The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

 

 

Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

News of the Order and commentary appear after the Proper Collect, Epistle and Gospel

 

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity
Augustine on Psalm XXXIX

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Historical Note: Source Gelasian [ca 494]. Original Latin: cuius providential in sui despositione non fallitur

Job i, Psalms 39, 41 | 37 , Romans viii. 12 & St. Matthew vii. 15
Homily of Augustine on Psalm XXXIX

Take thy plague away from me: I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand

---

 

BULLETIN

 

calendar

 

Camillus of Lellis, Soldier, Religious - July 14th

Philippian Jailer, Veteran, - 19 July [ca 50AD]

bidding

for our warriors

 

Heavenly Father, we pray that You will be with all our men and women who are serving their nation at war. We ask that You keep them safe and give them peace of mind knowing they are in Your hands and that You love each one of them. We pray for the families that are waiting for their safe return. That You will help us cope and offer our loved ones the support they need on the field. In Your holy name we pray, Amen

 

[Thanks to Thomas of Tennessee for sharing this prayer]

 

quotation

 

"Nothing is sadder than someone who has lost his memory, and the church, which has lost its memory, is in the same state of senility."  AMEN

 

[Henry Chadwick, 1988 Lambeth Conference, Oxford-Cambridge Scholar of Early Christianity as reported on www.VirtureOnLine.org. The Very Rev. Dr. Chadwick passed away at age 87 on June 29, 2008]

 

Lest we forget…

Grant, O Lord, that we may we always remember the struggles of the Early Church against its adversaries and its quest to defend  the catholic and orthodox faith as was given by our Lord; which faith was conveyed to the Church by the Apostles and Evangelists, and  handed down to us through the ages. Give us such wisdom that we of the Order of Centurions never forget, never lose our memory of the Church Militant, and remain ever vigilant against all strange doctrines and practices. Amen  msc

news

Centurion Michael of Florida sends along this link to a  small silver Chi-Rho ring at a bargain price.

 

Here is an interesting article on the Dead Sea Scroll in Stone and supposed connections to Christianity.

 

We have established an Order of Centurion web-based Calendar courtesy of Google, and have placed some feeds and links our Calendar page on the Order's site. All of the major fixed feasts through the year are entered, and fixed commemoration may follow as time allows.

GOOGLE CALENDAR
of Fixed Feasts and Commemorations
 .  .

 

The Academy of Centurions Theological School (Academia Centurionum Theologia Schola) is scheduled to open for operations on the fifth anniversary of the Order, St. Michael Archangel - MMVIII. More to follow.

 

 

commentary

 

I became dumb, and opened not my mouth; for it was thy doing. Take thy plague away from me: I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand.

 

Today Augustine preaches on Psalm XXXIX in the homily at the link above. The "plague" that struck David is key to understanding the psalm, and yet David never cursed God for his illness. I wonder if David thought of the book of Job when he wrote it.

 

Compare the quoted verse with the verses in our Old Testament scripture selected to accompany this lesson.  Job refuses to curse or complain against God for his misfortune and plague [Job i.20ff]

 

"Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly'

 

May God grant to each Centurion wisdom and patience in their suffering, trusting always in God and waking with him as a sojourner in this world. Whenever one of us succumbs to some "plague" or calamity, let us pray the collect appointed for this Sunday, and as David did in the last verse of the Psalm:  

 

O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen.  

 

 

                                 *****************************************

 

Aside on ethics: I listen tonight to some who speak of a need to have a society based on "ethical" standards, as if it is not now… and yet I suspect these folk are not God fearing. I must wonder if these folk ever ponder from whence ethics arise. Logically, if there is no God, then "right, wrong, ethical, and rights" are mere illusions, mere words with no foundation save human tradition, and are subject to change at the whim of society in a generation. Without the true external source of Good, (Taos as CS Lewis called it -  Natural Law as known by many) there is only power, and enforcement of one group's "ethics" on society. Some of these same folk who speak of "ethics" are among the first to rebuke the God fearers as being dangerous to society and to their "rights"… a strange and quite illogical state of affairs to this Centurion. msc

 

 Α☧Ω
Order of Centurions