Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 28 October 2018, is the Fifth Sunday before Advent, with the Liturgical Provisions for Proper 25.
The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland are:
Continuous readings: Job 42: 1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34: 1-8 (19-22); Hebrews 7: 23-28; Mark 10: 46-52.
Paired Readings: Jeremiah 31: 7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 7: 23-28; Mark 10: 46-52.
Second Service: Psalm 119: 121-136; Ecclesiastes 11 and 12; II Timothy 2: 1-7.
There is link to the continuous readings HERE.
Next Sunday is also the Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude.
The appointed readings are:
Holy Communion: Isaiah 28: 14-16; Psalm 119: 89-96; Ephesians 2: 19-22; John 15: 17-27.
Morning Prayer: Psalms 116, 117; Wisdom 5: 1-16 or Isaiah 45: 18-25; Luke 6: 12-16.
Evening Prayer: Psalm 119: 1-16; I Maccabees 2: 42-66 or Jeremiah 3: 11-18; Jude 1-4, 17-25.
In addition, Bible Sunday may be observed next Sunday using these readings: Isaiah 55: 1-11; Psalm 19: 7-14; II Timothy 3: 14 to 4: 5; John 5: 36b-47.
Part 1 of this posting looks closely at the readings and liturgical resources for next Sunday as the Fifth Sunday before Advent (Proper 25).
Part 2 looks at the readings and resources for 24 October as the Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude.
Part 1: The Fifth Sunday before Advent:
Introducing the readings:
The lectionary readings for the next Sunday offer an interesting contrast between silence and listening to God.
In his sufferings, Job has been silenced before God, and now realises his need to listen to God (see Job 42: 1-6, 10-17). The Psalmist wishes to praise God all the time so that ‘his praise shall ever be in my mouth’ (Psalm 34: 1). The response provided for this Psalm is: ‘I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me out of my terror’ (Psalm 34: 4).
In the Gospel reading (Mark 10: 46-52), when Bartimaeus the blind beggar realises he is in the presence of Christ outside the gates of Jericho, ‘many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly’ (verse 48).
There are moments to cry out loudly in the presence of God, and there are moments when silence is so appropriate. But there are times too when the seeming silence of God is more difficult to understand and to wrestle with than our own silence, as Job realised in the earlier readings from the Book of Job over recent weeks.
So, in my prayers and silent reflections as I prepared these notes, my thoughts turned to the icon of Christ the Blessed Silence, an icon found in some traditions in the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, but that is not so well known outside Orthodoxy.
Job 42: 1-6, 10-17:
Earlier in this book, Job was deprived of all his worldly possessions, his children, and his health. These experiences tested whether he really is a person of great integrity and faith. He has wondered why misfortune has happened to him, for surely punishment is reserved for the ungodly.
Job’s comforters were three apparent friends who argued that his suffering must mean he has lived contrary to God’s ways.
But God has met Job and has asked him who he is to doubt God’s plans and works? Job has come to realise that neither he nor his friends understand the world, and that he has no grounds for complaint against God.
Job now acknowledges God’s purpose. God has taught him a lesson, and Job acknowledges God’s sovereignty.
In this passage, he quotes God’s words spoken earlier. He admits his ignorance. He has long had faith in God, but this has now been replaced by seeing and experiencing God. God has come to him, and he now seeks no explanation for his suffering.
In an about-turn, God chastises Eliphaz and Job’s other comforters for their ungodliness and tells orders them to ask Job to intercede on their behalf. God then accepts Job’s prayer for them.
As we come to the end of our set of readings from the Book of Job, Job is restored to him all that he had lost at the beginning of this book, some in double measure. He is no longer shunned by his relatives, and his possessions and his children are blessed.
Psalm 34: 1-8 (19-22):
In this psalm, the psalmist blesses God continually for what he has done for him. God has heard him and has restored him to a peaceful life. He prays that he may he be an example for the humble.
God, or ‘the Angel of the Lord,’ protects those who fear the Lord. We should taste and see how good the Lord is. God is good, and his holy ones lack nothing.
God’s way includes doing good, abstaining from evil deeds, and seeking and working for peace, and these lead to promises of a rich and long life. God hears the pleas of the godly when they suffer and rescues them. Although they may suffer, they will be restored to health. But the evildoers will be forgotten when they die, while God will free those who trust in him.
Hebrews 7: 23-28:
The writer of this letter has already told his readers: ‘we have a great high priest’ (4: 14). In this reading, he sees the former Temple priests as transitory, because previous high priests have died, while Christ is the eternal high priest who continues forever.
He is, for all time, the way to God and to salvation and as our high priest intercedes with God on our behalf. He is a perfect priest forever.
Mark 10: 46-52:
The story of a blind man or blend men at the gate of Jericho is told in all three Synoptic Gospels: see Matthew 20: 29-34, Mark 10: 46-52 and Luke 18: 35-43.
In Saint Matthew’s account, there are two, unnamed blind men sitting by the roadside outside Jericho. In Saint Luke’s version, the blind man is sitting by the roadside begging as Christ approaches Jericho.
In all three accounts, the location of Jericho is important. It claims to be the oldest inhabited and the oldest walled city in the world.
The Battle of Jericho is the first battle in the conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua. The walls of Jericho fall after Joshua’s Israelite army marches around the city blowing their trumpets (Joshua 6: 1-27).
In later times, Jericho was a private estate of Alexander the Great and then a garden city in the royal estates of the Hasmoneans, the priestly ruling dynasty. Mark Anthony gave Jericho to Cleopatra as a gift, but Herod leased it back again and the Herodians had their winter palace here, with their winter gardens.
By the time of Christ, Jericho is an important commercial city, a crossroads, the winter resort for Jerusalem’s aristocracy and the ruling priestly class. Which explains why, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, a priest and a Levite were regular passers-by on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem (Luke 10: 30-37).
Jericho was also the home of Zacchaeus, the repentant tax collector (Luke 19: 1-10).
Christ and his disciples are now near the end of their journey from Caesarea Philippi in the north to Jerusalem: Jericho is about 25 km from Jerusalem. On their journey, the disciples have misunderstood the message of Jesus and have been blind to who he truly is. But in this Gospel reading, it is a blind man who sees who Christ truly is.
Earlier in the Gospel – but not in the lectionary readings provided for this year – Saint Mark is alone in telling the story of an unnamed blind man who is healed gradually at Bethsaida (Mark 8: 22-26).
In Sunday’s reading, Saint Mark gives tells us – or seems to tell us – the name of this blind beggar, ‘Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar’ (verse 46).
But the name Bartimaeus literally means ‘Son of Timaeus,’ and so we are told only the name of this man’s father. Bartimaeus is an unusual Semitic-Greek hybrid, and Timaeus is an unusual Greek name for this place and at that time.
The culturally significant occurrence of this name is in Timaeus (Τίμαιος), one of Plato’s dialogues, mostly in the form of a long monologue by the title character Timaeus of Locri. He delivers Plato’s most important cosmological and theological treatise, involving sight as the foundation of knowledge, and describing the nature of the physical world, the purpose of the universe, and the creation of the soul.
The blind son of Timaeus cries out to ‘Jesus, Son of David’ and asks for mercy. This cry is one of the Biblical foundations of the Jesus Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.’
Until now, the disciples have been blind to who Jesus truly is. It takes a blind man to see the truth. When he does, Bartimaeus makes a politically charged statement. Jesus is ‘Son of David,’ King of the Jews, and Messiah. In other places, Christ orders silence on the matter, but not here. His time is approaching.
The cloak Bartimaeus throws off (verse 50) is probably the cloth he uses to receive alms he is begging for. When he throws away his cloak away, he gives up all he has to follow Christ. In this Gospel, garments often indicate the old order, so Bartimaeus accepts the new order.
The question Christ now puts to Bartimaeus – ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ (verse 51) – is the same question he put in the previous Sunday’s reading to James and John when they sought status in the kingdom: ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ (Mark 10: 36).
James and John asked to be seated at his right hand and his left hand, symbolising power and prestige (see Mark 10: 37). But Bartimaeus is humble in his reply: ‘My teacher, let me see again’ (verse 51).
Christ tells him simply that his faith ‘has made you well.’ Bartimaeus is not only cured immediately, but he follows Jesus on the way (verse 52).
The way is not going to be an easy one. As the parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us, in the time of Christ, the road from Jericho to Jerusalem to Jericho was notorious for its danger and difficulty. It was known as the ‘Way of Blood’ because of the blood which is often shed there by robbers.
But Christ is also about to shed his blood. He is now on the road used by priests and by kings as they set out from Jericho to Jerusalem, and the next chapter of Saint Mark’s Gospel brings us to Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11: 1-11).
Mark 10: 46-52 (NRSV):
[Jesus and his disciples] 46 [They] came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 49 Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ 52 Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Green
The Collect:
Blessed Lord,
who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Help us to hear them,
to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them
that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,
we may embrace and for ever hold fast
the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God of all grace,
your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom.
Renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your true and living bread,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Suggested Hymns:
The hymns suggested for next Sunday in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:
Job 42: 1-6, 10-17:
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
13, God moves in a mysterious way
226, It is a thing most wonderful
Psalm 34: 1-8 (19-22):
86, Christ is the King! O friends, rejoice
99, Jesus, the name high over all
634, Love divine, all loves excelling
372, Through all the changing scenes of life
376, Ye holy angels bright
Jeremiah 31: 7-9:
128, Hills of the north, rejoice
593, O Jesus, I have promised
366, Praise, my soul, the King of heaven
20, The King of love my shepherd is
Psalm 126:
567, Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
356, I will sing, I will sing a song unto the Lord
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!
Hebrews 7: 23-28:
398, Alleluia! sing to Jesus
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
406, Christians. Lift your hearts and voices
454, Forth in the peace of Christ we go
266, Hail the day that sees him rise (verses 1-2, 5-6)
268, Hail, thou once-despisèd Jesus
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
105, O the deep, deep love of Jesus
439, Once, only once, and once for all
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
291, Where high the heavenly temple stands
Mark 10: 46-52:
42, Amazing grace
218, And can it be that I should gain
52, Christ, whose glory fills the skies
294, Come down, O Love divine
563, Commit your ways to God
613, Eternal Light, shine in my heart
324, God, whose almighty word
357, I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
587, Just as I am, without one plea
554, Lord Jesus, think on me
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
374, When all thy mercies, O my God
Part 2: Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles, 28 October 2018:
Readings: Isaiah 28: 14-16; Psalm 119: 89-96; Ephesians 2: 19-22; John 15: 17-27.
As we celebrate Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles, many people on our city streets may associate Saint Simon with the homeless and housing crisis in Ireland, and think of Saint Simon as someone cares for the homeless and the misfits. However, the Simon Community takes its name from Simon of Cyrene who helps Christ carry his cross on the way to Calvary and his Crucifixion.
If you asked who Jude is, you might be told he is ‘Obscure’ – or the Patron of Lost Causes.
These two are little known as apostles, without fame, and that obscurity is almost affirmed by the fact that they have to share one feast day and do not have their own separate, stand-alone celebrations in the Calendar of the Church.
In an age obsessed with reality television, the X-Factor, the Apprentice or celebrities who are celebrities – just because they are – Simon and Jude appear like a pair of misfits: we know little about their lives or how they lived them, they are hardly famous among the disciples, and they certainly are not celebrity apostles.
Simon and Jude are way down the list of the Twelve Apostles, and their names are often confused or forgotten. In the New Testament lists of the Twelve (Matthew 10: 2-4; Mark 3: 16-19; Luke 6: 14-16; Acts 1: 13), they come in near the end, in tenth and eleventh places. Well, with Judas in twelfth place, they just about make it onto the ‘first eleven.’
The ninth name on the lists is James, the James who was remembered this week on Wednesday 23 October. Judas or Jude is often referred to as ‘the brother of James,’ and this in turn leads to him being identified with the ‘brothers of the Lord.’ So, on this day, we celebrate Simon the Zealot, one of the original Twelve; and Jude or Judas of James, also one of the Twelve and author of the Epistle of Jude.
But poor Simon is not mentioned by name in the New Testament except on these lists – after all, there is a better-known Simon than this Simon: there is Simon Peter. As for Jude, his name is so close to Judas – in fact, their names are the same (Ιούδας) – is it any wonder that he became known as the patron saint of lost causes? Trying to remember him might have been a lost cause.
After the Last Supper, Jude asked Christ why he chose to reveal himself only to the disciples, and received the reply: ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to them and make our home with them’ (John 14: 22-23).
In his brief Epistle, Jude says he planned to write a different letter, but then heard of the misleading views of some false teachers. He makes a passionate plea to his readers to preserve the purity of the Christian faith and their good reputation.
His Epistle includes a memorable exhortation to ‘contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints’ (Jude 3), and ends with that wonderful closing: ‘Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen’ (Jude 24-25).
But after that, surprisingly, we know very little about the later apostolic missions of Simon and Jude, where they were missionaries or whether they were martyred.
In truth, we know very little about these two saints, bundled together at the end of a list, like two hopeless causes. There was no danger of them being servants who might want to be greater than their master (John 15: 20). All we can presume is that they laboured on, perhaps anonymously, in building up the Church.
But then the Church does not celebrate celebrities who are famous and public; we honour the saints who labour and whose labours are often hidden.
In the Gospel reading (John 15: 17-27), the Apostles are warned about suffering the hatred of ‘the world.’ Later as the Gospel was spread around the Mediterranean, isolated Christians may not have realised how quickly the Church was growing; in their persecutions and martyrdom, they may have felt forlorn and that Christianity was in danger of being a lost cause.
But in the Gospel reading, Christ encourages a beleaguered Church to see its afflictions and wounds as his own.
No matter how much we suffer, no matter how others may forget us, no matter how obscure we become, no matter how many people forget our names, no matter how often our faith and discipleship may appear to others to be lost causes, we can be assured that we are no longer strangers and aliens, that we are citizens with the saints, that we are building up the household of God upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ himself as the cornerstone, and that we are being built together spiritually into the dwelling place of God (Ephesians 2: 19-22).
John 15: 17-27 (NRSV):
[Jesus said:] 17 ‘I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
18 ‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world – therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, “Servants are not greater than their master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 It was to fulfil the word that is written in their law, “They hated me without a cause.”
26 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Red.
Collect:
Almighty God, who built your Church upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets
with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone:
So join us together in unity of spirit by their doctrine
that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Penitential Kyries:
Lord, you are gracious and compassionate.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You are loving to all,
and your mercy is over all your creation.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Your faithful servants bless your name,
and speak of the glory of your kingdom.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Introduction to the Peace:
We are fellow citizens with the saints
and the household of God,
through Christ our Lord,
who came and preached peace to those who were far off
and those who were near (Ephesians 2: 19, 17).
The Preface:
In the saints
you have given us an example of godly living,
that rejoicing in their fellowship,
we may run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
and with them receive the unfading crown of glory ...
Post Communion Prayer:
Lord God,
the source of truth and love:
Keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
united in prayer and the breaking of the bread,
and one in joy and simplicity of heart,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Blessing:
God give you grace
to share the inheritance of all Saint Simon and Saint Jude
and of his saints in glory ...
Suggested Hymns:
The hymns suggested for the Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude by Bishop Edward Darling in Sing to the Word (2000) include:
Isaiah 28: 14-16:
326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our corner-stone
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
528, The Church’s one foundation
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious
Psalm 119: 89-96:
80, Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father
382, Help us, O Lord, to learn
573, I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice
384, Lord, thy word abideth
638, O for a heart to praise my God
Ephesians 2: 19-22:
326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our corner-stone
413, Father, we thank thee who hast planted
522, In Christ there is no east or west
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
528, The Church’s one foundation
313, The Spirit came, as promised
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious
John 15: 17-27:
515, ‘A new commandment I give unto you’
294, Come down, O Love divine
296, Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire
297, Come, thou Holy Spirit, come
299, Holy Spirit, come, confirm us
307, Our great Redeemer, as he breathed
Also suitable:
459, For all the saints who from their labours rest
461, For all thy saints, O Lord
460, For all your saints in glory, for all your saints at rest (verse 1, 2r, 3)
471, Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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