Above: Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas at Lystra, by Alessandro Salucci
Image in the Public Domain
Building Up Each Other in Christ
MAY 16, 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 13:14-16, 26-48
Psalm 114
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Luke 15:21-37
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We need to be careful not to read the text from Acts 123 in an anti-Semitic manner.
- To do so is sinful.
- Sts. Paul and Barnabas were Jewish.
- Many of their supporters were Jewish.
- “The Jews” refers to hostile Jews.
Also, Psalm 114 fits well with St. Paul’s full address, portions of which the lection from Acts 13 omits.
The Lukan apocalypse is one of the Synoptic apocalypses in the context of Holy Week. The wrath of God will come and the new world order of God will replace the current world order. All of this is solely in the divine domain.
In the meantime, we have a mandate to build up each other and to leave the world better than we found it. We can start by never repaying evil with evil, and by refraining from every kind of evil.
Writing those words is easy, but living according to them can be difficult. Even when we seek to live according to the Golden Rule, we may inadvertently commit evil. Weakness and ignorance are formidable foes.
May we start by seeking to live according to the Golden Rule and by trusting in God to guide us in understanding what that means (in detail) in various circumstances. The Golden Rule is a timeless principle, but the proper application of timeless principles varies according to context, including who, when, and where one is.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 10, 2020 COMMON ERA
GOOD FRIDAY
THE FEAST OF PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, SCIENTIST, AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT FULBERT OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF HENRY VAN DYKE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF HOWARD THURMAN, U.S. PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAW, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MYSTIC, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/10/building-up-each-other-in-christ-part-iv/
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LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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