I never had such a beating in all my life.

Above:  Octavia Hill, by John Singer Sargent

Image in the Public Domain

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OCTAVIA HILL (DECEMBER 3, 1838-AUGUST 13, 1912)

English Social Reformer

Octavia Hill comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Church of England.

Hill devoted most of her long life to helping poor people.  She was simultaneously of her time and ahead of it.  Our saint, for example, opposed women’s suffrage; she accepted the “separate spheres” theory, then a societal norm.  Hill, who did much to provide affordable housing for poor people, also opposed affordable public housing.  Furthermore, her opposition to government programs to help the impoverished extended to social services and social security.  Yet Hill did much to create the National Trust, preserving green areas and places of historical interest for the common good.

One can acknowledge the good a person did while partially disagreeing with him or her.

Hill, born in Wisbach, Isle of Ely, England, Cambridgeshire, on December 3, 1838, came from a once-prosperous family.  Her father was James Hill, a corn merchant and a former banker.  James Hill, twice widowed, had five sons and daughter when he married his former governess, Caroline Southwood Smith, in 1835.  By 1840, he had collapsed mentally and gone bankrupt.  Caroline’s father, Dr. James Southwood Smith, provided for the family financially and emotionally.  He helped to raise his granddaughter, Octavia, eighth daughter and tenth child of James Hill.

Our saint’s upbringing informed the rest of her life.  The grandfather’s influence in Octavia’s life became obvious over time.  He, a pioneer in urban sanitary reform, took a great interests in social problems, such as affordable urban housing and child labor in mines.  Caroline Hill’s special interest in progressive education also influenced our saint.  Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-1872), a family friend and a leader in the Christian Socialist movement, added her influences, too.

Hill grew up to become quite a formidable, functional presence.  Friend Henrietta Barnett (1844-1913) noted our saint’s obliviousness to fashion.  Others considered Hill ruthless and despotic.  Frederick Temple (1821-1902) encountered our saint while he was still the Bishop of London (1885-1896).  At an ecclesiastical meeting, she spoke for about half an hour.  The future Archbishop of Canterbury recalled,

Hill worked for the improvement of the lives and circumstances of poor people starting when she was 14 years old.  At that young age, she began to lead a workroom for a guild providing employment for poor school children.  She taught these women how to make toys for children.  Our saint knew these children and their terrible living conditions.  Throughout the rest of her life, making and maintaining a personal connection with those she helped was crucial in her mind.  For example, the impersonal nature of public housing was why she opposed it.

Hill also emphasized teaching self-reliance.  She approved any well-intentioned effort (especially public) she perceived as threatening self-reliance.  Yet Hill was no “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps” person.  And she was obviously not a Social Darwinist, one who insisted that the wealthy were superior because they were rich, and, therefore, owed the less fortunate nothing.  To the contrary, our saint affirmed that the more fortunate must never ignore their obligations to the poor.

That sense of obligation, combined with a moral critique of legislative attempts to provide affordable housing, led her to provide affordable housing.  When our saint learned of the shortage of affordable housing for poor people for whom and to whom she was accountable, she started providing affordable housing.  With the help of friend John Ruskin (1819-1900), another humanitarian, she became a land lady at Paradise Place, Marylebone, London, in 1865.  Over the years, the number of cottages, initially three, increased.  Ruskin used his inheritance to acquire cottages for rent; Hill managed them.  Our saint and her rent collectors (all female) doubled as social workers.  Hill was building a community.

As the years passed, Hill managed more communities in London.  She worked hard, as did her employees.  So did her tenants.  In fact, Hill overworked herself.  After collapsing in 1877, our saint had to rest for several months.

Hill, demanding of herself and others, also recognized the importance of access to open spaces and the blue sky, especially in the cases of the urban poor.  Therefore, our saint worked to conserve open, green spices.  She coined the term “Green Belt,” lobbied and helped to conserve and preserve London suburban woodlands, and laid the foundation for the National Trust, founded in 1893.  Furthermore, Hill lobbied against any encroachment of industrialization upon natural beauty in certain areas.  Proposed construction of railroads in some places aroused her formidable ire.

As years passed, Hill’s influence spread.  Others in England and abroad copied her model for providing affordable housing.

Our saint, aged 81 years, died in Marylebone, London, on August 13, 1912.

The lack of affordable housing remains a major problem around the world.  It is a major problem in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, where I live.  The local unified government is working with the private sector to alleviate the matter.  How to provide affordable housing in the optimal matter is a quandary for which more than one proper solution exists.  Local circumstances are always germane.  What works well in one place may not work well somewhere else.  The solution for which Octavia Hill advocated for which she put into effect, therefore, may fit in some localities yet not in others.  General principles are timeless.  Yet the mechanics of putting them into effect are not.  So be it.

But let us–you, O reader, and I–remember Octavia Hill as one who did something, did it well, and made a major, positive difference in the lives of vulnerable people where and when she was.  May we, empowered by grace, what out saint did–leave our corner of the world better than we found it.  That is our task.  That is also the task of those who will come after us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 5, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL RAHNER, JESUIT PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF AMBROSE PHILLIPPS DE LISLE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVERT, SPIRITUAL WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF SPIRITUAL WRITINGS; FOUNDER OF MOUNT SAINT BERNARD ABBEY

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER MACASSOLI OF VIGEVANO, FRANCISCAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF SAINT EUSEBIUS OF CREMONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ION COSTIST, FRANCISCAN LAY BROTHER

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Lord God, your Son came among us to serve and not to be served,

and to give his life for the life of the world.

Lead us by his love to serve all those to whom

the world offers no comfort and little help.

Through us give hope to the hopeless,

peace to the troubled, 

and rest to the weary;

through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-14

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 37

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Above:  Emperor John II Commenus and Empress Irene with the Madonna and Child

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED IRENE OF HUNGARY (1088-AUGUST 13, 1134)

Hungarian Princess and Byzantine Empress

Also known as Piroska

Blessed Irene of Hungary comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.

In the olden days, royal marriages were frequently political, sealing alliances between kingdoms and empires.  Thus, in 1105, the new alliance between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire (which always called itself the Roman Empire) came into existence with the marriage of the Hungarian princess Piroska and the heir to the Byzantine (Roman) throne, the future Emperor John II Comnenus (reigned 1118-1143).  The immediate threat to the Byzantine (Roman) Empire in the west came from Normans, and the threat in the east came from the Seljuk Turks.

Above:  Map of Southeastern Europe in 1105

Image in the Public Domain

Piroska, born in Esztergom, Hungary, was a daughter of Queen Adelaide of Swabia and King St. Ladislaus I (reigned 1077-1095; feast days = June 27 and 30).  Piroska, as Irene, was the Byzantine (Roman) Empress from 1118 to 1134.  She gave birth to eight children, including the Emperor Manuel I Comnenus (reigned 1143-1180).  A grandson was Manuel I’s son, Emperor Alexius II Comnenus (reigned 1180-1183).  Andronicus I Comnenus (reigned 1183-1185), descended from Isaac, brother of John II.  Subsequent rulers of that dynasty descended from Theodora, sister of John II and Isaac.

(Aside:  My source for the family tree of Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene, within the Comnenus Dynasty, is a dynastic family tree chart on page 232 of the sixth edition of The Encyclopedia of World History (2001), Peter N. Stearns, General Editor.   Certain sources on the internet disagree with the genealogical chart in this reference work.  They list other Byzantine (Roman) Emperors as being sons of our saint.  Not all sources are equal.)

Blessed Irene also gave generously to worthy causes.  She gave to help to poor, finance the construction of Christ Pantocrator Monastery in Constinople, and to fund the hospital (open to all) associated with that monastery.

Blessed Irene, aged about 46 years, died in Constantinople on August 13, 1134.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 4, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES SIMEON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND PROMOTER OF MISSIONS; HENRY MARTYN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, LINGUIST, TRANSLATOR, AND MISSIONARY; AND ABDUL MASIH, INDIAN CONVERT AND MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF HENRY SUSO, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, PREACHER, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN EDGAR PARK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEN CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF PAUL CUFFEE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY TO THE SHINNECOCK NATION

THE FEAST OF THOMAS HORNBLOWER GILL, ENGLISH UNITARIAN THEN ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

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Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses:

Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Blessed Irene of Hungary,

may persevere in running the race that is set before us,

until at last we may with her attain to your eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.  Amen.

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 15

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 25:31-40

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 724

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O God, whose days are without end

Above:  Jeremy Taylor

Image in the Public Domain

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JEREMY TAYLOR (BAPTIZED AUGUST 15, 1613-DIED AUGUST 13, 1667)

Anglican Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore

Bishop Jeremy Taylor was a theologian, a skilled stylist of the English language, and, for a time, a political prisoner.  He, baptized as an infant at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, on August 15, 1613, was a son of Nathaniel Taylor, a barber.  Our saint, educated at the Perse School then at Gonville and Caius College, received holy orders in 1633.  Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud helped him to become a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, in 1638.  On May 27 of that year Taylor married Phoebe Lagsdale, who died by 1651.

Taylor became caught up in the politics of that period of civil wars.  He, from 1638 to 1642 the priest at Uppingham, was also the chaplain to King Charles I, who awarded him a D.D. degree in 1643.  Taylor, as a royalist military chaplain, became a prisoner at Cardigan Castle in 1645.  Upon release our saint helped grammarian William Nicholson establish a school at Carmanthenshire, and served as the chaplain there.

Taylor was a prolific writer of theological works, some of which were revolutionary for the time and place.  In The Liberty of Prophesying (1647) he advocated for religious freedom for all who would destroy neither the state nor the foundations of Christianity.  The Great Exemplar (1649) was a devotional work based on the life of Christ.  Taylor wrote The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650) and The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying (1651) for Anglicans deprived of ministry by Puritan rulers.  In those works he encouraged reliance on the goodness of God.  There also followed Twenty-Eight Sermons (1651) and Twenty-Five Sermons (1653).  Taylor refuted transubstantiation in The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament (1654).  He did the same to Original Sin and Double Predestination in Unum Necessarium (1655).  The Golden Dance (1655) was a volume of prayers.

The politics of the Commonwealth interrupted Taylor’s life again.  In 1655 he was a political prisoner.  Later he married Joanna Bridges and moved to her estate in Wales.  Then Taylor relocated to London, where he ministered to royalists.  His sole secular work was A Discourse of Friendship (1657).  The following year Taylor published A Collection of Offices (1658), in lieu of The Book of Common Prayer, then illegal.  A Collection of Offices contained elements of Eastern Christian liturgies.  In June 1658 Taylor became the chaplain to Edward, the third Viscount Conway, in Ulster.  There our saint wrote Ductor Dubitantium–A Great Instrument for the Determination of Cases of Conscience (1660), dedicated to King Charles II.

The Restoration of the Monarchy in England (1660) led to Taylor joining the ranks of bishops, despite his reputation for heterodoxy.  In 1660 he became the Bishop of Down and Connor; he acquired responsibility for the adjacent Diocese of Dromore the following year.  One of our saint’s first tasks as bishop was to purge the diocese of Presbyterian ministers, who, being Reformed, rejected the episcopal office.  Taylor was also a member of the Irish Privy Council and the Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin.  He wrote Dissuasive from Papacy (1664, 1667) and Chrisis Teleiotike (1664), a study of confirmation not outdone until the 1800s.

Taylor was a great writer and an intellectual man deeply read in the classics.  He was also generous, charing, and possessed of a love of beauty, especially in nature.  While visiting a sick man Taylor contracted a fever.  Our saint died of that fever in Lisburn, Ireland, on August 13, 1667.  He was 54 years old.

The legacy of Jeremy Taylor is evident in The Book of Common Prayer (1979).  The prayer for a child not yet baptized (page 444) comes from A Collection of Offices.  Also, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying is the basis of the prayer that begins

(Rite I, page 489; Rite II, page 504), from the burial service.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 17, 2018 COMMON ERA

PROPER 6–THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF EDITH BOYLE MACALISTER, ENGLISH NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF THE APPARITION

THE FEAST OF JANE CROSS BELL SIMPSON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN POET AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS TERESA AND MAFALDA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESSES, QUEENS, AND NUNS; AND SAINT SANCHIA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESS AND NUN

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O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered:

Make us, like your servant Jeremy Taylor, deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life;

and let your Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Proverbs 7:1-4

Psalm 16:5-11

Romans 14:7-9, 10b-12

John 3:11-21

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 525

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Image Source = http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/p/r/e/prentiss_ep.htm

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ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS (OCTOBER 26, 1818-AUGUST 13, 1878)

U. S. Presbyterian Hymn Writer

Elizabeth Payson, born in Portland, Maine, was daughter of the Reverend Edward Payson, a Congregationalist minister.  She, a writer from her youth, published first at age sixteen years, in The Youth’s Companion.  In time she wrote a variety of books, from poetry to children’s literature.  A partial list follows:

1. The Flower of the Family (1856);
2. Little Suzy’s Six Birthdays:  First Series (1857);
3. Little Threads (1864);
4. Stepping Heavenward (1869);
5. Fred, and Maria, and Me (1872);
6. Aunt Jane’s Hero (1873);
7. Religious Poems (1873);
8. Golden Hours,or, Hymns and Songs of the Christian Life (1874);
9. The Home at Greylock (1876); and
10. Gentleman Jim (1878).

Her husband edited an posthumous volume, Life and Letters (1878).  There was another posthumous volume, How Sorrow Was Changed into Sympathy:  Words of Cheer for Mothers Bereft of Little Children (1884).  A posthumous collection of previously published material was Avis Benson; or Mine and Thine; with Other Sketches (1880).

Our saint became a teacher, instructing students at Portland Maine; Ipswich, Massachusetts; and Richmond, Virginia; before, in 1845, marrying the Reverend George Lewis Prentiss, a Presbyterian minister, later a Professor of Homiletics at Union Theological Seminary, New York, New York.

Our saint’s historical reputation rests primarily on one hymn, “More Love to Thee, O Christ,” which, although printed first in 1869, probably dated to as early as 1856.  The text speaks for itself far more eloquently than my powers to summary and paraphrase.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 29, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, COWORKERS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

THE FEAST OF ANDREI RUBLEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICONOGRAPHER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS GENESIUS I OF CLERMONT AND PRAEJECTUS OF CLERMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; AND SAINT AMARIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT GILDAS THE WISE, HISTORIAN AND ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Elizabeth Payson Prentiss and others, who have composed hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Poppies

Image Source = Santosh Namby Chandran

1 (JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, DISCIPLE OF JESUS)

2 (Georg Weissel, German Lutheran Pastor and Hymn Writer)

• Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe, U.S. Lutheran Hymn Writer and Translator
• Carroll O’Connor, U.S. Roman Catholic Actor and Screen Writer
• Christian Gottfried Gebhard, German Moravian Composer and Music Educator
• Frederick William Foster, English Moravian Bishop, Liturgist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Peter Julian Eymard, Founder of the Priests of the Blessed Sacrament, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Priests’ Eucharistic League; and Organizer of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament

3 (JOANNA, MARY, AND SALOME, WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION)

4 (John Brownlie, Scottish Presbyterian Minister, Hymn Writer, and Translator of Hymns)

• Frédéric Janssoone, French Roman Catholic Priest and Friar
• Lambert Beauduin, Belgian Roman Catholic Priest and Pioneer of Liturgical Renewal
• Sarah Platt Doremus, Founder of the Women’s Union Missionary Society

5 (Alfred Tennyson, English Poet)

• Adam of Saint Victor, Roman Catholic Monk and Hymn Writer
• Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald, and Lucas Cranach the Elder, Renaissance Artists
• Francisco Zanfredini and Michelina of Pesaro, Co-Founders of the Confraternity of the Annunciation
• George Frederick Root, Poet and Composer

6 (TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST)

7 (Colbert S. Cartwright, U.S. Disciples of Christ Minister, Liturgist, and Witness for Civil Rights)

• Guglielmo Massaia, Italian Cardinal, Missionary, and Capuchin Friar
• John Scrimger, Canadian Presbyterian Minister, Ecumenist, and Liturgist
• Maxim Sandovich, Russian Orthodox Priest and Martyr, 1914
• Victricius of Rouen, Roman Conscientious Objector and Roman Catholic Bishop

8 (Mary MacKillop, Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart)

• Altman, Roman Catholic Bishop of Passau
• Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro, Co-Founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Joseph
• Dominic, Founder of the Order of Preachers
• Raymond E. Brown, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest and Biblical Scholar

9 (Edith Stein, Roman Catholic Nun and Philosopher)

• Florence Spearing Randolph, First Female Ordained Minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
• Herman of Alaska, Russian Orthodox Monk and Missionary to the Aleut
• John Dryden, English Puritan then Anglican then Roman Catholic Poet, Playwright, and Translator
• Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers’ Union

10 (William Walsham How, Anglican Bishop of Wakefield and Hymn Writer; and his sister, Frances Jane Douglas(s), Hymn Writer)

• Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Founder of the Madonna House Apostolate
• Cyriaca, Roman Catholic Martyr at Rome, 249; and Sixtus II, His Companions, and Laurence of Rome, Roman Catholic Martyrs at Rome, 258
• Edward Grzymala and Franciszek Drzewiecki, Polish Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1942
• John Athelstan Laurie Riley, Anglican Ecumenist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

11 (Gregory Thaumaturgus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Neocaesarea; and Alexander of Comana “the Charcoal Burner,” Roman Catholic Martyr, 252, and Bishop of Comana, Pontus)

• Equitius of Valeria, Benedictine Abbot and Founder of Monasteries
• Matthias Loy, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Educator, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator; and Conrad Hermann Louis Schuette, German-American Lutheran Minister, Educator, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Maurice Tornay, Swiss Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary to Tibet, and Martyr, 1949
• Stephen Rowsham, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1587

12 (Thaddeus Stevens, U.S. Abolitionist, Congressman, and Witness for Civil Rights)

• Charles Inglis, Anglican Bishop of Nova Scotia
• Jane Frances de Chantal, Co-Founder of the Congregation of the Visitation
• Józef Stepniak and Józef Straszewski, Polish Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1942
• Karl Leisner, German Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945

13 (Jeremy Taylor, Anglican Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore)

• Elizabeth Payson Prentiss, U.S. Presbyterian Hymn Writer
• Irene of Hungary, Hungarian Princess and Byzantine Empress
• Octavia Hill, English Social Reformer

14 (William Croft, Anglican Organist and Composer)

• G. Bromley Oxnam, U.S. Methodist Bishop
• John Bajus, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator
• John Henry Hopkins, Jr., Episcopal Priest and Hymnodist; and his nephew, John Henry Hopkins, III, Episcopal Priest and Musician

• Maximilian Kolbe, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1941; and Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Episcopal Seminarian and Martyr, 1965
• Sarah Flower Adams, English Unitarian Hymn Writer; and her sister, Eliza Flower, English Unitarian Composer

15 (MARY OF NAZARETH, MOTHER OF GOD)

16 (John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson, Prime Ministers of Canada; and Tommy Douglas, Federal Leader of the New Democratic Party)

• Alipius, Roman Catholic Bishop of Tagaste, and Friend of Saint Augustine of Hippo
• John Courtney Murray, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest and Theologian
• John Jones of Talysarn, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Minister and Hymn Tune Composer
• Matthias Claudius, German Lutheran Writer

17 (Samuel Johnson, Congregationalist Minister, Anglican Priest, President of King’s College, “Father of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut,” and “Father of American Library Classification;” Timothy Cutler, Congregationalist Minister, Anglican Priest, and Rector of Yale College; Daniel Browne, Educator, Congregationalist Minister, and Anglican Priest; and James Wetmore, Congregationalist Minister and Anglican Priest)

• Baptisms of Manteo and Virginia Dare, 1587
• Eusebius of Rome, Bishop of Rome, and Martyr, 310
• George Croly, Anglican Priest, Poet, Historian, Novelist, Dramatist, Theologian, and Hymn Writer
• William James Early Bennett, Anglican Priest

18 (Artemisia Bowden, African-American Educator and Civil Rights Activist)

• Erdmann Neumeister, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Francis John McConnell, U.S. Methodist Bishop and Social Reformer
• Jonathan Friedrich Bahnmaier, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Petter Dass, Norwegian Lutheran Minister, Poet, and Hymn Writer

19 (Sixtus III, Bishop of Rome)

• Blaise Pascal, French Roman Catholic Scientist, Mathematician, and Theologian
• Geert Groote, Founder of the Brethren of the Common Life
• Ignaz Franz, German Roman Catholic Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor
• Magnus and Agricola of Avignon, Roman Catholic Bishops of Avignon
• William Hammond, English Moravian Hymn Writer

20 (ZACCHAEUS, PENITENT TAX COLLECTOR AND ROMAN COLLABORATOR)

21 (Bruno Zembol, Polish Roman Catholic Friar and Martyr, 1942)

• Camerius, Cisellus, and Luxorius of Sardinia, Martyrs, 303
• Martyrs of Edessa, Circa 304
• Maximilian of Antioch, Martyr, Circa 353; and Bonosus and Maximianus the Soldier, Martyrs, 362
• Victoire Rasoamanarivo, Malagasy Roman Catholic Laywoman

22 (Jack Layton, Canadian Activist and Federal Leader of the New Democratic Party)

• John David Chambers, Anglican Hymn Writer and Translator
• Hryhorii Khomyshyn, Symeon Lukach, and Ivan Slezyuk, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishops and Martyrs, 1947, 1964, and 1973
• John Kemble and John Wall, English Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1679
• Thomas Percy, Richard Kirkman, and William Lacey, English Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1572 and 1582

23 (Martin de Porres and Juan Macias, Humanitarians and Dominican Lay Brothers; Rose of Lima, Humanitarian and Dominican Sister; and Turibius of Mogrovejo, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lima)

• Franciszek Dachtera, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1944
• Theodore O. Wedel, Episcopal Priest and Biblical Scholar; and his wife, Cynthia Clark Wedel, U.S. Psychologist and Episcopal Ecumenist
• Thomas Augustine Judge, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest; Founder of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity, and the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate

24 (BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE, MARTYR)

25 (Michael Faraday, English Scientist)

• Andrea Bordino, Italian Roman Catholic Lay Brother
• María del Tránsito de Jesús Sacramentado, Founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Missionaries of Argentina
• Maria Troncatti, Italian Roman Catholic Nun
• William John Copeland, Anglican Priest and Hymn Translator

26 (John Paul I, Bishop of Rome)

• Frederick William Herzberger, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Humanitarian, and Hymn Translator
• Levkadia Harasymiv, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Nun, and Martyr, 1952
• Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini Beltrame Quattrocchi, Italian Roman Catholic Humanitarians
• Teresa of Jesus, Jornet y Ibars, Catalan Roman Catholic Nun and Co-Founder of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly

27 (Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle, Episcopal Priests and Educators of the Deaf)

• Amadeus of Clermont, French Roman Catholic Monk; and his son, Amadeus of Lausanne, French-Swiss Roman Catholic Abbot and Bishop
• Dominic Barberi, Roman Catholic Apostle to England
• Henriette Luise von Hayn, German Moravian Hymn Writer

28 (Ambrose of Milan, Roman Catholic Bishop; Monica of Hippo, Mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo; and Augustine of Hippo, Roman Catholic Bishop of Hippo Regius)

• Denis Wortman, U.S. Dutch Reformed Minister and Hymn Writer
• George Thomas Coster, English Congregationalist Minister, Hymn Writer, and Humanitarian
• Laura S. Coperhaver, U.S. Lutheran Hymn Writer and Missionary Leader
• Moses the Black, Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, and Martyr

29 (BEHEADING OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST)

30 (Jeanne Jugan, Founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor)

• Carlton C. Buck, U.S. Disciples of Christ Minister, Musician, and Hymn Writer
• Edmond L. Budry, Swiss Reformed Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Gerald Kennedy, U.S. Methodist Bishop and Hymn Writer
• John Leary, U.S. Roman Catholic Social Activist and Advocate for the Poor and Marginalized
• Karl Otto Eberhardt, German Moravian Organist, Music Educator, and Composer

31 (NICODEMUS, DISCIPLE OF JESUS)

 

Lowercase boldface on a date with two or more commemorations indicates a primary feast.

Above:  A Scroll of the Book of Esther

“The Word is Near You….”

The Sunday Closest to August 10

The Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

AUGUST 13, 2023

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FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #1

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 (New Revised Standard Version):

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.

He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, `Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” — that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Give thanks to the LORD and call upon his Name;

make known his deeds among the peoples.

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him,

and speak of all his marvelous works.

3 Glory in his holy Name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4 Search for the LORD and his strength;

continually seek his face.

5 Remember the marvels he has done,

his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

6 O offspring of Abraham his servant,

O children of Jacob his chosen.

16 Then he called for a famine in the land

and destroyed the supply of bread.

17 He sent a man before them,

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18 They bruised his feet in fetters;

his neck they put in an iron collar.

19 Until his prediction came to pass,

the word of the LORD tested him.

20 The king sent and released him;

the ruler of the peoples set him free.

21 He set him as a master over his household,

as a ruler over all his possessions,

22 To instruct his princes according to his will

and to teach his elders wisdom.

45b Hallelujah!

FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #2

1 Kings 19:9-18 (New Revised Standard Version):

At Horeb, the mount of God, Elijah came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Psalm 85:8-13 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

8 I will listen to what the LORD God is saying,

for he is speaking peace to his faithful people

and to those who turn their hearts to him.

9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him,

that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Mercy and truth have met together;

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth,

and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 The LORD will indeed grant prosperity,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him,

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

SECOND READING

Romans 10:5-15 (New Revised Standard Version):

Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?

“The word is near you,

on your lips and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

GOSPEL READING

Matthew 14:22-33 (New Revised Standard Version):

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The Collect:

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; 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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I have chosen to take my focus from Romans.  Thus I refer you, O reader, to the following links, for further details:

For Genesis–http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/week-of-proper-9-thursday-year-1/

For Matthew–http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/week-of-proper-13-monday-year-1/

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Consider these words, put into the mouth of Moses toward the end of the Israelite sojourn in the wilderness:

“For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.  It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’  Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say ‘Who will go over to the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’  But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

“See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.   If you obey commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, they you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.  But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish….”  (Deuteronomy 30:11-18a, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition)

Paul was obviously familiar with this passage, for he channeled it in this day’s excerpt from Romans.  God’s message is not remote, he says; it is near us.  Indeed, the Hebrew prophets proclaimed this word, and many Jewish scriptures, originally oral tradition, did as well.  So did Jesus, God incarnate.  How much more concrete could God get than that?  So, yes, the word is very near us.  If we do not perceive it, we need to pay closer attention.

The reading from Deuteronomy describes following God as the path to life and the alternative as the route to death.  Life and death are both physical and spiritual in this context.  I typed only part of the germane passage; a portion I chose not to type concludes, “therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live….” (Deuteronomy 30:19)  But we know how the story unfolded, do we not?  Read the excerpt from 1 Kings; pious advocacy of monotheism by a portion of the population did not prevent the widespread practice of polytheism.  Thus hindsight, in the wake of the Babylonian Exile, informs the theology of final, edited version of much of the Hebrew Bible:  Spiritual infidelity led to the decline, division, and extinction of the Jewish kingdoms.

YHWH was a different kind of deity relative to the alleged members of pantheons.  As Professor Richard Elliott Friedman writes in his Commentary on the Torah:

In comparing Israel’s monotheism to pagan religion, we must appreciate that the difference between one and many is not the same sort of thing as the difference between two and three or between six and twenty.  It is not numerical.  It is a different concept of what a god is.  A God who is outside of nature, known through acts of history, a creator, unseeable, without a mate, who makes legal covenants with humans, who is one, is a revolution in religious conception. (Page 586)

The account from 1 Kings reinforces this point.  Adherents of other deities believed that they made themselves known in forces of nature, such as earthquakes, fire,  and mighty winds.  But YHWH did the opposite.  God does that often.  We find God in silence, not noise.  And we Christians worship God, who took on human form and became both fully human and fully divine.  (I have given up trying to explain this mystery and chosen to revel in it instead.)  God refuses to fit into our theological boxes.  If we cannot deal with this reality in a healthy way, then we need to read the great J. B. Phillips book, Your God is Too Small.

The word is near us.  It is present in the silence around us, as well as in any place we read or hear God speaking–certainly in the Bible, but not just there.  The word can also be present in other literature, as well as in nature.  The word is present anywhere the Holy Spirit speaks to us, including our minds.  So the word is around us and inside us.  Do we hear it?  Do we really hear it?

KRT

Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on January 31, 2011