Devotion for the Second Sunday of Easter, Year C (Humes)

Above:  Supper at Emmaus, by Caravaggio

Image in the Public Domain

Regarding Faith and Reason

APRIL 11, 2021

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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 10:1-20

Psalm 150

1 Thessalonians 1

Luke 24:13-25

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Easter is a season with eight Sundays, the last one being Pentecost.  Take heart, O reader; we have much more Easter to celebrate.

One theme in this Sunday’s readings is that the Jewish-Christian God is the universal deity, not a tribal god.  Yes, Gentiles are welcome at the party of salvation, too.  That salvation is possible because of the other theme, the resurrection of Jesus.  In the context of Luke 24, this is a truth two small groups of people announced to St. Simon Peter in one day.  Furthermore, these two groups had not coordinated their stories, as criminals rehearse the false alibis.

We who live nearly two millennia after these events have a challenge first-hand witnesses lacked.  We either accept the resurrection on faith or we reject it on lack of faith.  We can neither prove nor disprove it.  I choose to accept it.

This is not as big a leap of faith for me as it is for many others.  Yes, I embrace reason and accept science.  I recognize much merit in the Enlightenment, which influences how I think.  I am a modernist, not a postmodernist.  I also know from experience that Enlightenment and scientific categories, as we usually define them, do not account for everything.  Reason is a gift from God.  I, as a practicing Episcopalian, incorporate reason into my faith.  I also understand that reason takes me far, but not all the way to the empty tomb.  Reason is a tool in my toolbox of faith; it is not an idol.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 5, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE SUNDAY OF THE PASSION:  PALM SUNDAY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF ANDRÉ, MAGDA, AND DANIEL TROCMÉ, RIGHTEOUS GENTILES

THE FEAST OF EMILY AYCKBOWM, FOUNDRESS OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE SISTERS OF THE CHURCH

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIANO DE LA MATA APARICIO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN BRAZIL

THE FEAST OF PAULINE SPERRY, MATHETMATICIAN, PHILANTHROPIST, AND ACTIVIST; AND HER BROTHER, WILLARD LEAROYD SPERRY, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ETHICIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND DEAN OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM DERHAM, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND SCIENTIST

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/05/regarding-faith-and-reason-iii/

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