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2006/07/29

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

John Chrysotom on the Gospel
Seventh Sunday after Trinity Home

LORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I have compassion on the multitude
feeding-5000

Announcements for the week beginning
30 July 06

Ignatius of Loyola - July 31st

Legionaries might enjoy this rousing children's march song,



 

2006/07/25

St James the Major [25 July]

 

Saint James
[July 25th]
Chrysostom on Acts

GRANT, O merciful God, that, as thine holy Apostle Saint James, leaving his father and all that he had, without delay was obedient unto the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him; so we, forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore ready to follow thy holy commandments; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Psalm 34   Acts xi. 27 St. Matthew xx. 20
Homily

James killed wtih the sword
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

2006/07/22

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity

O GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man's understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect Source: Sacrementary of Gelasius, Bishop of Rome [ca 494AD]. Inspired by 1 Corinthians ii. 9. (from Isaiah lxiv. 4)

Isaiah lvii. 13b, Psalm 16, Romans vi. 3 & St. Matthew v. 20

Homily


Jesus-teaching
First be reconciled to thy brother
Announcements for the week beginning
23 July 06


Feasts, Memorials, and Fasts

James the Apostle -- July 25th

2006/07/18

Philippian Jailor

Last week my lectionary had appointed the 16th Chapter of Acts. As I read through the account of Paul and Silas and the Philippian Jailer the word "serjeant" (Greek strategos and Latin praetor] piqued my interest. A bit of research on the story revealed that many, if not most scholars, regard the Philippian Jailer as a veteran retired Roman soldier. Hence, I have added him to our Roster and Calendar for the 19th of July... let us see his story in the Scripture (bottom) and some information about the Colonial City of Philippi that I think you'll appreciate, especially the great battle of the Roman Civil War fought there ..

Philippian Jailer

ca 50 AD
[19 July]

O God, who didst burst the bands of Paul and Silas as they praised thee in prison by thy mighty hand, and didst spare the life of the Philippian Jailer to serve thee by thy divine mercy; we beseech thee to protect us and let thy mercy be upon us; so that we, and our households, may join with the Jailer and all thy saints, in perfect assurance of salvation, by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.
[Collect: Mark of Kentucky and Mike of Texas]

Acts xvi. 23b, Psalm 23, John iii. 15

Sirs, what must i do to be saved?

Philippian_Jailer

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.




Many Bible scholars believe that the Jailor was a retired veteran Roman soldier. The city of Philippi was a major city that had been chartered as a "Roman Colonial City". Old soldiers sought retirement in these cities. The position of Jailer was most suitable for a veteran, and a fit soldier would have been the likely choice of the Roman officials. I suspect that this was not an elected position, but an appointed one. Who would have been better suited for the job, than a man who had commanded in combat and proved his ability with men and the sword in the face of Rome's enemies, and lived to tell of it?

An understanding of the Philippi will help us to understand the Jailer more. In 360 B.C. colonists from Thasos established "Krenides" The people were threatened by the Thacians in 356, and asked King Philip II for support. Philip conquered it, fortified it, and named it after himself (Philippi). It became the capital city for a while of Macedonia. The capital later moved to Pella. In 336 Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, was assassinated in at his daughter's wedding.

In 42 BC the armies of Marcus Antonious and Octavian joined to defeat the rebels who had assassinated Julius Caesar at the Battle of Philippi. Brutus and Cassius committed suicide there. The historian Appian of Alexander wrote and excellent account of the battle in second century After the battle, the two victors spent a fortune on the city and granted it the status of "Roman Colony" the ruins of which can be seen this day. This was the first European city to have accepted Christianity, and it became a metropolis of Christianity. Its location on the Via Egnatia made it important to travelers and trade.


Acts xvi. 23b

WHEN they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

Psalm xxiii

John iii. 16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.



2006/07/15

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

GRANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sacramentary of Leo, Bishop of Rome [ca 450]. The collect asks for peace... Leo faced barbarian tribes at the gates of Rome in this period. Cranmer used "our Lord" instead of the Latin "our Redeemer"

Ecclesiastes ii. 1, Psalm 62, 1 St. Peter iii. 8   &  St. Luke v. 1

Homily

Luke-v.1
Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men
 
Announcements for the week beginning
16 July 06

Feasts, Memorials, and Fasts
Philippian Jailer, Veteran, - ca 53 [ 19 July ]

Free Seminary Courses - Centurion Mike of Texas posted this site on another forum http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worldwide/default.asp where one may get free seminary courses from Covenant Seminary, the national Seminary of the Presbyterian Church of America. The PDF study files are small enough, but the MP3 Lecture files are rather large. You may use directly from the site. The text may be ordered from the Seminary. For those who wish to use offline, I would highly recommend a high-speed connection to download these files. I did so on the first ancient church history course and it took appproxmately 272 mebabites of memory. In this one class, there some 34 audio lectures and 38 pdf files that correspond to the lectures, syllabus, and annexes. The full seminary is 20  classes.


2006/07/14

Is it Sinful to be a Soldier?"


"Is it Sinful to be a Soldier?" is a tract about Christian Soldiers and putting Christians at ease about serving their country. It might be handy to use if any of you minister to soldiers, or ROTC cadets, or to place in areas that uniformed service people use - like a lounge in an airport. The author gives permission for an overprint such as your local cohort, church, Legion Post, etc. See copyright restrictions.
 
 
Mark

 

2006/07/08

Fourth Sunday after Trinity

 

O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect Source: Sacramentary of Bishop Gregory of Rome [ca 600AD].

Lamentations iii. 22, Psalm 91, Romans viii. 18   &  St. Luke vi. 36

Homilies

blind-leaders

Can the blind lead the blind?

Announcements for the week beginning
9 July 06


Feasts, Memorials, and Fasts

Christopher of Antioch -- July 10th

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, "El Cid Campeador" - July 10th

Camillus of Lellis, Soldier, Religious - July 14th

News: our newest Cohort, Cohort Anthony of Pudua, Tanzania

2006/07/04

Independence Day

 

United States of America Independence Day
[July 4]

O ETERNAL God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old; Grant, we beseech thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Deuteronomy x. 17   &   St. Matthew v. 43



Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve

2006/07/01

Third Sunday after Trinity

 

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may, by thy mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect Source: Sacramentary of Gregory [ca 600AD]. In a 1662 revison the last phrase was added and comforted in all dangers and adversities

Jeremiah xxxi. 1, Psalm cxlv , 1 St. Peter v. 5   &  St. Luke xv. 1.

Homily


Lost_sheep

Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
 

Captain of the Host

Joshua 5:13-15 (see below)
 
This week traditional American Anglicans have been reading in Joshua. The revisers in 1945 had dropped this passage from the BCP (it is in the 1928 edition Lectionary ( Josh 5-10 through 6:11, but was dropped in the extensive update of 1945), so that it was not to be read... (along with others that are militant in nature" for instance Rev 19: 17ff that show Christ Militant. Ch 19 was read in its entirety on Fri, 3rd Sunday in Advent in 1928-1944).  Perhaps it wasn't thought to be politically correct after the great WWII to have such a militant view of Christ. They by fiat essentially edited the Bible by ensuring this chapter was not read publicly. I don't know for sure,  but I aways treat this lectionary with grain of salt, and look to fill in the gaps.  Dr. Peter Toon of the Prayer Book Society wrote me this year and said that the 1662 BCP was the standard he used. In those days, I do believe the entire bible was read. That was Cranmer's design. In an article I read recently, Dr. Toon stated that it was after WWII that the PECUSA began to change, a change that has brought it very nearly to a falling out with the Anglican communion today.... this change in the lectionary of 1945 in the 1928 BCP could well be part of what he meant.
 
What I do know is that the passage of Joshua 5:13-15 (see below) is very comforting to me personally as a warrior, and it uses the title the Church has used through the ages to refer to  Christ... the Captain of the Host. This is the same title I've chosen for the Labarum Guard prayer. Now my old KJV study Bible makes references to passages referring to theophanies of God (eg with Abram and Israel) and also of the Lord's militant Angel... ( e.g. with the donkey, Garden of Eden etc.)    Well, which is it? It cannot be both God and Angel.  Joshua, on a commander's reconnaissance of Jericho, sees the militant being with sword drawn opposite of him. The verse that has captured me is that this armed being told Joshua to remove his shoes, that he was on holy ground, and did not rebuke his worship. It is here that I see clearly an OT revelation of Christ Militant, the Logos, with sword drawn and prepared to do the Lord's work in combat, to fight the Lord's fight. It makes the image of our Christ Militant, that we have on the Chapel, so very appropriate and reassuring. I am confident that he is yet Militant and protects the Church Militant, the invisible body of Christ's own, so that even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
 
I said the verse comforted me personally, and yet more. And why? Because our troops are in a great global war against a lose group of evil people, and I believe our cause to be righteous before God... to halt the terrorist where we find them, to offer freedom and hope to oppressed peoples. I pray that along side our forces there is an invisible army under command of Christ Militant, the Captain of the Host, and his angels under Michael, who fights in his battle against evil, and that our cause is just and that we are indeed joined with him. I think of our own centurions in harms way, soon to be joined  other dear to us, and I am comforted by this passage and the belief that Christ has since the beginning, according to God's plan, been involved directly in the affairs of men and war.
 
I invite you to take a look at the commentary on these passages by J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. called The Captain of the Lord’s Army
(Joshua 5:13-15)
 
Joshua 5:13-15
 
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.