The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

O Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion; that they who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Colossians 3: 12-17 The Gospel: St Matthew 13:24-30


The petition made to God the Father, the heavenly Lord, in the name of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is from his Church and for his Church and each member therein. Each congregation prays for herself and the whole Church militant here on earth.

The Church is described as God's household, that is a family of children, born from above by the Holy Ghost, but yet not mature as obedient and faithful children. The children can so easily stray from the home and become prodigal sons and daughters adopting the religion of another household; and so petition is made that they will be kept at home continually in true religion - true worship, doctrine, piety, devotion and discipline. And this petition is made in order that the whole church membership may know the mighty protection of God the Father from all evil, sin and devilish machination, as they are enabled to trust in him and to live in Christian hope of the full redemption of the Church and of each member thereof.

This petition is the last the Church will make during the season of Epiphany, for next week begins the cycle of Sundays which are a preparation for the season of Lent, Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima.

A final thought. This Collect, though fully meaningful in its own terms in its present English form - as we have seen, is not an exact translation of the original Latin from the Gregorian Sacramentary and the Sarum Missal. The original Latin can be rendered: "Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy household continually with thy fatherly goodness, that she who doth lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be walled round by thy protection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Here the petition is from the Church for the same Church, which is presented as a household of God's adopted children, a family which needs always his fatherly care and protection. She, the household, needs always to be surrounded, walled in, by the protection of the heavenly Father.

The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon