·
16 Mary (Molly) Brant (Konwatsijayenni), Witness
to the Faith among the Mohawks, 1796
·
19 Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr,
1012) was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot
of Bath Abbey. His reputation
for piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate,
·
21 Anselm,
Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109 was a Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the
office of archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109
FIRST READING: Acts 10:
34 - 43 (all)
Acts 10:34 (NRSV)
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no
partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right
is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout
Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went
about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was
with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in
Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised
him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to
us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he
rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify
that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All
the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives
forgiveness of sins through his name."
Note: the Roman
Catholic lectionary omits vs. 34b-36.
Jeremiah 31: 1 - 6
(alt. for RCL)
Jere 31:1 (NRSV)
At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they shall be my people.
2 Thus says the
LORD:
The people who
survived the sword
found grace in the
wilderness;
when Israel sought
for rest,
3 the LORD
appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you
with an everlasting love;
therefore I have
continued my faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will
build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall
take your tambourines,
and go forth in
the dance of the merrymakers.
5 Again you shall
plant vineyards
on the mountains
of Samaria;
the planters shall
plant,
and shall enjoy
the fruit.
6 For there shall
be a day when sentinels will call
in the hill
country of E'phraim:
"Come, let us
go up to Zion,
to the LORD our
God."
PSALM 118: 1 - 2, 14 -
24 (RCL)
Psalm 118: 1 - 2, 16 -
17, 22 - 23 (Roman Catholic)
Psal 118:1 (NRSV)
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his steadfast love
endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
"His
steadfast love endures forever."
14 The LORD is my
strength and my might;
he has become my
salvation.
15 There are glad
songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
"The right
hand of the LORD does valiantly;
16 the right hand
of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of
the LORD does valiantly."
17 I shall not
die, but I shall live,
and recount the
deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has
punished me severely,
but he did not
give me over to death.
19 Open to me the
gates of righteousness,
that I may enter
through them
and give thanks to
the LORD.
20 This is the
gate of the LORD;
the righteous
shall enter through it.
21 I thank you
that you have answered me
and have become my
salvation.
22 The stone that
the builders rejected
has become the
chief cornerstone.
23 This is the
LORD's doing;
it is marvelous in
our eyes.
24 This is the day
that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and
be glad in it. {Or [in him]}
25 Save us, we
beseech you, O LORD!
O LORD, we beseech
you, give us success!
26 Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the LORD.
We bless you from
the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is
God,
and he has given
us light.
Bind the festal
procession with branches,
up to the horns of
the altar.
28 You are my God,
and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I
will extol you.
29 O give thanks
to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast
love endures forever.
118 Confitemini
Domino (ECUSA BCP)
1 Give
thanks to the Lord, for he is
good; *
his
mercy endures for ever.
2 Let
Israel now proclaim, *
“His
mercy endures for ever.”
14 The Lord is my strength and my song, *
and
he has become my salvation.
15 There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in
the tents of the righteous:
16 "The right hand of the Lord has
triumphed! *
the
right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the
right hand of the Lord has triumphed!"
17 I shall not die, but live, *
and
declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has punished me sorely, *
but he
did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will
enter them;
I will
offer thanks to the Lord.
20 "This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who
is righteous may enter."
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered
me *
and
have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has
become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord's doing, *
and it
is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will
rejoice and be glad in it.
SECOND READING:
Colossians 3: 1 - 4 (all)
Colo 3:1 (NRSV) So
if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are
above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you
also will be revealed with him in glory.
h/t Montreal
Anglican
The author has described baptism
as being “raised with Christ” and becoming sharers in his suffering and death.
In the early Church, those to be baptised removed their clothes before the rite
and donned new ones after it, symbolizing the casting aside of their old ways
(“died”, v. 3)
and their new “life” in Christ. Our reading summarizes this teaching. We
already have close fellowship with Christ, but this is not yet fully revealed;
our lives are still “hidden with Christ in God” (v. 3),
unseen by worldly people. When Christ’s glory is “revealed” (v. 4)
at the end of time, our complete union with him will also be seen. (Early
Christians saw Psalm 110:1,
“... Sit at my right hand ...”, as showing that Jewish messianic hopes are
realized in Christ.)Being baptised has ethical implications (vv. 5-17): we are to cast aside both sins of the body (v. 5) and of the mind (v. 8). “Fornication” (v. 5), porneia in Greek, means all forms of sexual immorality; the “impurity” is sexual; “passion” is lust; evil desire is self-centred covetousness; “greed” motivates a person to set up a god besides God. “The wrath of God is coming” (v. 6) at the end of time on those who indulge in immorality. In the baptised community, racial and social barriers no longer exist, for “Christ is all and in all” (v. 11).
Verse 1: “have been raised with Christ”: See also 2:12; Ephesians 5:14. [ CAB]
Verse 1: “seated at the right hand of God”: Hebrews 1:3 says “... When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. [ NOAB]
Verse 3: “you have died”: i.e. to the world. [ NOAB]
Verse 4: Perhaps this is a paraphrase of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever”. See also Mark 13:24-27 (the Little Apocalypse); 1 John 2:28; 3:2. [ NOAB]
Verse 5: Lists of sins are common in Hellenic literature of the time, so there is no implication that the Colossian Christians indulged in any of these sins. Similar lists are found in the Qumran literature: see, for example, 1QS (Rule of the Community) 4:3-5 and CD (Damascus Document) 4:17-19. [ NJBC]
Verse 5: “fornication”: See also Romans 1:24; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:7. [ CAB]
From time to time, Clippings points out that words in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament are found in particular verses in the translation of the Old Testament in common use when the New Testament was written. But, the Septuagint was written some two to three centuries before the New Testament, so we sometimes need to ask whether the meaning of these words had changed over the centuries.
In the case of v. 5 here, we should ask: did the author know of older meanings for some of the words in his list of vices? Consider porneia (“fornication”). In Classical Greek (the language of five to six centuries before Christ), porneia seems to have primarily referred to prostitution.
If the author of Colossians was aware of this earlier meaning (which might have still been current when Hosea was translated into Greek), perhaps he tied this passage with Hosea 1:2: “... Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom”. In the Septuagint, “whoredom” is porneia so “the land commits great whoredom” (ekporneuousa) .
He was probably also aware of Proverbs 5, where good and bad women, representing wisdom and foolishness, and faithfulness and faithlessness, are mentioned. (In the Septuagint translation of Proverbs 5:3, "loose woman" is gynaikos pornes). So it seems that more is at stake than sexual misbehaviour; indeed, the author of Colossians calls on his readers to be faithful (as Hosea called on his to be faithful to the covenant with God). Prostituting oneself in either (and both) senses is the “earthly” part.
In case the reader thinks that suggesting that the author might know earlier meanings of words is reading too much into the text, I point out that he was sufficiently learned to write of the cosmic nature of Christ. That he used this notion in his argument shows that his readers also had a certain background in the history of ideas. In Colossians 2:8, he writes “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe [kosmos], and not according to Christ” On the other hand, these older meanings hung on much longer than scholars sometimes give credit: into New Testament Greek . [Abbott Conway]
Verse 5: “impurity”: The word in the Greek is akatharsian . In Classical Greek, this word means want of cleansing, and hence filth , and metaphorically moral filthiness. There is also the sense of something that is akatharsos being unpurified, or unatoned. So the author may mean, within the general sense of morality, something more specific about behaviour that is consonant with the cleansing and atoning work of Christ. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 5: “passion”: The Greek word, pathos, may specifically relate to sexual passion, but generally it refers to any kind of suffering. In Classical Greek, the primary meaning is pain or distress, and spiritually it refers to any kind of violent feeling, whether of love or of hate. In Plato’s writings, the family of words refers to that which is accidental or changing (as distinct from that which is substantial and immutable). So, again, there may well be two meanings here: one sexual, and one to do with faith. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 5: “evil desire”: The Greek literally means bad (or evil) longings. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 5: “greed ...”: See also Ephesians 5:5. [ NOAB]
Verse 5: “greed (which is idolatry)”: Ephesians 5:5 speaks of “one who is greedy (that is, an idolater)”. The equating of this greed with idolatry helps fit the whole set of readings together, for the harlotry to which Hosea refers is none other than the abandonment of the covenant for local idols, as Ezekiel 3:6-11 exemplifies.
In a sense, then, this little passage offers a hinge between the general argument of Hosea that the holy people should avoid the faithlessness of idolatry, and the specific injunction of Jesus to avoid greed of any kind (which is a kind of idolatry, and thus is faithlessness to God). [Abbott Conway]
Verse 8: “anger, wrath”: The Greek word translated “anger”, orge, came to mean, by New Testament times, any violent passion, but especially wrath. Thymon (“wrath”) came to mean the seat of feelings, and then specifically the seat of anger. This may explain why the author uses two terms here, rather than just one: orge refers to the action of puffing oneself up with rage, and thymos refers to the residence of anger. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 8: “anger”: See also Ephesians 4:26. [ CAB]
Verse 8: “malice”: The Greek word has a range of meanings from vice, malice, and depravity to ill-repute and dishonour. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 8: “slander”: The Greek word, blasphemian, means slander when it is directed to humans, and blasphemy when it is directed to God. [Abbott Conway]
Verse 8: “abusive language”: See also Ephesians 5:4 and James 3:5-12. [ CAB] The Greek means literally foul language. The stem of the word means both shame / disgrace, and ugliness / deformity. [Abbott Conway]
Verses 9-10: See also 2 Corinthians 5:17. [ CAB]
Verse 10: “according to the image of its creator”: See Genesis 1:26-27. See also 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (“... the first Adam ... the last Adam”); Ephesians 2:10; 4:24. [ NOAB]
Verse 11: See also Galatians 3:28. [ CAB]
Verse 11: “Scythian”: The Scythians were a nomadic people from the Caucasus who threatened the Assyrian and Persian empires from the north. In the Old Testament they are called “Ashkenaz” (Genesis 10:3; 1 Chronicles 1:6; Jeremiah 51:27). The Scythians’ cruelty was proverbial in later antiquity (see 2 Maccabees 4:47; 3 Maccabees 7:5; 4 Maccabees 10:7).
Verse 11: “Christ is all and in all”: The Greek is alla [ta] panta kai en pasin Christos. This clause expresses both the universality of Christ (following from the descriptions of the cosmic Christ in earlier passages), and his presence in everything. The two Greek words (panta and pasin ) make absolutely clear a distinction that is not always evident in modem translations. [Abbott Conway]
Verses 12-17: V. 12 tells us the qualities which the baptised are expected to possess, i.e. be “clothed” with. “Compassion” is sympathy for the needs of others. We should be meek in the sense of gentle and considerate towards others. We should be forgiving as God has forgiven us. The primary Christian virtue is “love” (v. 14); it is born out of God’s love. May our thinking and actions be motivated by “the peace of Christ” (v. 15). May we teach each other in the light of the ultimate truth, i.e. God, and be joyful in the Lord. All we do should be done as though Jesus himself is doing it.
Verse 12: See also Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Peter 1:5-7. [ CAB]
Verse 12: “compassion”: See also 2 Corinthians 6:6 and Ephesians 2:7.
Verse 12: “humility”: See also 2:18, 23. [ CAB]
Verse 12: “meekness”: See also Galatians 6:1 (”gentleness”) and 2 Timothy 2:25. [ CAB]
Verse 12: “patience”: See also 2 Corinthians 6:6; Ephesians 4:2; 2 Timothy 3:10; 4:2. [ CAB]
Verse 13: See also 2 Corinthians 11:19; Galatians 6:6; Romans 9:19; 15:7; Hebrews 8:8; Matthew 6:14-15; Ephesians 4:32. [ CAB]
Verse 15: “the peace of Christ”: See also John 14:27; Ephesians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:16. [ CAB]
Verse 15: “rule”: Literally, be umpire.
Verse 17: 1 Corinthians 10:31 says “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God”. [ CAB]
The Acts reading from
above is an alternate for RCL (if not already used)
1 Corinthians 5: 6b - 8
(alt. for Roman Catholic)
1Cor 5:6 (NRSV) Do
you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out
the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For
our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore, let us celebrate
the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
GOSPEL: John 20: 1 - 18
(RCL)
John 20: 1 - 9 (Roman
Catholic)
John 20:1 (NRSV)
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Mag'dalene
came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So
she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus
loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we
do not know where they have laid him." 3 Then Peter and the other disciple
set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the
other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look
in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon
Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings
lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the
linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple,
who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet
they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then
the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood
weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12
and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been
lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her,
"Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken
away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 When she had
said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know
that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom
are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him,
"Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I
will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned
and said to him in Hebrew,"Rabbou'ni!" (which means Teacher). 17
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended
to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to
my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 Mary Mag'dalene
went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she
told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary, still thinking that the body has been moved, has returned to the cemetery. In her grief, she sees “two angels in white” (v. 12), heavenly messengers. She recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name. But something has changed: they are in a new relationship: “do not hold on to me” (v. 17). To John the evangelist, Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, exaltation and return to heavenly glory, his ascension, are parts of a single event.
Matthew 28: 1 - 10
(alt. for RCL)
Matt 28:1 (NRSV)
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Mag'dalene
and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great
earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled
back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his
clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead
men. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you
are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been
raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and
tell his disciples, "He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is
going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for
you." 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to
tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!"
And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus
said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee;
there they will see me."
Verse 1: “while it was still dark”: That the women
visit the tomb at dawn is stated in the synoptic gospels. Perhaps the
writer has added darkness to incorporate his scene into the light symbolism of
the gospel. [NJBC]
Verse 1: Mary must have looked into the tomb to be able
to tell “Peter and the other disciple” (v. 2)
that the body of Jesus is missing. Only in v. 11 are
we told that she “bent over to look in the tomb”. [ NJBC]
Verse 2: “we”: This is indeed plural in the Greek, so
it is likely that John worked from a source which included other women in these
verses. (Mark includes other women.) [ BlkJn]
[ NJBC]
Verse 4: “the other disciple outran Peter and reached
the tomb first”: In this gospel, Peter takes second place to “the other
disciple”:
- At the Last Supper, it is the beloved disciple who sits
in the place of greater honour: see 13:23
- Peter asks this disciple the identity of the traitor:
see 13:24
- Peter gains access to the high priest’s courtyard
through the beloved disciple: see 18:15
- The beloved disciple is entrusted with the care of
Jesus’ mother: see 19:26
- When Jesus appears to the disciples in Galilee, it is
the beloved disciple who identifies Jesus to Peter: see 21:7
- After being commissioned, Peter is rebuffed for asking
about the beloved disciple’s task: see 21:20-24.
[ BlkJn]
- In v. 8,
it is the beloved disciple that sees and believes, not Peter.
Verse 6: That Peter goes into the tomb while “the other
disciple” stays outside is consistent with Peter’s temperament shown elsewhere
in the gospels. See also 6:68 and 18:10.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 6: “He saw the linen wrappings lying there”: Note
the difference from Lazarus: he needed unbinding ( 11:44);
Jesus does not. In the synoptic gospels,
the grave clothes are not mentioned, so presumably they were absent: see Mark 16:6;
Matthew 28:6;
Luke 24:3, 23.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 9: “the scripture”: There is no specific
scriptural reference, so John is probably saying that Jesus’ fulfills salvation
history. However, the term scripture may well include the
apocrypha to the New Testament and pseudepigrapha. When John
wrote, neither the Jewish canon of the Old Testament nor that of the New
Testament existed. The Greek word refers to a writing, not
necessarily Scripture as we understand it.
BlkJn points out that “scripture”
is in the singular, so a specific text is intended. He suggests Psalm 16:10,
“For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit”.
Comments: they have not yet received the Holy
Spirit: When do the disciples receive the Holy Spirit in John? In 14:16,
Jesus says to the disciples: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate, to be with you forever”. So, in a sense, the Spirit is active
in Jesus during his earthly ministry. However, in 16:7 Jesus
says: “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you”. So the
Holy Spirit is with the disciples during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and is more
fully with them after his ascension.
Verses 11-18: To BlkJn,
this is a separate incident which is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament
only in the spurious longer ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20),
though there are superficial similarities to Matthew 28:8-10.
Here Mary is calm when she discovers the angels while in the synoptic gospels, the women are
afraid: see Mark 16:5-8;
Luke 24:5 and
Matthew 28:5, 8.
Further, here the angels do not deliver a message while they do in the synoptic gospels. [ BlkJn] To NJBC, the evangelist has reworked a
traditional story in which the risen Christ appeared to either Mary Magdalene
alone or in the company of other women near the tomb. He has recast the
resurrection message so that it is clear that Jesus’ return is not to the
disciples in the various appearance stories. His return is his exaltation to
his place with the Father: see 14:18-19; 16:22; 3:13; 6:62.
[ NJBC]
Verse 12: Mary sees “two angels in white” but apparently
Peter and the other disciple did not (at vv. 6-7).
Verse 14: “she did not know that it was Jesus”: Mary
also fails to recognize Jesus in other resurrection stories: see 21:4, 7, 12;
Luke 24:16ff;
Matthew 28:17.
See also Luke 24:37-41.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 15: “Sir”: The Greek word is kurios also
translated as Lord with divine connotations. Kurios is
also used in vv. 2, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 25.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 15: “gardener”: a Jewish cemetery was much like a
garden. Mary would be physically unable to “take him away”: this is an
expression of her love for Jesus.
Verse 16: “Rabbouni” is a variant form of Rabbi,
meaning teacher. Mary wishes to resume the relationship she has
previously enjoyed with Jesus. [ BlkJn]
Verse 17: One should not think of Jesus’ resurrection as
though he had returned to life and then later ascended into heaven. Rather,
Jesus has passed into an entirely different reality. 14:22-23 answers
the question of how Jesus will manifest himself to the disciples and not to the
world in terms of love and the indwelling presence of Father and Son with the
disciples. [ NJBC]
Verse 17: “Do not hold on to me ...”: In Matthew 28:9-10,
the women grasp the risen Lord’s feet in a gesture of worship. [ NJBC]
Verse 17: “my Father ... your God”: The Father truly is
Jesus’ Father; Christians acquire their relationship to him through Christ. [ JBC]
Verses 19-22: Jesus appears to his disciples. As a
community, as the Church, they now receive the Holy Spirit.
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