Archive for the ‘Ascension’ Category
Above: Icon of the Ascension of Christ
Image in the Public Domain
Enthronement
MAY 18, 2023
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 110
Ephesians 1:16-23
Luke 24:44-53
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty God, your only Son was taken up into heaven
and in power intercedes for us.
May we also come into your presence
and live forever in your glory;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 22
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that even as we believe your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
to have ascended into heaven,
so may also in heart and mind ascend and continually
dwell there with him;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 55-56
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Luke-Acts is a composite work. Given this fact, the discrepancy in the timing of the Ascension confuses me. Luke 24 places the Ascension on the same day as the Resurrection. Yet Acts 1 times it forty days after the Resurrection and ten days before Pentecost. O, well.
By the 300s, the Feast of the Ascension our Lord, set forty days after Easter Day, was commonplace. St. Augustine of Hippo wrote that churches
all over the world
celebrated the feast.
I understand the Ascension as theological poetry, not theological prose, because of science. I accept that, one day, Jesus was present with his Apostles until he left. Given cultural and theological assumptions of the time, we have the metaphor of ascension. May we–you, O reader, and I–not become lost in technical details.
The Feast of the Ascension is about enthronement–of Jesus, mainly. It is about the enthronement of humanity itself. To quote St. John Chrysostom:
Our very nature…is enthroned today high above all cherubim.
Happy Ascension Day!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 23, 2022 COMMON ERA
SATURDAY IN EASTER WEEK
THE FEAST OF TOYOHIKO KAGAWA, RENEWER OF SOCIETY AND PROPHETIC WITNESS IN JAPAN
THE FEAST OF MARTIN RINCKART, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA MARIA OF THE CROSS, FOUNDER OF THE CARMELITE SISTERS OF SAINT TERESA OF FLORENCE
THE FEAST OF WALTER RUSSELL BOWIE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, SEMINARY PROFESSOR, AND HYMN WRITER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Ascension. Olivet With Clouds, Between 1934 and 1939
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-12383
Empowered by God
MAY 18, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Almighty God, your only Son was taken up into heaven and in power intercedes for us.
May we also come into your presence and live forever in your glory;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 22
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Feast of the Ascension celebrates the enthronement of Jesus as the King of Heaven. Ascension is an ancient commemoration, one nearly universal in the Church by the 300s. On some calendars it falls on a Thursday, on the fortieth day of Easter, to be precise. On other calendars it transfers to the following Sunday. On still other calendars Ascension is absent, thrown out with the proverbial bath water of Roman Catholic tradition.
For many the rejection of tradition has become a tradition.
The departure of Jesus from this realm placed a great responsibility on the surviving Apostles, whose number did not yet include St. Matthias. They were to have divine assistance, however. So they did. The Apostles’ responsibility to be witnesses of Jesus has passed to we Christians of today. Fortunately, God’s assistance in fulfilling this mission has never ceased.
People have different abilities and personality types. I, for example, am an introvert. People who knock on my door with the intention of converting me always fail. One reason is that I dislike that interruption when I am at home. Annoying me is a bad first step. Besides, I have always been uncomfortable while engaging in excessively extroverted activities for too long. I will not, therefore, knock on anyone’s door with the intention of evangelizing him or her, but I feel at ease sitting at a computer keyboard. What I do there can reach people I will never get to meet anyway. There are many useful roles for introverts in the Church.
Whatever God is calling you, O reader, to do, God also empower you to do. May you do it, for the glory of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 1, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN-WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/empowered-by-god-part-vi/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Jeremiah Lowered into the Dungeon
Image in the Public Domain
The In-Between Time
MAY 21, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 38:1-13
Psalm 142
Revelation 21:15-21
John 7:32-36
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is Ascension Sunday. For this date David Ackerman schedules an interesting set of readings. The lives of Jeremiah and Jesus are in peril. Certain officials arrest the prophet. Other officials seek to arrest Jesus. One might imagine Jeremiah uttering Psalm 142 while in the muddy pit on the prison grounds. As Ackerman writes, in Jeremiah 38 we have a story about
a righteous Gentile raising a faithful Jewish prophet from the mud of death to new life.
—Beyond the Lectionary (2013), page 60
Opposite the ascension of Jeremiah is the descent of what the Gospel of Matthew usually–not always– called the Kingdom of Heaven (not out of piety but for other theological reasons; see the germane works of Jonathan Pennington) to the earth.
The imagery of the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Kingdom of God/Heaven comes from a three-tiered cosmology in which the realm of dead is the underworld, God lives above the sky, and we mere mortals reside in the middle. I know that this cosmology is scientifically inaccurate yet recognize that the ancient world view informs the narrative. To quote Galileo Galilei, my favorite theologian,
The Bible tells us how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go.
Thus I interpret the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Kingdom of God/Heaven as metaphors. I accept that Jesus, for lack of a better explanation, went home, not necessarily upward. I suppose that one might file the event under the heading of
You had to be there,
so even the best words prove inadequate to describe the event adequately. As for Revelation 21, the entire book is replete with imagery, given its genre (apocalyptic writing). To read the Apocalypse of John literally is to miss to point and to read the text in a manner in which the author did not intend.
Hang in there, the Book of Revelation tells persecuted Christians. God will win eventually, the last book of the New Testament says, even if the victory follows one’s martyrdom. The Bible opens with God creating order from chaos then with people ruining paradise. The sacred anthology concludes with God’s creative destruction of human-made chaos and the restoration of paradise. We live in the in-between time, with those, who like Jeremiah, long ago, suffer for the sake of righteousness and do not necessarily meet happy ends in this life. But we must hang in there.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 14, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, PATRIARCH
THE FEAST OF DOROTHY FRANCES BLOMFIELD GURNEY, ENGLISH POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HANS ADOLF BRORSON, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/the-in-between-time/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Odd Fellows Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, Corsicana, Texas, 1910
J149681 U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright deposit; Jno. J. Johnson; 1910
Copyright claimant’s address: Ennis, Tex.
Photographer = John J. Johnson
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-133853
The Idol of Public Respectability
MAY 18, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 1:1-7
Psalm 119:145-176
Mark 12:35-37 or Luke 20:41-47
1 John 2:3-29
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The term “fear of God” should be “awe of God,” for the latter translation conveys the concept accurately. Certain distractions can draw our attention away from God and the awe thereof. Among these are suffering (not necessarily a distraction, per Psalm 119, yet a distraction for many), worldly appetites (also not necessarily distractions inherently, but distractions for many), and false teaching (always a distraction). The issue is idolatry. An idol is an object, teaching, philosophy, or practice that draws attention and awe away from God. Many idols for many people are not idols for many other people. If someone treats something as an idol, it is an idol for that person.
One can seem to be holy and free of idols yet be disingenuous. In the parallel readings from mark (extended) and Luke Jesus condemns those who put on airs of righteousness yet crave public respectability and devour the property of widows, in violation of the Law of Moses. The spiritual successors of the scribes Jesus condemned are numerous, unfortunately. Some of them even have their own television programs.
Public respectability is not a virtue in the Gospel of Luke:
Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.
–Luke 6:26, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
That saying’s companion is:
Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
–Luke 6:23, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
This is a devotion for the Feast of the Ascension. The selection of these lections seems odd, I admit, but one can make the connection. After the Ascension Jesus was no longer physically present with his Apostles. Afterward, however, the Holy Spirit descended upon them and empowered them to do much to spread the word of Jesus and to glorify God. Of the original Apostles (including St. Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot) only two did not die as martyrs. St. John the Evangelist suffered much for God and died of natural causes. Those Apostles (minus Judas Iscariot) did not crave and did not receive public respectability. They did, however, glorify God and change the world for the better.
May we resist the idol of public respectability and, by grace, live so as to glorify God and benefit our fellow human beings.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 12, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN DOBER, MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER; JOHANN LEONHARD DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; AND ANNA SCHINDLER DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDITH CAVELL, NURSE AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF SCOTLAND, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT NECTARIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ARCHBISHOP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/the-idol-of-public-respectability/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Original Text
Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Loving God, who loves us, mourns with us, and rejoices with us,
the death of dreams and aspirations is among the most traumatic losses to endure.
It cuts to the emotional core of a person, causing great anguish, grief, and anger.
Regardless if the dream was indeed the one a person should have followed
(assuming that it was not morally wrong, of course),
the pain and disappointment are legitimate, I suppose.
I have known these emotions in this context more than once.
I wish them upon nobody, not even those who inflicted them upon me.
May we, by grace, function as your ministers of comfort
to those experiencing such a death or the aftermath of one
and who are near us or whom you send our way.
And may we, by grace, help others achieve their potential
and refrain from inflicting such pain upon others.
In the name of Jesus, who identified with us, suffered, died, and rose again. Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 19, 2014 COMMON ERA
HOLY SATURDAY, YEAR A
Posted April 19, 2014 by neatnik2009 in April 1, April 10, April 11, April 12, April 13, April 14, April 15, April 16, April 17, April 18, April 19, April 2, April 20, April 21, April 22, April 23, April 24, April 25, April 26, April 27, April 28, April 29, April 3, April 30, April 4, April 5, April 6, April 7, April 8, April 9, Ascension, Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, February 10, February 11, February 12, February 13, February 14, February 15, February 16, February 17, February 18, February 19, February 20, February 21, February 22, February 23, February 24, February 25, February 26, February 27, February 28, February 29, February 4, February 5, February 6, February 7, February 8, February 9, Friday in Easter Week, Good Friday, Holy Monday, Holy Saturday-Easter Vigil, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, June 1, June 10, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 2, June 3, June 4, June 5, June 6, June 7, June 8, June 9, March 1, March 10, March 11, March 12, March 13, March 14, March 15, March 16, March 17, March 18, March 19, March 2, March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23, March 24, March 25: Annunciation, March 26, March 27, March 28, March 29, March 3, March 30, March 31, March 4, March 5, March 6, March 7, March 8, March 9, Maundy Thursday, May 1, May 10, May 11, May 12, May 13, May 14, May 15, May 16, May 17, May 18, May 19, May 2, May 20, May 21, May 22, May 23, May 24, May 25, May 26, May 27, May 28, May 29, May 3, May 30, May 31: Visitation, May 4, May 5, May 6, May 7, May 8, May 9, Monday in Easter Week, Palm Sunday, Pentecost, Saturday in Easter Week, Thursday in Easter Week, Tuesday in Easter Week, Wednesday in Easter Week
Tagged with Anger, Grief
Above: Ascension. Olivet With Clouds, Between 1934 and 1939
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-12383
The Ascension of Jesus as Theological Poetry
MAY 18, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collects:
Almighty God, your Son was taken into the heavens
and in your presence intercedes for us.
Receive us and our prayers for all the world,
and in the end bring everything into your glory,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
or
Almighty God, your blessed Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things.
Mercifully give us faith to trust that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 35
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God reigns over the nations;
God sits upon heaven’s holy throne.
–Psalm 47:8, Book of Common Worship (1993)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You, O LORD, are Sovereign;
you have put on splendid apparel;
you, O LORD, have put on your apparel
and girded yourself with strength.
–Psalm 93:1, Book of Common Worship (1993)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I file the Transfiguration, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus in the same category:
Too Marvelous and Mysterious for Words to Describe Adequately.
Something like what accounts describe happened, but one had to be there to grasp the full flavor of the event. The words we have–the best ones possible–impart tantalizing hints of that full reality. Thus may we not be so literal-minded as to discourage healthy religious imagination.
In the Ascension Jesus returned to God, assumed in our Lord’s culture to live above the sky. Thus his return was metaphorically an ascension. I have no idea how the actual mechanics worked, but they are unimportant anyway. The mystery of clouds, long associated with God since at least the Book of Exodus, is beautiful; I have no desire to quench it. The number forty–also a metaphor–recalls forty days of the Great Flood in Genesis, forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, about forty years of King David’s reign, forty years in a generation, et cetera. The number indicates a significant period of time, not necessarily more than thirty-nine and less than forty-one.
The Ascension accounts invite us to think like poets, not writers of historical accounts or technical manuals. They tell us that Jesus is back in Heaven and that he will return someday. They set the stage for another event in the
Too Marvelous and Mysterious for Words to Describe Adequately
category: Pentecost. They tell us that God is with us spiritually yet not physically, as God once was, and indicate that we have great responsibilities.
May we be good and faithful servants of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 19, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE NINETEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF LARS OLSEN SKRESFSRUD, LUTHERAN MISSIONARY
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/the-ascension-of-jesus-as-theological-poetry/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Easter Vigil, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Dunwoody, Georgia, April 8, 2012
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The congregational response to “We pray to God” is “Lord, hear our prayer.”
As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, we bring our thanksgivings and concerns to the throne of grace.
We pray for
- Justin, the Archbishop of Canterbury;
- Katharine, our Presiding Bishop;
- Robert and Keith, our Bishops;
- Beth, our Rector;
and all lay and clergy members of the the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for economic justice, environmental stewardship, good government, and a better society. We pray especially for
- those who struggle with financial, career, job, and/or vocational issues;
- those who suffer because of tyrants and violence; and
- those who suffer because of the apathy or prejudices of their neighbors.
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for shalom among people everywhere.
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for everything which causes God to rejoice, especially
- the beauty of the natural world;
- the beauty which people have created;
- [the birth of G, son/daughter of H and I;]
- loving relationships;
- X, Y, and Z, who celebrate their birthdays this week; and
- A and B, C and D, and E and F, who celebrate their anniversaries this week.
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for all military personnel, especially (insert list here).
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for others for whom we care, especially (insert list here).
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who have died, that they will have eternal rest.
We pray to God.
Lord, hear our prayer.
[The celebrant concludes with a Collect.]
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 3, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF SAINT KATHARINE DREXEL, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT CUNEGOND OF LUXEMBOURG, HOLY ROMAN EMPRESS THEN NUN
THE FEAST OF SAINT GERVINUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, ANGLICAN PRIESTS
Above: Lazarus and Dives
Numbers and Luke, Part III: The Kingdom of God
MAY 17-19, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 everlasting 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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Numbers 10:11-36 (39th Day of Easter)
Numbers 11:1-23, 31-35 (40th Dayof Easter)
Numbers 11:24-29; 12:1-16 (41st Day of Easter)
Psalm 99 (Morning–39th Day of Easter)
Psalm 47 (Morning–40th Day of Easter)
Psalm 96 (Morning–41st Day of Easter)
Psalms 8 and 118 (Evening–39th Day of Easter)
Psalms 68 and 113 (Evening–40th Day of Easter)
Psalms 96 and 138 (Evening–41st Day of Easter)
Luke 16:19-31 (39th Day of Easter)
Luke 17:1-19 (40th Day of Easter)
Luke 17:20-37 (41st Day of Easter)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Numbers 10:11-12:16 constitutes a unit in that book. The narrative tells how the Israelites moved to the desert of Paran. they moved in a particular order but not without grumbling. Manna could not compare with Egyptian food, apparently. And even Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses. The narrative says that God afflicted the people with fire or their murmuring until Moses convinced God to stop, and that God afflicted Miriam with a skin disease which rendered her ritually unclean for a week.
If I were to decide whether to stand in awe or terror of such a deity, I would choose the latter option. That terror would also be appropriate in Luke 17:22-37. And Dives, the rich man in the parable in Luke 16:19-31, should have learned terror of God in the afterlife, yet did not. He still thought that the could order Lazarus, the poor man, around.
The Kingdom of God is among us. In one sense it has always been present, for it is where God is. Yet the Incarnation inaugurated the Kingdom of God via Jesus. That Kingdom has not gone away since the time of the historical Jesus any more than it went away after the Crucifixion or the Ascension. The full reign of God has yet to arrive on the planet, of course, but the Kingdom of God remains present via the Holy Spirit and the people of God, regardless of national, ethnic, or racial origin.
The Kingdom of God remains present in many ways. It remains present anywhere the people of God work for the benefit of their fellow human beings. It remains present anywhere one person corrects a fellow or sister human being in Godly love. It remains present wherever people forgive and/or reconcile. (Reconciliation is a mutual process, but one person can forgive another in absentia.) It remains present wherever a person of God chooses not to hold a grudge. It remains present wherever people of God care actively and effectively for the less fortunate.
May we remember that the shape of a society, culture, or subculture is what people have made it. So, where injustice exists and persists, we humans are responsible. May we, with God’s help, correct injustice and forge better societies, cultures, and subcultures. This will not constitute God’s full reign following the apocalypse, but it will be an improvement on the present arrangements.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 20, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BAIN OF FONTANELLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, MONK, MISSIONARY, AND ABBOT
THE FEAST OF ONESIMUS NESIB, TRANSLATOR AND LUTHERAN MISSIONARY
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/numbers-and-luke-part-iii-the-kingdom-of-god/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: An Old Family Bible
Image Source = David Ball
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God of glory,
as we prepare to study the Bible,
may we approach the texts with our minds open,
our intellects engaged,
and our spirits receptive to your leading,
so that we will understand them correctly
and derive from them the appropriate lessons.
Then may we act on those lessons.
For the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 7, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG, SHEPHERD OF LUTHERANISM IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES
THE FEAST OF FRED KAAN, HYMNWRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN WOOLMAN, ABOLITIONIST
Posted October 7, 2011 by neatnik2009 in April 1, April 10, April 11, April 12, April 13, April 14, April 15, April 16, April 17, April 18, April 19, April 2, April 20, April 21, April 22, April 23, April 24, April 25, April 26, April 27, April 28, April 29, April 3, April 30, April 4, April 5, April 6, April 7, April 8, April 9, Ascension, Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, February 10, February 11, February 12, February 13, February 14, February 15, February 16, February 17, February 18, February 19, February 20, February 21, February 22, February 23, February 24, February 25, February 26, February 27, February 28, February 29, February 4, February 5, February 6, February 7, February 8, February 9, Friday in Easter Week, Good Friday, Holy Monday, Holy Saturday-Easter Vigil, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, June 1, June 10, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 2, June 3, June 4, June 5, June 6, June 7, June 8, June 9, March 1, March 10, March 11, March 12, March 13, March 14, March 15, March 16, March 17, March 18, March 19, March 2, March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23, March 24, March 25: Annunciation, March 26, March 27, March 28, March 29, March 3, March 30, March 31, March 4, March 5, March 6, March 7, March 8, March 9, Maundy Thursday, May 1, May 10, May 11, May 12, May 13, May 14, May 15, May 16, May 17, May 18, May 19, May 2, May 20, May 21, May 22, May 23, May 24, May 25, May 26, May 27, May 28, May 29, May 3, May 30, May 31: Visitation, May 4, May 5, May 6, May 7, May 8, May 9, Monday in Easter Week, Palm Sunday, Pentecost, Saturday in Easter Week, Thursday in Easter Week, Tuesday in Easter Week, Wednesday in Easter Week
Tagged with Kenneth Randolph Taylor, Poetry and Prayers
Above: A Scene from the March for Troy Davis, September 16, 2011
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God of justice,
may we have proper priorities.
Taking our cues from the prophets and Jesus,
may we eschew idolatry,
love you fully,
love our neighbors as we love ourselves,
care for widows and orphans,
plead their cases,
feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
visit the sick and the imprisoned,
resist and condemn judicial corruption and other official injustice,
and value the most vulnerable members of society.
May we love the unloved,
comfort the comfortless,
give hope to the hopeless,
include the improperly excluded,
and recognize your image in each other.
May we succeed by grace and for your glory and our common good.
Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF VALENCIA
THE FEAST OF PHILANDER CHASE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Posted September 22, 2011 by neatnik2009 in April 1, April 10, April 11, April 12, April 13, April 14, April 15, April 16, April 17, April 18, April 19, April 2, April 20, April 21, April 22, April 23, April 24, April 25, April 26, April 27, April 28, April 29, April 3, April 30, April 4, April 5, April 6, April 7, April 8, April 9, Ascension, Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, February 10, February 11, February 12, February 13, February 14, February 15, February 16, February 17, February 18, February 19, February 20, February 21, February 22, February 23, February 24, February 25, February 26, February 27, February 28, February 29, February 4, February 5, February 6, February 7, February 8, February 9, Friday in Easter Week, Good Friday, Holy Monday, Holy Saturday-Easter Vigil, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, June 1, June 10, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 2, June 3, June 4, June 5, June 6, June 7, June 8, June 9, March 1, March 10, March 11, March 12, March 13, March 14, March 15, March 16, March 17, March 18, March 19, March 2, March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23, March 24, March 25: Annunciation, March 26, March 27, March 28, March 29, March 3, March 30, March 31, March 4, March 5, March 6, March 7, March 8, March 9, Maundy Thursday, May 1, May 10, May 11, May 12, May 13, May 14, May 15, May 16, May 17, May 18, May 19, May 2, May 20, May 21, May 22, May 23, May 24, May 25, May 26, May 27, May 28, May 29, May 3, May 30, May 31: Visitation, May 4, May 5, May 6, May 7, May 8, May 9, Monday in Easter Week, Palm Sunday, Pentecost, Saturday in Easter Week, Thursday in Easter Week, Tuesday in Easter Week, Wednesday in Easter Week
Tagged with Kenneth Randolph Taylor, Poetry and Prayers
LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
You must be logged in to post a comment.