Here is a first attempt at posting from my iPod.
Isn’t it amazing what technology can do?
Feeding the Multitudes
Today’s Gospel in the Daily Office was John’s version of the Feeding of the 5000:
When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
I will never forget going to a youth event when I was a teen (about 35 years ago). There was an old African American preacher who preached on this passage. He preached in a sing-song style and his constant refrain was- “It’s not much, but it’s enough.”
Just a couple of fish and few loaves…
A dozen disciples in a big old world…
A few hundred youth at a small camp in Alabama…
A few dollars for a hungry world…
Small acts, by a few insignificant people, always appear to be powerless and weak. Yet, that is the stuff that history and faith are made of. May you get caught up in the story today.
“It’s not much, but it’s enough.”
Feast Day of Thomas Aquinas
It was about a year ago when I began this blog, and I have come around to another feast day of one of the great scholars of the Church- Thomas Aquinas. (Read last year’s blog)
Here is the collect for the day:
Almighty God, you have enriched your Church with the singular learning and holiness of your servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
SCRIPTURES
Wisdom 7:7-14
Matthew 13:47-52
Psalm 37:3-6,32-33 or
Psalm 119:97-104
A couple of quotes from Thomas:
If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.
All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.
Timothy and Titus
Today in the lectionary we remember the companions of Paul. There may be no better road to travel than as a companion to a saint. And when they were his companions, he hadn’t been given the title. I suspect Timothy and Titus saw Paul for the human he was, warts and all. Yet, they still accompanied him.
May we learn to be companions on the Way.
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COLLECT
Almighty God, you called Timothy and Titus to be evangelists and teachers, and made them strong to endure hardship: Strengthen us to stand fast in adversity, and to live godly and righteous lives in this present time, that with sure confidence we may look for our blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
SCRIPTURES
2 Timothy 1:1-8
or Titus 1:1-5
John 10:1-10
Psalm 112:1-9
or Psalm 23
From the Episcopal Cafe:
Daily Reading for January 26 • Timothy, Titus, and Silas, Companions of St. Paul
The devotion of the apostles’ hearts and the power of prayer are expressed [here] together, since in the depths of the prison they sang hymns, and their praise moved the earth of the prison, shook the foundation, opened the doors and finally loosened the very chains of those who had been bound. In other words, anyone of the faithful “considers it all joy when he falls into various trials.” “And he gladly glories in his infirmities, so that the power of Christ may dwell in him.” Such a one undoubtedly sings hymns with Paul and Silas within the darkness of the prison, and with the psalmist he recites to the Lord, “You are my refuge from the distress which surrounds me, my exaltation.”
From Bede’s Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, quoted in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament V: Acts, edited by Francis Martin (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2006).
Saint Ambrose
(It has been awhile since I have posted on this blog. It has been a busy month. Today’s Morning Prayer remembered an ancient worth noting–Ambrose, Bishop of Milan)
Collect
O God, you gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Scriptures for the Day
Ecclesiasticus 2:7-11,16-18
Luke 12:35-37,42-44
Psalm 27:5-11
or Psalm 33:1-5,20-21
Bio
Ambrose was governor of Northern Italy, with capital at Milan. When the see of Milan fell vacant, it seemed likely that rioting would result, since the city was evenly divided between Arians and Athanasians. (Explanatory Note: Athanasians affirm that the Logos or Word (John 1:1) is fully God in the same sense that the Father is, while Arians affirm that the Logos is a creature, the first being created by the Father. East Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Prebyterians, Reformed, Baptists, Methodists, etc. are Athanasians. The Watchtower Society (J_____h’s Witnesses), the Philippine group called the Iglesia ni Christi (spelling?), and some other groups are Arians. The Unitarians started out as Arians, and some of them still hold this position.) Ambrose went to the meeting where the election was to take place, and appealed to the crowd for order and good will on both sides. He ended up being elected bishop with the support of both sides.
On St. Martin’s Day…
Collect
Lord God of hosts, you clothed your servant Martin the soldier with the spirit of sacrifice, and set him as a bishop in your Church to be a defender of the catholic faith: Give us grace to follow in his holy steps, that at the last we may be found clothed with righteousness in the dwellings of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Scriptures for the Day
Isaiah 58:6-12
Matthew 25:34-40
Psalm 15
or Psalm 34:15-22
Bio
Martin was born around 330 of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at the age of fifteen. One winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. (Paintings of the scene, such as that by El Greco, show Martin, even without the cloak, more warmly clad than the beggar, which rather misses the point.) In a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. He had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. At the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying: “Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ.” He was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed.
He became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, a chief opponent in the West of the Arians, who denied the full deity of Christ, and who had the favor of the emperor Constantius. Returning to his parents’ home in Illyricum, he opposed the Arians with such effectiveness that he was publicly scourged and exiled. He was subsequently driven from Milan, and eventually returned to Gaul. There he founded the first monastary in Gaul, which lasted until the French Revolution.
In 371 he was elected bishop of Tours. His was a mainly pagan diocese, but his instruction and personal manner of life prevailed. In one instance, the pagan priests agreed to fell their idol, a large fir tree, if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He did so, and it missed him very narrowly. When an officer of the Imperial Guard arrived with a batch of prisoners who were to be tortured and executed the next day, Martin intervened and secured their release.