It’s not easy, at first, to get a sense of what is on Paul’s mind as we read today’s excerpt. But if you compare the first several verses to most of his other letters, you will notice the jarring absence of a prayer of thanksgiving directly after the initial greeting. Paul is astonished. He’s actually angry.
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Feast of Advocacy and Consolation – The Feast of Pentecost is believed by a host of scholars to be the day that Christianity, as a faith movement, was born. The First Sunday of Advent might begin our liturgical year, but it’s Pentecost – as a point in time and space – where what we know of what it means to be Christ’s body, made an initial, quantum leap into expressed reality.
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of this particular gospel passage in Christian thought. The love command that Jesus gives here – here in this crux-y place nestled between open ministry and inner revelation – this command to love, as it is expressed here, is typically understood as both the center of Jesus’ teaching and the center of Christian life. And most scholars see this very passage as pivotal to the structure and theology of John’s Gospel: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”
Revelation begins on Patmos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. The risen Christ appears and dictates, to John, seven messages to the churches in Asia Minor. John is then transported to the heavenly world, where he beholds the throne of God, God who is praised as Creator of all. God’s right hand holds a sealed book, which is taken by the Lamb – and as the Lamb opens the seals, terrible judgments are inflicted upon the earth. The final seal, the seventh, unfolds into…
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The body of Jesus was buried in the late afternoon on Friday. The women came to the tomb early Sunday morning. The Gospels say nothing about the events that took place in between. It’s in this silence that the ancient celebration of Easter Vigil fits. We wait with his followers. In the present day, we might remember how it was women among Jesus’ original cohort who planned, and attempted to enact, proper ritual cleansing…