COLLECT FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY – RCL YEAR B

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  AMEN
 
Earlier, we had noted that with the focus of Epiphany shifting towards the restoration of Epiphany as a celebration of Christ’s Baptism and the beginning of his ministry, a number of new Collects have entered our current BCP for this season.  This Collect is another new composition by a very well known contributor to our recent BCP, Dr. Massey H. Shepherd.  Here he has drawn on several passages; Romans 8:15 and 19-21: “…that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God,” as well as John 10:10, where Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  So our Collect is about freedom and living the abundant life.  Our God is a God of freedom.  The Israelis learned that as they put their Egyptian bondage behind them.  If there is a “bondage” that ensnares us, it is that proclivity to stray from God’s will and his path.  Through the gift of the presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit we have the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in 58:6, “…to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free.” Their support and guidance will enable us to break free again and to enjoy the gift of “the abundant life” that was affirmed by Christ.  “Set us free, O God,” we pray that we may have life abundantly!
 
We commence our readings in the Second Book of Isaiah when the Israelites were still suffering in their Babylonian exile.  The pleading of the Collect echoes the sense of loss and abandonment felt by the Israelites that sometimes might even overwhelm us.  The final verse of the 40th Chapter holds out so much for us:  “…but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  Our Psalm responds throughout with words such as, “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.”  Continuing with Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians, we will hear Paul’s occasionally qualified explanations of his Apostleship, concluding with his marvelous summary, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some!”  The beginnings of Christ’s Galilean ministry are filled with Mark’s wonderful accounts of Christ’s personal healing of so many which we will continue to hear.  In Christ’s presence, the guidance of his words, and his steadfast love, he is still bequeathing, “the abundant life” for all of us.
 
ISAIAH 40: 21-31 – Comfort God’s People
PSALM 147: 1-12, 21c – Praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem
I CORINTHIANS 9:16-23 – The Rights of an Apostle
MARK 1: 29-39 – Jesus Heals Many at Simon’s House

For background information on the Collects, click here.
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