and His people, backwards and forwards, a dialogue of giving and receiving the Gift of His only begotten Son,

Fr Timothy's homilies are delivered extempore, without script or notes. They may, therefore, contain small errors in fact or memory. They are also spoken directly to a small congregation, rather than the world as a whole. They are offered in this spirit.
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The Synaxis of Joachim and our Patroness Anna, and the Birth of the Mother of God

The GiftSep 20, 2020

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15:07
The Liturgy Slowly #42: the beginning of the end, the Elevation of the Gifts

The Liturgy Slowly #42: the beginning of the end, the Elevation of the Gifts

The Liturgy is not over after communion. There is much Thanksgiving still to offer
Nov 29, 202016:56
The Liturgy Slowly #41: The Infinite reaches out and touches the finite

The Liturgy Slowly #41: The Infinite reaches out and touches the finite

At communion, the Infinite One reaches out and touches us with His love, with His Logos, with His Son, to cleanse us and heal us
Nov 29, 202017:53
The Liturgy Slowly #40: become the Temple of the Lord

The Liturgy Slowly #40: become the Temple of the Lord

In receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, in receiving Him as the Gift, we become the Temple of the Living God. We become the Gift.
Nov 29, 202008:35
The Liturgy Slowly #39: Now is the time, to receive communion

The Liturgy Slowly #39: Now is the time, to receive communion

After 39 steps, we are finally ready, to receive communion. God has deemed us worthy to receive Him as the Gift of eternal life.
Sep 27, 202025:47
The Liturgy Slowly#38: the Exaltation of the Life Giving Cross

The Liturgy Slowly#38: the Exaltation of the Life Giving Cross

Just before we take communion, before we receive Christ God, the Gift, let us consider who we are as gifts too, and make sure we are willing to take up our cross, deny ourselves and follow Him, and become extraordinarily and fully human, beyond our wildest imagination.
Sep 20, 202050:40
The Synaxis of Joachim and our Patroness Anna, and the Birth of the Mother of God

The Synaxis of Joachim and our Patroness Anna, and the Birth of the Mother of God

13 Sept 2020
Sep 20, 202015:07
The Liturgy Slowly #37: the Fraction, breaking the Body

The Liturgy Slowly #37: the Fraction, breaking the Body

After the Lord's prayer, the priest is required to do the unthinkable, break the Body of Christ. This homily explains how and why. 6th Sept 2020
Sep 20, 202019:08
The Liturgy Slowly #36: The Prayer of the Physician

The Liturgy Slowly #36: The Prayer of the Physician

Immediately after the Lord's prayer in the Liturgy is a beautiful prayer that reminds us that the Gift of the Lord is that of the Great Physician, for the healing of soul and body.
Sep 20, 202015:34
Money Sunday: the Sunday after the Dormition of the Theotokos

Money Sunday: the Sunday after the Dormition of the Theotokos

The ox is not prevented from eating some of the wheat that it is grinding, and so the ministers of the church need to be paid too. Saint Anne's clergy are all volunteers and our income as a parish has fallen during Covid19 lockdown. Please consider making an online donation.
Sep 20, 202026:41
The Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Birth-Giver of God

The Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Birth-Giver of God

In the chaos of everyday life, the example of the Theotokos is important because it tells us that focusing on the 'one thing needful' is the key to the human transfiguration
Aug 16, 202021:50
The Liturgy Slowly #35: The prayers before the Lord's Prayer

The Liturgy Slowly #35: The prayers before the Lord's Prayer

Going back slightly, we consider the prayers from St John and St Basil that are said just before the Lord's Prayer, and how they affirm that God makes us worthy, how He looks on us and deems us worthy. He answers our prayers, He is a God of Love not wrath.
Jul 12, 202017:35
The Liturgy Slowly #34: The Lord's Prayer, Thy Kingdom come.

The Liturgy Slowly #34: The Lord's Prayer, Thy Kingdom come.

When people refuse to bend a knee before anyone except the Queen or President, we remember in the Lord's Prayer that the Kingdom of God is present on earth, not just in heaven. If we don't bow before anyone, we may refuse to encounter Christ
Jul 05, 202012:20
The Liturgy Slowly #33: The Lords Prayer, whose Father? Our Father

The Liturgy Slowly #33: The Lords Prayer, whose Father? Our Father

In this episode, we start looking at the Lord's prayer, the first clause, Our Father, not mine, but Our Father. We also think of the nature of God's Fatherhood.
Jun 28, 202010:45
The Liturgy Slowly #32:kenosis: self emptying as personhood

The Liturgy Slowly #32:kenosis: self emptying as personhood

Returning to the Liturgy Slowly series, we start again with a wider thought about the idea of self emptying, kenosis, as a more profound gift-giving. Giving of ourselves requires us to empty ourselves of our ego and hangups to truly accept those mentioned in the Beatitudes
Jun 21, 202015:10
Feast of Holy Pentecost

Feast of Holy Pentecost

As the Holy Spirit descends on the church at Pentecost, the barriers of language of Babel are cast away, and all those who are 'blackened' by society are raised up to common dignity in Christ
Jun 07, 202013:11
Ascension of Christ: awaiting the 'dynamis' of the Spirit means facing up to our human freedom

Ascension of Christ: awaiting the 'dynamis' of the Spirit means facing up to our human freedom

Ascension of Christ: awaiting the 'dynamis' of the Spirit means facing up to our human freedom
May 31, 202011:26
The Sunday of the Man born Blind. 2020

The Sunday of the Man born Blind. 2020

The Sunday of the Man born Blind. 2020
May 24, 202016:18
Radonitsa Panikhida April 2020

Radonitsa Panikhida April 2020

Radonitsa Panikhida April 2020

Apr 28, 202047:15
St Thomas Sunday 2020

St Thomas Sunday 2020

St Thomas Sunday 2020

Apr 26, 202001:40:43
Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday 2020

Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday 2020

Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday 2020

Apr 18, 202001:42:17
The Lamentations Service Holy Week 2020

The Lamentations Service Holy Week 2020

The Lamentations Service Holy Week 2020

Apr 17, 202001:49:24
Imperial Hours Holy Week 2020

Imperial Hours Holy Week 2020

Imperial Hours Holy Week 2020

Apr 17, 202001:32:13
Service of the 12 Gospels of Christ's Passion

Service of the 12 Gospels of Christ's Passion

Service of the 12 Gospels of Christ's Passion

Apr 16, 202002:07:52
Unction Service Holy Week 2020

Unction Service Holy Week 2020

Unction Service Holy Week 2020

Apr 15, 202001:24:03
Bridegroom Matins Holy Tuesday 2020

Bridegroom Matins Holy Tuesday 2020

Bridegroom Matins Holy Tuesday 2020

Apr 15, 202001:15:31
Bridegroom Matins Holy Monday

Bridegroom Matins Holy Monday

Bridegroom Matins Holy Monday

Apr 15, 202001:11:54
The Liturgy slowly #31: O Lord, who at the Third Hour: the silent and still dynamic action of the Holy Spirit

The Liturgy slowly #31: O Lord, who at the Third Hour: the silent and still dynamic action of the Holy Spirit

After mentioning the Holy Spirit only 25 times, the Liturgy now invokes the presence of the Holy Spirit at the epiclesis. St Gregory Palamas' theology of the energies of God help us to understand the dynamic action of the silent and still Godhead.
Mar 15, 202018:09
The Liturgy slowly #30: This reason-endowed worship: making sure we adore God and venerate icons

The Liturgy slowly #30: This reason-endowed worship: making sure we adore God and venerate icons

Words change their meanings, so we have to be careful about what we do when we approach icons in our prayer life, giving the pinnacle of everything in our lives to God alone, and not mistakenly to icons.
Mar 09, 202016:43
The Liturgy slowly #29: Thine of thine own: forgiveness is more than behaviour modification

The Liturgy slowly #29: Thine of thine own: forgiveness is more than behaviour modification

In this episode, on Forgiveness Sunday, we reach the elevation of the Gifts, offering Chris God to God the Father, His essence to His essence, not offering sweatmeats to placate an angry deity. When we ask forgiveness of each other, we are not saying sorry for individual behaviour. We have the opportunity to heal ancestral and cultural hatreds and oppression that we unknowingly repeat in our actions, attitudes and behaviours. Forgiveness Sunday isn't just about saying sorry to each other, but healing our whole society.
Mar 01, 202017:52
The Liturgy slowly #28: This is my Body: the Last Judgement is about what we have done for Christ's body

The Liturgy slowly #28: This is my Body: the Last Judgement is about what we have done for Christ's body

In this episode on the Sunday of the Last Judgement before Lent starts, we consider the nature of the bread that Christ blesses, and that we refer to in the Lord's prayer. It is the same essential bread that makes up the Body of Christ that is at once the body of Jesus, us as church and His presence in the world.
Feb 23, 202020:04
The Liturgy slowly #27: This whole dispensation: the centuries old loving response of the Father to the Prodigal children

The Liturgy slowly #27: This whole dispensation: the centuries old loving response of the Father to the Prodigal children

In this episode, on the Feast of the Prodigal Son, we look at the Dispensation, explained in detail by St Basil's liturgy, which is the centuries long loving response of the loving Father to us, the prodigal children who have squandered our inheritance as His children
Feb 16, 202017:48
The Liturgy slowly #26: Holy, holy, holy: making sense of the bodiless powers

The Liturgy slowly #26: Holy, holy, holy: making sense of the bodiless powers

In this episode, we focus on seraphim and cherubim, and other bodiless powers mentioned in the liturgy. It's hard to make sense of them without becoming superstitious. With the aid of Storm Ciara, Fr Timothy concentrates on the powers or characteristics of our relationship with God that they represent.
Feb 09, 202020:33
The Liturgy slowly #25: The Sanctus: blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

The Liturgy slowly #25: The Sanctus: blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

On the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, also coinciding with the Sunday of Zachaeus, we find that we can only encounter Christ when we are willing to say 'Blessed is he who comes in His name', in other words, when we see Christ in all those, like Zachaeus, who are despised by polite society.
Feb 02, 202016:53
The Liturgy slowly #24: Ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible: You, oh God

The Liturgy slowly #24: Ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible: You, oh God

In this episode, St John's liturgy provides us with his first full theological statement, not describing God's positive attributes, but apophatic theology is more familiar to Orthodoxy, describing that which God is not. We give thanks to God, however, that He emptied Himself of everything that He is not, to become Christ.
Jan 19, 202015:57
The Liturgy slowly #23: Lifting up you: heart and soul

The Liturgy slowly #23: Lifting up you: heart and soul

Let us lift up our heart: the ancient part of the liturgy refers to the lifting up of our soul, our whole life to God, a radical freedom in Christ to be Transfigured.
Jan 12, 202024:34
Baptism: the anaphora of Life

Baptism: the anaphora of Life

We have finally arrived at the anaphora, at the Baptism of Christ by John the Forerunner. Having seen the procession of Christ as the Gift in the Great Entrance, we become the Sacrifice of Praise, offering ourselves in Thanksgiving for Christ baptising His creation, turning back sin and restoring paradise. Let us, in awe and reverence, stand and attend to this moment.
Jan 05, 202028:54
Into the desert: the Sunday after Nativity

Into the desert: the Sunday after Nativity

As the Magi deal with Herod after their long journey, we consider St Paul's time in the desert after his encounter with God. We have encountered God incarnate, we mustn't now just brush that away, we should respond with our own time in contemplation.
Dec 29, 201916:50
The genealogy of Christ: God has a plan

The genealogy of Christ: God has a plan

Taking a long view on the Gift of His incarnation in the flesh, God has a plan, but not what we might think, and not a plan we frustrate by our sinfulness. God has worked through the centuries, through the prophets who didn't receive the promise, to prepare for His Nativity.
Dec 23, 201917:46
The Liturgy slowly #22: In one mind let us confess: the exchange of peace

The Liturgy slowly #22: In one mind let us confess: the exchange of peace

In this episode we look at the kiss of peace, and the secondary differences that we have to put aside to become of 'one mind in Christ' that we are able to confess the Trinity.
Dec 15, 201919:19
The Liturgy slowly #21: The litany of completion: immaculate but not conceived as such.

The Liturgy slowly #21: The litany of completion: immaculate but not conceived as such.

In this episode, on the Feast of the Conception of the Theotokos by our Patroness Anna, Father considers the placing of the litany of completion at the placing of the Gifts on the Holy Table, and the importance of us understanding that the Theotokos is not conceived immaculately, but lived spotlessly.
Dec 08, 201920:33
The Liturgy slowly #20: The Great Entrance: noble Joseph

The Liturgy slowly #20: The Great Entrance: noble Joseph

In this final episode on the Great Entrance, Fr Timothy notes the shift from the great and glorious procession of Christ in glory, accompanied by the heavenly host, carried aloft by the deacons, to being lifted down from the cross and carried by the noble Joseph and laid on the Holy Table as into the Tomb
Dec 01, 201910:38
The Liturgy slowly #19: The Great Entrance: stand aright, lay aside every earthly care, you are worthy.

The Liturgy slowly #19: The Great Entrance: stand aright, lay aside every earthly care, you are worthy.

In this second episode in the Great Entrance, we consider the priest's normally silent prayer 'No one is worthy' in the context of the woman who is healed of her 18 year infirmity and the Entrance of Mary into the Temple. We are made worthy by God, not because we are worthy, but because He makes us worthy. We become temples of the Living God, like Mary, entering the temple, became The Temple of the Living God become Flesh.
Nov 24, 201914:45
The Liturgy slowly #18: The Great Entrance: the heavenly procession

The Liturgy slowly #18: The Great Entrance: the heavenly procession

In this episode, we see the simple task of carrying the bread and wine as a heavenly procession of Chris the King, being borne aloft by cherubim and seraphim. Our simple gifts become the Gift. Let us be careful that we don't tear down the barns that Christ has built for us in His blessings to be replaced by the cupboards of our own making
Nov 17, 201915:55
The liturgy slowly #17 : The purpose of liturgy: compassion

The liturgy slowly #17 : The purpose of liturgy: compassion

In this episode we pause before moving on to the Cherubic hymn to remind ourselves of the purpose of liturgy and ritual, to tell us the story, to re-enact the history of the people of God over the centuries, across cultures. We also remind ourselves that Christianity, faith itself, is not a spiritual act but a public physical act of compassion.
Nov 12, 201916:36
The liturgy slowly #16: The end of the Liturgy of the Catechumens

The liturgy slowly #16: The end of the Liturgy of the Catechumens

In this final episode of the Liturgy of the Catechumens, before we move on to the Liturgy of the Faithful, Fr Timothy contemplates God freeing us from our chains, from our sinfulness, that we may be made worthy of the heavenly kingdom. He also notes again the importance of the antimens over which these prayers are made, the sign of the shepherds who guard our flocks. In times of turmoil, these shepherds have to gather us and lead us to new pastures
Oct 29, 201919:18
The Liturgy Slowy #15: The conscientious sower: the first of the wisdom prayers

The Liturgy Slowy #15: The conscientious sower: the first of the wisdom prayers

In this episode, which didn't end as planned, Father Timothy considers the first of the 'wisdom' prayers, which is actually a recollection of the 'blood sacrifice prayers of the old testament, but now placed in the context of the bloodless sacrifice of Christ. He connects it to the careful placing of the seed of the Spirit in every human, placing the burden on us all of tilling the soil of faith.
Oct 14, 201917:13
The Liturgy Slowly #14: The crossroads of Nain: the dismissal of the catechumens.

The Liturgy Slowly #14: The crossroads of Nain: the dismissal of the catechumens.

In this episode, Fr Timothy considers the crossroad in the divine liturgy where the catechumens are dismissed, where those who are called to life are called out of the crowd.
Oct 10, 201921:47
The Liturgy in Slow Motion #13: The prokemenon: lining out, or building the body of Christ through songs and psalms

The Liturgy in Slow Motion #13: The prokemenon: lining out, or building the body of Christ through songs and psalms

The Liturgy in Slow Motion #13:  The prokemenon: lining out, or building the body of Christ through songs and psalms

Oct 09, 201918:33
Special episode: the Reitlinger frescos

Special episode: the Reitlinger frescos

In this special episode, Fr Timothy talks to Professor Roy Robson, a church historian from Penn State University in America, who came to see the extraordinary Reitlinger frescos in our parish church. We were both quite excited about them!
Jul 17, 201924:57
Liturgy in Slow Motion #3: In Peace, let us pray to the Lord.

Liturgy in Slow Motion #3: In Peace, let us pray to the Lord.

After the celebrant has declared that the Kingdom of God is to be blessed, the congregation, led by the deacon, sing the first great Litany.  Fr Timothy considers the point of praying for peace, and describes what is being prayed for during the first Litany

Jul 07, 201917:15