·
2 The Martyrs of
Papua New Guinea, 1901 and 1942
·
3 Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher of the Faith, 604 was Pope of the Catholic Church from 3
September 590 to 12 March 604 AD. He is famous for instigating the first
recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregorian Mission, to convert the
then-pagan Anglo-Saxons in England to Christianity
·
4 Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester (Oxon), Apostle of Wessex, 650 was
the first Bishop of Dorchester[1] and was known
as the "Apostle to the West Saxons" for his
conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity.
·
6 Allen Gardiner, Missionary, Founder of the South
American Mission Society, 1851
·
9 Charles Fuge Lowder, Priest, 1880
OLD
TESTAMENT: Song of Solomon 2: 8 -
13 (RCL)
Song
2:8 (NRSV) The voice of my beloved!
Look,
he comes,
leaping
upon the mountains,
bounding
over the hills.
9 My
beloved is like a gazelle
or a
young stag.
Look,
there he stands
behind
our wall,
gazing
in at the windows,
looking
through the lattice.
10 My
beloved speaks and says to me:
"Arise,
my love, my fair one,
and
come away;
11 for
now the winter is past,
the
rain is over and gone.
12 The
flowers appear on the earth;
the
time of singing has come,
and
the voice of the turtledove
is
heard in our land.
13 The
fig tree puts forth its figs,
and
the vines are in blossom;
they
give forth fragrance.
Arise,
my love, my fair one,
and
come away.
Deuteronomy
4: 1 - 2, 6 - 8 (Roman Catholic)
Deuteronomy
4: 1 - 2, 6 - 9 (alt. for RCL)
Deut
4:1 (NRSV) So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am
teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that
the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither add
anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the
commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you.
6 You
must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to
the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely
this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" 7 For what other great
nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him?
8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this
entire law that I am setting before you today?
9 But
take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that
your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your
life; make them known to your children and your children's children--
PSALM
45:1,2, 6-9 (RCL)
Psal
45:1 (NRSV) My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
I
address my verses to the king;
my
tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You
are the most handsome of men;
grace
is poured upon your lips;
therefore
God has blessed you forever.
6 Your
throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
Your
royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
7 you
love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore
God, your God, has anointed you
with
the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your
robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From
ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at
your right hand stands the queen in gold of O'phir.
Note: Verse
numbering in your psalter may differ from the above
45
Eructavit cor meum
(ECUSA BCP)
1 My heart is stirring with a noble song;
let me recite what I have fashioned for the king; *
my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer.
2 You are the fairest of men; *
grace flows from your lips,
because God has blessed you for ever.
7 Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, *
a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom;
you love righteousness and hate iniquity.
8 Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
9 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia,
*
and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you
glad.
10 Kings’ daughters stand among the ladies of the court; *
on your right hand is the queen,
adorned with the gold of Ophir.
Psalm
15 (alt. for RCL)
Psalm 15: 2
- 5 (Roman Catholic)
Psal
15:1 (NRSV) O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
Who
may dwell on your holy hill?
2
Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
and
speak the truth from their heart;
3 who
do not slander with their tongue,
and do
no evil to their friends,
nor
take up a reproach against their neighbors;
4 in
whose eyes the wicked are despised,
but
who honor those who fear the LORD;
who
stand by their oath even to their hurt;
5 who
do not lend money at interest,
and do
not take a bribe against the innocent.
Those
who do these things shall never be moved.
15
Domine, quis habitabit?
(ECUSA BCP)
1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your
holy hill?
2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks the truth from
his heart.
3 There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt
upon his neighbor.
4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
but he honors those who
fear the Lord.
5 He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his
word.
6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe
against the innocent.
7 Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.
NEW
TESTAMENT: James 1: 17 - 27 (RCL)
James 1:
17 - 18, 21b - 22, 27 (Roman Catholic)
Jame
1:17 (NRSV) Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from
above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation
or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth
by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his
creatures.
19 You
must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to
speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God's righteousness.
21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness,
and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your
souls.
22 But
be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if
any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at
themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away,
immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect
law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers
who act--they will be blessed in their doing.
26 If
any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their
hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled
before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their
distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
h/t
Montreal Anglican
Now v. 19: doers have
three characteristics: they are “quick to listen” (so do not “deceive
themselves”, v. 22),
“slow to speak, slow to anger” (v. 19)
– sinful and prolonged anger is not striving for the integrity
(“righteousness”, v. 20)
demanded by God. Vv. 26-27 offer
a practical application: “care for orphans and widows”. If our “religion” is all
talk, it is “worthless”; it must include caring actively for others. Also,
we must keep a detachment from the world.
I think James is related
to Old Testament wisdom in
many ways. What matters in one's lifestyle is “right living”, “right action”
(orthopraxy) in relation to the rest of the community (including those outside
the church, presumably). This is to live the gospel as an agent of God's mercy
to the world. Caring for widows and orphans is “true religion”.
There is perhaps an echo
of Isaiah 55:11 here,
too. “My word ... shall not return empty, but shall accomplish that which I
purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” The gospel as word is
not simply to be heard but to be enacted, so that the word may accomplish God's
purpose.
I think there is a
distinction between acting on one's own in response to the command of God, and
acting as an agent of God's word, by God's strength. V. 17 makes
this clear. “Every generous act of giving ... is from above.” In other words,
it is not us who give but God (in us, or through us).
Luther considered James
a “straw epistle”, mainly I suspect because it deals so much with orthopraxy
rather than orthodoxy. Luther's emphasis was on justification by grace through
faith, but James says (rightly I think) “show me your works, and I will see
your faith.”. [Alan Perry]
Verse 17: “Father of lights”: Two documents from the
first century speak of the “prince of lights”: 1QS (Rule of the Community) 3:20
and CD (Damascus Document) 5:18. 1QS 3:20 says: “In the hands of the Prince of
Lights is dominion over all the sons of justice; they walk on paths of light.”
CD 5:17-18 says: “... For in ancient times there arose Moses and Aaron, by the
hand of the prince of lights ...”
Verses 18-19: These verses depend on a baptismal liturgy.
See also 1 Peter 1:22-2:2.
Verse 18: “In fulfilment of his own purpose”: Unlike the
blind forces that give birth to sin. V. 14 says:
“one is tempted by one’s own desire, being enticed and lured by it.”
Verse 18: “first fruits”: The first part of the harvest
was to be offered to God: see Leviticus 23:10;
Numbers 15:21;
Deuteronomy 18:4.
Paul uses “first fruits” in two senses:
- in referring to pioneer converts (see Romans 16:5 and
1 Corinthians 16:15,
where the NRSV translates the Greek as “first convert(s)”), and
- gifts of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:23).
In James, it appears
that the author and his readers have already experienced divine birth, which is
ultimately destined for all humans.
Verse 19: “quick to ... slow to anger”: These
admonitions are common in the Old Testament and in the Qumran literature: see
Exodus 34:6;
Numbers 14:18;
Proverbs 14:29;
Joel 2:13;
Jonah 4:2;
Nahum 1:3;
Sirach 5:11-13; 20:5-8;
1QH (Qumran Hymns) 9:34-37 ( Vermes:
1:34-37). [NJBC]
Verse 22: †NJBC says that this verse is
a summary of the book. It is like Romans 2:13. Christianity as a religion of
deeds is characteristic of James. For this notion in the gospels, see Matthew
7:24-27 (and parallels); Luke 8:21; 11:28.
For the Old Testament background, see Deuteronomy 4:5-6, 13-15;
Ezekiel 33:31-32.
[ NJBC]
Verse 25: “law”: James lacks the distinction between law
and gospel; rather he qualifies the word law when he uses it.
This is like the spirit of Matthew 5:17-19 (the
Sermon on the Mount). “Perfect law” is usually a Jewish description of Mosaic
law, but here the term is applied to the gospel. [ NOAB]
Verse 25: “blessed”: The happiness of the person who
does God’s will. Psalm 1:1-2 says:
“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path
that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the
law of the Lord ...”.
See also Matthew 5:3-11 (the
Beatitudes). [ NOAB]
Verse 27: “orphans and widows”: They are the natural
objects of charity in the community. See Deuteronomy 27:19;
Sirach 4:10;
Acts 6:1.
[ JBC]
GOSPEL: Mark 7: 1 - 8, 14 - 15, 21 - 23 (all)
Mark
7:1 (NRSV) Now when the Phar'isees and some of the scribes who had come from
Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were
eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the
Phar'isees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their
hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat
anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other
traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles. 5
So the Phar'isees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not
live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled
hands?" 6 He said to them, "Isai'ah prophesied rightly about you
hypocrites, as it is written,
"This
people honors me with their lips,
but
their hearts are far from me;
7 in
vain do they worship me,
teaching
human precepts as doctrines.'
8 You
abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."
14
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of
you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can
defile, but the things that come out are what defile."
20 And
he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For it is from
within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft,
murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they
defile a person."
Mark has told us that Jesus has gained an
audience among the common people, who have sought sustenance and have responded
to his compassion in healing. Now we hear of his opposition to the legalism and pickiness of the
Pharisees. They are “from Jerusalem”, so represent official Judaism. Mark’s
note (vv. 3-4), written for Gentile readers, explains that Pharisees
consider the “tradition of the elders” to be binding, as are the laws of Moses.
(They wished to extend the laws of ritual purity, which once applied only to
priests, to all Jews, thus making all people priestly.) Rather than answer the
question (v. 5), Jesus calls them phonies. (In Greek, hypokrites were actors
who masked – hid – their faces.) He quotes Isaiah 29:13: their religion is empty; they “hold to human tradition” (v. 8) rather than the
Law. Then vv. 14-15: Jesus says that what you eat (“going in”) is immaterial,
but what comes out does matter: it is from the very being of a person that
“evil intentions” (v. 21) and actions come.
(The “heart” was seen as the source of will and not just of emotions.)
The parallel is
Matthew 15:1-20.
This passage stresses
the central importance of the purity of food and food containers for all Jews,
but especially for Pharisees (meaning “pure ones”) and scribes, i.e. those
responsible for showing the relevance and specific requirements of Mosaic law.
Jesus appeals to Isaiah to show that what matters most is personal dedication
to God and his will, rather than formal – often evasive – conformity to legal
precepts. The real sources of evil are not ritual pollution from without, but
corruption within the human heart - the seat of will, and not merely of
emotions (as we think today). [ CAB]
Verse 2: “defiled”: The issue is not one of hygiene,
but rather failure to follow traditional Jewish practices of ritual
purification. [ NJBC]
Verse 3: “tradition of the elders”: The Pharisees
claimed traditions in which the great leaders of Israel formed a chain back to
Moses, i.e. unwritten law, aural torah (later recorded in
the Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud and
the Jerusalem Talmud.)
[ JBC]
Verse 4: In Matthew 23:25,
Jesus warns: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the
outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and
self-indulgence”. See also Luke 11:39.
[ NOAB]
Verses 6-7: The quotation is from the Septuagint translation of
Isaiah 29:13: This
people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the
commandments and doctrines of men, [ BLXX]
but note that there are differences. NOAB hypothesizes
that Mark used a collection of (inexact) quotations from the Septuagint. [ NOAB]
Verse 8: “human tradition”: The Pharisees and scribes
would have argued that they were making practical and concrete teachings that
were not clear in the law. [ NJBC]
Also, the aural torah formed
a protective wrapper round Mosaic law, thus making it most
unlikely that a Jew would commit a serious sin by transgressing the Law itself.
Verses 9-13: Jesus illustrates his point by speaking of
“Corban” (Greek: korban). A child could, per the aural torah, declare possessions
to be korban, i.e. an offering to God. He still enjoyed the use of
them. At that time, the Commandment to “Honour your father and mother” was
interpreted as giving parents a right to a child’s possessions. Making
possessions korban circumvented a child’s obligations to his
parents under the Law. Some later Jewish teachers agreed with Jesus. [NJBC]
Verse 15: “defile”: Defilement rendered one unfit to
share in public worship. See also Acts 10:14-15 (Peter’s
vision) and 1 Timothy 4:3.
Verse 16: Most important manuscripts omit this verse.
Verse 19: “Thus he declared all foods clean”: “Clean”
here means ritually clean. The question arises: if Jesus was so
clear about food laws, why was the issue debated in the early Church? See
Galatians 2:11-14 (Paul
rebukes Peter at Antioch); Romans 14:14-20;
Colossians 2:20-23;
Acts 10:14-15.
[ NJBC]
The answer, I think, is
that the comment “thus he declared” is Mark's commentary on Jesus' statement.
Given that Mark was written after the events recorded in Acts (notably Peter's
vision), perhaps Mark is here finding in the words of Jesus justification of
the ultimate decision to relax the dietary laws.
Oddly enough, if that is
the case, then Mark is acting in the way the Pharisees operated! In other
words, he is establishing in the new oral tradition (i.e. the words of Jesus)
that there is a teaching validating a new interpretation of the written Law.
The Pharisees believed in a two-fold Law, one written and the other oral. This
latter law is chiefly what separated them from the Sadducees.
[Alan Perry]
Verses 21-23: For other such lists of vices, see
Galatians 5:19-21;
Romans 1:29-31;
1 Peter 4:3;
Wisdom 14:25-26.
Many of the elements were common in the Greco-Roman world and in Judaism. See
1QS (Qumran Rule of the Community) 4:9-11. [ NJBC]
1QS 4:9-11 says: “... to
the spirit of deceit belong greed, frailty of hands in the service of justice,
irreverence, deceit, pride and haughtiness of heart, dishonesty, trickery,
cruelty, much insincerity, impatience, much insanity, zealousness about wrong
things, appalling acts performed in a lustful passion, filthy paths for indecent
purposes, blasphemous tongue, blindness of eyes, hardness of hearing, stiffness
of neck, hardness of heart in order to walk in all the paths of darkness and
evil cunning. ...” [ Martinez]
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