A short time ago, I ran into a claim that in the near future devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus would be more and more important. Think about how our ecclesial pastors have, through neglect and even expressions of contempt, downplayed and eroded the pious devotional practices of the faithful. Hence, I am inclined…
Collect: Keep Thy household, O Lord, with continual loving-kindness, that by Thy protection it may be free from all adversities and devoted to Thy name in well-doing. Epistle: Ephesians vi. 10-17 Gospel: Matthew xviii. 23-35 An image of the torments of Hell attributed to spiritual writers of note, in particular St. Augustine of Hippo (+430), caught…
“Brethren: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph 5:15-16 RSV). True in St. Paul’s day. Perhaps even more so in our day. If…
Collect: Almighty and merciful God, in Thy loving-kindness do Thou keep us from all things that war against us, that, being unhampered alike in soul and in body, we may with free minds perform the works that are Thine. Epistle: Ephesians iv. 23-28 Gospel: Matthew xxii. 2-14 When this Sunday comes around, with its snappy…
Collect: Let the operation of Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, direct our hearts, for without Thee we cannot please Thee. Epistle: I Corinthians i. 4-6 Gospel: Matthew ix. 1-8 In the northern hemisphere, the shift is on from summer to autumn. In the sequence of Sundays, Holy Church – which rose and expanded…
Collect: Grant Thy people, O Lord, to shun the defilements of the devil, and with pure hearts to follow Thee, the only God. Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6 Gospel: Matthew 22:35-46 As I write, it is the Jewish high holy day Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur falls in the Hebrew calendar on the tenth…
Epistle: Ephesians 3:13–21 Gospel: Luke 14:1–11 Collect: Let Thy grace, we beseech The, O Lord, ever go before us and follow us, and may it make us to be continually zealous in doing good works. Is there a vice which God must hate more than pride? It was pride that brought down Satan and the other apostate…
Epistle: Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-10 Gospel: Luke 7:11-16 Collect: Let Thy continual pity, O Lord, cleanse and fortify Thy Church; and, because without Thee it cannot be safely established, let it ever be governed by Thy grace. “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” (Hamlet IV, v). Such was the lot of the…
Epistle: Galatians 5:16-24 Gospel: Matthew 6:24-33 Collect: Guard Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with Thy continual kindness; and, because without Thee human frailty falleth, let it, by Thine assistance, ever be both withheld from harm and guided to what is salutary. Sometimes I am weighed down with regret over how I have squandered the time, means,…
