St. Stephen, Protodeacon

We celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen today, the first called to carry out what became the ministry of a deacon, and first in the Bible to be martyred for his faith in Christ.

The first reading from Morning Prayer, 2 Chronicles 24:17-22, presents a brief and me somewhat obscure story about the death of Zechariah by stoning. Zechariah was the son of the priest Jehoiada and had been berating the subjects of Judah for once again straying from the commandments of the Lord and serving "the sacred poles and the idols." This story would almost go unnoticed the annals of the Chronicles but for the fact that Luke 11:51 mentions Zechariah again:

⁴⁹Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute”, ⁵⁰so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.

What do we make of this? Jerome suggests that the meaning is that we, in our own lives, recapitulate in our own relationship with God the dealings that God has had with his people throughout time. Aha. Learn well the patterns of time, for the grooves in which you drag your feet are deep. So like the people of Judah, we will stray from God. Like Zechariah, some who call for reconciliation will be put down. Like Stephen, some will be called to minister to the widows and the poor. And like Stephen again, some will suffer for their faith.

Thomas Learns the Rewards of Faith

This is one of the reasons why I like the Daily Office: the readings make such sense as a coherent whole, an ongoing, everlasting journey through faith. Today we interrupt a long series of Advent ferias to celebrate the feast day of St. Thomas, which by the way, means I had to put away my blue prayer mat and get the red one for the first time in two weeks.

Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2003) offers a reading about the life of St. Thomas, acknowledging the gospel attributed to him, and making the point that his reputation as a "doubter" is oversimplified. Rather than simply doubting, he wanted desperately to believe but held out for a higher standard of evidence than most. The experience of seeing proof did not create faith in Thomas, it unlocked it.

The Daily Office Lectionary directs us today in Morning Pryer to 1 Peter 1:3-9, which is an eloquent passage about the rewards of faith:

⁸Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Enjoy the feast of St. Thomas, and this break in the Advent ferias, and this break in the winter Ember days. Peace.

A Few Random Thoughts

A few thoughts...

(1) The psalms today were really sad, full of lamentations. I personally experienced this feeling earlier this year:

⁹Even my best friend, whom I trusted, *
who broke bread with me,
has lifted up his heel and turned against me.

Then more:

Yet you have rejected us and abased us, *
and have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰You made us turn back from the foe, *
and our enemies have taken spoil for themselves.
¹¹You have made us like sheep for slaughter, *
and have scattered us among the nations.
¹²You have sold your people for a trifle, *
demanding no high price for them.

¹³You have made us the taunt of our neighbours, *
the derision and scorn of those around us.
¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations, *
a laughing-stock among the peoples.
¹⁵All day long my disgrace is before me, *
and shame has covered my face
¹⁶at the words of the taunters and revilers, *
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

Powerful stuff. And painful.

(2) I only get to use my blue prayer cloth for a few more days, and then Advent is over and it goes back into the closet until December 2, 2007. That's sad, because I like it and because I like the season. But it's also good, because I love the turning wheels of the Kalendar and one only gives something up in order to gain something else.

(3) Just when the Psalms brought me to the point of despair, 2 Peter 1:11 (from this morning's Office) reminded me of God's promise. It concludes with a simple message about how to approach your own personal faith:

⁵For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, ⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, ⁷and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.

(4) I'm trying to live #3 above. I don't have anything more profound to say tonight than that.

Stir Up Your Power

This is a dramatic time. Advent is in full swing, rose Sunday is today, and we're awaiting the Nativity of Our Lord right around the corner. The readings are dramatic. The readings from Isaiah have been pointing towards God's promise of sending a savior to the world. Adding to the drama, John the baptist features prominently today in both the Sunday Church readings.

In the Daily Office, John the Baptist appears with Jesus in the countryside at Aenon near Salim. They were baptizing there because "water was abundant there." (Neat that they went to the water, which sends a simple message that the water is necessary. You can't just say you're baptized; you have to actually get baptized, with real water.)

John is proclaiming that Jesus is the one. It's an exciting time in the lectionary, and an exciting time in the world.

Let's conclude with the collect of the day for the third Sunday in Advent. It's excellent:

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help us and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

The Spirit Descends

Now that I am finally a member of a liturgical church I have to say again and again how much I treasure the richness and depth of the church calendar. (Or as it were, the Kalendar.) The church really offers us a great way to mark time. Perhaps it dates from the initial sadness that grew in the apostolic era as the original church founders realized that Christ's second coming wouldn't be in days, or weeks. Or years. Or in their lifetimes.

As the generations stretched on, Christians got used to the idea that their time on earth would last for generations. Or millennia.

And so the church became great at marking time. The liturgical seasons change and we watch the colors shift. We pray the daily office and watch one year draw to a close and another begin. Colors change on the altar. The collects change weekly. The Office changes daily. There are endless cycles.

I'm thinking about different ways of marking time because my Dad sent me an Advent calendar today. It has no chocolates, but cute little tree ornaments made of wood behind each door instead. It was a really touching thing for him to do because my Dad is not a Christian. He is one of those "spiritual but not religious" people who go to the Unitarian Church. I was always a little afraid about what he must think of the way I've embraced my faith. Especially since I went from unbaptized, to baptized, to confirmed in the space of one year. And I go to mass several times per week. I have been worried that Dad thinks I've joined a cult. However...

... I guess the fact that he sent me my beautiful new Advent calendar says more than words ever can.

The Poetry of Prayer

To begin with, here is the music that accompanies today's post:

And here is the text, taken from the Book of Common Prayer, starting on page 389. It should be familiar; after all, it is nothing more that Form V of the Prayers of the People. But the language and sentiment are beautiful, and for this reason I challenge you to read it (and pray it) again. Say it aloud; I promise you it is powerful and rewarding.

For the holy Church of God, that it may be filled with truth and love, and be found without fault at the day of your coming, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For Katherine our Presiding Bishop, for William and Victor our own Bishops, for all bishops and other ministers, and for all the holy people of God, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For all who fear God and believe in you, Lord Christ, that our divisions may cease, and that all may be one as you and the Father are one, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For the mission of the Church, that in faithful witness it may preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For those who do not yet believe, and for those who have lost their faith, that they may receive the light of the Gospel, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For the peace of the world, that a spirit of respect and forbearance may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For those in positions of public trust especially George, our President, and Richard, our Mayor, that they may serve justice, and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For all who live and work in this community, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For a blessing upon all human labor, and for the right use of the riches of creation, that the world may be freed from poverty, famine, and disaster, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger; that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For this congregation [for those who are present, and for those who are absent], that we may be delivered from hardness of heart, and show forth your glory in all that we do, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For our enemies and those who wish us harm; and for all whom we have injured or offended, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For ourselves; for the forgiveness of our sins, and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For all who have commended themselves to our prayers; for our families, friends, and neighbors; that being freed from anxiety, they may live in joy, peace, and health, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For ___________ , we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

For all who have died in the communion of your Church, and those whose faith is known to you alone, that, with all the saints, they may have rest in that place where there is no pain or grief, but life eternal, we pray to you, O Lord.

Kyrie eleison.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, G0d-Bearer, and all the saints, let us commend ourselves, and one another, and all our life to Christ our God.

To you, O Lord our God.

For yours is the majesty, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and for ever.

Amen.

Again, the Leviathan

Tonight we enjoy Psalm 104, which has my favorite reference to the Leviathan in the whole Bible:

26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.
27 There move the ships,
and there is the Leviathan, *
Which you have made for the sport of it.

The King James gives it this way:

²⁵So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
²⁶There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

Sounds positively cute. (Although I guess that's not the Leviathan's real role... still, he sounds fun in these passages.

In other news: Today is the last day of the Daily Office Year Two. The last day of the liturgical year. The last day of the season after Pentecost. (The last day of Ordinary Time.) Tomorrow it's Year One and Advent. Exciting.

The Daily Officer Returns

Hello. I admit that I bit off more than I could chew when I approached this blog with the idea of creating lengthy, well-reasoned "articles" more or less daily. That's just far too much. The pressure to create excellent posts kept me from making any posts for quite some time. There's a phrase for this: "the perfect is the enemy of the good."

Well, I am back now, humbled, and ready to recommit. The truth is that blogging is pretty fun, even if nobody reads it, so I missed something important during my time off. But like I said, I'm back. No promises to post good stuff, but here's my promise to post more stuff.