·  19 Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr, 1012 , officially remembered by the name Alphege within some churches,^[2][3] and also called Elphege, Alfege,^[5] or Godwine,^[6] was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His perceived piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate, and eventually, to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of Dunstan and also encouraged learning. He was captured by Viking raiders in 1011 and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed.

·  21 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109 , also called Anselm of Aosta after his birthplace and Anselm of Bec after his monastery, was a Benedictine monk, philosopher, and prelate of the Church, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the founder of scholasticism, he has been a major influence in Western theology and is famous as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God and the satisfaction theory of atonement.

·  22 John Muir, Naturalist and Writer, 1914, and Hudson Stuck, Priest and Environmentalist, 1920

·  23 George, Soldier and Martyr, c. 304. Toyohiko Kagawa, Prophetic Witness in Japan, 1960

·  24 Genocide Remembrance

·  25 Saint Mark the Evangelist

·  26 Robert Hunt, Priest and First Chaplain at Jamestown, 1607

FIRST READING:  Acts 3: 12 - 19   (RCL)

                                 Acts 3: 13 - 15, 17 - 19   (Roman Catholic)

Acts 3:12 (NRSV) When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Zephaniah 3: 14 - 20   (alt. for C of E)

Zeph 3:14 (NRSV) {A Song of Joy} Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

he will renew you in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing 18 as on a day of festival.

I will remove disaster from you,

so that you will not bear reproach for it.

19 I will deal with all your oppressors

at that time.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

20 At that time I will bring you home,

at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the LORD.

PSALM 4   (RCL)

Psalm 4: 1, 3, 6 - 8   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 4:1 (NRSV) Answer me when I call, O God of my right!

You gave me room when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?

How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?

3 But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself;

the LORD hears when I call to him.

4 When you are disturbed, do not sin;

ponder it on your beds, and be silent.

5 Offer right sacrifices,

and put your trust in the LORD.

6 There are many who say, "O that we might see some good!

Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!"

7 You have put gladness in my heart

more than when their grain and wine abound.

8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace;

for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.

Note: Verse numbering in Roman Catholic Bibles is one greater than the above.

4   Cum invocarem     (ECUSA BCP)

1          Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause; *

     you set me free when I am hard-pressed;

     have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2          “You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; *

     how long will you worship dumb idols

     and run after false gods?”

3          Know that the Lord does wonders for the faithful; *

     when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.

4          Tremble, then, and do not sin; *

     speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.

5          Offer the appointed sacrifices *

     and put your trust in the Lord.

6          Many are saying, “Oh, that we might see better times!” *

     Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord.

7          You have put gladness in my heart, *

     more than when grain and wine and oil increase.

8          I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; *

     for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

SECOND READING:   1 John 3: 1 - 7   (RCL)

1Joh 3:1 (NRSV) See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

h/t Montreal Anglican

The author emphasizes that through our kinship with Christ, son of God, we can “be called children of God”, a status we enjoy because of God’s gift of love: his gift of his only Son as Saviour of the world. We have this status now (“that is what we are”). Then v. 1b: most people did not listen to and understand Jesus (“did not know him”), so it is to be expected that few will listen to us, his emissaries. Then v. 2: being his children is happening now, and will be at the end of time, but we have not been shown in what way this will be; however, we do know that we will be like Christ: we will see the Father fully, in all his glory. “All who have this hope” (v. 3) in Christ, this expectation of the future – i.e. Christians – consider it required of them to live a virtuous, ethical, life (“purify themselves”), emulating the essential goodness, purity, of God.
In 2:1-2, the author says that he is writing “so that you may not sin”, but should anyone sin, Christ will defend us. Then in 2:3, he says that we know Christ “if we obey his commandments”, i.e. if we walk in God’s ways, his laws. There are dissenters from the true faith, who are spoken of, in v. 4, as lawless: they habitually deviate from God’s ways, persist in doing evil (v. 5). In 1:8, the author says “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves ...”: so sin is possible for Christians. When we do sin, we weaken our bond with God, the very bond which gives meaning and reality to being Christian (v. 6). The dissidents may claim that all that matters is a godly attitude, but being “righteous” (v. 7, godly) requires actions as well. Jesus is our example.

2:29-3:10: Differentiating God’s children from those of the devil: Jesus is the model of obedience, and God’s children follow his example. He was not understood by the “world” ( 3:1), and neither are they. Their future is to become like him, and to become pure as he is. [ CAB]
3:1-10: NJBC splits these verses into two sections: We are God’s children now (vv. 1-3) and Those born of God do not sin (vv. 4-10).
3:1: “children”: John 1:12 says: “... to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God”. Through God’s “love”, we become progressively more to resemble him. [ NOAB] We are God’s children now. This has three consequences:

• Christians do not belong to the world, which has failed to receive Jesus. See also John 15:18-19; 17:14-16.
• Christians will live lives of holiness like Christ. See also John 17:17-19.
• Christians are confident of an even greater salvation in the future. See also John 17:24. [ NJBC]

3:1-2: God’s love in making us “children” (see also John 1:12) progressively produces resemblance to God, here and hereafter. [ NOAB]
3:2: “we will be like him, for we will see him as he is”: In Hellenistic religion, a common theme was that like would know like, so here the human being who knows God is made godly. For the Johannine tradition this occurs experientially through Jesus. Jesus possessed the divine name and equality with God (see John 17:11-12). He has shared this name with the disciples (see John 17:6, 26). They have shared Jesus' fate at the hands of the world (see John 15:21) and will witness his preexistent glory (see John 17:24). Paul expresses a similar idea: we have the expectation of a future vision of God or divine glory: in 1 Corinthians 13:12, he writes: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known”. See also 2 Corinthians 3:18. [ NJBC]
3:3: Hope of complete moral likeness to Christ motivates purity of life: in Matthew 5:8, Jesus says “‘blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God’”. [ NOAB]
3:4: I have linked “lawlessness” to earlier in this book; however others point out that lawlessness and the devil are associated in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8.
NJBC says that the author appears to be referring to the “lawlessness” associated with Satan's rule at the end of the era. Sinning proves that one is really a child of Satan.
Alan Perry, my reviewer, has suggested another thought on “lawlessness”: it may refer to the antinomian strain of thought in early Christianity, i.e. the thinking process that led Paul to say “all things are permissible” – but not all things are beneficial. Some argued that Jesus has set us free from the law in its entirety – that how we live is of no concern – and even Paul does not appear to be totally clear on the issue, when he distinguishes between ritual and moral laws.
3:5: In John 1:29, we read: “The next day he [John the Baptizer] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”. [ NOAB]
3:6: “no one who sins has either seen him or known him”: The author implies that the person who sins is not really a Christian. In 2:5, he has written: “whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him”. [ NJBC]
3:6: “sins”: i.e. habitually and constantly. 3 John 11 warns: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God”. [ NOAB]
There is a tension in the New Testament over whether it is possible for the saints to sin, which led to much questioning later on (in the second and third centuries) concerning the possibility and consequences of sin after baptism. This led to the practice of postponing baptism until quite late in life, even to one's deathbed, for fear of an inadvertent sin leading to loss of salvation. Ultimately, this sort of practice was done away with as the matter was settled through an understanding that post-baptismal sins can also be forgiven. [Alan T. Perry]
3:8: In John 8:44, Jesus says to some who are hostile to him and his message: “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies”. See also Acts 13:10 and Hebrews 2:14. [ NOAB]
3:9: In 5:18, Jesus says: “‘We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them’”. [ NOAB] The emphasis on the inherent sinlessness of the Christian appears to stand in sharp contrast to the earlier claim that one should not say, “we have no sin” (see 1:8 and 1:10). This section deals with the certainty of divine election and indwelling over against those who persist in doing evil. It presumes that the Christian is living in a way that coheres with being a child of God (“is righteous”, v. 7, and loves fellow Christians, v. 10). A similar distinction is found in John 8:39: between those who are hostile to Jesus (i.e. are children of Satan) and those who are real children of Abraham (i.e. rejoice in Jesus). [ NJBC]
The assumption in this passage in 1 John is that Christians are living truly worthy lives: note “righteous” in v. 7 and love fellow Christians in v. 10. [ NJBC]

GOSPEL:   Luke 24: 36b - 48   (RCL)

                    Luke 24: 35 - 48   (Roman Catholic)

Luke 24:35 (NRSV) Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.

44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Jesus has appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and has shared bread with them (vv. 13-32). Upon returning to Jerusalem, they have heard from “the eleven and their companions” (v. 33) that Jesus has also appeared to Peter. “Peace” (v. 36), proclaimed by the angel at Jesus’ birth, (in 2:14) is now his gift to the disciples. When the group think they are seeing a ghost (v. 37), Jesus asks them: why do you have trouble in believing that it is me, risen from death? (v. 38) He invites them to “touch me and see” (v. 39), to understand. Realizing that he is risen, their joy is so great as to leap beyond belief (v. 41). They give him “broiled fish” (v. 42), a Galilean dish. Eating shows that he is not a ghost: he is bodily resurrected. Times have changed, as “while I was still with you” (v. 44) shows. He tells them that he fulfils the whole of the Old Testament (to Jews divided into “the law ... the prophets, and the psalms” or Writings ), and explains the scriptures to them (v. 45). The quotation in vv. 46-47 combines verses from the Old Testament and apocryphal books. He commissions the Church: with faith in his divinity (“in his name”, v. 47) “repentance and forgiveness ... is to be proclaimed ... to all nations”; the Church is his agent.

John 20:19-23 also tells of Jesus arriving and showing the marks of crucifixion to the disciples. There he gives them the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 15:5, Paul tells of Jesus’ appearance to “the twelve”. [ NOAB]
The experience with Jesus, affirmed in v. 36, is tentatively interpreted in v. 37 as an encounter with the dead, but this explanation is rejected in v. 39. [ NOAB]
It is possibly still Easter Day. V. 13 begins “On that same day ...”
Verse 36: “and said to them ...”: While omitted in some ancient manuscripts, this clause is supported by the majority. [ NJBC]
Verse 38: “‘Why are you frightened ... ?’”: This story begins without reference to the preceding, in which those who walked with Jesus to Emmaus and ate with him returned to tell the eleven disciples and other followers about their experience. [ NJBC]
Verse 39: “Touch me”: 1 John 1:1 says “We declare to you ... what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life”. [ NOAB]
Verse 42: See Tobit 12:16-22 for a similar story, but with a different result.
Verse 43: “in their presence”: While the Greek means literally before them, NJBC says that the correct translation is at their table – based on usage in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, Luke’s usage (in 13:26 and Acts 27:35), and from Luke's account of the risen Lord's eating with his disciples (see Acts 1:4; 10:41). Thus, the main point of this verse is not insistence on the reality of Jesus' body, but rather Jesus' victory over death as symbolized by his renewal of table fellowship with his disciples.
Verse 44: Jesus has also interpreted the scriptures to Cleopas and the two other followers on the road to Emmaus: see vv. 26-27. In Acts 28:23, we read that Paul tried to convince the Jews of Rome “about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets” (but note that the psalms are not mentioned). [ NOAB]
Verse 45: In v. 32, those who had seen Jesus on the road to Emmaus say to each other: “‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’”. [ NOAB] Luke tells us what he means by understanding in two verses: “But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying” (Luke 9:45) and “But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said” (Luke 18:34).
Verse 46: “... rise from the dead on the third day”: Hosea 6:2 speaks of raising on the third day. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 speaks of Jesus dying, being buried, and being “raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures”. [ NOAB]
Verse 47: In Acts 1:4-8, Jesus tells the eleven disciples that they will soon be his witnesses throughout the world, starting with Jerusalem. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissions his disciples to seek the conversion of all peoples, and to baptise them. [ NOAB] Jesus the Messiah preaches to “all nations” through Paul and the Church: see Acts 26:23. [ NJBC]
Verse 48: In 1:2, Luke states that he writes based on the testimony of eyewitnesses. In Acts 1:8, speaking of the Day of Pentecost, Jesus says “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. [ NOAB] “You” here in Luke is “the eleven and their companions” (v. 33) and, considering that we are reading Luke, includes women. [ NJBC]
Verses 49-51: Jesus tells the disciples that he will “send upon you what my Father promised”, i.e. the Holy Spirit. After blessing them at Bethany (the village near Jerusalem from which he began his triumphal entry, see 19:28-38), he is “carried up into heaven” (v. 51).
Verse 49: “what my Father promised ... clothed with power from on high”. Acts 2:1-4 tell of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In John 14:26, Jesus promises that the Father will send the Holy Spirit. In John 20:21-23, Jesus sends out the disciples, confers the Holy Spirit on them, and gives them authority to forgive sins. The new age has begun but its power is not yet freely felt. Joel 2:28-32 foretells that God will “pour out my spirit” “on the day of the Lord”. [ NOAB]
Verse 50: “led them out”: Luke plays on the exodus theme; he uses the Greek verb used in the Septuagint to describe God's leading the people from Egyptian slavery in the exodus. Jesus is about to complete his exodus to his Father. [ NJBC]
Verses 52-53: Luke gives us more details in Acts 1:12-14: “Then [after Jesus’ ascension] they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers”. [ NOAB]
Verse 52: “they worshipped him”: The christological high point of vv. 36-53, indeed of the entire Gospel, has been reached, for this is the first and only time that Luke says that the disciples worship Jesus. Luke's christology is close to that of John 20:28. [ NJBC]
Verse 53: “in the temple”: The Gospel begins and ends in the Temple, which, for Luke, is the bond of continuity between old and new. The primitive community of Acts is found worshipping in the Temple: see Acts 2:46; 3. [ NJBC]