·
23 George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304 between AD 256–285 to 23 April 303), according to legend, was a Roman soldier of Greek origin and officer in the Guard
of Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced
to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. As a Christian martyr, he later became
one of the most venerated saints in Christianity, and was
especially venerated by the Crusaders.
·
24 Mellitus, Bishop of London, first Bishop at St Paul's,
624 was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon
period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to
England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their
native paganism to
Christianity.
·
24 The Seven
Martyrs of the Melanesian Brotherhood, Solomon Islands, 2003
·
25 Mark the Evangelist
·
27 Christina Rossetti, Poet,
1894
·
28 Peter Chanel, Missionary in the South Pacific, Martyr, 1841
.
FIRST READING: Acts 4: 5 - 12 (RCL)
Acts 4: 8 -
12 (Roman Catholic)
Acts 4:5 (NRSV)
The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6 with
An'nas the high priest, Ca'iaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the
high-priestly family. 7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst,
they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" 8
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the
people and elders, 9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to
someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be
known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing
before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is
"the stone
that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the
cornerstone.'
12 There is
salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among
mortals by which we must be saved."
Genesis 7: 1 - 5, 11 -
18, 8: 6 - 18, 9: 8 - 13 (alt. for C of
E)
Gene 7:1 (NRSV)
{The Great Flood} Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and
all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in
this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and
its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate;
3 and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their
kind alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain
on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I
have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." 5 And Noah did all
that the LORD had commanded him.
11 In the six
hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of
the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the
windows of the heavens were opened. 12 The rain fell on the earth forty days
and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and
Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons entered the ark, 14
they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every
kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of
every kind-every bird, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with
Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And
those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded
him; and the LORD shut him in.
17 The flood
continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the
ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters swelled and increased
greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
8:6 At the end of
forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent out
the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the
earth. 8 Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided
from the face of the ground; 9 but the dove found no place to set its foot, and
it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the
whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark
with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from
the ark; 11 and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak
was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided
from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove;
and it did not return to him any more.
13 In the six
hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the
waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark,
and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. 14 In the second
month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God
said to Noah, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and
your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is
with you of all flesh-birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth-so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on
the earth." 18 So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons'
wives.
9:8 Then God said
to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 "As for me, I am establishing my
covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living
creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of
the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. {Gk: Heb adds [every animal
of the earth] } 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all
flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a
flood to destroy the earth." 12 God said, "This is the sign of the covenant
that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for
all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a
sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
PSALM 23 (all but Roman Catholic)
Psal 23:1 (NRSV)
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie
down in green pastures;
he leads me beside
still waters;
3 he restores my
soul.
He leads me in
right paths
for his name's
sake.
4 Even though I
walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with
me;
your rod and your
staff--
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a
table before me
in the presence of
my enemies;
you anoint my head
with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my
life,
and I shall dwell
in the house of the LORD
my whole life
long.
23 Dominus regit
me (ECUSA BCP)
1 The
Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
2 He
makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He
revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his
Name's sake.
4 Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no
evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You
spread a table before me in the presence of those
who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
6 Surely
your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for
ever.
Psalm 118: 1, 8 - 9, 21
- 23, 26, 21, 29 (Roman Catholic)
Psal 118:1 (NRSV)
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his steadfast love
endures forever!
8 It is better to
take refuge in the LORD
than to put
confidence in mortals.
9 It is better to
take refuge in the LORD
than to put
confidence in princes.
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.
26 Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the LORD.
We bless you from
the house of the LORD.
21 I thank you
that you have answered me
and have become my
salvation.
29 O give thanks
to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast
love endures forever.
SECOND READING: 1 John 3: 16 - 24 (RCL)
1Joh 3:16 (NRSV)
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us--and we ought to lay
down our lives for one another. 17 How does God's love abide in anyone who has
the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
18 Little
children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19 And
by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts
before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our
hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have boldness before God; 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask,
because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his
commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and
love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 All who obey his commandments
abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us,
by the Spirit that he has given us.
Jesus is the great example of selfless love: far from taking life,
he “laid down his life for us” (v. 16).
How can the love that originates in God (“God’s love”, v. 17)
be in a wealthy person who sees another in need yet “refuses to help”? We need
to love actively, “in truth and action” (v. 18),
not hypocritically (“in word or speech”). (Truth and faith are
synonyms.) It is by “this” (v. 19)
love that we will know that we are Christ-like (“from the truth”): our
consciences (“hearts”) will be reassured whenever we are conscious of sinning
(“our hearts condemn us”, v. 20),
for God knows us better than we do ourselves. But, when we know that we are
following God’s ways (v. 21),
we can boldly present ourselves “before God”. As Jesus promised (John 14:12),
“whatever we ask” (v. 22)
in his name (recognizing his power and authority), he will grant, because we
follow God’s ways. Jesus has commanded that we believe in his authority and
love one another ( 2:23).
Then v. 24:
obedience to him guarantees our continued liaison with him. By this love and
the presence of the Holy Spirit, given to us by God, we know that Christ
“abides in us”.
Verses 11-12: Abel’s righteous deeds stirred Cain’s hatred: see Genesis 4:8; Hebrews 11:4; Jude 11 (which speaks of evil people as walking in “the way of Cain”). [ NOAB] Jewish traditions preserved in gnostic writers makes Cain an example of those who murder. 1 John evokes the image of those “children of the devil” (v. 10) who seek Jesus death (see John 8:39-44) and of Judas, whom the devil induced to betray Jesus (John 13:2, 27). The Gospel of John accuses Jews of killing Christians (see John 16:2) at the end of a section that begins with the parallel to 1 John 3:13, “‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you’” (John 15:18). [ NJBC]
Verses 16-17: For Jesus’ selfless love as the highest model of friendship, see
John 15:13:
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends”.
[ NJBC]
Verse 17: The author’s concrete example is one that all can appreciate,
without going as far as martyrdom. James 2:14-17gives
a similar example: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you
have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is
naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep
warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is
the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead”. [ NJBC]
Verse 18: James 1:22 advises:
“Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”
Verse 19: “reassure our hearts before him”: Since God, the source of
forgiveness (see 1:8-2:2),
is “greater than our hearts” the possibility of the conscience condemning us
does not shatter Christian confidence. Even if the Christian is not conscious
of sin, one is assured that God hears prayer: see also John 16:26-27.
The test of acceptance by God is willingness to “do what pleases him” (v. 22).
In John 8:29,
Jesus says of himself: “the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me
alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him”. [ NJBC]
Verse 20: “God”, who “knows” everything, judges us by the abiding relation
of love to others, rather than by our passing moods. In John 21:17,
when Jesus challenges Peter with “‘do you love me?’”, and Peter answers “‘you
know that I love you’”, Jesus tells him: “‘Feed my sheep’”. [ NOAB]
Verse 21: “boldness”: Boldness in prayer results from obedience to God,
and strengthens assurance: 5:14 says
“... this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to
his will, he hears us”. [ NOAB]
Verses 23-24: Belief “in the name of Jesus Christ”, i.e. in Jesus, makes
people children of God: see John 17:11-12.
“Love” (see John 13:34; 15:17)
is evidence if God’s Spirit and presence. See also 4:12-13.
[ NOAB]
Verse 23: “believe in the name of his Son ... and love one another”: this
may be the Johannine version of the double love command in Mark 12:28-31,
since in the Johannine tradition to believe in the Son whom
God sent is equivalent to loving God. [ NJBC]
Verse 24: “he abides in us, by the Spirit”: 2:27 has
pointed to the anointing received upon entering the community:
see also John 3:5.
The Spirit is the pledge elsewhere in the New Testament: see Romans 8:14 and
2 Corinthians 1:22.
This passage also prepares for the next section, in which the Spirit inspires
the true confession which unmasks false teachers. [ NJBC]
GOSPEL: John 10: 11 - 18 (all)
John 10:11 (NRSV)
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches
them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does
not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know
me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my
life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I
must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one
flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down
my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it
down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
up again. I have received this command from my Father."
Jesus continues to speak of himself as the
good shepherd, an image familiar to his audience. True followers, he has said,
recognize the good shepherd. “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved
... and find pasture ... the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I
came that they may have [spiritual] life, and have it abundantly” (vv. 9-10). Now he says that he is the “good” (v. 11, i.e. real,
proper) “shepherd”, the one who dies for his “sheep”, his flock. But the “hired
hand” (v. 12) does not care
enough to save the sheep from the “wolf”. (Old Testament prophets spoke of
leaders of Israel in these terms, so Jesus probably speaks of them here –
shepherds who are not worthy of the name.) Jesus’ relationship to people is
like the Father’s to him (v. 15). Who are the
“other sheep” (v. 16)? We can only
guess: perhaps they are non-Jews. They will have equal status with those who
already follow Jesus, as part of one Church. Then v. 18: Jesus has been
given the authority to choose to die and the power to rise again from the dead.
He is in control of his own death and resurrection.
Verse 7: “gate for the sheep”: BlkJn points out that if this
represents accurately what Jesus said after the parable in vv. 1-5,
vv. 7-10 are
in an almost intolerable state of confusion. But if in the Aramaic original the
accidental repetition of one letter has caused the shepherd to
be read as “the gate”, then vv. 7-8 give
an interpretation consistent with the original parable, and the allegory does
not begin until v. 9.
Verse 8: “thieves and bandits”: “Came” has the sense
of claimed to be the coming one (see also Matthew 11:3 and
Mark 11:9),
so they are pseudo-messiahs, like Theudas and Judas (in Acts 5:36-39).
While they had some success, the “sheep”, those who are truly Christ’s, “did
not listen to them”. [ BlkJn]
Verse 9: Christ provides:
- escape from the perils of sin
- freedom (see also 8:36),
and
- spiritual sustenance – the bread (see also 6:35),
water (see also 4:14 and 7:37),
and light of life. [ NOAB]
Verse 9: “I am the gate”: i.e. he determines who will
be admitted to his people. [ CAB]
This is an allegorical interpretation of a feature of the parable in vv. 1-6.
For Christ alone being the point of access to God, see also Hebrews 10:19-20.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 9: “come in and go out”: An Old Testament
expression suggesting the freedom of movement enjoyed by a trusted servant:
see, for example, of David in 1 Samuel 18:13, 16.
Verse 10: “destroy”: The thief is not only selfish but
murderous, as is the devil (see 8:44),
i.e. fatal to the salvation of his victims. [ BlkJn]
Verse 10: “abundantly”: i.e. beyond measure. [ NOAB] Literally more than
is really necessary. [ BlkJn]
Verse 11: Note the change in metaphor. In the ancient
world, shifting metaphors was common. Jesus now contrasts himself with
shepherds who are not worthy of the name. [ BlkJn]
Verse 11: Jesus fulfills the prophecies of Isaiah 40:11;
Jeremiah 23:1-6;
Ezekiel 34 (especially
v. 11)
that God himself will come to shepherd his people. [ NOAB]
Verse 11: “good”: The Greek word, kalos,
means real and proper rather than morally good. [ BlkJn]
Verse 11: “lays down his life”: The possibility of a
shepherd dying in defence of his flock against wild animals or robbers was a
real one. See, for example, David’s claim to Saul before killing Goliath (in 1
Samuel 17:34-36).
However, such sacrifice is not part of the then-conventional picture of the
shepherd-messiah – being Jesus’ own distinctive contribution. It looks forward
to 15:13:
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends”.
[ BlkJn]
Verses12-13: “hired hand”: The description of him recalls
the attacks of the prophets on the leaders of Israel, calling them unworthy
shepherds of God’s flock:
- “shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture ... you have not attended to them” (Jeremiah 23:1-2)
- “you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding
yourselves ... You have not strengthened the weak, ... healed the sick,
... bound up the injured, ... brought back the strayed, ... sought the
lost ... So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and
scattered, they became food for all the wild animals” (Ezekiel 34:2-5)
- “a shepherd who does not care for the perishing, or
seek the wandering, or heal the maimed ... Oh, my worthless shepherd, who
deserts the flock!” (Zechariah 11:16-17)
The point of the
comparison between the “hired hand” and the religious leaders of Israel lies in
their indifference to the plight of the ordinary people (see Matthew 23:4 and
Luke 6:46),
the “sheep without a shepherd” of Mark 6:34.
[ BlkJn]
Verse 12: “hired hand”: This may include messianic
pretenders and false teachers who came before Jesus.
Verse 12: “wolf”: For the “wolf” as the enemy of the
flock, see also Matthew 10:16 and
Acts 20:29.
Here the “wolf” is probably the devil. 1 Peter 5:8 speaks
of him in these terms: “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls
around, looking for someone to devour.”
Verse 16: “other sheep”: To NJBC, they are the scattered children
of God who are brought together by Christ after his death and resurrection.
In 11:52,
we read that Caiaphas, as High Priest, prophesied that “Jesus was about to die
for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the
dispersed children of God”. In 12:32,
Jesus says “‘I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself’”. This interpretation follows naturally from the allusion to Christ’s
death in v. 15 (repeating
v. 11).
Verse 16b: “they will listen to my voice”: Jesus as
prophet.
Verse 16c: “one flock”: see Ephesians 2:11-22.
[ NOAB] This looks forward to
the fulfilment of the prophesies that the Gentiles will be brought into God’s
flock (see Isaiah 11:10; 49:6; 60:1ff,
etc.) under “one shepherd”, the Messiah (see Ezekiel 37:24).
[ BlkJn]
Verse 17: A difficult verse. It appears to make God’s
love for Jesus conditional on his death and resurrection.
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