I see my mission in life, as God has made it known to me, to help make the Catholic Church what it should be, a peace church. To be Christian means to have respect for life in all its forms, and in today’s nuclear age, that means Christians must become active witnesses for peace and must firmly oppose all forms of war.

Above:  Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Image Source = Google Earth

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

RICHARD T. MCSORLEY, S.J. (OCTOBER 2, 1914-OCTOBER 17, 2002)

U.S. Roman Catholic Priest, Professor, and Peace Activist

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

–Father Richard T. McSorley, S.J., quoted in G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, A Year with American Saints (2006), 540

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

Father Richard T. McSorley, S.J., comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Cady and Webber, A Year with American Saints (2006).

The McSorleys of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were a large and devout Roman Catholic family.  There were fifteen children, eight of whom entered religious life.  Young Richard entered the Society of Jesus in 1932, at Wernesville, Pennsylvania.  By 19939, our saint completed his degree in philosophy.  That year, the order sent him to Manila, the Philippines, to teach at a Jesuit high school and seminary.

McSorley spent December 13, 1941-February 23, 1945, as a prisoner of the Japanese Empire.  He and other Jesuits and seminarians suffered repeated tortures.  McSorley nearly died of starvation.  He, hauled repeatedly before firing squads, saw fellow prisoners executed.  Japanese soldiers laughed at our saint, and aimed their guns at him without shooting.  They faked him out three times.

After U.S. paratroopers rescued the prisoners.  McSorley returned to the Untied States of America.  Our saint graduated from seminary at Woodstock College in Maryland.  He, ordained to the priesthood in 1946, embarked upon a life of ministry and social justice.  He, assigned to St. James’ Church, St. Mary’s City, Maryland, confronted Jim Crow laws, individual racism, and the Ku Klux Klan.  He preached against racism, advocated for the desegregation of church and society, and nearly became the victim of a Klan lynching.  McSorley, not intimidated, refused to be silent.

McSorley, who taught philosophy at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania (1952-1961), completed his doctorate at Ottawa University, Canada, during those years.  Then he taught theology at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (1961f).  He also did all of the following:

1. He tutored the children of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
2. He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., at Selma, Alabama.
3. He opposed the Vietnam War.
4. He became a pacifist in the 1960s.
5. He tried to abolish all chapters of the R.O.T.C. at Roman Catholic colleges and universities.
6. He favored the abolition of the R.O.T.C.
7. He denounced all weapons of mass destruction.
8. He condemned nuclear weapons as sinful.
9. He helped to found Pax Christi U.S.A. in the 1970s.
10. He went to jail for peacefully protesting Apartheid and nuclear weapons.
11. He opposed Ronald Reagan’s policy of supporting repressive governments in Latin America.
12. He wrote books and articles.

McSorley had a well-developed sense of the disparity between the laws of God and the laws of governments.  For our saint, Christian love was nonviolent love.  He considered Just War Theory absurd, especially in the age of nuclear weapons:

Can we serve both God and our government when the government orders us to do what God forbids?  Of course not.

McSorley belonged to the Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton wing of the Roman Catholic Church.  Our saint made enemies, of course.  He made enemies inside the Society of Jesus.  F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover (that paragon of opposition to civil rights and civil liberties) considered McSorley a “disgrace” and searched in vain for a way to smear his reputation.

McSorley, aged 88 years, died in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 2002.

Our saint took to heart the commandment of Jesus to love one’s enemies.  In so doing, McSorley became a radical–a radical Christian.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 16, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BERNADETTE OF LOURDES, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC VISIONARY

THE FEAST OF CALVIN WEISS LAUFER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMNODIST

THE FEAST OF ISABELLA GILMORE, ANGLICAN DEACONESS

THE FEAST OF SAINT MIKEL SUMA, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, FRIAR, AND MARTYR, 1950

THE FEAST OF PETER WILLIAMS CASSEY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EPISCOPAL DEACON; AND HIS WIFE, ANNIE BESANT CASSEY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EPISCOPAL EDUCATOR

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

Holy and righteous God, you created us in your image.

Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make peace with oppression.

Help us [like your servant Richard T. McSorley] to use our freedom

to bring justice among people and nations, to the glory of your name;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-14

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

–Adapted from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 37

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

Above:  Charles Gounod

Image in the Public Domain

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

CHARLES FRANÇOIS GOUNOD (JUNE 17, 1818-OCTOBER 18, 1893)

French Roman Catholic Composer

Charles Gounod glorified God via music.

Our saint, born in Paris, France, on June 17, 1818, grew up in an artistic and devout family.  His father, François Gounod, was a painter.  Charles’s mother, Lemachois Victoire, was a pianist.  Gounod studied philosophy before matriculating at the Paris Conservatory in 1836.  He continued his musical studies in Rome and Vienna.  Early compositions included Ferdinand, an oratorio that won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1839; a Mass (1842); and the Requiem (1843).

Gounod, back in Paris, continued to work as a musician and a composer.  He served as the organist and choirmaster at the Church of Foreign Missions.  Our saint studied for the priesthood in 1846-1847, but decided to focus on music instead.  From 1852 to 1860 he was the conductor of the Orphéon Choral Society in Paris.

Gounod left the country during the Franco-Prussian War.  He, in London during 1870-1875, founded the Royal Choir Society.  Our saint, back in France, became an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1880.

Gounod, aged 75 years, died in St. Cloud, France, on October 18, 1893.

He left a fine musical legacy consisting of operas, cantatas, masses, incidental music, songs, works for pianoforte, and other secular and sacred works.  In the realm of sacred music our saint’s masterworks included the St. Cecilia Mass (1855), his setting of the Ave Maria (1859), and the Requiem in C (1893).

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 12, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE VISITATION

THE FEAST OF ALICIA DOMON AND HER COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS IN ARGENTINA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS BARTHOLOMEW BUONPEDONI AND VIVALDUS, MINISTERS AMONG LEPERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUDWIK BARTOSIK, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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

Almighty God, beautiful in majesty, majestic in holiness:

You have shown us the splendor of creation in the work of your servant Charles Gounod.

Teach us to drive from the world all chaos and disorder, that our eyes may behold your glory,

and that at last everyone may know the inexhaustible richness of your new creation in Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Isaiah 28:5-6 or Hosea 14:5-8 or 2 Chronicles 20:20-21

Psalm 96

Philippians 4:8-9 or Ephesians 5:18b-20

Matthew 13:44-52

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 61

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

Above:  A Map of Copenhagen, 1807

Image in the Public Domain

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

BIRGITTE KATERINE JOHANSEN HERTZ BOYE (MARCH 7, 1742-OCTOBER 17, 1824)

Danish Lutheran Poet, Playwright, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer

Birgitte Katerine Johansen, born in Gentofte, Denmark, on March 7, 1742, was the eldest of seven children of Jens Johansen, who was in the royal service, and Dorotea Henriksdatter.  In 1763 our saint married Herman Hertz (1734-1775), the newly appointed forester of the Vordingborg district.  The couple had four children in five years.  Birgitte still found time to study German, French, and English, mastering the written forms of those languages and enjoying literature in them.  She also began to compose and translate hymns.

Our saint contributed 124 original hymns and 24 translations to what became A Hymnal, or a Collection of Old and New Hymns, for the Honor of God and the Edification of His Church (1778), or Guldberg’s Hymnal, a project of Bishop Ludwig Harboe and Ove Guldberg, secretary to Crown Prince Frederik, later King Frederik VI (reigned 1808-1839).  The purpose of Guldberg’s Hymnal was to replace The Ordained New Church Hymnbook (1699), or Kingo’s Hymnbook.  The hymnal of 1778, like Erik Pontoppidan‘s Den nye Psalmebog (1740) and Bishop Balle’s Evangelisk-Kristelig Salmebog (1797), failed to replace Kingo’s Hymnbook.  Guldberg’s Hymnbook did, however, introduce many fine hymns to Danish Lutherans.

Our saint began to submit original and translated texts to Guldberg’s Hymnbook in 1773.  During the preparation of that hymnal the Crown eliminated Herman Hertz’s forestry position, harming the family’s finances.  Birgitte wrote to Bishop Harboe, who spoke to Guldberg, who interceded with Crown Prince Frederik, who paid for the education of the Hertzes’ sons for a few years.  And, after Herman Hertz died in 1775, the Crown Prince supported the family financially for three years, until Birgitte married Hans Boye (1745-1815), a customs inspector and judicial advisor in Copenhagen.

Birgitte was also a poet and a playwright.  She composed nationalistic poems, and performances of many of her plays occurred at royal events.  Her translations of Psalms 1-89 debuted in three volumes from 1781 to 1785.  To many English-speaking Christians, however, her hymns have proven most famous among her works.  The Service Book and Hymnal (1958) includes the following translation (by Fred C. M. Hanson, 1888-1965) of an Easter hymn:

Our Lord is risen from the dead,

And rays of glory crown his head,

New hope has come to mortals.

O sing, our King now is risen!

Come and listen

To the story,

Christ the Lord is risen in glory!

+++++

He rose in power to smite his foes,

He lives to free us from our woes

And open heaven’s portals.

O sing, our King now is risen!

Come and listen

To the story,

Christ the Lord is risen in glory!

The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) offers the following Christmas text, in an English translation by Carl Doving (1867-1937) from 1911:

Rejoice, rejoice, this happy morn,

A Savior unto us is born,

The Christ, the Lord of Glory.

His lowly birth in Bethlehem

The angels from on high proclaim

And sing redemption’s story.

My soul, extol God’s great favor,

Bless Him ever

For salvation,

Give Him praise and adoration.

Our saint died at Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 17, 1824.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 13, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT SYLVESTER II, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF ISAAC WILLIAMS, WELSH ANGLICAN PRIEST, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

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

Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Birgitte Katerine Boye and others, who have composed and translated 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

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

Above:  Sir John Bowring, by John King

Image in the Public Domain

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

SIR JOHN BOWRING (OCTOBER 17, 1792-NOVEMBER 23, 1872)

English Unitarian Hymn Writer, Social Reformer, and Philanthropist

An epitaph says much about a person.  There are funny ones, such as

I TOLD YOU I WAS SICK!

And there are serious epitaphs, such as that of Sir John Bowring:

IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST I GLORY

(the title of perhaps his most famous hymn).

Armin Haeussler, author of The Story of Our Hymns (1952), the companion volume to the 1941 Hymnal of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, opened his biography of Bowring this way on page 560:

Few People in human history have ever equalled or surpassed Sir John Bowring in versatility or endowment and immense achievement.  Historians consider him one of the most brilliant men of all time.  He was a statesman, political economist, linguist, historian, philanthropist, financier, biographer, naturalist, poet, publicist, in short, a veritable genius.

Bowring, born at Exeter, England, on October 17, 1792, grew up a Congregationalist and a son of a wool merchant.  Our saint learned the family business, which entailed commerce with Spain and China.  Bowring left school at age fourteen to help his father.  Unlike many dropouts, however, our saint excelled afterward.  At sixteen years of age he had become proficient in Dutch, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian.  During his adulthood Bowring become fluent in one hundred languages and studied twice as many.  His collected works, which filled thirty-six volumes, included English translations from twenty-two languages and dialects as well as a book in Spanish about the African slave trade.

Our saint was a political radical.  In his time and place this meant that he:

1. supported Catholic Emancipation,
2. favored the separation of church and state,
3. called for the abolition of slavery,
4. supported prison reform,
5. opposed the death penalty,
6. favored equal rights for women, and
7. called for the repeal of the Corn Laws.

As Our Hymnody:  A Manual of The Methodist Hymnal, Second Editon (1937), said of Bowring on page 106:

It has been said that he was on the side of everything good and true.

Bowring, the Editor of the radical Westminster Review (starting in 1825), and a Member of Parliament (1835-1837 and 1841-1849), knew that the Corn Laws were economically unjust.  They forbade the importation of inexpensive food, thereby favoring landed elite interests and placing staples of the diet (such as bread) out of reach for poor people.  The Anti-Corn Law League formed to oppose the law and riots occurred.  Sometimes authorities killed protesters–men, women, and children–who sought affordable and good food.  Finally, in 1846, the British Parliament repealed the Corn Laws to prevent more starvation in Ireland during the potato famine.

Our saint’s friend and political partner was Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), whose collected works he published in eleven volumes.  Bowring also edited Deontology: or, the Science of Morality:  in which the Harmony and Co-incidence of Duty and Self-Interest, Virtue and Felicity, Prudence and Benevolence, are Explained and Exemplified from the MSS. of Jeremy Bentham (1834) in two volumes:  I and II.

Bowring’s literary output spanned a wide range of topics and included these books:

1. Specimens of the Russian Poets; with Preliminary Remarks and Biographical Notices (1822);
2. Details of the Arrest, Imprisonment and Liberation of an Englishman by the Bourbon Government of France (1823);
3. Matins and Vespers with Hymns  and Occasional Devotional Pieces(1823);
4. Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain (1824)
5. Some Account of the State of Prisons in Spain and Portugal (1824);
6. Batavian Anthology: or, Specimens of the Dutch Poets; with Remarks on the Political Literature and Language of the Netherlands, to the End of the Seventeenth Century (1824);
7. Hymns (1825);
8. Specimens of the Polish Poets; with Notes and Observations on the Literature of Poland (1827);
9. Servian Popular Poetry (1827);
10. Sketch of the Language and Literature of Holland (1829);
11. Poetry of the Magyars, Preceded by a Sketch of the Language and Literature of Hungary and Transylvania (1830);
12. Cheskian Anthology:  Being a History of the Political Literature of Bohemia, with Translated Specimens (1832);
13. Minor Morals for Young People Illustrated in Tales and Travels (1834)–Volumes I, II, and III;
14. The Commercial Relations Between England and France (1836);
15. The Decimal System in Numbers, Coins, and Accounts:  Especially with Reference to the Decimalisation of the Currency and Accountancy of the United Kingdom (1854);
16. The Kingdom and People of Siam; with a Narrative of the Mission to That Country in 1855 (1857);
17. A Visit to the Philippine Islands (1859); and
18. The Flowery Scroll:  A Chinese Novel (1868).

There were also posthumous tributes and collections:

1. A Memorial Volume of Sacred Poetry by the Late Sir John Bowring; to which is Prefaced a Memoir of the Author by Lady Bowring (1873); and
2. Autobiographical Recollections of Sir John Bowring; with a Brief Memoir by Lewin B. Bowring (1877).

Bowring, married to Maria Lewin since 1816, entered the foreign service in 1849, becoming the British Consul at Canton.  Along the course of his diplomatic career Queen Victoria knighted him (in 1854) and he served as Plenipotentiary to China and as Governor of Hong Kong.  Maria died in China because someone had poisoned her with arsenic.  Thus ended a marriage of forty-two years.  Our saint remarried in 1860, becoming the husband of Deborah Castle.  His diplomatic career continued with appointments to places such as Siam and Italy.  He also negotiated many treaties around the world.  Bowring’s main occupation at the end of his life, however, was philanthropy.

The hymns, other than “In the Cross of Christ I Glory,” of our saint included the following:

1. “Father and Friend!  Thy Light, Thy Love;”
2. “Watchman, Tell Us of the Night;”
3. “God is Love; His Mercy Brightens;”
4. “Upon the Gospel’s Sacred Page;” and
5. “How Sweetly Flowed the Gospel’s Sound.”

Bowring was a Unitarian who held that Christ is “all that we know of God.”  That love of God of which Bowring wrote became evident in his life.

He died at Exeter, England, on November 23, 1872.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 18, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, ANGLICAN DEAN OF WESTMINSTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOME DE LAS CASAS, WITNESS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

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

Almighty God, whose prophets taught us righteousness in the care of your poor:

By the guidance of your Holy Spirit,

grant that we may do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly in your sight;

through Jesus Christ, our Judge and Redeemer,

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

Isaiah 55:11-56:1

Psalm 2:1-2, 10-12

Acts 14:14-17, 21-23

Mark 4:21-29

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 736

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

Above:  Christ Carrying the Cross, by El Greco

Complicated Answers

The Sunday Closest to October 19

Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost

OCTOBER 17, 2021

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

FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #1

Job 38:1-7, (34-41) (New Revised Standard Version):

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man,

I will answer you, and you shall declare to me.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements–surely you know!

Or who stretched out the line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone

when the morning stars sang together

and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

…

Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

so that a flood of waters may cover you?

Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go

and say to you, “Here we are”?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,

or given understanding to the mind?

Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?

Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

when the dust runs into a mass

and the clods cling together?

Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

when they crouch in their dens,

or lie in wait in their covert?

Who provides for the raven in its prey,

when its young ones cry to God,

and wander about for lack of food?

Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;

O LORD my God, how excellent is your greatness!

you are clothed with majesty and splendor.

2 You wrap yourself with light as with a cloak

and spread out the heavens like a curtain.

3 You lay out the beams of your chambers in the waters above;

you make the clouds your chariot;

you ride on the wings of the wind.

4 You make the winds your messengers

and flames of fire your servants.

5 You have set the earth upon its foundations,

so that it never shall move at any time.

6 You covered it with the Deep as with a mantle;

the waters stood higher than the mountains.

7 At your rebuke they fled;

at the voice of your thunder they hastened away.

8 They went up into the hills and down to the valleys beneath,

to the places you had appointed for them.

9 You set the limits that they should not pass;

they shall not again cover the earth.

25 O LORD, how manifold are your works!

in wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

37b  Hallelujah!

FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #2

Isaiah 53:4-12 (New Revised Standard Version):

Surely he has borne our infirmities

and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,

struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

and by his bruises are we healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have all turned to our own way,

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people.

They made his grave with the wicked

and his tomb with the rich,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin,

he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.

Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

because he poured out himself to death,

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 91:9-16 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

9  Because you have made the LORD your refuge,

and the Most High your habitation,

10  There shall no evil happen to you,

neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

11  He shall give his angels charge over you,

to keep you in all his ways.

12  They shall bear you in their hands,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13  You shall tread upon the lion and adder;

you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.

14 Because he is bound to me in love,

therefore I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;

I am with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him to honor.

16 With long life will I satisfy him,

and show him my salvation.

SECOND READING

Hebrews 5:1-10 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.  Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as those of the people.  And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”;

as he says also in other place,

“You are a priest for ever,

according to the order of Melchizedek.”

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.  Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

GOSPEL READING

Mark 10:35-45 (Revised English Bible):

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said,

Teacher, we should like you to do us a favour.

He asked,

What is it you want me to do for you?

They answered,

Allow us to sit with you in your glory, one at your right hand and the other at your left.

Jesus said to them,

You do not understand what you are asking.  Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

They answered,

We can.

Jesus said,

The cup that I drink you shall drink, and the baptism that I am baptized with shall be your baptism; but to sit on my right or on my left is not for me to grant; that honour is for those to whom it has already been assigned.

When the other ten heard this, they were indignant with James and John.  Jesus called them to him and said,

You know that among the Gentiles the recognized rulers lord it over their subjects, and the great make their authority felt.  It shall not be so with you; among you whoever wants to be great must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.  For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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

Some Related Posts:

Proper 24, Year A:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/proper-24-year-a/

Proper 24, Year B:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/proper-24-year-b/

Job 38:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/proper-7-year-b/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/week-of-proper-21-friday-year-2-and-week-of-proper-21-saturday-year-2/

Hebrews 5:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/week-of-2-epiphany-monday-year-1/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/fifth-sunday-in-lent-year-b/

Mark 10:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/week-of-8-epiphany-wednesday-year-1/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/week-of-proper-3-wednesday-year-1/

Matthew 20 (Parallel to Mark 10):

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/thirteenth-day-of-lent/

Luke 22 (Parallel to Mark 10):

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/thirty-eighth-day-of-lent-maundy-thursday/

Beneath the Cross of Jesus:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/beneath-the-cross-of-jesus/

Throned Upon the Awful Tree:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/throned-upon-the-awful-tree/

How Can I Thank You?:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/how-can-i-thank-you/

Darkly Rose the Guilty Morning:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/darkly-rose-the-guilty-morning/

Jesus, We Adore Thee:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/o-jesus-we-adore-thee/

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/o-sacred-head-now-wounded/

Stabat Mater:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/stabat-mater/

Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/ah-holy-jesus-how-hast-thou-offended/

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross/

My Song is Love Unknown:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/my-song-is-love-unknown/

In the Cross of Christ I Glory:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/in-the-cross-of-christ-i-glory/

For the Cross:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/for-the-cross/

Prayer for Good Friday:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-for-good-friday/

Prayer for Holy Saturday:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-for-holy-saturday/

Prayers for Those Who Suffer:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/prayers-for-those-who-suffer/

A Prayer for Those Suffering from Holiday Grief:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-prayer-for-those-suffering-from-holiday-grief/

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

There is no one-size-fits-all explanation for the causation of suffering that is also accurate.  Job’s alleged friends thought there was one, and they spent much of the Book of Job repeating it and pestering Job.

You must have sinned,

they said,

and God must be disciplining you.

The story within the Book of Job contradicts this point of view, as does New Testament theology of the suffering of Jesus.  Sometimes we suffer the consequences of our actions; other times we suffer because of what others have done.  And, quite frustratingly, sometimes we cannot understand why we are suffering; there is no reason which is apparent to us.

Life brings us circumstances which are more complicated than pat answers and theological statements which fit onto bumper stickers.  If we have an inadequate theology, life will, in time, expose this reality.  The late J. B. Phillips wrote a profound little book, Your God is Too Small.  He was correct; many Christians carry insufficient God concepts in their heads.

I do not profess to be a great spiritual master, but I do try to catch myself in great errors and endeavor not to repeat them–with mixed results.  I try, for example, to have a sufficient God concept, to admit that the mystery of  God exceeds my potential for full understanding.  I can know certain things for sure, but most of the reality of God remains hidden from me. I try to embrace the ambiguity of not knowing, and so to live comfortably with the forever unanswered questions.  God is God, and I am not.  So be it.  Blessed be God.

KRT

Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR 

Calendula

Image Source = Alvesgaspar

1 (Anthony Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury, British Humanitarian and Social Reformer)

• Chuck Matthei, Founder and Director of the Equity Trust, Inc.
• Marie-Joseph Aubert, Founder of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion
• Ralph W. Sockman, United Methodist Minister and Spiritual Writer
• Romanus the Melodist, Deacon and Hymnodist
• Thérèse of Lisieux, Roman Catholic Nun and Mystic

2 (Petrus Herbert, German Moravian Bishop and Hymnodist)

• Carl Doving, Norwegian-American Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator
• James Allen, English Inghamite then Glasite/Sandemanian Hymn Writer; and his great-nephew, Oswald Allen, English Glasite/Sandemanian Hymn Writer
• Maria Anna Kratochwil, Polish Roman Catholic Nun and Martyr, 1942

3 (George Kennedy Allen Bell, Anglican Bishop of Chichester)

• Alberto Ramento, Prime Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church
• Gerard of Brogne, Roman Catholic Abbot
• John Raleigh Mott, U.S. Methodist Lay Evangelist, and Ecumenical Pioneer
• William Scarlett, Episcopal Bishop of Missouri, and Advocate for Social Justice

4 (Francis of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Friars Minor)

• Agneta Chang, Maryknoll Sister and Martyr in Korea, 1950
• H. H. Rowley, English Baptist Minister and Biblical Scholar

5 (David Nitschmann, Sr., “Father Nitschmann,” Moravian Missionary; Melchior Nitschmann, Moravian Missionary and Martyr, 1729; Johann Nitschmann, Jr., Moravian Missionary and Bishop; Anna Nitschman, Moravian Eldress; and David Nitschmann, Missionary and First Bishop of the Renewed Moravian Church)

• Cyriacus Schneegass, German Lutheran Minister, Musician, and Hymn Writer
• Francis Xavier Seelos, German-American Roman Catholic Priest
• Harry Emerson Fosdick, U.S. Northern Baptist Minister and Opponent of Fundamentalism

6 (George Edward Lynch Cotton, Anglican Bishop of Calcutta)

• Ernest William Olson, Swedish-American Lutheran Poet, Editor, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer
• Heinrich Albert, German Lutheran Composer and Poet
• John Ernest Bode, Anglican Priest, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• Joseph Lowery, African-American United Methodist Minister and Civil Rights Leader; “The Dean of the Civil Rights Movement”
• William Tyndale, English Reformer, Bible Translator, and Martyr, 1536; and Miles Coverdale, English Reformer, Bible Translator, and Bishop of Exeter

7 (Wilhelm Wexels, Norwegian Lutheran Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator; his niece, Marie Wexelsen, Norwegian Lutheran Novelist and Hymn Writer; Ludwig Lindeman, Norwegian Lutheran Organist and Musicologist; and Magnus Landstad, Norwegian Lutheran Minister, Folklorist, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor)

• Bradford Torrey, U.S. Ornithologist and Hymn Writer
• Claus Westermann, German Lutheran Minister and Biblical Translator
• Herbert G. May, U.S. Biblical Scholar and Translator
• Johann Gottfried Weber, German Moravian Musician, Composer, and Minister
• John Woolman, Quaker Abolitionist

8 (Erik Routley, English Congregationalist Hymnodist)

• Abraham Ritter, U.S. Moravian Merchant, Historian, Musician, and Composer
• Alexander Penrose Forbes, Scottish Episcopal Bishop of Brechin; Church Historian; and Renewer of the Scottish Episcopal Church
• John Clarke, English Baptist Minister and Champion of Religious Liberty in New England
• Richard Whately, Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland
• William Dwight Porter Bliss, Episcopal Priest; and Richard Theodore Ely; Economists

9 (Denis, Bishop of Paris, and His Companions, Roman Catholic Martyrs)

• John Leonardi, Founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca; and Joseph Calasanctius, Founder of the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools
• Penny Lernoux, U.S. Roman Catholic Journalist and Moral Critic
• Robert Grosseteste, English Roman Catholic Scholar, Philosopher, and Bishop of Lincoln
• Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, Medical Missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador

10 (Johann Nitschmann, Sr., Moravian Missionary and Bishop; David Nitschmann, Jr., the Syndic, Moravian Missionary and Bishop; and David Nitschmann, the Martyr, Moravian Missionary and Martyr, 1729)

• Christian Ludwig Brau, Norwegian Moravian Teacher and Poet
• Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Jean-Baptiste Lamy, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Louis FitzGerald Benson, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymnodist
• Vida Dutton Scudder, Episcopal Professor, Author, Christian Socialist, and Social Reformer

11 (PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, DEACON)

12 (Martin Dober, Moravian Bishop and Hymn Writer; Johann Leonhard Dober, Moravian Missionary and Bishop; and Anna Schindler Dober, Moravian Missionary and Hymn Writer)

• Cecil Frances Alexander, Irish Anglican Hymn Writer
• Edith Cavell, English Nurse and Martyr, 1915
• Elizabeth Fry, English Quaker Social Reformer and “Angel of the Prisons”
• João Bosco Burnier, Brazilian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1976
• Nectarius of Constantinople, Archbishop

13 (Christian David, Moravian Missionary)

• Alban Butler, English Roman Catholic Priest and Hagiographer
• Henry Stephen Cutler, Episcopal Organist, Choirmaster, and Composer
• Vincent Taylor, British Methodist Minister and Biblical Scholar

14 (Callixtus I, Anterus, and Pontian, Bishops of Rome; and Hippolytus, Antipope)

• Roman Lysko, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1949
• Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky, Episcopal Bishop of Shanghai, and Biblical Translator
• Thomas Hansen Kingo, Danish Lutheran Bishop, Hymn Writer, and “Poet of Eastertide”

15 (Teresa of Avila, Spanish Roman Catholic Nun, Mystic, and Reformer)

• Gabriel Richard, French-American Roman Catholic Missionary Priest in Detroit, Michigan
• Obadiah Holmes, English Baptist Minister and Champion of Religious Liberty in New England

16 (Albert E. R. Brauer, Australian Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator)

• Augustine Thevarparampil, Indian Roman Catholic Priest and “Good Shepherd of the Dalits”
• Gaspar Contarini, Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal and Agent of Reconciliation
• Hedwig of Andechs, Roman Catholic Princess and Nun; and her daughter, Gertrude of Trzebnica, Roman Catholic Abbess
• Józef Jankowski, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1941

17 (Charles Gounod, French Roman Catholic Composer)

• Birgitte Katerine Boye, Danish Lutheran Poet, Playwright, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer
• John Bowring, English Unitarian Hymn Writer, Social Reformer, and Philanthropist
• Richard McSorley, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest, Professor, and Peace Activist

18 (LUKE THE EVANGELIST, PHYSICIAN)

19 (Martyrs of North America, 1642-1649)

• Claudia Frances Ibotson Hernaman, Anglican Hymn Writer and Translator
• Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1984
• Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Congregation of Discaled Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion

20 (Philip Schaff and John Williamson Nevin, U.S. German Reformed Historians, Theologians, and Liturgists)

• Friedrich Funcke, German Lutheran Minister, Composer, and Hymn Writer
• James W. C. Pennington, African-American Congregationalist and Presbyterian Minister, Educator, and Abolitionist
• John Harris Burt, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, and Civil Rights Activist
• Mary A. Lathbury, U.S. Methodist Hymn Writer

21 (George McGovern, U.S. Senator and Stateman; and his wife, Eleanor McGovern, Humanitarian)

• David Moritz Michael, German-American Moravian Musician and Composer
• Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena, Founder of the Works of the Indians and the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of Saint Catherine of Siena
• Walter Sisulu and Albertina Sisulu, Anti-Apartheid Activists and Political Prisoners in South Africa

22 (Paul Tillich, German-American Lutheran Theologian)

• Emily Gardiner Neal, Episcopal Deacon, Religious Writer, and Leader of the Healing Movement in The Episcopal Church
• Emily Huntington Miller, U.S. Methodist Author and Hymn Writer
• Frederick Pratt Green, British Methodist Minister, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• Katharina von Schlegal, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• Martyrs of Heraclea, 304

23 (JAMES OF JERUSALEM, BROTHER OF JESUS)

24 (Rosa Parks, African-American Civil Rights Activist)

• Fritz Eichenberg, German-American Quaker Wood Engraver
• Henry Clay Shuttleworth, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Pavel Chesnokov, Russian Orthodox Composer
• Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople; and Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne

25 (Johann Daniel Grimm, German Moravian Musician)

26 (Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons)

• Arthur Campbell Ainger, English Educator, Scholar, and Hymn Writer
• Eric Norelius, Swedish-American Lutheran Minister
• Francis Pott, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer and Translator
• Henry Stanley Oakeley, Composer
• Philip Nicolai, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer

27 (James A. Walsh and Thomas Price, Co-Founders of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers; and Mary Josephine Rogers, Founder of the Maryknoll Sisters of Saint Dominic)

• Aedesius, Priest and Missionary; and Frumentius, First Bishop of Axum and Abuna of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Dmitry Bortniansky, Russian Orthodox Composer
• Harry Webb Farrington, U.S. Methodist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Levi Coffin and Catherine Coffin, U.S. Quaker Abolitionists and Conductors of the Underground Railroad

28 (SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS)

29 (Martyrs of Lien-Chou, China, October 28, 1905)

• Bartholomaus Helder, German Lutheran Minister, Composer, and Hymn Writer
• James Hannington, Anglican Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Guinea; and His Companions, Martyrs
• Joseph Grigg, English Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Paul Manz, Dean of Lutheran Church Music

30 (Hugh O’Flaherty, “Scarlet Pimperel of the Vatican”)

• Elizabeth Comstock, Anglo-American Quaker Educator, Abolitionist, and Social Reformer
• Marcellus the Centurion and Cassian of Tangiers, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 298
• Oleksa Zarytsky, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1963
• Walter John Mathams, British Baptist then Presbyterian Minister, Author, and Hymn Writer

31 (Reformation Day)

• Daniel C. Roberts, Episcopal Priest and Hymn Writer
• Gerhard Von Rad and Martin Noth, German Lutheran Biblical Scholars
• Ivan Kochurov, Russian Orthodox Priest and Martyr, 1917
• Paul Shinji Sasaki, Anglican Bishop of Mid-Japan, Bishop of Tokyo, and Primate of Nippon Sei Ko Kei; and Philip Lendel Tsen, Anglican Bishop of Honan and Presiding Bishop of Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui

 

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