Archive for the ‘Psalm 46’ Tag
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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Above: Icon of the Resurrection
Image Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
The Light of Christ, Part II
APRIL 8-9, 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:
At least three of the following sets:
Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13 and Psalm 46
Genesis 22:1-18 and Psalm 16
Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 and Exodus 15:1b-13, 17-18
Isaiah 55:1-11 and Isaiah 12:2-6
Ezekiel 20:1-24 and Psalm 19
Ezekiel 36:24-28 and Psalms 42 and 43
Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Psalm 143
Zephaniah 3:14-20 and Psalm 98
Then:
Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114
Matthew 28:1-10
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The history of the Great Vigil of Easter is interesting. We do not know when the service began, but we do know that it was already well-established in the second century C.E. We also know that the Great Vigil was originally a preparation for baptism. Reading the history of the Easter Vigil reveals the elaboration of the rite during ensuing centuries, to the point that it lasted all night and was the Easter liturgy by the fourth century. One can also read of the separation of the Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday service in the sixth century. As one continues to read, one learns of the vigil becoming a minor afternoon ritual in the Roman missal of 1570. Then one learns of the revival of the Easter Vigil in Holy Mother Church in the 1950s then, in North America, in The Episcopal Church and mainline Lutheranism during the liturgical renewal of the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, if one consults the U.S. Presbyterian Book of Common Worship (1993) and The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), on finds the ritual for the Great Vigil of Easter in those volumes.
The early readings for the Easter Vigil trace the history of God’s salvific work, from creation to the end of the Babylonian Exile. The two great Hebrew Biblical themes of exile and exodus are prominent. Then the literal darkness ends, the lights come up, and the priest announces the resurrection of Jesus. The eucharistic service continues and, if there are any candidates for baptism, that sacrament occurs.
One of the chants for the Easter Vigil is
The light of Christ,
to which the congregation chants in response,
Thanks be to God.
St. Paul the Apostle, writing in Romans, reminds us down the corridors of time that the light of Christ ought to shine in our lives. May that light shine brightly through us, by grace, that we may glorify God every day we are on this side of Heaven.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 29, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF PERCY DEARMER, ANGLICAN CANON AND TRANSLATOR AND AUTHOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF SAINT BONA OF PISA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC AND PILGRIM
THE FEAST OF JIRI TRANOVSKY, LUTHER OF THE SLAVS AND FOUNDER OF SLOVAK HYMNODY
THE FEAST OF JOACHIM NEANDER, GERMAN REFORMED MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/the-light-of-christ-part-iv/
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Above: St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, April 7, 2012
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
Embrace This Mystery
LATE SATURDAY, APRIL 16-EARLY SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2022
(BETWEEN SUNSET AND SUNRISE)
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READINGS AT THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
(Read at least two,)
(1) Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
(2) Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 and Psalm 46
(3) Genesis 22:1-18 and Psalm 16
(4) Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 and Canticle 8, page 85, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
(5) Isaiah 55:1-11 and Canticle 9, page 86, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
(6) Baruch 3:9-15, 3:32-4:4 or Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6 and Psalm 19
(7) Ezekiel 36:24-28 and Psalms 42 and 43
(8) Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Psalm 143
(9) Zephaniah 3:12-20 and Psalm 98
DECLARATION OF EASTER
The Collect:
Almighty God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. or this O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
READINGS AT THE FIRST HOLY EUCHARIST OF EASTER
Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114
Luke 24:1-12
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My custom regarding posts for the Easter Vigil is to list the manifold and myriad readings (most of which are optional) and to offer a brief reflection. Consistent with that practice I invite you, O reader, to approach the question of divine power, which gave us the Resurrection, with awe, wonder, reverence, and praise. The Resurrection of Jesus is a matter of theology; historical methods cannot analyze it properly. I am a trained historian, so far be it from me to criticize methods which work well most of that time. But I am also a Christian, and I recognize the existence of mysteries beyond the bounds of historical scrutiny. Life is better with some mysteries than without them. So I invite you, O reader, to embrace this mystery.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 31, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/embrace-this-mystery/
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Easter Vigil, St. Peter and St. Paul Episcopal Church, Marietta, Georgia, April 4, 2010
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
He’s Alive!
LATE SATURDAY, MARCH 30-EARLY SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2024
(BETWEEN SUNSET AND SUNRISE)
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READINGS AT THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
(Read at least two,)
(1) Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
(2) Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 and Psalm 46
(3) Genesis 22:1-18 and Psalm 16
(4) Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 and Canticle 8, page 85, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
(5) Isaiah 55:1-11 and Canticle 9, page 86, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
(6) Baruch 3:9-15, 3:32-4:4 or Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6 and Psalm 19
(7) Ezekiel 36:24-28 and Psalms 42 and 43
(8) Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Psalm 143
(9) Zephaniah 3:12-20 and Psalm 98
DECLARATION OF EASTER
The Collect:
Almighty God, who for our redemption gave your only- begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. or this O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
READINGS AT THE FIRST HOLY EUCHARIST OF EASTER
Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114
Mark 16:1-8
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A Related Post:
Great Vigil of Easter, Year A:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/great-vigil-of-easter-year-a/
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Recently, while listening to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio, I heard an interviewee say,
We danced our religion before we thought it.
This is objectively accurate.
I am an intellectual–an unapologetic one. So I like to ponder various matters deeply, exploring their nuances. This is healthy, for one ought to exercise one’s brain power frequently. Yet sometimes intellect and reason cannot explain something. The Resurrection of Jesus is one of these matters.
Without the Resurrection Christianity is a lie and we who affirm the reality of this event are pitiable fools, the the latest in a long line of deluded idiots. Yet the saints who preceded us were not deluded fools, and Christ is risen indeed.
Happy Easter!
KRT
“This is the night….”
Image Source = John Stephen Dwyer
LATE SATURDAY, APRIL 8-EARLY SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2023
(BETWEEN SUNSET AND SUNRISE)
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READINGS AT THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
(Read at least two,)
(1) Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
(2) Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 and Psalm 46
(3) Genesis 22:1-18 and Psalm 16
(4) Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 and Canticle 8, page 85, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
(5) Isaiah 55:1-11 and Canticle 9, page 86, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
(6) Baruch 3:9-15, 3:32-4:4 or Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6 and Psalm 19
(7) Ezekiel 36:24-28 and Psalms 42 and 43
(8) Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Psalm 143
(9) Zephaniah 3:12-20 and Psalm 98
DECLARATION OF EASTER
The Collect:
Almighty God, who for our redemption gave your only- begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. or this O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
READINGS AT THE FIRST HOLY EUCHARIST OF EASTER
Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114
Matthew 28:1-10
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Ritualism, despite what some say, is important. Rituals mark milestones in any civilization or culture. And rites are crucial to religion. So, with the Easter Vigil, we mark the resurrection of Jesus in a lovely (and long) ritual much grander and more meaningful than any Protestant Easter Sunrise Service.
During Lent we have not said the “A” word (Alleluia). We have put away most candles and entered into a penitential mood. This has become increasingly somber the closer we have come to Good Friday, the darkest day of them all. Now, after the beginning the Vigil in the darkness, we have a liturgical opportunity to welcome the light again and to resume saying “Alleluia.” And the candles are back!
Easter, a 50-day season has begun with a series of readings from the Bible about salvation history.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
Published originally at SUNDRY THOUGHTS OF KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on June 19, 2010
The Ruins of the Bethsaida (a.k.a. Bethesda or Bethzatha) Pool
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Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Collect and lections from the Episcopal Lesser Feasts and Fasts Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints
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Follow the assigned readings with me this Lent….
Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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Ezekiel 47:1-12 (TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures):
He [the Lord GOD] led me back to the entrance of the Temple, and I found that water was issuing from below the platform of the Temple–eastward, since the Temple faced east–but the water was running at the south of the altar, under the south wall of the Temple. Then he led me out by way of the south wall of the Temple. Then he led me out by way of the northern gate and led me around to the outside of the outer gate that faces in the direction of the east; and I found that water was gushing from [under] the south wall. As the man went on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me across the water; the water was ankle deep. Then he measured off another thousand and led me across the water; the water was knee deep. He measured off a further thousand and led me across the water; the water was up to the waist. When he measured yet another thousand, it was a stream I could not cross; for the water had swollen into a stream that could not be crossed except by swimming.
Do you see, O mortal?
he said to me; and he had led me back to the bank of the stream.
As I came back, I saw trees in great profusion on both banks of the stream.
This water,
he told me,
runs out to the eastern region, and flows into the Arabah; and when it comes into the sea, into the sea of foul waters, the water will become wholesome. Every living creature that swarms will be able to live wherever this stream goes; the fish will be very abundant once these waters have reached there. It will be wholesome, and everything will live wherever this stream goes. Fishermen shall stand beside it all the way from En-eglaim; it shall be a place for drying nets; and the fish will be of various kinds [and] most plentiful, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes shall not become wholesome; they will serve to [supply] salt. All kinds of trees leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail; they will yield new fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the Temple. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.
Psalm 46:2-8 (TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures):
God is our refuge and stronghold,
a help in trouble, very near.
Therefore we are not afraid
though the earth reels,
though mountains topple into the sea–
its waters rage and foam;
in its swell mountains quake.
There is a river whose streams gladden God’s city,
the holy dwelling-place of the Most High.
God is in its midst, it will not be toppled;
by daybreak God will come to its aid.
Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
at the sound of His thunder the earth dissolves.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our haven.
John 5:1-18 (The New Testament in Modern English–Revised Edition):
Some time later came one of the Jewish feast-days and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. There in in Jerusalem near the sheep-pens a pool surrounded by five arches, which has the Hebrew name of Bethzatha. Under these arches a great many sick people were in the habit of lying; some of them were blind, some lame, an some had withered limbs. (They used to wait there for the “moving of the water,” for a certain times an angel used to come down into the pool and disturb the water, and then the first person who stepped into the water after the disturbance would be healed of whatever he was suffering from.) One particular man had been there ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there on his back–knowing that he had been like that for a long time, he said to him,
Do you want to get well again?
The sick man replied,
Sir, I haven’t got anybody to put me into the pool when the water is all stirred up. While I’m trying to get there somebody else gets into it first.
Jesus said,
Get up, pick up your bed and walk!
At once the man recovered, picked up his bed and began to walk.
This happened on a Sabbath day, which made the Jews keep on telling the man who had been healed,
It’s the Sabbath; it is not right for you to carry your bed.
He replied,
The man who made me well was the one who told me, “Pick up your bed and walk.”
Then they asked him,
And who is the man who told you to do that?
But the one who had been healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away in the dense crowd. Later Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him,
Look: you are a fit man now. Do not sin again or something worse might happen to you!
Then the man went off and informed the Jews that the one who had made him well was Jesus. It was because Jesus did such things on the Sabbath day that the Jews persecuted him. But Jesus’ answer to them was this,
My Father is still at work and therefore I work as well.
This remark made the Jews all the more determined to kill him, because not only did he break the Sabbath but he referred to God as his own Father, so putting himself on equal terms with God.
The Collect:
O God, with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light: Quench our thirst with living water, and flood our darkened minds with heavenly light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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This day’s readings concern restoration.
The lesson from Ezekiel tells of a vision of an ideal future. In the refurbished Holy Land a stream from beneath the Temple will flow from Jerusalem, become a mighty river, and restore life in the desert. People will even be able to fish from the Dead Sea. I perceive echoes of the mythic waters of creation from Genesis. Only this time we have waters of new creation.
This is not “Jesus-and-Meism,” in the style of overly individualistic and narcissistic, the world may go to Hell in a hand basket but I don’t’ care because I will go to Heaven, Fundamentalism. No, this is a vision of society-wide restoration. Echoes of this theme are evident in the psalm.
(Note: Just in case anyone thinks nobody believes in the style of Fundamentalism I have described, I point to conversations I have had in which people have embraced that style of religion. It seems to make them feel good, but it does nothing for anybody else.)
In the reading from the Johannine Gospel Jesus heals a who has been in a desperate physical, emotional, and spiritual state for many years. He does this on the Sabbath. Jesus restores the man to wholeness in every way, especially spiritual, hence the caution against sin.
In Jewish law of the time people with certain physical disabilities and deformities were forbidden from entering parts of the Jerusalem Temple complex. So Jesus restored the man to dignity in his society.
In the context of the new healing, the complaint about the man carrying his pallet on the Sabbath is petty. It reveals the spiritual brokenness of those who uttered that statement.
Some words about the use of “the Jews” in the Gospel of John are necessary. In other Gospels Jesus confronts scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Temple lawyers. In John, however, he is at odds with “the Jews.” These are not all Jews, just the individuals at odds with Jesus at the time. The Johannine Gospel dates to a time when Jewish-Christian relations had become vitriolic. So, once again, I caution against anti-Semitism.
Very few people live in true isolation. So restoration of an individual affects others–friends and family members, at least. Therefore to restore one man or woman is to create a ripple effect, as when one throws a stone into water. When the ripples cross our path, may we be sufficiently sensitive not to complain about trivia.
KRT
Written on March 1, 2010
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/restoration-2/
LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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