A Modern-Day Witness


On the church calendar for August 14, Jonathan Myrick Daniels -- a modern-day martyr during the civil rights movement -- is remembered. If you don't know about him, or even if you, the award-winning video below is definitely worth watching. 

http://vimeo.com/14117023

Children and heirs


Today we're reminded, in the words of St. Paul, that we are children of God, and therefore his heirs (Galatians 4:4-7). But as amazing and important as this is, we also need to be reminded that we are not God's natural children, but his children by adoption.
     Our faith has always taught us that Jesus Christ is God's only "natural" child -- in the words of the aged and profound KJV, "his only-begotten Son."
"He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will", as we read in Ephesians (1:5). 


Well anyway, all this leads me to wonder how anyone can deny to same-sex couples the possibility to father or mother children in this same way. If God adopts us as his children, how can some of us then turn around and say that it's illegitimate for God's own gay children to do?

Daily Office lectionary chart

Here's a link to a colorful chart I created that shows the distribution of the Scripture readings for the two-year Daily Office lectionary. It's yours at Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/62335998/Daily-Office-Lectionary-Chart

And another chart, for the psalms at Morning and Evening Prayer:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/62376095/Book-of-Common-Prayer-Psalms-Schedule
     I've wanted something like it for years, but hadn't found it anywhere...so I carved out some time today and made one myself.  It's 3 pages long, almost, and I have it in PDF and Word format.

Our Mother's Big Day

"Here is your mother." (John 19)


Tomorrow is Mary's big feast, August 15 -- but some religious communities begin the celebration today, with a vigil. In the Episcopal calendar, she is remembered and celebrated under the title "Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ." This is, needless to say, one of the great Marian feasts, almost universally observed across Christian denominations.
     This is my first post on this new blog. My purpose is simply to provide a forum for interested people, Christian or not, to interact on the themes of Christian faith which are celebrated daily in the Anglican liturgy. I'll post comments about the Scripture readings, my thoughts on aspects of our tradition, on current events and news, and links to related items for people with an interest in theology and liturgy.
     In the interests of disclosure, I should say that my focus will center around the particular expression of the Christian faith that has nurtured me over the years, namely the doctrine, discipline and worship of The Episcopal Church. So...here we go.


The breadth of Anglicanism


Though Anglicans generally don't celebrate what Roman Catholics do on this day, i.e., Mary's "assumption" into heaven, we do find these words in the Collect for the feast (Book of Common Prayer [BCP] 243):


     "...you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary..."


Not an explicit statement of her "assumption" into heaven, but for those whose faith does affirm it, our common prayer (in the words we pray together in this Collect) can be seen nevertheless to allow room for that implication. This is perhaps as good an example as any, of the characteristic breadth of Anglicanism. (We pride ourselves on being a house big enough even for people who do not always agree on all things to worship God together nevertheless.)
     


Material for meditation


    As usual, there's an abundance of Scripture readings for this feast, even more than usual in the lectionary for the Daily Office. (It's interesting to note, for example, that for most of the Holy Days the lectionary provides two lessons each for Morning and Evening, but on this day there's four provided for the evening! ... not to mention two options for the evening psalms!) What some religious communities do, and what I do in my own recitation of the office, is to use one of the evening options for a vigil celebration tonight, then the other evening option tomorrow night. That is, I distribute the psalms and lessons in my prayer thus:



Evening Prayer on August 14
     Psalm 45
     Jeremiah 31:1-14
     John 19:23-27


Evening Prayer on August 15
     Psalms 138, 149
     Zechariah 2:10-13
     Acts 1:6-14


That way all the psalms and lessons get used, and the feast shows its particular importance in an extended celebration, beginning the evening before the feast.


     Okay - so that's my first post. We'll see where all this goes from here. 




May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and keep us in the joy of everlasting life. Amen.