The Collect of the Day
Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach your Word: Grant that your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
~BCP pg. 243
The Psalm
91
The Readings
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 + I Corinthians 4:9-15 + Luke 22:24-30
The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves . . . I am among you as one who serves.
~Luke 22:26,27b
The Bible doesn't tell us anything about Bartholomew, other than that he was one of the twelve apostles. It is fitting that the church remembers and honors Bartholomew and all the holy apostles--those chosen by Jesus to be his closest friends and followers, and to carry on the work of the kingdom he came to proclaim. The gospels are continually reminding us of their all-too-human failings, as in today's Gospel reading, which begins with the apostles arguing among themselves as to who among them was the greatest (and that on the very night of Jesus' betrayal and arrest). Yet these are the ones to whom Jesus gave the authority to preach and teach, to heal and judge--to confer on them a kingdom, so to speak. But it is a strange sort of kingdom, with a strange sort of authority.
They follow in the way of King Jesus, who set aside his glory and came among his own as one who serves. And he laid down his life in service until he gave the last full measure. The kingdom to which the apostles were called, and to which we are called, is a kingdom that upends what we think we know about leadership and greatness and authority. How could it be otherwise, when we serve a King who washes our feet?
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for showing us by your own example that to be great in the kingdom of God is to be one who serves; thank you for calling us into your kingdom, and welcoming us to eat and drink with you at your table. Amen.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The Collect of the Day
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
~BCP pg. 243
The Psalm
34
The Readings
Isaiah 61:10-11 + Galatians 4:4-7 + Luke 1:46-55
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman . . . so that we might receive adoption as children.
~Gal. 4:4-5
Mary the mother of Jesus has been revered with many titles, examples of devout Christians through the centuries fulfilling the word Mary speaks in her song: "All generations will call me blessed." One of the most important of these that the church affirmed quite early was the title Theotokos--"the God-bearer," or the similar designation "Mother of God." It's a profound title, not simply for what it tells us about Mary, but even more significantly, for what it tells us about her Son. To affirm that Mary is the Mother of God is to confess that Jesus is both truly human and truly God; truly "born of the Virgin Mary" and also "eternally begotten of the Father."
The mystery of the Incarnation is never exhausted, and can lead to some heady theology, indeed. But surely the loving regard in which Mary has been held by so many faithful through the ages, her universal appeal, is not unconnected to the universal experience of birth. It is at once the most ordinary and extraordinary fact of human existence: we are all born into this world. And, wonder of the ages, even God is born into this world. God the eternal Word is born in time, draws life from his mother's breast, sleeps on her shoulder, plays under her watchful eye. God the eternal Word becomes the child of Mary, so that we might become the children of God.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for your love in coming and being born among us, that we might be reborn in you. Thank you for the great faithfulness of Mary in bearing you into our world, and give us grace that, like her, our whole being may exult in you, our Savior. Amen.
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
~BCP pg. 243
The Psalm
34
The Readings
Isaiah 61:10-11 + Galatians 4:4-7 + Luke 1:46-55
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman . . . so that we might receive adoption as children.
~Gal. 4:4-5
Mary the mother of Jesus has been revered with many titles, examples of devout Christians through the centuries fulfilling the word Mary speaks in her song: "All generations will call me blessed." One of the most important of these that the church affirmed quite early was the title Theotokos--"the God-bearer," or the similar designation "Mother of God." It's a profound title, not simply for what it tells us about Mary, but even more significantly, for what it tells us about her Son. To affirm that Mary is the Mother of God is to confess that Jesus is both truly human and truly God; truly "born of the Virgin Mary" and also "eternally begotten of the Father."
The mystery of the Incarnation is never exhausted, and can lead to some heady theology, indeed. But surely the loving regard in which Mary has been held by so many faithful through the ages, her universal appeal, is not unconnected to the universal experience of birth. It is at once the most ordinary and extraordinary fact of human existence: we are all born into this world. And, wonder of the ages, even God is born into this world. God the eternal Word is born in time, draws life from his mother's breast, sleeps on her shoulder, plays under her watchful eye. God the eternal Word becomes the child of Mary, so that we might become the children of God.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for your love in coming and being born among us, that we might be reborn in you. Thank you for the great faithfulness of Mary in bearing you into our world, and give us grace that, like her, our whole being may exult in you, our Savior. Amen.
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