·  21 Saint Thomas the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament. He is informally called doubting Thomas because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told, (in the Gospel of John), followed later by his confession of faith, "My Lord and my God", on seeing Jesus' wounded body.

·  22 Charlotte Digges (Lottie) Moon, Missionary in China, 1912. Henry Budd, Priest, 1875 , the first Native American ordained an Anglican priest, spent his career ministering to First Nations people

·  25 THE NATIVITY OF JESUS CHRIST

·  26 Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr traditionally venerated as the Protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity, was according to the Acts of the Apostles a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later himself become a follower of Jesus

·  27 Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

OLD TESTAMENT: Micah 5: 2 - 5a  (RCL)

                                   Micah 5: 2 - 4a   (Roman Catholic)

Mica 5:2 (NRSV) {Ch 5.1 in Heb} But you, O Bethlehem of Eph'rathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has brought forth;

then the rest of his kindred shall return

to the people of Israel.

4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;

5 and he shall be the one of peace.

PSALM: Luke 1: 46b - 55 (RCL)

Luke 1:46 (NRSV) "My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Canticle 15    The Song of Mary    Magnificat     (ECUSA BCP)

            Luke 1:46‑55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *

   for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: *

   the Almighty has done great things for me,

   and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *

   in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *

   he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *

   and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *

   and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *

   for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers, *

   to Abraham and his children for ever.

Psalm 80: 1 - 7 (alt. for RCL)

Psal 80:1 (NRSV) Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock!

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth

2 before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'seh.

Stir up your might,

and come to save us!

3 Restore us, O God;

let your face shine, that we may be saved.

4 O LORD God of hosts,

how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears,

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors;

our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Note: Verse numbering in your Psalter may differ from the above.

80   Qui regis Israel   (ECUSA BCP)

1  Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; *

 shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.

2  In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, *

 stir up your strength and come to help us.

3  Restore us, O God of hosts; *

 show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

4  O Lord God of hosts, *

 how long will you be angered

 despite the prayers of your people?

5  You have fed them with the bread of tears; *

 you have given them bowls of tears to drink.

6  You have made us the derision of our neighbors, *

 and our enemies laugh us to scorn.

7  Restore us, O God of hosts; *

show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80: 1 - 2, 14 - 15, 17 - 18 (Roman Catholic)

Psal 80:1 (NRSV) Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock!

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth

2 before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'seh.

Stir up your might,

and come to save us!

14 Turn again, O God of hosts;

look down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

15 the stock that your right hand planted.

17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,

the one whom you made strong for yourself.

18 Then we will never turn back from you;

give us life, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved.

NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 10: 5 - 10    (all)

Hebr 10:5 (NRSV) Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body you have prepared for me;

6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings

you have taken no pleasure.

7 Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God'

(in the scroll of the book it is written of me)."

8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

9 then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

10 And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

h/t Montreal Anglican

In v. 1, the author has stated that the sacrifices offered annually in the Temple on the Day of Atonement (according to Jewish law) foreshadow (point forward to) “the good things [that are] to come” through Christ. He then argues: if the temple sacrifices were “good things”, i.e. cleansing of all inner guilt that sin causes, why did these sacrifices need to continue? (v. 2) These sacrifices, he says, did not wipe the slate clean (v. 3); they can’t (v. 4).
Now, quoting Psalm 40, the author explains that God prefers obedience (“a body ...”, v. 5) to sacrifices: doing God’s will is what counts (v. 7). In v. 8 the author interprets the psalm. He lists the four types of sacrifice offered in the Temple, offered according to Mosaic “law” (v. 8). Jesus, he says (v. 9), came to do away with “the first” (the sacrificial system) and to inaugurate “the second” (the self-offering of Jesus). It is “by God’s will” (v. 10), carried out through Christ, that we have been “sanctified”, been made ceremonially clean and been perfected, made complete, through Christ’s death on the cross – “once for all” time.

Verse 1: “shadow”: The sense here is foreshadow, rather than the Platonic heavenly-earthly contrast in 8:5 (“a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one”). The “good things to come” will come through Christ. Colossians 2:17 says: “These [dietary laws, Jewish feasts, etc.] are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ”. The annual sacrifices on the Day of Atonement were not able to remove sin; they simply foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus. [ NJBC]
Verse 2: The author’s argument is weak: even though past sins were taken away, there were still the sins committed since last year’s Day of Atonement. But it is merely an overstatement of what the author’s faith assures him to be true. [ NJBC]
Verses 3-4: The Day of Atonement rituals reminded worshippers of their sins, but did not erase them. This statement of the inefficacy of the annual sacrifices contradicts the belief expressed in Jubilees 5:17-18. But is not clear whether it is God or the worshipper who remembers the sins. That it is God who remembers is suggested by 8:12; there God says “‘I will remember their sins no more’”; however, the author would then be saying that the sacrifices served only to remind God of sin (and thus call forth punishment on the offerer). [ NJBC]
Verses 5-7: The quotation is Psalm 40:6-7. The text roughly follows the Septuagint translation. In Psalms, “me” is the psalmist (or possibly Israel in exile); here “me” is Christ at his incarnation. The psalm speaks of ritual being inferior to obedience, rather than repudiation of sacrifice (as here). The majority of manuscripts of the Septuagint have for v. 6b: a body you prepared for me rather than “you have given me an open ear” (which is from the Masoretic text). The Septuagint translation is particularly applicable to Jesus, whose obedience was expressed by his willingness to give his body, himself. [ NJBC]
Verse 8: “ sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings”: These terms are probably meant to cover the four main types of sacrifice: respectively peace offerings, cereal offerings, holocausts, and sin offerings (including guilt offerings). [ NJBC]
Verse 10: “God’s will”, carried out by Christ, is his offering of his body, which God “prepared” (v. 5) for him. [ NJBC]
Verse 11: “every priest stands day after day”: This indicates that the author has switched from considering the high priest’s sacrifice to that of every priest in the Old Testament. [ NJBC]
Verses 12-13: The quotation is Psalm 110:1, a verse also quoted in 1:3; 8:1; 12:2. [ NJBC]
Verse 13: “wait ...”: Thus the author explains the period of time between Christ’s enthronement and his second coming. [ NJBC]
Verse 13: “enemies”: The author does not tell us who they are, unlike Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26: “ after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power” and “death”. [ NJBC]
Verse 14: “sanctified”: Through the cleansing of the consciences that they may worship the living God ( 9:14), Jesus has given his followers access to the Father; they share in his priestly consecration. [ NJBC] The priesthood of all believers is in view.
Verses 16-17: The quotation is Jeremiah 31:33-34. These verses are also quoted in 8:8-12. [ NJBC]
Verse 19: “confidence to enter the sanctuary”: In 3:6, the author writes: “we are his [Christ’s] house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope”. See also 4:16; 6:19-20. [ NJBC]
Verse 20: “opened”: The Greek word, enkainizo, can also mean inaugurate or dedicate. It is translated as inaugurate in 9:18.
Verse 20: As the “curtain” before the Holy of Holies was an obstacle to entering it, so too was Christ’s “flesh” (Greek: sarx). Perhaps the rending of the Temple veil at the death of Jesus is in view: see Mark 15:38. [ NJBC]
Verses 22-24: “faith ... hope ... love”: The triad may be intended. [ NJBC]
Verse 22: “sprinkled clean”: A metaphor for the purifying power of Christ (see 9:13). Jewish ritual sprinkling only produced external purity, but those washed with the blood of Christ are cleansed in their consciences. [ NJBC]
Verse 22: “washed with pure water”: Probably a reference to baptism. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:11: “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God”. See also Titus 3:5. [ NJBC]
Verse 25: While reticence to gather for worship may have been for fear of persecution, it is more likely that it was due to lack of enthusiasm for the faith, bordering on apostasy: part of the reason Hebrews was written. [ NJBC]
Verse 25: “the Day”: of Christ’s second coming. See also Acts 1:10-11 (the Ascension); Philippians 2:16; Romans 13:12; 1 Corinthians 3:13. [ NJBC]
Verses 26-31: These verses tell of the fate of the person who willfully sins. He has a “fearful prospect of judgement”: if you know about Christ and willfully reject him, you will be punished by God!
Verse 26: “willfully ... sin”: The sin is that of turning away from Christ, as v. 29 shows. [ NJBC]
Verse 28: Idolatry is probably the violation of the Law. Deuteronomy 17:2-7 prescribes the death penalty for this sin if confirmed by “two or three witnesses”. [ NJBC]

GOSPEL: Luke 1: 39 - 45 (46 - 55)   (RCL)

                   Luke 1: 39 - 45   (Roman Catholic)

Luke 1:39 (NRSV) In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,

40 where she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

46 And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

The gospel reading precedes the Magnificat, said or sung today. An angel has appeared to Zechariah in the Temple, and later the angel Gabriel has come to Mary. Zechariah has been told that his wife Elizabeth will bear a child in her old age; Mary has heard that she will bear a son to be called Jesus and “Son of the Most High” (v. 32), of God. God will make him a king of David’s line; he will rule Israel for ever.
Now Mary visits her “relative” (v. 36) Elizabeth. A scholar tells us that the Greek words translated “with haste” (v. 39) can be rendered very thoughtfully. In telling us that “the child” (v. 41, John the Baptist) “leaped” in Elizabeth’s womb, Luke intends us to understand that John recognizes his Lord, Jesus. Elizabeth’s reaction, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is to praise Mary. Luke’s first readers would have recalled the liberation brought to Israel militarily by two women called “blessed” (v. 42) in other books: one in Judges, the other in Judith. Elizabeth “exclaimed with a loud cry” (or voice) – the way marvellous prophecies were given in the Old Testament.
V. 43 translates a Semitic idiom: today Elizabeth might say: How can I be thought worthy of being visited by the mother of my Lord? V. 45 portrays Mary as the model believer: she trusted that God would keep his promise made through Gabriel, preposterous as it sounded.

The meaning of God’s inauguration in Jesus of the final stage of salvation history is so rich theologically that Luke interprets it in both vv. 39-45 and 46-56. [ NJBC]
Verse 37: “nothing will be impossible with God”: BlkLk says that this is a reference to Yahweh’s promise to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18:14: “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son”, i.e. after the normal gestation period, Isaac will be born. It seems that Luke recalls the general sense of Genesis 18, where the promise is that the word will be fulfilled. This explains the reference to the time since Elizabeth’s conception in v. 45.
Verse 39: “with haste”: If this is the correct translation, Luke does not tell us why. Note that v. 56 tells us that Mary then stayed three months with Elizabeth but returned home before John was born.
Verses 41,44: “leaped”: The “leaping” of Esau and Jacob in Rebekah’s womb (Genesis 25:22, Septuagint translation) presents a parallel to the leaping of John the Baptist: such activity is a foreshadowing of future relationships (different as these relationships are). [ NJBC]
Verse 42: Elizabeth’s words recall Sisera’s words to Jael (before she killed him): “Most blessed of women be Jael” (Judges 5:24). They also recall Uzziah’s words to Judith after she decapitated Holofernes: “you are blessed by the Most High God above all other women” (Judith 13:18). In both cases, women liberated Israel. [ NJBC]
Verse 42: In 11:27-28, a woman in the crowd shouts similar words to Jesus. [ NOAB]
Verse 45: “blessed”: In Luke, Mary is the model believer. In 2:19, after the shepherds have told Mary and Joseph what they have heard, “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart”. [ NJBC]