Above:  Moravian Logo in Stained Glass

Image Source = JJackman

Mercy, Judgment, and Grace

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Genesis 45:1-15 (New Revised Standard Version):

Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out,

Send everyone away from me.

So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers,

I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?

But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers,

Come closer to me.

And they came closer. He said,

I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there– since there are five more years of famine to come– so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.

Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

Psalm 37:1-12 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Do not fret yourself because of evildoers;

do not be jealous of those who do no wrong.

2 For they shall soon whither like the grass,

and like the green grass they fade away.

3 Put your trust in the LORD and do good,

dwell in the land and feed on its riches.

4 Take delight in the LORD,

and he shall give you your heart’s desire.

5 Commit your way to the LORD and put your trust in him,

and he will bring it to pass.

6 He will make your righteousness as clear as the light

and your just dealing as the noonday.

7 Be still and wait for the LORD

and wait patiently for him.

8  Do not fret yourselves over the one who prospers,

the one who succeeds in evil schemes.

9  Refrain from anger, leave rage alone;

do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.

10 For evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait upon the LORD shall possess the land.

11  In a little while the wicked shall be no more;

you shall search out their place, but they will not be there.

12  But the lowly shall possess the land;

they will delight in abundance of peace.

41 But the deliverance of the righteous comes from the LORD;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

42 The LORD will help them and rescue them;

he will rescue them from the wicked and deliver them,

because they seek refuge in him.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49 (The Jerusalem Bible):

Someone may ask,

How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?

These are stupid questions.  Whatever you sow in the ground has to die before it is given new life and the thing that you sow is not what is going to come; you sow  a bare grain, say of wheat or something like that, and then God gives it the sort of body that he has chosen:  each sort of seed gets its own sort of body.

Everything that is flesh is not the same flesh:  there is human flesh, animals’ flesh, the flesh of birds and the flesh of fish.  Then there are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the heavenly bodies have a beauty of their own and the earthly bodies a different one.  The sun has its brightness, the moon a different brightness, and the stars a different brightness, and the stars differ from each other in brightness.  It is the same with the resurrection of the dead:  the thing that is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable; the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.

If the soul has its own embodiment, so dies the spirit have its own embodiment.  The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.  That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit.  The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven.  As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven.  And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.

Luke 6:27-38 (The Jerusalem Bible):

[Jesus continued,]

But I say this to you who are listening:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.  To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you.  Treat others as you would like them to treat you.  If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect?  Even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect?  For even sinners do that much.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect?  Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.  Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.  You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.  Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.  Give, and there will be gifts for you:  a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.

The Collect:

O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Some Related Posts:

Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-seventh-sunday-after-epiphany/

Prayer of Confession:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/prayer-of-confession-for-the-seventh-sunday-after-epiphany/

 Prayer of Dedication:

 http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-seventh-sunday-after-epiphany/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Rise, heart, thy Lord is risen.  Sing his praise

Without delays,

Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise

With him may’st rise;

That, as his death calcined thee to dust,

His life may make thee gold, and much more just….

–George Herbert

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Joseph forgave his brothers who sold him into slavery.  God, he said, used that dastardly deed to help many others years after the fact.  Nevertheless, forgiving those who had sold him into slavery seems like a spiritual feat under my circumstance.  It is possible only by grace.  Being better than others might expect–doing more than one must–being as merciful as possible by grace–is the unifying core of this Sunday’s readings.  Dong this consists of nothing less than applying to others the same love one has received from God.  Thus grace is supposed to beget more grace.

We have a model–Jesus–to follow.  We have his ethical teachings and his life.  And he have his resurrection.  People murdered him.  He forgave them.  He even interceded for them.  Peter denied Jesus, who forgave him.  Jesus is the “man of heaven” whose image each of us can bear.  Bearing our Lord’s image, forgiving our enemies, refraining from baseless judgments–these are possible by grace and free will, the latter of which exists because of grace.  So these are possible ultimately by grace.  These can be very difficult tasks, and I have not mastered them.  But I have learned them better than before.  And I look forward to becoming more proficient at them.  Moral perfectionism is quite unrealistic, for flawed beings can never achieve that goal.  But we can do better.  And God–in Christ–offers to help us do so.

I have known this help many times.  During one particular season of my life I detected much sudden grace.  It was an extremely difficult time, so the grace was that much more obvious.  My spiritual life improved greatly without much effort on my part.  I found that my internal reality had changed for the better overnight.  I did not object; I cooperated instead.  And my willingness to extend mercy to my enemies came in time–not immediately, to be sure; it is still coming.  God, I perceive, meets us where we are and carries us as far as we need to go.  Our task is to cooperate.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 14, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FULBERT OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF ARKANSAS, AND HENRY BEARD DELANY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF NORTH CAROLINA

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT WANDREGISILUS OF NORMANDY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT, AND SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Winter, by Hendrick Avercamp

Image in the Public Domain

1 (Henry Morse, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1645)

• Benedict Daswa, South African Roman Catholic Catechist and Martyr, 1990
• Charles Seymour Robinson, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymnologist
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian Roman Catholic Composer and Musician
• Mitchell J. Dahood, Roman Catholic Priest and Biblical Scholar
• Sigebert III, King of Austrasia

2 (PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE)

3 (Anskar and Rimbert, Roman Catholic Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen)

• Adelaide Anne Procter, English Poet and Feminist
• Alfred Delp, German Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945
• James Nicholas Joubert and Marie Elizabeth Lange, Founders of the Oblate Sisters of Providence
• Jemima Thompson Luke, English Congregationalist Hymn Writer; and James Edmeston, Anglican Hymn Writer
• Samuel Davies, American Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer

4 (CORNELIUS THE CENTURION)

5 (Martyrs of Japan, 1597-1639)

• Avitus of Vienne, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Jane (Joan) of Valois, Co-Founder of the Sisters of the Annunciation
• Pedro Arrupe, Advocate for the Poor and Marginalized, and Superior General of the Society of Jesus
• Phileas and Philoromus, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 304

6 (Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, Poet and Hymn Writer)

• Danny Thomas, U.S. Roman Catholic Entertainer and Humanitarian; Founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• Mateo Correa-Magallanes and Miguel Agustin Pro, Mexican Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1927
• Vedast (Vaast), Roman Catholic Bishop of Arras and Cambrai

7 (Helder Camara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Olinda and Recife)

• Adalbert Nierychlewski, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1942
• Daniel J. Harrington, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest and Biblical Scholar
• Gregorio Allegri, Italian Roman Catholic Priest, Composer, and Singer; brother of Domenico Allegri, Italian Roman Catholic Composer and Singer
• Moses, Apostle to the Saracens
• William Boyce and John Alcock, Anglican Composers

8 (Josephine Bakhita, Roman Catholic Nun)

• Cornelia Hancock, U.S. Quaker Nurse, Educator, and Humanitarian; “Florence Nightingale of North America”
• Jerome Emiliani, Founder of the Company of the Servants of the Poor
• John of Matha and Felix of Valois, Founders of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity
• Josephina Gabriella Bonino, Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family

9 (Bruce M. Metzger, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Biblical Scholar, and Biblical Translator)

• Alto of Altomunster, Roman Catholic Hermit
• Porfirio, Martyr, 203

10 (Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola; and her twin brother, Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino and Father of Western Monasticism)

• Benedict of Aniane, Restorer of Western Monasticism; and Ardo, Roman Catholic Abbot
• Henry Williams Baker, Anglican Priest, Hymnal Editor, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Norbert of Xanten, Founder of the Premonstratensians; Hugh of Fosses, Second Founder of the Premonstratensians; and Evermod, Bishop of Ratzeburg
• Philip Armes, Anglican Church Organist

11 (ONESIMUS, BISHOP OF BYZANTIUM)

12 (Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, and Jarena Lee, Evangelists and Social Activists)

• Benjamin Schmolck, German Lutheran Pastor and Hymn Writer
• Charles Freer Andrews, Anglican Priest
• Julia Williams Garnet, African-American Abolitionist and Educator; her husband, Henry Highland Garnet, African-American Presbyterian Minister and Abolitionist; his second wife, Sarah J. Smith Tompkins Garnet, African-American Suffragette and Educator; her sister, Susan Maria Smith McKinney Steward, African-American Physician; and her second husband, Theophilus Gould Steward, U.S. African Methodist Episcopal Minister, Army Chaplain, and Professor
• Michael Weisse, German Moravian Minister and Hymn Writer and Translator; and Jan Roh, Bohemian Moravian Bishop and Hymn Writer
• Orange Scott, U.S. Methodist Minister, Abolitionist, and first President of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection

13 (AQUILA, PRISCILLA, AND APOLLOS, CO-WORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE)

14 (Abraham of Carrhae, Roman Catholic Bishop)

• Christoph Carl Ludwig von Pfeil, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs
• Francis Harold Rowley, Northern Baptist Minister, Humanitarian, and Hymn Writer
• Johann Michael Altenburg, German Lutheran Pastor, Composer, and Hymn Writer
• Victor Olof Petersen, Swedish-American Lutheran Hymn Translator

15 (New Martyrs of Libya, 2015)

• Ben Salmon, U.S. Roman Catholic Pacifist and Conscientious Objector
• Henry B. Whipple, Episcopal Bishop of Minnesota
• John Tietjen, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Ecumenist, and Bishop
• Michael Praetorius, German Lutheran Composer and Musicologist
• Thomas Bray, Anglican Priest and Missionary

16 (Philipp Melanchthon, German Lutheran Theologian and Scribe of the Reformation)

• Charles Todd Quintard, Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee
• Christian Frederick Martin, Sr., and Charles Augustus Zoebisch, German-American Instrument Makers
• Louis (Lewis) F. Kampmann, U.S. Moravian Minister, Missionary, and Hymn Translator
• Nicholas Kasatkin, Orthodox Archbishop of All Japan

17 (August Crull, German-American Lutheran Minister, Poet, Professor, Hymnodist, and Hymn Translator)

• Antoni Leszczewicz, Polish Roman Catholic Priest, and His Companions, Martyrs, 1943
• Edward Hopper, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Janini Luwum, Ugandan Anglican Archbishop and Martyr, 1977
• Johann Heermann, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• John Meyendorff, Russian-French-American Orthodox Priest, Scholar, and Ecumenist

18 (Colman of Lindisfarne, Agilbert, and Wilfrid, Bishops)

• Barbasymas, Sadoth of Seleucia, and Their Companions, Martyrs, 342
• Guido di Pietro, a.k.a. Fra Angelico, Roman Catholic Monk and Artist
• James Drummond Burns, Scottish Presbyterian Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

19 (Nerses I the Great, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church; and Mesrop, Bible Translator)

• Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, Agatha Lin Zhao, and Lucy Yi Zhenmei, Chinese Roman Catholic Catechists and Martyrs, 1856, 1858, and 1862; Auguste Chapdelaine, French Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr, 1856; and Laurentius Bai Xiaoman, Chinese Roman Catholic Convert and Martyr, 1856
• Bernard Barton, English Quaker Poet and Hymn Writer
• Elizabeth C. Clephane, Scottish Presbyterian Humanitarian and Hymn Writer
• Massey H. Shepherd, Jr., Episcopal Priest, Ecumenist, and Liturgist; Dean of American Liturgists

20 (Henri de Lucac, French Roman Catholic Priest, Cardinal, and Theologian)

• Stanislawa Rodzinska, Polish Roman Catholic Nun and Martyr, 1945
• Wulfric of Haselbury, Roman Catholic Hermit

21 (John Henry Newman, English Roman Catholic Priest-Cardinal)

• Arnulf of Metz, Roman Catholic Bishop; and Germanus of Granfel, Roman Catholic Abbot and Martyr, 677
• Robert Southwell, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1595
• Thomas Pormort, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1592

22 (Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst, Anti-Nazi Martyrs at Munich, Germany, 1943)

• Bernhardt Severin Ingemann, Danish Lutheran Author and Hymn Writer
• Margaret of Cortona, Penitent and Founder of the Poor Ones
• Praetextatus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Rouen
• Thomas Binney, English Congregationalist Minister, Liturgist, and “Archbishop of Nonconformity”

23 (Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Irenaeus of Lyons, Bishops and Martyrs, 107/115, 155/156, and Circa 202)

• Alexander Akimetes, Roman Catholic Abbot
• Austin Carroll (Margaret Anne Carroll), Irish-American Roman Catholic Nun, Author, and Educator
• Samuel Wolcott, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Missionary, and Hymn Writer
• Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945
• Willigis, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Mainz; and Bernward, Roman Catholic Bishop of Hildesheim

24 (MATTHIAS THE APOSTLE, MARTYR)

25 (Gregory of Nazianzus the Elder, Nonna, and Their Children:  Gregory of Nazianzus the Younger, Caesarius of Nazianzus, and Gorgonia of Nazianzus)

• Bernhardt Severin Ingemann, Danish Lutheran Author and Hymn Writer
• Felix Varela, Cuban Roman Catholic Priest and Patriot
• John Roberts, Episcopal Missionary to the Shoshone and Arapahoe
• Karl Friedrich Lochner, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Theodor Fliedner, Renewer of the Female Diaconate; and Elizabeth Fedde, Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess

26 (Antonio Valdivieso, Roman Catholic Bishop of Leon, and Martyr, 1495)

• Andrew Reed, English Congregationalist Minister, Humanitarian, and Hymn Writer
• Charles Sheldon, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Author, Christian Socialist, and Social Gospel Theologian
• Emily Malbone Morgan, Founder of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross
• Jakob Hutter, Founder of the Hutterities, and Anabaptist Martyr, 1536; and his wife, Katharina Hutter, Anabaptist Martyr, 1538
• Paula of Saint Joseph of Calasanz, Founder of the Daughters of Mary

27 (Nicholas Ferrar, Anglican Deacon and Founder of Little Gidding; George Herbert, Anglican Priest and Metaphysical Poet; and All Saintly Parish Priests)

• Anne Line and Roger Filcock, English Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1601
• Fred Rogers, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
• Gabriel Possenti, Roman Catholic Penitent
• Marian Anderson, African-American Singer and Civil Rights Activist
• Raphael of Brooklyn, Syrian-American Russian Orthodox Bishop of Brooklyn

28 (Anna Julia Haywood Cooper and Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, African-American Educators)

• Mary Lyon, U.S. Congregationalist Feminist and Educator
• Joseph Badger, Sr., U.S. Congregationalist and Presbyterian Minister; First Missionary to the Western Reserve
• Samuel Simon Schmucker, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Theologian, and Social Reformer

29 (John Cassian and John Climacus, Roman Catholic Monks and Spiritual Writers)

• Luis de Leon, Spanish Roman Catholic Priest and Theologian
• Patrick Hamilton, First Scottish Protestant Martyr, 1528

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

Above:  St. Matthias

Image in the Public Domain

The Thirteenth Apostle

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Listed Lections for This Feast Day:

Acts 1:15-26

Psalm 15

Philippians 3:13-21

John 15:1, 6-16

The Collect:

Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve: Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors; 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.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We know very little about St. Matthias.  He was originally among the outer circle of 70 or so of Jesus’ disciples (the twelve apostles forming the inner circle).  After the suicide of Judas Iscariot the Eleven decided to restore their number to twelve, so they identified two promising candidates:  St. Matthias and Joseph Barsabbas Justus, about whom we know even less.  They prayed, cast lots, and selected St. Matthias.

St. Matthias devoted the rest of his life to preaching about Jesus, a sufficiently saintly activity.  Tradition states he became a martyr circa 80 C.E., either at Jerusalem or at Colchis, Georgia.

St. Matthias is not the only apostle about whom we have little information; some of the Eleven join this category.  Yet we, who stand on their shoulders, should never forget them and how much we owe to their witness.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 12, 2010

THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Revised on December 6, 2016

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++