Feast of the Holy Cross and the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity - 2013

For the Feast of the Holy Cross - 14 September:

http://orderofcenturions.org/documents/holy_cross.html

The is a link on that page that will also take you to the history of the feast. Be sure to check it out.

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 119.121-128

Feci judicium

121. I DEAL with the thing that is lawful and right : O give me not over unto mine oppressors.
122. Make thou thy servant to delight in that which is good : that the proud do me no wrong.
123. Mine eyes are wasted away with looking for thy health : and for the word of thy righteousness.
124. O deal with thy servant according unto thy loving mercy : and teach me thy statutes.
125. I am thy servant, O grant me understanding : that I may know thy testimonies.
126. It is time for thee, Lord to lay to thine hand : for they have destroyed thy law.
127. For I love thy commandments : above gold and precious stone.
128. Therefore hold I straight all thy commandments : and all false ways I utterly abhor.

The Collect.

O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 12
Psalter: Psalm 98, 99 | 89, 59
Epistle Reading: Ephesians 3.8-21
Gospel Reading: St. Luke 7.11-18

Barbee and Zahl: “The point to underline for us is the link between God’s pity and God’s cleansing. ( . . . ) “Pity” here, in the Collect for Trinity XVI, refers to God’s compassion, His disposition and temperament of mercy that is continual, unchanging. The idea is that this compassion has the potency to cleanse. We can liken it to that power of tenderly affectioned empathy for us in our need that is able to reduce us to tears. The empathy of another who truly loves me moves me. Christ’s pity on the Syrophoenician woman, the man born blind, pathetic Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, Bartimaeus at Jericho, me and you: This can touch us where we live. Being moved to tears and the emotional encounter of being loved in our real state cleanses us. Let His continual pity cleanse and defend us evermore” (101).
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For those of you who are interested, the is a link on my blog that will take you to a great book that you can now download for free: “The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity” written by an astute Catholic author, Leon Podles. I read this book years ago and found it powerfully convincing, insightful, and truly helpful. http://mphilliber.blogspot.com/2013/09/download-great-book-for-free.html

Primus Pilus II
Mike

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - 2013

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 103

Benedic, anima mea

( . . . )

8. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy : long-suffering, and of great goodness.

9. He will not alway be chiding : neither keepeth he his anger for ever.

10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.

11. For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth : so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him.

12. Look how wide also the east is from the west : so far hath he set our sins from us.

13. Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him.

( . . . )

The Collect.

O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

{***Cranmer’s 1549 version: “O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us abundantly  thy grace, that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”***}

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 26.12-19

Psalter: Psalm 63, 64 | 54, 55

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 15.1-11

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 18.9-14

Barbee and Zahl: “The prayer discloses an insight concerning God’s character which is of great importance. God is said here to declare His almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity. This gets to the heart of the Gospel question. It is a question to which our blessed Reformers gave their absolute all (and sometimes their bodies to be burned) in seeking to hear the answer: Is God primarily wrathful or is He primarily gracious (i.e., merciful)? More precisely, is God going to estimate me according to my deservings (Heaven forbid, at least if I am honest!) or according to  some other standard of undeserved compassion? What, at the end of the day – at the end of my days – is God like? This prayer makes the unambiguous and quite un-complex assertion that God demonstrates power primarily in pity. This is too much for my “natural man.” Yet I ache for it through every fibre. In an age when power and the acquisition (and abuse) of it is understood as the motivating force in human affairs – and every age, in fact, has marched somewhat to that devilish tune – this prayer stands in mighty contrast. It asserts a breathtaking alternative. God shows His power not chiefly in earthquake, fire, flood, nor in the starry sky and earth beneath, nor in signs and wonders; but in pity” (91).