Lectionary notes

SOME NOTES FOR THE SUNDAY BETWEEN 26 JUNE AND 2 JULY
(Proper 13 Year A)
The Second Sunday after Pentecost
26 June 2011

Once again, I have been caught short this week and the notes are not as complete as I might like, but as half a loaf is better than no bread, here goes.

Neither the Sentence nor the Collect seems to have any particular connection to the readings appointed in Year A. The 8:30 congregation will notice that we also use the Collect for the Feast of the Nativioty of St John Baptist, since by the rules of the old Calendar that day is kept with an Octave and Commemorated on the Sunday.

The Readings

On the Second Sunday after Pentecost the lectionary resumes the sequence of readings that was interrupted through Lent and Easter. In fact we resume a sequence of readings already in progress.

Genesis 22.1–14: God Tests Abraham

I. 1-8. Abraham’s willing preparation for the sacrifice.
In the story of Abraham (Genesis 11.27-25.18), rabbinic tradition recognized ten trials and seven blessings (for a list of the trials and blessings, see NJBC 2:18). The call to sacrifice his son Isaac was the last and greatest of the trials, and is followed by a renewal of the promises (see 22.16-18). It is, above all, a story of trust and faith.
1-3: Abraham is told by God to offer Isaac in sacrifice.
1. After these things is a conventional introduction to a new section. Chapter 21 ends with the account of Abraham’s dealings with King Abimelech (21.22-34) and the notice that Abraham ‘sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines’. Tested, that is put under trial to see whether he would obey in faith (12.4; compare Heb 11.17-19). Here I am is a statement of complete availability.
2. Your only son is not literally accurate; Isaac is his only son by Sarah, but he will have other sons. The sense here is beloved, and is meant to emphasize the greatness of the sacrifice, as if to say that God knows right well how much He asks. This is particualry poignant when the passage is read at the Great Vigil of Easter and we rememkber that God does indeed know. The mountain in the land of Moriah is idenitifed in 2 Chronicles 3.1 and later tradition as the Temple mountain in Jerusalem. Scholars are not certain of the accuracy of this identification. More interesting is the fact that the name Moriah is from the Hebrew verb ra’a, ‘to see’, a word on which there is some important play in this passage
3. Abraham obeys immediately and without comment (contrast his response in Genesis 18) we are told nothing of his inner emotions, but left to infer them.
4-8: Abraham and Isaac journey to the place.
4. The third day may be a conventional description of a short journey.
5. Boy translates a word that could mean anything from a small child to a young man and also meant ‘servant’. The story does not give us any chronology from which to guess Isaac’s age.
6. That Isaac bore the wood for the burnt offering is a prefiguring of Christ carrying his cross. Note how “the two of them walked on together” is repeated in verse 8.
7-8. Skinner noted many years ago: “The pathos of this dialogue is inimitable : the artless curiosity of the child, the irrepressible affection of the father, and the stern ambiguity of his reply, can hardly be read without tears.” In Abraham’s answer “God himself will provide the lamb” (8), we meet the verb ra’a, to see, once again. As the NJBC notes, he is not trying to decieve Isaac; this is “evidence of Abraham’s handing everything over to God.
II. 9-14: God sees to the Sacrifice
9-10: The preparation for the sacrifice is described in detail.
11. Suddenly the angel of the Lord intervenes to stop the sacrifice. We know from the very first verse—though Abraham did not—this this was only a test, and that God did not change his mind. The repetition, Abraham, Abraham, expresses urgency ; as 46.2, Ex 3.4, and 1 Sam 3.16. Note that Abraham once again replies with complete obedience: Here I am.
12. Now I know: the essence of the sacrifice was the willingness and readiness to give all.
13. Abraham sees (that verb again) a ram and takes it to offer in place of Isaac. Horrifying as it may be to us, infant sacrifice was common in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia, and in Phoenecian colonies such as Carthage. By its condemnation of the practice the OT shows that it was even done in Israe; (2 Kings 16.3’; Micah 6.7). In the Law, the first-born belonged to the Lord, but was to be ‘redeemed’ rather than sacrificed (Exodus 13; 34). Here we have the first such redemption of a child. See also Luke 2.23-24.
14. The passage concludes with the naming of the place, Jehovahjireh, which means, The Lord will provide, a further play on ra’a. The meaning of the saying "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided" is not certain: other possibilities are “'In the mount where the LORD is seen” and “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen”

Psalm 13
Usquequo, Domine

This Psalm is identified as a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies.
1-2: The Psalmist’s complaint: he is sick, and aparently in danger of death.
3-4: He prays for help lest because of his trouble his enemies take heart, rejoice, and triumph over him.
5. His trust in the Lord.
6. A promise of praise to the Lord.

The Epistle: Romans 6.12-23

The overarching aim of Chapter 6 of Romans appears to be a defense against the charge that Paul’s message of free salvation in Christ was really a message of lawlessness. The opening verse states the objection: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?This objection is restated in verse 15 (see also 3.8). In 15-23 Paul gives the answer: Free forgiveness? What does that mean? Freedom to sin? Far from it. That would be a return to the old slavery. Christians have been rescued from the slavery of Sin, and have become the slaves of God. As their slave-service of Sin led to death, so their service of God leads to holiness, and, in the end, to eternal life. For the wages of Sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Because our baptism into Christ is a baptism into his death (verse 3) and a raising to new life, we are now to live ‘as those who have been brought from death to life’, no longer slaves to sin, but servants of God. To ‘present ourselves to God’ means to put ourselves at his disposal: like Abraham in the first reading, we are to say “Here I am” when God calls.
Verse 14 is a word of encouragement. The thought is, that, if Christians were still under the Law of Moses, they would still be under the power of Sin, for the Law, instead of bringing with it helps for its fulfilment, was nothing but a cold, and challenging, and threatening set of commands and prohibitions. But in the new economy grace is given so abundantly that God's will is gladly fulfilled. The contrast is sometimes put thus : the Law" said "Thou shalt," and only multiplied sin : Grace says, "Thou canst," and gives strength for the victory over Sin. Thus it is that the freedom of grace is not lawlessness, but the power of righteousness.

The Holy Gospel: Matthew 10.40-42

On the Sundays after Pentecost, the Gospel passages follow in sequence. Matthew 10.24-39 is appointed for the Gospel on the Sunday between 19 and 25 June (Proper 12), but was not read last week because it was Trinity Sunday. It is helpful to set this short passage in context. Chapter 10 of Matthew contains the second great discourse of this Gospel, the Lord’s commissioning and instruction of the Twelve Apostles for their Mission. Like the Sermon on the Mount, it was compiled by the Gospel-writer; several of the sayings appear in different contexts in the Gospels according to Mark an Luke.
40. This saying shows both the honour and the responsibility of the Christian’s mission. Compare Luke 10.16, John 13.20. for Jesus’ self-identification with his disciples see also Acts 9.4
42. Compare Mark 9.41, Matthew25.35-40. Little ones refers to the disciples of Jesus: see 18.6. Mark 10.24; Matthew 11.25. A cup of cold water: in a dry season this would be the most valuable of gifts.

Calendar

26 b The Second Sunday after Pentecost
27 c
28 d Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 202 Mem
29 e Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles HD
30 f

July

1 g The Anniversary of Confederation, 1867: Statutory Holiday2 A
3 b The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Notes

We apologize for the missing notes recently, and can only plead that they weren't very good. So here we are again.

SOME NOTES FOR THE DAY OF PENTECOST, YEAR A
12 JUNE 2011

The name “Pentecost” is from the Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’ and was applied in translation of the Hebrew to the feat of Weeks which fell on the fiftieth day after Passover.

The Collect is apparently new, and if so is one of the happier compositions in the BAS, managing to capture most of the themes of Pentecost in one sentence.

The Readings
Numbers 11.24–30

In the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt and the giving of the law at Sinai, some of the people of Israel have been complaining to Moses about their misfortunes (11.1), and even though the Lord’s anger is kindled, they go on complaining and asking fro the food they enjoyed in Egypt (11.4-6): manna was God-given, nutritious and versatile, but it gets monotonous. The discontent grows until Moses himself complains about the people God has given him to look after “as a nurse carries a sucking child”, v. 12). He cannot carry on alone, better to die than continue in this misery (v. 14-15).
God tells him to gather seventy of the elders and bring them out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp (see Exodus 33.7), where God will put on them some of the spirit that is on Moses so that they can share his burden. (vv. 16-17). Further God tells Moses to promise meat to the people, so much that they will be sick of it (18-23). It is at this point that our reading begins.
25 the cloud symbolizes the presence of the Lord. they prophesied: what is to be understood here is not the formal, poetic prophesy we read in a book such as Isaiah, but an ecstatic sort of prophecy such as was known all over the ancient world, including trances, speaking in tongues and the like; such behaviour was considered inspired by the gods. But they did not do so again: the Hebrew can apparently also mean nor did they cease afterwards. The Latin Vulgate takes it in this sense (nec ultra cessaverunt) “Quite a difference!” [RCL].
26 Two men, Eldad and Medad, who had been numbered among the seventy but stayed in the camp received the spirit of prophecy anyway.
27. As soon as a young man sees them prophesying, he has to go an tell on them.
28. Joshua seeks to have them stopped, because they have not received authority, but [29] Moses asks Joshua whether he thinks the activities of other prophets will diminish his charisma, implying that their prophecy is genuine. The prayer, Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, is wonderfully fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2)

Psalm 104.25–35, 37

Psalm 104 is a hymn to God as creator. In this final section he psalmist expresses wonder and thanksgiving for the variety of creatures and God’s care for them. The refrain, Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth, makes clear the reason that this selection has been chosen for Pentecost.

Acts 2.1–21

This reading narrates the events which we celebrate today.
1. Pentecost: The Feast of Weeks [Hebrew, Shavuot, see Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10], celebrating the wheat harvest, was fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover; hence the name Pentecost. From the second century AD the giving of the law to Moses was also celebrated as part of this feast. Leviticus 23:15-21 commands how this festival was to be celebrated. There would have been many pilgrims on the city, for the Feat of Weeks fell at a season of the year when travel by sea was safest, and was more largely attended than any of the other Feasts. There would have been many pilgrims on the city at this time than any of the other Feasts, for it was a season of the year when travel by sea was safest. They were all together: All may mean the Apostles, who are mentioned as appearing before the people in 2:14, but might also refer to the whole group of 150 disciples mentioned in 1:15. In one place: The traditional interpretation is that the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place in the Upper Room, or Cenacle, the place mentioned in 1.13. However, verse 2 refers to a ‘house’ and verse 5 suggests that there is space enough for a large crowd around it. It has been suggested that the room was one in the precincts of the Temple, where it was natural for such a crowd as is mentioned to be gathered at this feast. In the Greek version of Jeremiah 35.4 the word ‘house’ is in fact used for chambers in the Temple precincts.
2-3. Space does not allow us to discuss the amazing events in any detail. Perhaps we should note that the language used is figurative. There was a sound. It was not wind, but a sound as of a mighty wind. Something appeared. it was not fire , but like as of fire. It is not even clear just what ‘divided tongues’ should mean. But wind—remember this is the same word as ‘spirit’—and fire, were important in the Gospel (see Matt. 3.11, John 3.8) and in the Hebrew Scriptures.
4. Realizing that the promise had been fulfilled, they burst under one uncontrollable impulse into praise of God ! The other tongues here might seem to be ecstatic utterance, like the ‘prophesying’ in the first reading and like the gift of tongues discussed in 1 Corinthians 14:1-33. But the later events suggest something else.
5. At the sound like wind and the noise of praise crowd gathers. Note that these were all Jews: while the Gospel was later to be proclaimed throughout the whole world, it is the fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel that is the focus on this day.
7-11. It is not easy to state with certainty just what this miracle was; one should consult a good commentary on Acts for the variety of interpretations. Furneaux comments on this list of nations that it “presents numerous difficulties. It is made on no discoverable principle as regards either the order of enumeration or the inclusions and omissions. It is quite different in style from Luke’s work, and must be derived from some early authority. The strange inclusion of Judaea may be due to an error in the MSS., since Tertullian quotes the passage as Armenia and Cappadocia ; but the omission of such countries as Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus, where Jews were numerous, is inexplicable. It is significant that, whereas the passage is adduced as evidence that the disciples at Pentecost spoke in foreign languages, it really lends no support whatever to that theory. It is a list of countries, not of languages ; and the Jews from those countries did not all speak different languages, but would all have understood Greek : would, indeed, have under stood Greek better than the native language of the country in which they lived.”
Nothing in the account of Peter’s speech (2.14-36 suggests that that was understood miraculously.
All that said, one essential meaning of the Pentecost event has become clear as the Gospel has been proclaimed throughout the world: the message of the Church overcomes the differences of language and all people can hear in their own tongues the great things of God in Jesus Christ. In this, according to many ancient interpreters, the curse of Babel has been undone (see Genesis 11.1-9).
I have been trying without much success to find a good map on-line to illustrate verses 9-11; so far the best is to be seen at http://bible-library.com/maps?bookid=44&chapter=2.
12-13. The miracle cannot be explained and this uncertainty prepares the Jews for Peter’s speech. So does the mocking suggestion that what was strange in this matter could be explained by too copious a use of wine at the opening of the festival.
14-21. This is the opening section of Peter’s address (14-36).
15. Nine o’clock, literally, ‘the third hour’.
16. The Prophet Joel: St Peter cites Joel 2:28-32. The text differs from the text of Joel. Acts has “In the last days” in place of afterwards (Joel 2.28). In Acts the prophecy more clearly refers to the end-time. It adds “they shall prophesy” in verse. 18. In verse 30 Acts has added “above”, “below” and “signs”.
Furneaux: “This is the earliest Christian apology, and its grand characteristic is power. Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit hath come upon you, had been Christ s promise, and there is no delay in the fulfilment. Who can read the speech and not feel that, if the gift of Tongues was proof that the Spirit had come, the greater proof was in Peter’s words ? His life hitherto had shown no little inconsistency, not to say cowardice. Only seven weeks before he had disowned his Lord. But he had spent nine days in prayer and had received the Spirit, and we recall the Master’s words, It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you (Matt. 10.20).”

The Holy Gospel according to St John (20.19–31)

This passage was read on the Second Sunday of Easter (May 1st 2011); it narrates the appearance of Jesus to his disciples on the evening of the first Easter, apparently the same event that is told in Luke 24:36ff. It is read today because it tells that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said Receive the Holy Spirit (v. 22), giving them his mission and the authority to forgive sins. Like the Pentecost event, this is a fulfilment of promise: “The Lord now fulfils the promise of the Baptist concerning him (1.33); He baptises His disciples, not in water which washes away stains, but in holy spirit—the energy of a holy life in obedience to God” [Temple].
From very early times commentators have struggled with the relation of this event to the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2. C. B. Moss wrote: “The special work of the Holy Ghost in the order of grace began at Pentecost (Acts 2:1). We find a foreshadowing of it in St. John 20:22.” It is interesting to note that here the words are literally not “receive the Holy Spirit” but “receive holy spirit” (though we should not make too much of capital letters: they did not exist at the time the Gospels were written); Temple commented: “What is bestowed is not the Divine Person Himself but the power and energy of which He is the source.”
One thing we ought to take from this Gospel reading today is the close link between the gift of the Spirit—or of the Spirit’s energy—and the sending of the disciples into the world to continue Christ’s work of reconciliation. That is the purpose for which we are called and empowered by the Spirit.
Another reason to read this passage today is that we remember that ecstatic and charismatic gifts such as we hear of in the readings from Numbers and Acts are not the only sign of the Spirit’s work. The turning of hearts to God, which may be a quiet and gentle process, is also the work of renewal by God’s Spirit.
But that is all the time we have for writing notes this week.

Calendar
June 2011

12 B THE DAY OF PENTECOST or WHITSUNDAY

13 c Feria
14 d Feria
15 e Feria
16 f Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, 175217 g Feria
18 A Memorial of Bernard Mizeki, Catechist in Rhodesia, Martyr, 1896: Eve of Trinity Sunday
19 B THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: TRINITY SUNDAY

Lectionary Notes

Some (Incomplete) Notes for

the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A
22 May 2011

After struggling for the past couple of days (against the almost incessant noise of a chainsaw and other loud tools) to prepare a sermon and some notes for you, I finally have to give up. Herewith are some incomplete notes, which I hope are better than nothing.

Readings
Acts 7.55–60

Stephen, one of seven church members chosen to assist the Apostles, fell afoul of a group in the city and was brought before the Council or Sanhedrin, where his speech in defence of the Christian preaching caused such offence that they rushed him out of the city to a death by stoning. Stephen is honoured as the first martyr (Protomartyr) among Christians. Our word for someone who witnesses unto death is from the Greek word martyros. With this in mind, note that in verse 58 those who took part in Stephen’s death are called ‘witnesses’ (martyres)
Here is an outline of the full story of the Protomartyr:
Acts 6.1-6: The Choosing of the Seven
6.6: Summary
6.8-15: The Arrest of Stephen
6.8: Miracles worked through Stephen
6.9-10: Opposition from ‘the synagogue of the Freedmen”,
6.11-14: who produce false witnesses and bring Stephen before the Sanhedrin
6.15: A moment of expectation
7.1-53: Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin
7.54-8.1a: The Stoning of Stephen

Things to note: 56: I see the heavens opened: see Acts 10.11, also John 1.51… the Son of man standing on the right hand of God: This is the only place in the NT outside the Gospels where Son of man is used as a title for Jesus (see also Rev 1.13). In the Gospels it is found 81 times, but only on the lips of Jesus. That he is standing at the right hand of God is also unusual; see Psalm 110.1, Mark 14.26, Lk 22.69; Hebrew 1.2-3; and the creeds. It is not clear why Luke has ‘standing’ here: some suggest that he is standing to welcome the martyr, or indeed to ‘acknowledge before the angels of God’ (Lk 12.8); others that it is a ‘meaningless variation’ [NJBC].
57-58: We do not know whether this examination before the Sanhedrin and the stoning were a legal trial and execution. From the improvised and passionate character of what we read we may that it was a lynching, and illegal. According to Josephus, James, the Lord’s brother, was stoned after having been brought to trial at the instigation of the high priest but the judicial process was found to be illegal and caused he deposition of the high priest (Josephus Ant. xx.199-203). Under the provisions of Deuteronomy 17.7, the witness start the stoning. (This gives a sense of legality to the affair.) Later recorded rules for this kind of execution may have been worked out. See also Hebrews 13.12f Leviticus 24.114; Numbers 15.35f; Acts 22.20
The account of Stephen’s death (58-60) closely parallels the death of the Lord Jesus; see Luke 23:34, 46. Note that whereas Jesus committed his spirit into the Father’s hands, Stephen prayed that Jesus would receive his spirit. As Stephen died, he prayed that his murderers might be forgiven, which is of course something we need to learn. If Stephen could so pray for those who were stoning him, how can we ever refuse to pray for the forgiveness of those who sin against us in lesser ways?
It is perhaps interesting to note that whereas Jesus was stripped of his garments before being nailed to the cross, the ‘witnesses’ at his stoning removed their (outer-)garments for the work, and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. This is the introduction of Saul (later known as Paul, who will be the central figure in the latter part of Acts. The note (8.1a) that Saul was consenting to his death is strangely omitted from this reading.

Psalm 31
In te, Domine, speravi

With this Psalm, described as ‘a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies’ (NOAB) we reflect on the story of Stephen’s death, particularly in verses 5 (Into your hands I commend my spirit, * for you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth) and 15b-16 (My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make your face to shine upon your servant; and in your loving-kindness save me).

1 Peter 2.2–10
Responsibilities of the Christian Vocation

At the end of Chapter 1, we read that Christians have been born anew through the word of God, the word which abides forever and which is “the good news which was preached to you”. The idea of being born anew suggests a new passage of exhortation, “So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander” [2.1] Since you are born again, since you have become babes, lay aside all kinds of wickedness, and desire the milk which Christ will give you. Milk causes growth ; the growth will fit them for their place in the spiritual house, the royal priesthood. Here again the Christian is addressed as member of a corporation.
Things to note: 2. Pure spiritual milk is not a good rendering of the Greek; the Av is better, ‘pure milk of the word”. The idea of new-born babies develops the thought of 1.3, 23, and suggests either that the intended readers are new converts or that in St. Peter’s view Christians are always babes, and therefore also always recently born. It is true that all Christians, however long since their Baptism, should desire the ‘milk of the word’ as eagerly and greedily as a new-born desires milk.
6. Quotes Isaiah 28.16
7. Quotes Psalm 118.22
8. Quotes Isaiah 8.14.
10. Once you were not a people: see Hosea 2.23

The Holy Gospel according to St John 14.1–14
The Way to the Father

The scene is the Last Supper; in the last chapter Jesus washed his disciples’ feet [13.3-20] and gave the new commandment that they should love one another as he has loved them [13.34-35], that is, by giving himself for them. At the same time, and intertwined in this narrative, we are told of Judas’ decision to betray Jesus [13.2] and of Jesus’ identification of him, at which he went out [13.21-30]. Jesus then spoke to his disciples of his going away: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come”. The disciples do not understand this [13.33, 36]. The chapter ends with Jesus’ prediction that Simon Peter will deny him [13.38]. The chapter division here is unfortunate, although it is hard to find a place that is really any better. This should remind us that such divisions were not in the Gospel, but added many centuries later as an aid for reference.
After these predictions of the betrayal by one of them, of their Lord’s departure, and of Peter’s unfaithfulness, the disciples are amazed and sorrowful. We may imagine Peter’s distress: his voice is missing through the whole scene that follows; indeed he is not mentioned again until he whips out his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane [18.10]. Jesus is aware that his disciples are uneasy and says to them, Let not your hearts be troubled.
Things to note: 1. Believe in God, believe also in me. Never forget that ‘to believe’ is not so much to have opinions about something as it is to trust someone. The disciples (and we, therefore) are to trust Jesus as we would God. This is in one sense an advance on faith in God, in another sense an aid to it, Jesus being the revealer of the Father. This comes before a time in which their faith was to be tested, and in that test they would fail. Failure can teach a lesson: that faith is always insufficient. It should drive us back to God, for it is in forgetting his grace that we fail. Then every fall into sin can become the occasion for growth in grace. (Temple).
2. In my Father’s house. Earlier in the Gospel Jesus had given this name to the Temple (2.16; see also Luke 2.49); what does he mean now? If we take this to be ‘heaven’, just what do we mean? One commentator wrote: “How to interpret the expression in a local, heavenly sense, we cannot tell. In any case the essential idea is that of being near to God and enjoying his love and favour.” William Temple: “One who so faces his own failures is steadily advancing on the pilgrim’s way; he, like his Master, in going to the Father. More than this; if he is travelling the right way at all, he is at home with the Father all the time.” In some way, then, we must understand ‘my Father’s house’ as a present reality we are brought to by Jesus. …are many dwelling places: this translates a Greek word which means shelters for travellers to rest in at stages along their road. This word, which implies progress and rest, fits well the image of pilgrimage. I go to prepare a place for you: “It was the custom in the East … for travellers to send a dragoman forward to make preparations in the next of those resting-places along the road, so thatr when they came they might find in it comfort as well as shelter. Here the Lord presents himself as our spiritual dragoman, who treads the way of faith before us” [Temple] (see Hebrews 12.2).
4. And when I go and prepare a place … I will come again and take you to myself: Jesus here refers not so much to his coming at the end of the world, or in great crises of history, or at the death of believers, as to the progressive influence of the Holy Spirit in his Church, preparing the way for the final and completed union of Christ and his people (after the resurrection at the last day, vi. 40), which is predicted in the succeeding part of the verse.

Lectionary Notes

Some Notes for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
15 May 2011

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

In the older lectionary, the Gospel of Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10.11-16) and the passage from 1 Peter 2 ending with the words you ‘are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls’ were read on the Third Sunday of Easter (which was called the Second Sunday after Easter). In the new lectionary it is the Fourth Sunday of Easter on which we consider the theme of the Good Shepherd. This is clear not only from the readings and the Sentence that is used as the alleluia verse, but also from the Collect for the Day
In the Prayer Book, the Collect now appointed for Easter IV in the BAS was used (with appropriate variations) as one of the blessings at the Office for the Burial of the Dead in the American Prayer book of 1928 and the Canadian book of 1962 (see page 601). It is founded on the words of Hebrews 13.20-21. This is the only occasion I have found of its use as a Collect for the Day.
The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and of the Shepherd who goes to seek the one sheep that was lost is well-loved by Christians. It is also an image deeply rooted in the hope for the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, which itself comes from David the Shepherd and King of Israel.

The Readings
Acts 2.42–47

This passage, which follows the account of St Peter’s address on the day of Pentecost and of the crowd’s response gives us a picture of the community life of the very first Christians. It is the first of three ‘Major Summaries’ in Acts; the others are 4.32-35 and 5.11-16. There are also several minor summaries (1.14; 6.7; 9.31; 12.24; 16.5; 19.20; 28.30-31). NJBC notes that Luke’s summaries are important devices in the structure of Acts, for they sustain the point the author intends to make by telling the story. “They idealize the period of the apostles’ ministry in Jerusalem and sustain the reader’s impression of a steady growth of the Christian movement punctually plotted by the will of God”. By idealizing the earliest community Luke “surrounds that period with the glitter of a ‘golden age’.
42. In the BAS the first question asked of the candidate for Holy Baptism after the confession of faith is “Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?” These four points as the marks of membership in the community of Christians are first found in this verse. For reasons of space we will comment only on the word fellowship, since it is in danger of being used in a vague sort of way so that it means little more than coffee-hour.
Most people don’t know what the word fellow really means; through careless usage it has come to be a synonym of ‘man’, like ‘chap’ or ‘guy’. It comes from the Old English, feolaga meaning "fellow, partner," which in turn is from an Old Norse felagi, from fe which means "money" (our word fee is related to this) and verb root meaning "lay" ( as in ‘lay down your money’). So what it means is "one who puts down money with another in a joint venture". This is why the members of the corporation who constitute a college are called “fellows. It translates the Greek koinonia, which is from koinōnos, ‘a sharer’. As you can see, this is a much more serious thing than is implied by the usual “time of fellowship”.
44. The real meaning of ‘fellowship” comes throuigh clearly in the words And all who believed were together and had all things in common. Again in 4.32 we read that All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything that they had. During Jesus’ ministry he and his disciples had a common purse that was kept by Judas (Jn 12.6, 13.29); just so everything is held in common by the larger group of disciples. The narratives in the first chapters of Acts give a more detailed and nuanced picture of the community of property in the primitive church. In 4.36-37 we read that Barnabas was singled out as one who had sold a plot of land and had given the money for it to the apostles. Would It not have been necessary to report this if ‘all of them’ had done so? Again, in the story of Ananias and Sapphira (5,1-11), we read that they had been free not to sell their land. See Phil 2.1-4. Space does not permit any further discussion of this Apostolic Communism, but one might well reflect how else a real fellowship is possible.

Psalm 23

This psalm, which was recently used on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, is a profession of joyful trust in the Lord as Shepherd (vv. 1-4) and Host (vv. 5-6); both of which were commn figures for kingship in the ancient Near East. The King was seen as a shepherd because he both led and provided for his people; so much the more is the Lord God the Shepherd of his people.
2. He makes me lie down: the Hebrew verb was used of four-legged animals which “lie on their breasts with their legs gathered under them”. Still waters: see Rev 7.17: “the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life”.
5-6: God as gracious host: One of the ways an ancient King displayed authority and care for his subjects was through hospitality; this image is closely tied to that of the king as the provident shepherd of his people.
6. house of the Lord most obviously means the Temple, but it can mean the Land of Israel. for ever: literally for length of days.

Epistle: 1 Peter 2.19–25

This passage follows an exhortation to slaves to be submissive, not only to a kind and gentle master, but also to the overbearing. It is in this context that we must understand the referece to enduring unjust suffering.
In verse 19, it is a credit to you is literally “this is grace” and might be better rendered by “this is thankworthy”. In the present passage St. Peter speaks of good conduct without the slightest embarrassment as thankworthy, a glory, a favour in the eyes of God. Those who are willing to suffer innocently do what God desires and ‘find favour’. The commentator Charles Bigg suggests that in verses 19-20 the words “this is thankworthy”, “what glory is it”, and “this is thankworthy” echo our Lord’s words in Luke 6.32-34, “"For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.”
20: for doing wrong: This may refer to any type of wrongdoing or to sin properly so called; indeed the context of slaves and masters would suggest wrongdoing, but see C. Biggs: “In favour of the first view it may be argued that the master would strike the slave, not for sin against God, but for neglect of duty towards himself. On the other hand, the glory comes from God, in whose eyes the neglect of earthly duty is sin. Further, hamartatontes (for ‘wrong doing’, or ‘for sin’) is balanced against agathopoiountes ('doing well') in the following clause. Hence it should retain its usual sense here.”
22 is a quotation from Isaiah 53:9b in which the word sin is used instead of the original ‘lawlessness’
23: see Mark 15:29-32; 14:65; Luke 23:11, 36-37; John 19:1-5.
24. He .. bore our sins on the cross: literally, on the tree. See Deuteronomy 21.23, a verse which is also quoted by St Paul in Galatians 3.13 and alluded to in Acts 5.30, 10.39, and 13.29. The verb translated as ‘bore’ is commonly used in the OT of bringing a sacrifice to lay on the altar: here St Peter puts the Cross in the place of the altar.
25 Shepherd and guardian: the word translated guardian is episcopos, which we would otherwise translate as bishop. One wonders why the more literal ‘overseer’ is not used.

The Holy Gospel: John 10.1–10

The Lord’s discourse on the Good Shepherd in the tenth chapter of John’s Gospel may be divided into these sections:
10.1-10, read in Year A: Jesus the Door of the Sheep.
10.11-18, read in Year B: Jesus the Good Shepherd
10:19-21, not read in the Sunday lections: a division among the people about Jesus’ words
10.22-31, read in Year C: the Father has given the Sheep into Jesus’ hand
This discourse follows immediately after the healing of the man born blind in Chapter 9 with its concluding contrast between the healed man’s faith and the blind unbelief of the Pharisees. The RCL commentary notes that “The division between Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 is unfortunate. (Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1208, is credited with dividing the Bible into chapters.)” Jesus’ last comment in Chapter 9 is “If you were blind, you would have no guilt: but now that you say, ‘We see,’ you guilt remains.” William Temple writes:
We must picture the Pharisees who have received that crushing blow as reduced to silence, till strange language about the laying down of life in obedience to divine commands stimulates them to further protest (10.18, 19). A man has been driven from one fold and received into another. After a solemn and awestruck silence the Lord speaks again.
1. Truly, truly I say to you: The original is ‘Amen, amen …’ This is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best known word in human speech. The word is directly related -- in fact, almost identical -- to the Hebrew word for "believe" (amam), or faithful. Thus, it came to mean "sure" or "truly", an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When we answer Amen to a prayer we make the substance of what was said our own. The sheepfold: a mental picture of the sheepfold helps us to understand the verses which follow. It is a walled enclosure in front of the house and open to the sky, with a solid door, which was closely barred at night by the door-keeper, and opened by him in the morning, when the shepherds came to claim their sheep, which they had left in the fold the previous evening, in order to lead them out to pasture. Other than the door, the only way to enter would be by climbing the wall, no one will enter that way except one who has no business there, and is therefore presumably come to steal (Temple).
3. The shepherd calls his own sheep: There may be sheep from several flocks gathered for the night: each shepherd will call his own by name
5. … they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers: It is told of a Scottish traveller that, meeting under the walls of Jerusalem a shepherd bringing home his flock, he changed clothes with him, and, thus disguised, began to call the sheep. They remained motionless. Then the true shepherd raised his voice, and they all hastened towards him, in spite of his strange garments. Mackie’s Bible Manners and Customs, chap, iii notes: The shepherd depends upon the sheep to follow, and they in turn expect him never to leave them. They run after him if he appears to be escaping from them, and are terrified when he is out of sight, or any stranger appears instead of him. He calls them from time to time to let them know that he is at hand. The sheep listen and continue grazing, but if anyone else tries to produce the same peculiar cries and guttural sounds, they look around with a startled air and begin to scatter.
6-7: The hearers do not understand the figure or allegory Jesus I using, so goes on to explain it as giving a double interpretation of His mission. He is both the Door (7-10) and the Shepherd (11-16). I am the door of the sheepfold: the door through which both sheep and shepherd go in and out. The sheep must come into the fold—the Church—through the Door. They must not come in for convention or respectability or for any other reasons than trust in Christ [Temple].
8. All who came before may be understood as referring to the priests and Pharisees or to those who claimed falsely to be the Messiah. Temple supports this second interpretation by noting that came is a technical term, “as is the phrase, he that cometh—the coming one’ (Mat 11.3, Lk 7.19).”
9. go in and out: this may simply refer to living (see Deut. 28; Psalm 121.8; Jer. 37.4, but Temple notes: “Their pasture is outside, in the world.”
To come in through the door means at least three things: 1) to come to the task, and every part of it, in prayer; 2) to refer all activities to the standard of the Mind of Christ; 3) to accept what actually happens as nearer to the Will of God than our own success would have been. It means putting Christ in the forefront of thought and self, in all its forms, right out of the picture.
10. The thief comes only to steal … I came that they may have life: Jesus here institutes a comparison between the false shepherd (the thief), whose object is selfish, cruel, and destructive (cf. Jer. 23. 1,2:; Ezekiel 34.1-6; Zechariah. 11.4,5), and himself, who had come into the world to give plenitude of life to his people (cf. 6. 51 and Psalm 23).

From the CALENDAR

15 b The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Toronto Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: York Central Deanery
ACP: North Carolina - (Province IV, USA) The Rt Revd Michael Bruce Curry; Suffragan Bishop of North Carolina - (Province IV, USA) The Rt Revd James Gary Gloster; South Carolina - (Province IV, USA) The Rt Revd Mark Lawrence

16 c Feria of Easter
On this day in 1277 died Pope John XXI at Viterbo, from injuries sustained when the ceiling of his hastily built study collapsed on him. It is a curious fact that he was styled John XXI, since there had been no John XX.
DCP: Citizens for Public Justice
ACP North Central Philippines - (Philippines) The Rt Revd Joel A Pachao

17 d Feria of Easter
On this day in 1163 died Heloise, the lover of Peter Abelard, at the Paraclete Abbey, France.
DCP All Saints, Markham
ACP North Dakota - (Province VI, USA) The Rt Revd Michael Gene Smith; South Dakota - (Province VI, USA) The Rt Revd Creighton L Robertson

18 e Feria of Easter
On this day in 1703 died Charles Perrault, author of Histoires ou Contes du Temps passé, ou, Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oie (1697), in which many of the best-known fairy tales are found. Also on this day in 1843 occurred the Disruption of the Scottish Church with the founding of the Free Church of Scotland (see http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/18.htm
DCP Christ Church, Stouffville
ACP North Eastern Caribbean & Aruba - (West Indies) The Rt Revd Leroy Errol Brooks

19 f Commemoration of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan and http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/19.htm. Also on this day in 1536 was beheaded Anne Boleyn, queen of England.
DCP Christ Church, Woodbridge
ACP North Kerala - (South India) The Rt Revd Dr K P Kuruvila

20 g Feria of Easter
On this day in 1506 Christopher Columbus died at Valladolid.
DCP Emmanuel, Richvale
ACP North Queensland - (Queensland, Australia) The Rt Revd William J Ray; 1. Suffragan Bishop of North Queensland - (Queensland, Australia) The Rt Revd Saibo Mabo; 2. Suffragan Bishop of North Queensland - (Queensland, Australia) The Rt Revd James Randolph Leftwich

21 A Feria of Easter
On this day in 1743 was born Bryan Edwards, historian of the West Indies, at Westbury. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Edwards
DCP . Grace Church, Markham
ACP North West Australia - (Western Australia, Australia) The Rt Revd David Mulready

22 b The Sixth Sunday of Easter
DCP Anglican Appeal
ACP Suffragan Bishop of Northern Argentina - (South America) Vacant

Lectionary Notes

SOME NOTES FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER IN YEAR A
8 May 2011

Both the Sentence and the Collect this Sunday are closely tied to the Gospel reading for Year A.

Readings
Acts 2.14a, 36–41

This reading concludes St Peter’s address on the Day of Pentecost, the first preaching of the Christian message by the Church. He had explained the amazing events that had drawn the crowd together (see 2.1-13); they had been foretold by the Prophet Joel (2.14-21); the Spirit has come because Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, God raised, and the disciples are witness of this (2.22-32). It is Jesus, now exalted now to God’s right hand, who has poured out the Spirit’s gifts (2.33-35). The verse that begins our reading is Peter’s conclusion, returning to the responsibility of the people for Jesus’s death. Rather than taking offense at this, the crowd is stricken to the heart (2.37) and asks “What should we do?”
He tells them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of Holy Spirit (2.38).
To repent is the first requirement; as we have noted before the Greek word for repentance (metanoia) means literally a change of mind. In putting metanoia first, the disciples carry on the preaching of Jesus (see Mk 1.14, Mt 4.17).
Be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus: this formula is found only in Acts, and is to be understood in a confessional sense, that is, it denotes the confession of faith made by the baptized, and not the form used by the baptizer. Therefore it is not to be taken as contradicting the words of Jesus reported in Mt 28.19. Like John’s baptism, this is for the forgiveness of sins; the difference is the inclusion of Jesus himself in the preaching, which declares that the forgiveness of sins comes through his name.
To receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We noted only briefly last Sunday that our Lord’s words “Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20.21) make it clear that “the gift is freely offered, but it can be refused; there is a definite act of reception” [William Temple]. God’s grace does not run roughshod over our freedom, even to save us.
Peter tells his audience that the gift of the Spirit is theirs by promise. All that are far off should probably be taken to mean the Jews dispersed throughout the world, although some dispute this, citing Ephesians 2.13, which speaks of Gentile converts. But is seems that on the Day of Pentecost the Apostles had no clear idea of the mission to the Gentiles, as can be seen from the long dispute before it was agreed that Gentile converts would not require circumcision. At this early date, when they looked for a speedy return of their Lord, a world-wide extension of the Kingdom must have been wholly beyond their thoughts.

Psalm 116.1–3, 10–17

This psalm of thanksgiving for healing is one of the group (113-118) called the Hallelujah Psalms, since they all include the Hebrew word Hallelujah (“Praise the Lord”). They are used in Jewish tradition in connection with the great festivals. At Passover, Psalms 113-114 are sung before the meal and Psalms 115-118 after it. [See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallel.] Outline:
1. The Psalmist addresses the congregation
2-11: the Psalmist sings of his experience
10-17: the repayment of the Psalmist’s vow
In verse 3 “the grave” translates the Hebrew Sheol, a subterranean place, full of thick darkness (Job 10.21, 22), like the Greek Hades, in which the shades of the dead, who only retain the faintest resemblance of life, are gathered together. It is said to have both valleys [rather depths] (Proverbs 9.18) and gates (Isaiah 38.10). See Psalm 88.5-6. Later, as in the Authorized version it is associated with Hell.

The Epistle: 1 Peter 1.17–23

The first letter of Peter was addressed to the churches in parts of what is now Turkey (the ancient Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia), which were undergoing persecution (1.6). Last week we read 1.3-9, part of an opening thanksgiving for what God has done. In this section the readers are called to conduct themselves in a way that befits those who call on the just judge as their Father (1.17) and reminded that they were ransomed by Christ’s death, which is described in the language of the Passover; even more, they have been born again through God’s word.
Two themes in this short passage should be marked. The first is that the life of the Christian is described as an exile. Exile does not refer to an exile from heaven, but to while the RCL commentary calls the ”social dislocation that Christians experience in a pagan world”, noting that “in 2:11, they are referred to as ‘aliens and exiles’; their situation was indeed precarious”. This situation was not simply the result of persecution, but of the contrast between the ways of life of Christians and the world around them. We are not persecuted but we find the world around us more and more built on assumptions that differ from or contradict the assumptions of the Gospel. The other point to mark is the call to “love one another earnestly from the heart” (1.22); the exiles and strangers find a community in the church.
It would be tempting to take these points as calling for a withdrawal from the world, were it not that the Gospel also calls us to love and serve not merely our fellow-Christians but all our neighbours, and to be leaven in the lump of dough. How to live in the world without ceasing to ‘conduct ourselves with fear’ is a great challenge.

Luke 24.13–35
The journey to Emmaus.

Two disciples, who are going to Emmaus, are joined by Jesus, whom they do not recognize, and who asks what they are talking about. One of them, named Cleopas, expresses astonishment that even a stranger in Jerusalem should not know what has just happened there, and tells the story of the death of Jesus, adding the women’s report of the Resurrection. Jesus exclaims at their density, and expounds the scriptures to them. On reaching their destination they persuade him to come in with them, and as he breaks bread discover who he is. Immediately he vanishes. They return at once to Jerusalem to tell of this, and find the eleven gathered together and assured of the truth of the Resurrection on the ground that Jesus has appeared to Simon.
This beautiful story is told only in Luke’s Gospel. The appendix of Mark (xvi. 12) refers to it briefly; this reference is evidently founded on Luke’s narrative.
13. two of them: one name, Cleopas, is given later in the narrative (verse 18) ; the other name is not recorded. Neither of them was an apostle, as they are later distinguished from the Eleven (33). … Emmaus: a town located approximately 7 miles (11 km) from Jerusalem. The site has not been surely identified. For further discussion, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmaus. … were going: the NJBC points out that this story is shot through with the language of journeying, which is important in Luke’s Gospel as a theme of discipleship (see 9.51-19.27). It further suggests that these disciples, whose faith in Jesus had been disappointed (see verse 21) have abandoned the way of Jesus and gone on their own; their lack of faith contrasts with the faith shown by the women (23.49-24.12). The story “narrates how the risen Jesus reconciles two wayfarers, who, once they are forgiven and reconciled, immediately journey back to Jerusalem. Note that verse 29 might imply that the two disciples are inviting Jesus into their own house, and so that they live in Emmaus.
14-16. While they walked along talking Jesus joined them on the road but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. This seems to be more than just failing to know him; something is holding their eyes. The most likely suggestion would seem to be that it is their lack of faith. It will be Jesus himself who opens their eyes by showing them his true meaning in God’s plan of salvation. NJBC points out that :” the disciples eyes are opened only after they have shown hospitality to a stranger. ‘Seeing’ is another of the important themes in Luke (as in 9.45; 18.34; 23.8,35,47-9). So in the Collect we pray: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in his redeeming work.
17. When Jesus asks what they have been discussing—literally, “What are these words which you are exchanging with one another?”—they journey comes to a halt: They stood still, looking sad; this is an effective translation, since the original word means ‘of sad and gloomy countenance’.
18. Cleopas: Nothing is known of this man beyond what is in the present narrative. It has been suggested that Luke gives his name because he was the witness who told the story to the evangelist. The way in which his name is introduced as ‘named Cleopas’ does not imply that he was well known in the early church. R. Bauckham suggests that he is the same as Clopas the husband of Mary, the sister of Jesus’s Mother (John 19.25). His surprise that the stranger did not know is true to life: “Are you the only stranger who does not know what’s been happening? implies the question “What else would anyone talk about?” which is so true of anyone suffering grief. Their loss has shattered the world; how can anyone go about a normal life?
19-20. We might imagine Jesus smiling as he asks, What things? Cleopas’ answer is in the same form of words as the early ‘creeds’ or statements of faith in Acts 2.22-24; 10.38; moreover, the facts he narrates fulfil Jesus’ own prophecies (our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him; see 9.22, 13.32-33; 18.31-33). Nonetheless, he does not have the sight of faith; to recite the facts and know that they fulfill prophecy is not enough.
21 … we had hoped: note the haunting past tense here which enshrines an agony of disillusionment. Next to the Lama sabachthani? of the cross it is the saddest word in the New Testament : there is sunset in it and a starless night.
22-24: the reports of the empty tomb are repeated without any conviction, They have clearly heard nothing of the Lord’s appearances; some women of our group suggests a doubt of female reliability.
25. The risen Jesus almost explodes in response. … slow of heart: in Scripture the heart stands for the whole inner life, both intellectual and emotional. So this does not mean slowness to be moved with feeling, but slowness of thought and perception.
27. He expounds the Old Testament, that is the first five books of the Law (Moses) and the books of the Prophets, to show that God’s plan was to bring salvation through the glorification of the rejected prophet, the suffering righteous Son.
28-29. At Emmaus, he gave the impression that he was moving on, and the two disciples invited him to stay with them. The NJBC sees this as Luke’s ‘final touches to his theme of faith as seeing. Disciples who entertain the stranger will have their eyes opened’.
30. With this in mind it is probably quite correct to point out that the breaking of bread in which the two recognize Jesus at last ‘should not be interpreted immediately as eucharistic’. On this point it might be best to quote the commentary a little more fully: This instance of eating
“should be linked with the thematic of eating which Luke has been developing throughout his Gospel. [In it] he has shown that God’s kingdom has come in Jesus’ sharing of food with others, especially outcasts. Jesus, who at his last meal said that he would not share food with his disciples until God’s kingdom came (22.16,18), now shares food with them and thereby shows that God’s kingdom has indeed come. Now his table companions are not toll collectors [tax gatherers], but his own disciples who have strayed from his way; they are forgiven and sent on their way, which is his way. But all this happens to them only because they have been hospitable” [NJBC, 1993, 43:196].
All that said, after the Last Supper it is impossible to think of Jesus blessing and breaking bread without thinking of the Eucharist, in which we encounter him, not only in the sacramental elements, but in the gathering together of the members of his body.
Their experience with the Risen Christ sends the two disciples back to the Eleven and the other disciples, in readiness for the experience of the first Easter evening (Luke 24.36; John 20.19-23)

Afterthought: This is one of two events in which the risen Lord appears to someone making a journey, the other being Saul on his way to Damascus (Acts 9).

CALENDAR

Notes: From now on the names of the weekdays in the Calendar will be represented by the letters A to g. The Sunday Letter in 2011 is B.
For many of the commemorations of saints useful information can often be found at “James Kiefer's Christian Biographies”: go to http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/home.html and check the date or the alphabetical list (since it is an American site, the dates are sometimes not the same)

8 b The Third Sunday of Easter
9 c Julian of Norwich, Spiritual Teacher, c. 1417 Com (transferred from Sunday)
For further information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich and links there.
On this day, in 1671, Colonel Thomas Blood made a famous attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. See http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/9.htm
10 d Feria of Easter
11 e Feria of Easter
On this day in 1310 Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, was burnt at Paris
12 f Florence Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer, 1910 Com
For further information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale
On this day in 1641 Thomas, Earl of Strafford, was executed on Tower-hill, London; in 1771 the poet Christopher Smart died.
13 g Feria of Easter
14 A Saint Matthias the Apostle HD
St Matthias was formerly observed on February 24, and still is in some countries, but his festival has been moved so that his feast will not fall in Lent. For further information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Matthias
On this day in 1796, the immortal Edward Jenner conclusively established the important principles of vaccination; see http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/14.htm
Women’s Breakfast Fellowship meets this morning
15 b The Fourth Sunday of Easter
On this day in 1773 died Alban Butler, author of Lives of the Saints.

Holy Week Notes

THE HOLY WEEK BOOK
The Church of St Columba and All Hallows, East York, Toronto
by the Reverend Dr William Craig,

PART V: THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER

Most Christians probably think of the Resurrection as taking place early in the morning of Easter Day, but we must remember that the Gospel accounts of the first Easter describe not the Resurrection but the discovery of the empty tomb. All we know is that the Resurrection occurred sometime after sunset Saturday, which by the Jewish reckoning was the end of the Sabbath and the start of the first day of the week.
In the earliest days of Christianity, Sunday was an ordinary working day, and Christians gathered to celebrate the Eucharist outside of work hours, usually before dawn. At first, every Sunday celebrated the Resurrection and there was no annual festival. But as time went on they began to give particular prominence to the Sunday nearest the Jewish Passover, the time of year when the death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus had happened. It is sometimes said that every Sunday is a ‘little Easter’; it would be as correct, or perhaps more correct, to say that Easter is a Big Sunday
When Christians first began to keep an annual celebration as well as the weekly celebration it was as a vigil from the evening of Saturday to dawn on Sunday. After the lighting of a candle, the night was spent in reading the passages from Scripture which told of the story of God’s mighty work of Salvation, culminating in the reading of the Passion and Resurrection from St John. On this night, new converts were baptized and admitted to communion. It was not merely a celebration of the Resurrection as a liturgy of 'Redemption', the Christian Passover. Indeed they gave it the same name, Pascha, the Greek form of the Hebrew word for Passover, from which most languages get their name for this feast; only some Germanic Languages, I think, use a name like Easter.
But by the fourth century or thereabouts, this original celebration was modified. It began at Jerusalem, where the Church began commemorating the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life at the spots where they had taken place, and on the anniversary days. So the Pascha came to be spread out, and rather than one feast of our redemption, it was celebrated in historical commemorations of the particular events of our Redemption. The most important events were marked in the liturgies of the Triduum Sanctum, the Three Holy Days, of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday night (which by Hebrew reckoning is the beginning of Sunday). While we can hardly avoid thinking of these rites as separate historic commemorations, we should try to see them as parts of one celebration, none of which is complete by itself or stands alone.

The Great Vigil “is celebrated at a convenient time between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter morning”. Each of the portions of this liturgy has an introduction spoken by the Presiding Celebrant.
“In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, the Easter Vigil is the most important Mass of the liturgical year as well as the first celebration of the Eucharist during the fifty-day long celebration of Easter, and is marked by the first use since the beginning of Lent of the acclamatory word "Alleluia", a distinctive feature of the liturgy of the Easter season.” [Wikipedia]

THE SERVICE OF LIGHT

In the darkness outside the church, a fire is kindled and blessed; this is the first symbol of the Resurrection. After the fire is lit, the celebrant reads the Introduction (page 322).

Preparation of the Paschal Candle

In the light of the New fire, a special candle is prepared and blessed. It appears that the Paschal Candle is of considerable antiquity, from at least the fourth century [See http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11515b.htm].
The Paschal Candle, as leading the procession from the new fire into the Church, reminds us of the pillar of fire which led the Israelites by night in the Exodus [Ex 14]. Just as that pillar, lighting up the night, led Israel into the Red Sea and through safely to the other side, so this candle leads us to the waters of baptism and through to the feast of the promised land.
The pillar in turn was a type of Christ, so the Candle itself is a sign of Christ the light of the world. Traditionally, the candle is marked with a cross and other symbols, as set out on page 333 of the BAS.
The Greek letters alpha and omega are traced above and below the cross, while the numerals of the current year between the arms of the cross. While marking these symbols, the priest says:
1 Christ yesterday and today ; 2 the beginning and the end; 3 Alpha ; 4 and Omega ; 5 all time belongs to him ; 6 and all the ages ; 7 to him be glory and power ; 8 through every age for ever. Amen.
Then five grains of incense may be inserted in the form of a cross; while doing this the priest says:
1 By his holy; 2 and glorious wounds ; 3 may Christ our Lord ; 4 guard us; 5 and keep us. Amen.
Finally the celebrant lights the candle from the new fire, saying,
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.
Small candles held by the people are now lit from the Paschal Candle.

Procession – The Light of Christ

The deacon (or priest) lifts up the Candle and sings The Light of Christ. To which the people respond Thanks be to God. The Candle is carried into the Church, the people following with their candles. At a suitable pot the deacon lifts the Paschal Candle and sings again at a slightly higher pitch, The Light of Christ, and the people respond as before. When the deacon comes to the Paschal Candlestick he stops and faces the people, singing a third time, and higher still, The Light of Christ, to which the people respond as before.
Other candles and lamps in the Church may now be lighted

Exsultet

The deacon (or if there is no deacon, the priest), standing near the Candle sings the Proclamation of the Resurrection.
This hymn, which includes a blessing of the Candle, appears to have been composed between the fifth and the seventh century. It is a hymn of great beauty, even in the truncated form we have in the BAS. Summoning all creation to rejoice, it tells of this Night which is overcome by light. In a mystical truth the night of the Resurrection is the night in which Israel was led dry-shod through the sea, it is the night when Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave. In this vigil all of God`s saving work is present to us and we are present in it.

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Ten readings from the Old Testament are provided, recalling how God has saved his people throughout history; of these at least three are to be read. One, the reading from Exodus 14 which tells of the crossing of the Red Sea, is never to be omitted. We will be reading four lessons this year:
1. Genesis, 7.1-5,11-18; 8.6-18;9.8-13: The Great Flood
2. Genesis 22.1-18: Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac, but is stopped by God.
3. Exodus 14.10-31; 15.20-21: God delivers his people through the Red Sea
4. Isaiah 55.1-11: An Invitation to Abundant Life
When the vigil is performed in its fullest form, each reading is followed by the singing of a Canticle or Psalm, and a Collect (see p. 325). At St Columba’s, for practical reasons, each reading will be followed by a period of silence and a Collect
After the last reading, the hymn Gloria in Excelsis is sung. The Collect of the Day is then said or sung
The Epistle, Romans 6.3-11, is then read.
In this passage, St Paul declares that by our Baptism we are united with Christ, for in Baptism we share in Christ's death and in the newness of life which his resurrection has made possible for us. This newness of life is a freedom from sin (as foreshadowed by the slavery in Egypt).
The complex of images in Resurrection and Baptism recalls the salvation through the Red Sea in Exodus (and indeed the Flood, as well); this is all celebrated in a great hymn of the Exodus, Psalm 114, in Exitu Israel.
The climax of the Ministry of the Word comes in the Holy Gospel.
In year A we read the Resurrection Gospel from St Matthew (28.1-10)

The Sermon follows

THE RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL VOWS

In the early Church Pascha was the normal time for Baptism. The converts who had come to the end of their training (Catechumenate) underwent a final intensive preparation in the last weeks of Lent and came to confess their faith and receive the Water of Regeneration in the Great Vigil. In later years, although Infant Baptism became the norm and the rite was administered at any time. The solemn Blessing of the Font continued to be performed at the Paschal Vigil. From this has arisen the custom of a solemn renewal of Baptismal Vows. In it we remember the words of St Paul that were read in the Epistle: “
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.` We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.”
This custom gives a focus and goal to all of our Lenten disciplines.
It begins with a Thanksgiving for Water, a reminder of the many points in the history of God’s saving work which have involved his gift of water, culminating in thanksgiving for the water of Baptism and a prayer for all the Baptized.Then the Celebrant addresses the people calling us all
To renew the promises we made in baptism, when we rejected Satan and all his works, and promised to serve God faithfully in his holy catholic Church.
The form of the Baptismal Covenant then follow and concludes with the Peace.

THE CELEBRATION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST

The first Eucharist of Easter is then celebrated, beginning with the Preparation of the Gifts and the Prayer over the Gifts.
And so we pass from the Triduum into the joyous Fifty Day of Easter, singing Alleluia wherever it can possibly be added to the liturgy.

EASTER MORNING

Liturgically speaking, there is nothing particularly remarkable about the Eucharists of Easter Day or the remaining days of Eastertide, apart from the addition of Alleluia to the dismissal and the fact that the first reading for each Sunday of Easter is taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles rather than from a book of the Hebrew Scriptures.
I may not spend any more time on the notes this week, but will only list the readings for Sunday and provide a quick note on the background of the passage from Acts, which must be important=, for it is read in all three years.
On the first Sunday of Easter the treading from Acts is Acts 10. 34-43, which gives part of Peter’s sermon in the house of the centurion Cornelius, who although a Gentile is already a believer in God. He invited Peter as a result of a vision from God (10. 1-8). Though the law of Moses forbids Peter to associate with or visit a Gentile, he comes anyway, because of a vision and a direct command of the Spirit [10.9-23a], with “some of the believers from Joppa” (v. 23). Peter’s sermon is one of the earliest proclamations of the Risen Lord, and is of particular interest to us because it was proclaimed in a Gentile household.
Psalm 118.1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3.1-4
John 20.1-18

NOTE: There will be no Notes for Easter II, Sunday May 1st 2011.

Holy Week Notes

THE HOLY WEEK BOOK

Pepared for the Church of St Columba and All Hallows, East York, Toronto

by the Reverend Dr William Craig,

Part III

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is the first day of the Paschal Triduum, the Three Holy Days, which commemorate the great events of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. Tonight we commemorate our Lord’s Last Supper, his Agony in the Garden and his arrest; it is a mixture of joy and sorrow, of loud rejoicing and silent contemplation. On the night before he was crucified our Lord Jesus kept the Last Supper with his disciples. At that supper he instituted the Holy Eucharist as an abiding means of spiritual sustenance, and as a memorial for His Church to celebrate, declaring the consecrated bread and wine to be His Body and His Blood of the New Covenant. In the Eucharist, we share in his risen life and take part under earthly conditions in His eternal self-offering in heaven as the great High Priest. On that night he also took a towel and washed his disciples’ feet. It is from the foot washing that today receives its name, Maundy, which comes from the Latin Mandatum, “commandment”. For he said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” At the Last Supper Jesus told his disciples that one of them was about to betray him; he went out after supper to to agony, betrayal, and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Just so, after we have celebrated the Eucharist and rejoiced in this great gift and sacrament, we take the simple task of removing the ornaments from the church and make it a solemn reminder of Jesus agony in the garden and arrest. In comemoration of the Last Supper the Eucharist is celebrated in the evening of this day. It begins with an Address in which the celebrant sets forth the events we are commemorating. Then the Eucharist proceeds in the usual manner. By an old custom, the bells are rung at the singing of the Gloria in Excelsis, but are then silent until the Easter Vigil If the rite of The Washing of Feet is performed, it follows the Sermon (see BAS, p. 305). After Holy Communion, consecrated bread and wine are taken to a side chapel to be reserved for communion in the Good Friday Liturgy. Then the ornaments and cloths are removed from the altar and other places in the church. During this action, St Matthew’s account of the Agony in Gethsemane (26.30-46) and Psalm 22 may be read.

Some Notes on the Readings for Maundy Thursday

A Reading from the Book of Exodus [12.1-4 (5-10) 11-14]: This is the account of the institution of the Feast of Passover, which God commanded the people of Israel to keep as an everlasting memorial of the delivery from bondage in Egypt. The feast is called “the Passover of the Lord” because the Lord passed over the land of Egypt in judgement (verse 12), but passed over the houses where the Israelites were, which were marked with the blood of the Passover lamb (verses 7, 13). The first Passover meal was, as it were, the “last supper” of Israel in Egypt. The whole of the Exodus is celebrated in the Passover. The whole of the Exodus is seen in Christian tradition as a type or foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of Christ, the true Paschal Lamb. This is why we read about the institution of the Passover on the night we commemorate the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist. The word ‘passover’ translates the Hebrew pesach, which is from a verb meaning ‘to pass over, spring over’. An old Hebrew commentary on this passage says, “The sacrifice is called פֶּסַח because of the skipping and the jumping over, which the Holy One, blessed be He, skipped over the Israelites’ houses that were between the Egyptians houses. He jumped from one Egyptian to another Egyptian, and the Israelite in between was saved.” In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and in Christian writings, pesach became pascha, which in turn became the name for Easter in many languages. Pascha is surprisingly similar to the Greek word for ‘suffering’ (paschein). Psalm [116.1, 10-17]: This psalm is a thanksgiving for recovery from illness. It is part of the group of psalms [113-118] known as the “hallel” because they all contain the words “praise the Lord” (in Hebrew, Hallelujah). Psalms 115 -118 are sung after the Passover meal. In part then, this psalm is used at the Mass today as a comment on the first reading. It also looks ahead to the institution of the Holy eucharist: “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” To say that something is “precious in the sight of the Lord” (verse 15) means that it is rare. A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians [11.23-26] It is an interesting fact that the earliest surviving account of the institution of the Eucharist was written because of the bad behaviour of certain Church members. In the first letter to the Corinthian Church, St Paul found it necessary to write in reprove of their behaviour at the Eucharist. At this time the Eucharist was still part of a real meal as the Last Supper had been. Paul has heard that when the Corinthians assemble, there are divisions among them, so that they do not really come together to eat the Lord’s Supper but each goes ahead with his own supper. It has been suggested that one root of this abuse was a Roman custom of classifying guests socially and giving little or nothing to those considered inferior. Since the church met in private houses, members had to eat in separate rooms. So some ate lavishly, and others poorly; one went hungry, another got drunk [verse 21]. By this some were displaying their affluence and over-indulging. St Paul indignantly declares that if what they care about is eating and drinking, let them do it at home. In order to call the Corinthians to celebrate the Eucharist in the right spirit, he reminds them of how Christ instituted the feast. In his account he makes use of the important words “received” and “handed on”; these were technical terms for transmitting an oral tradition. Indeed the Latin trado, “I give on”, or “hand on” is the meaning at the heart of the idea of tradition. Paul may have received the factual tradition by human means but received the interpretation of it directly “from the Lord.” His message is that every celebration of he Lord’s Supper is a proclaiming of Christ’s death, by which we are freed from the bondage of evil. The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John [13.1-17, 31b-35] The Fourth Gospel does not report the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper; its Eucharistic teaching is found elsewhere, particularly in the discourses on the Bread of Heaven in Chapter 6. Nonetheless, Jesus’ teaching about love and service in this account of the Last Supper are properly read together with St Paul’s teaching about the true celebration of the Eucharist. The centrepiece of John’s account of the Last Supper is Christ’s new commandment “love one another as I have loved you,” and his acting out of that love in the washing of the disciples’ feet. NJBC says that this section falls into three parts: Jesus’ action (vv. 1-5) and two interpretations (vv. 6-11, 12-20). The second interpretation generalizes the action so that it teaches a lesson to all of Jesus’ later disciples. If I, then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Obviously Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet is an example of service. If we read the passage carefully however, we will see an even deeper significance. The Gospel relates that Jesus rose from supper, that is, he left his place at the table. Then he humbled himself to take on the dress of a servant, for he laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a bowl and washed his disciples’ feet , wiping them with the towel. When all was done, he took back his garments and returned to his place at the table. As we hear this account, we are reminded of the hymn quoted by Saint Paul in the second chapter of Philippians, which was read on Palm Sunday. Christ’s action of washing the disciples’ feet shows the same descent to humility and return to glory that is proclaimed here. This is how he has loved us. Thus we may see it a parable of not only of service, but also of Christ’s giving of himself to the Father, which is as it were the reality of which even servanthood is the outward sign. In our attempts to fulfil the great commandment of love we do more than simply try to obey, than simply try to imitate Jesus; we begin in our weakness to live the life of the Triune God. Later, in John 14, we read of Christ’s commandments: those who keep them are those who love him; those who love him will be loved by is Father, “and we will come to them and make our home with them” (14.21, 23). The Stripping of the Altar Because Jesus expressed his love for us in willingly humbling himself to death, in the stripping of the altar our thoughts are brought back to the story of his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and his arrest. During this act we hear read the account of Christ’s agony from St Matthew, which we heard on Sunday. Three times Christ affirms his obedience to the Father’s will despite any desire to escape suffering . It might be helpful to remember that this agony of obedience which led to our salvation took place in a garden; unlike the disobedience of our first parents in another garden, which was the cause of all our woe (Milton). The Reserved Sacrament By long custom the Holy Eucharist is not celebrated on Good Friday; and by ling custom people have desired the strength of the sacrament on that solemn day. So the consecrated elements are reserved over night for a very practical reason. The place of reservation is away from the main body of the Church in order to symbolize the “absence of the bridegroom”. This also provides a place where the people of God may take the opportunity of watching before the reserved sacrament as an answer to Christ’s question in Gethsemane to St Peter, “So could you not watch with me one hour?” There is no blessing or dismissal at the conclusion of the liturgy tonight, for this is only the first part of a single celebration.