Above: Saint Peter, by Marco Zoppo
Image in the Public Domain
Suffering
MAY 21, 2023
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The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Acts 5:17-42
Psalm 46
1 Peter 4:12:5:11
Matthew 24:1-14
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Suffering and persecution are prominent in the assigned readings. The passage from Matthew 24, set during Holy Week, precedes the crucifixion of Jesus. Sometimes suffering is a result of obeying God, yet, as we read in Psalm 46:7 (The New Revised Standard Version, 1989),
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
One might also think of lyrics Doris Plenn wrote in response to McCarthyism:
When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death-knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile,
Our thoughts to them are winging;
When friends by shame are undefiled,
How can I keep from singing?
After all, God transformed a Roman cross, a symbol of humiliation and a means of execution, into the ultimate symbol of grace and victory over death and sin.
Here ends the lesson.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 2, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, THE MARTYRS OF LYONS, 177
THE FEAST OF ANDERS CHRISTENSEN ARREBO, “THE FATHER OF DANISH POETRY”
THE FEAST OF MARGARET ELIZABETH SANGSTER, HYMN WRITER, NOVELIST, AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN OF SWEDEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY, BISHOP, AND MARTYR
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/06/02/suffering-part-iii/
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LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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