The Twenty-first 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
Grant, we beseech thee merciful Lord, to thy faithful people indulgence and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Source: Sacramentary of Bishop Gelasius of Rome [494AD]. Cranmer in 1549 translated the Latin "indulgence" as the English "pardon". The call for "peace" in this collect has been ascribed to the fact that at the time, Rome was under heavy assault that threatened to break Pax Romana. This collect is used in the place of an absolution when the office is conducted by a layman. Dr. Peter Toon translated the original Latin as follows: "Be reconciled, we beseech thee, Lord, to thy faithful ones, and grant them bountifully indulgence and peace, that they may be cleansed from all offences, and at the same time do unto thee devoted service without distraction of mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Twenty-first 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
Grant, we beseech thee merciful Lord, to thy faithful people indulgence and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Source: Sacramentary of Bishop Gelasius of Rome [494AD]. Cranmer in 1549 translated the Latin "indulgence" as the English "pardon". The call for "peace" in this collect has been ascribed to the fact that at the time, Rome was under heavy assault that threatened to break Pax Romana. This collect is used in the place of an absolution when the office is conducted by a layman. Dr. Peter Toon translated the original Latin as follows: "Be reconciled, we beseech thee, Lord, to thy faithful ones, and grant them bountifully indulgence and peace, that they may be cleansed from all offences, and at the same time do unto thee devoted service without distraction of mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Isaiah lix. 15b, Psalms: 120, 121, 122 | 133, 134, 135, Ephesians vi. 10 & St. John iv. 46
Homily of Augustine on Psalm 133
BEHOLD, how good and joyful a thing it is,
for brethren to dwell together in unity!
WEEKLY BULLETIN
quotation
"Thus there are many brethren, who do not dwell together,
save in the body."
[Augustine, Homily on Psalm XXXIII ]
calendar
commentary
This day our featured psalm is 133. The subtitle says it is one of the "Songs of Degrees of David". The first verse sets the tone of this short psalm.
BEHOLD, how good and joyful a thing it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity!
One wonders what occasion may have prompted David to compose it. One suggestion is the assembly of all Israel in Hebron to crown David king [2Sa 5:1-5] which is the appointed Old Testament Lesson.
Unity is a good and pleasant thing. Some may have allegiance to an organization, such as a church, so that even if it departed from the historic traditions and faith, they would be loyal to it and seek to keep unity above all things. Others find unity is only acceptable in faith - and their loyalty is their belief.
Augustine wrote,
"And what is "together in unity"? They had, he [Luke] says, one mind and one heart God-wards"
To have one mind, we must have unity in essentials. What are these essentials? In a word, the Creed. The Order also salutes these essentials proffered by Praefectus Castrorum:
1. The Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1; John 20:28; Heb. 1:8-9), the Creator God Himself (Col. 1:16; compare Gen. 1:1); Who "laid the foundation of the earth" (Heb. 1:10-12 compare Psalms 102:24-27).
2. The Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14; Mt. 1:23; Luke 1:27).
3. The Blood Atonement (Acts 20:28; Ro. 3:25; Ro. 5:9; Eph. 1:7).
4. The Bodily Resurrection (Luke 24:36-46; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 1 Cor. 15:14-15).
5. The Second Advent of Christ Jesus to set up God's Kingdom on Earth and in Eternity (Isa. 9:6,7)
6. The inerrancy of the scriptures themselves (Psalms 12:6-7; Ro. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20)....
Two heresies are causing division these days: modernism and postmodernism. The modern approach is a cold and rational one that demands scientific proof. It arose out of the Enlightenment period. In its extreme form, nothing is to be taken on faith. It has given rise to a critical examination of Scriptures with biblical scholars who deny the miraculous. Another emerging heresy is based on a "post-modern" frame of mind. It creates its own theologies often for who it perceives as the underdog. Post Modernism also denies that there can be any "Truth" in anything said or written, much less truth which was derived from the Bible. It embraces the New Age religions and denies Christ as the Savior. Both camps of these heretics murmur against the Word of God.
Listen, though, to what Augustine says to us,
For murmurers are admirably described in a certain passage of the Scriptures, "The heart of a fool is as the wheel of a cart." What is the meaning of "the heart of a fool is as the wheel of a cart"? It carries hay, and creaks. The wheel of a cart cannot cease from creaking. Thus there are many brethren, who do not dwell together, save in the body. But who are they who dwell together? They of whom it is said, "And they had one mind and one heart towards God."
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Postscript. An interesting sentence in this homily by Augustine mentions the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and of John Baptist falling by tradition on the Winter and Summer Solstice. He writes,
The ministry of man grew less and less, as was signified in John; the ministry of God in our Lord Jesus Christ increased, as was shown at their birth. The former was born, as the tradition of the Church shows, on the 24th of June, when the days begin to shorten. The Lord was born on the 25th of December, when the days begin to lengthen. Here John himself confessing, "He must increase, but I must decrease."
Finis
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PRIMUS PILUS
"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" [St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14:19]
IN HOC SIGNO VINCES - TIME DEUM ET OPERARE IUSTITIAM
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