Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 16 May 2021, Seventh Sunday of Easter, Sunday after Ascension Day

‘The lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles’ (Acts 1: 17) … The 12 Apostles depicted in a mediaeval carving in the Franciscan Friary in Ennis, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday [16 May 2021] is the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This day comes between Ascension Day and the Day of Pentecost.

The resources for planning Ascension Day, including the readings, propers, a reflection, hymn suggestions and illustrations are available HERE.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for next Sunday as adapted for us in the Church of Ireland are:

The Readings: Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26 or Exodus 28: 1-4, 9-10, 29-30; Psalm 1; I John 5: 9-13; John 17: 6-19.

There is a direct link to these readings HERE.

Peter stood up among the believers … and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled’ (Acts 1: 15) … Saint Peter depicted in a window in the north nave in in Saint Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26:

None of us would like to be counted as the successor of Judas. But this reading from the Acts of the Apostles recalls the successor to Judas as one of the Twelve, the Apostle Matthias. Indeed, his feast day falls two days earlier, Friday 14 May 2021.

I sometimes wonder whether Saint Matthias saw the humour in being second choice. After all, he was the second choice – not the first choice, but the second choice – to succeed Judas among the Twelve.

Imagine how Saint Matthias might have felt: the first time round, he was not good enough to be among the Twelve, but Judas was. The second time round, his name is not mentioned first; instead, the first name to come forward is that of Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, but nobody ever since remembers him, and his saintly life has passed into oblivion. I hear very few children in school playgrounds or on football pitches being called Barsabbas, as in: ‘Hey Barsabbas, pass the ball over here.’

And then, to compound matters, nobody has the foggiest idea who Saint Matthias was, before or after his election. His name, identity and life story have been forgotten, apart from making him the patron saint of alcoholism and smallpox, and a of few small towns. We are not even sure where or how he died, or where he is buried.

This reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Saint Matthias is the Apostle chosen by the remaining eleven of the twelve to take the place of Judas Iscariot following his betrayal of Christ and his subsequent death by suicide (Acts 1:15-26).

According to the Acts of the Apostles, in the days following the Ascension of Christ, Peter proposes to the assembled disciples, who number about 120, that they choose one among them to fill the place of Judas among the Twelve.

And so, the assembled believers come forward with two nominations: their first choice is Joseph Barsabbas, or Joseph Justus. It may only be an afterthought that someone suggests the name of Matthias.

And then, they cannot make up their minds. Instead, they cast lots, and the lot falls to Matthias. I doubt any of us would be happy to hear we have been selected or nominated for any role in life we value by tossing a coin, drawing straws or rolling a dice as others pray about whether we are suitable or qualified.

Saint Matthias is unnamed before this account. After this, there is no further mention of him in the New Testament. He is the forgotten apostle. Having made an unexpected entrance on the stage, Saint Matthias walks off the scene once again. And we hear nothing more about him. We have no further information about him.

Saint Matthias’ Church, Killiney, Ballybrack, Co Dublin … what happened to Saint Matthias after he was chosen to join the Twelve? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Reflecting on Saint Matthias

Clement of Alexandria says the apostles are not chosen for some outstanding character, and certainly not on their own merits. After all, Judas is chosen as one of the Twelve, and even among the others Saint Peter denies Christ at the Crucifixion and Saint Thomas at first denies the Resurrection.

The apostles are chosen by Christ for his own reasons, but not for their merits.

If Saint Matthias had not been worthy of being called first time round, how is he worthy now to join the Twelve?

But discipleship, like ministry, is never about my worthiness, my merits. I have earned no right to be called to ordained ministry, to share in the priesthood of the Church, we have earned no right to be called disciples and part of the Body of Christ.

It is Christ alone who calls us.

Saint Matthias was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. Christ chooses each one of us in the same way.

I am not worthy to be even a poor substitute, even a second best substitute for Judas, who had his own unique place in God’s salvific plan as it unfolded.

It does not matter whether others think you have been too early or too late in responding to Christ’s call. It does not matter whether we are worthy in the eyes of others for any office or position we hold, or any good opinion others hold of us. What matters more is: What does Christ want of you?

And it matters little whether I am someone’s first choice or second choice in any role in life, whether I am praised or thanked for my work, whether anyone will remember my achievements, whether anyone remembers me after I die, can spell my name, or find my grave. All that matters is God’s plan, and whether I follow God’s call faithfully.

We are often in the place we are in life only because the person who was here before me failed: Joshua led Israel because Moses failed in the wilderness; David became King because Saul had failed; Matthias became an apostle because Judas had failed.

Saint Matthias is a living reminder of God’s grace to and for us. He was ‘grafted in’ to the company of the Apostles, not through his own merits, but by God’s grace. We have been grafted into the company of the Children of God, not through our own merits, but by God’s grace.

Saint Matthias is also a warning to us. He silently warns, ‘I am here because someone else failed. The same thing could happen to me if I stop taking my nourishment from the True Vine and stop bearing good fruit.’

A priest’s hands raised and spread for the priestly blessing on a gravestone in the Jewish cemetery in Kraków (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Exodus 28: 1-4, 9-10, 29-30:

As the reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells of the selection of Matthias to join the Twelve, this reading from the Book of Exodus tells of how Moses was told to call Aaron, his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, and their male descendants, were chosen and set aside and consecrated to the priesthood.

They are to wear distinctive vestments, including a headdress that was the priestly mitre or turban (Hebrew: מִצְנֶפֶת‎ mitznefet). Although it is called a turban in many modern translations, it was referred to as a κίδαριν (kidarin) in the Greek Septuagint and in other places or μίτρα (mítra) (see Leviticus 8: 9, for example). It is translated as mitre in the Authorised Version or King James Version of the Bible into English. This mitre was worn by the High Priest when he served in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem.

The priests are a small group set apart from the Tribe of Levi and are to serve in the Temple. Their jewelled decorations serve as a constant reminder that the priests are set aside to serve the 12 tribes of Israel and to keep the people in their hearts.

If being a cohan is a privilege and a responsibility, it also brings limitations in Jewish law. For example, a cohan may not marry a divorced woman, may not marry someone who has converted to Judaism, and should not come into contact with the dead or enter a cemetery.

The Cohanim or priestly caste continues to function in contemporary Judaism, and they impart their blessing with their hands raised and fingers separated in a gesture that often appears as a motif is on the gravestones of Cohanim or priestly descendants of Aaron and his sons. This motif is sometimes used too in the decoration of the Aron haKodesh or Holy Ark holding the Torah Scrolls in synagogues.

The priestly blessing (ברכת כהנים‎; birkat Cohanim) that cohanim continue to pronounce (Numbers 6: 24-26) says:

May the Lord bless and protect you.
May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord turn his face toward you, and give you peace.

The Jewish Sages stressed that although the priests are the ones carrying out the blessing, it is not them or the ceremonial practice of raising their hands that results in the blessing, but rather it is God’s desire that his blessing should be symbolised by the hands of the Cohanim.

The former Chief Rabbi, the late (Lord) Jonathan Sacks, says the Torah explicitly says that though the cohanim say the words, it is God who sends the blessing: ‘When the cohanim bless the people, they are not doing anything in and of themselves. Instead they are acting as channels through which God’s blessing flows into the world and into our lives.’

He adds, ‘Only love does this. Love means that we are focused not on ourselves but on another. Love is selflessness. And only selflessness allows us to be a channel through which flows a force greater than ourselves, the love that as Dante said, “moves the sun and the other stars”, the love that brings new life into the world.’

‘Like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither, whatever they do, it shall prosper’ (Psalm 1: 3) … willows by the water at Bushy Park in Terenure, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Psalm 1:

This psalm, an introduction to the book of Psalms, contrasts the fate of the godly and the ungodly. The psalmist speaks of the happiness of the godly. They do not live as the ungodly do. Instead, they constantly and joyfully study God’s law, and they keep it. They prosper like trees planted by living water that bear fruit, and they are prosperous.

On the other hand, the ungodly are like chaff, and their future threatens to be a disaster. They will be excluded from the company enjoyed by those who follow God’s ways, and will suffer.

The cross on a relief carving in Saint John’s Basilica in Ephesus … in I John, the secessionists are compared with idolaters (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I John 5: 9-13:

We have come to the end of this cycle of readings from the First Letter of Saint John. In the verses immediately before this passage, Saint John says the Holy Spirit witnesses or testifies to both Christ’s baptism (‘the water’) and his suffering on the cross (‘the blood’). Accepting this is expressed in discipleship, and in the sacramental life of the Church, Baptism and the Eucharist.

Now, in verses 9-13, we read that the principal witness to Christ, who is the truth, is the Holy Spirit, who has been sent by the Father to give testimony about his Son. The Spirit is the most convincing witness possible through the indwelling of the Spirit. To reject the Spirit is to reject life itself and to reject God.

In this section of I John, we are being told that love of God involves obedience to his will and love for God and for one another, and it brings Christians the promise of victory and everlasting life.

Love, for us as Christians, is the most important sign of victory in faith. As they say in the Nike advertising campaign: ‘Just do it.’

In this Epilogue, the writer returns to the theme of asking for things according to God’s will. The Early Church soon discovered that private requests in prayer were not always granted.

The author of I John is cautious as he tells his readers that while prayers will be heard in regard to most sins and most sinners, there is one sin so serious that he does not encourage people to pray for the offender.

Why does I John not tell us what this sin is? Have you ever wondered what it is?

Probably I John here is referring to the secessionists in the Church in Ephesus, and their apostasy, with the hint that this sin would be judged harshly throughout the Church. Saint John Chrysostom and many other Early Fathers of the Church taught that schism was worse than heresy, because schismatics tore apart the Church, the Body of Christ apart, while heretics could be admonished and corrected with careful teaching.

It is not that schism is unforgivable; it is that we should leave it and those who breach the fellowship of the Church in God’s hands.

On the other hand, the idea that every other sin is open to forgiveness through prayer could lead to a very lax and libertine attitude within the Church.

The setting for the Gospel reading (John 17: 6-19) is in the Garden of Gethsemane immediately after the Last Supper, known in Orthodoxy as the Mystical Supper (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 17: 6-19:

We are all familiar with the phrase ‘what’s mine is your and what’s your is mine.’

It may work well in families, or among schoolfriends. But what Christ is saying in verse 10 is more profound. We could read this as Trinitarian passage, for Christ is praying to the Father, that the disciples may be sanctified in the truth as they are sent into the world. So this is also an appropriate passage for this time between Ascension Day and Pentecost, preparing us for both the Day of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday a week later.

The context of this reading is the immediate aftermath of the Last Supper, indeed at points in this passage we may only grasp the significance of Christ’s words in the light of the Resurrection and the Ascension.

If we invite people who are listening to think back to the first reading and the selection of Saint Mattias as the next disciple, we can then point out that the timeframe for this passage is that interim space between Judas having left the Last Supper, and his betrayal of Christ, who is about to be arrested soon in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In his time alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ looks up to heaven. He prays to the Father, asking him to ‘glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.’ Christ waits to be restored to his glory. He has come to earth to provide eternal life to all who believe. Now he prays to the Father for the disciples.

He has made the Father known to those who would believe. To John, the ‘world’, or the cosmos, is notable for its unbelief and hatred. The disciples have been faithful to ‘your word,’ to truth, to God, to Christ’s teachings.

They have come to realise the relationship of the Son to the Father. They know Christ’s origin and mission. This prayer is on behalf of believers, who are God’s, and not on behalf of all people. We hear that belonging to God implies belonging to the Son, a theme that we might relate to the appointed Psalm. Christ’s power and authority have been shown to them.

In this reading, Christ asks four things of the Father:

• that they may be ‘one,’ as he and the Father are;

• that they may have ‘my joy’;

• that they may be protected from the influence of evil;

• that they may be able them to fulfil his mission in the world.

Christ asks the Father to ‘protect them in your name,’ by his authority and as his representatives. The Father has given Christ this authority. He has protected them, except for one: Judas.

The references to ‘the scripture’ that ‘might be fulfilled’ (verse 12) is not precise or clear, but may be reference to the Septuagint versions of Proverbs 24: 22, which refers to the ‘son of perdition.’

Christ asks the Father to set his followers apart or sanctify them as they are sent out into the world (verse 19) … a theme we face again the following Sunday, the Day of Pentecost.

The Last Supper depicted on the reredos in Saint Edan’s Cathedral, Ferns, Co Wexford, carved in 1918 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 17: 6-19 (NRSVA)

[Jesus said:] 6 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.’

‘The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee’ … the Twelve Apostles depicted in the East Window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical resources:

Liturgical Colour: White, or Gold.

The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Penitential Kyries:

God our Father,
you exalted your Son to sit at your right hand.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus,
you are the way, the truth and the life.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit, Counsellor,
you are sent to be with us for ever.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect (Easter VII):

O God the King of Glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Mercifully give us faith to know
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Collect of the Word:

Almighty God,
your blessed Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ,
ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things:
mercifully give us faith to trust
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth until the end of time;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

Jesus said, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives (John 14: 27, 28)

Preface:

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who after he had risen from the dead ascended into heaven,
where he is seated at your right hand to intercede for us
and to prepare a place for us in glory:

Post Communion Prayer:

Eternal Giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom.
Confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing:

Christ our exalted King
pour on you his abundant gifts
make you faithful and strong to do his will
that you may reign with him in glory:

Dismissal: (from Easter Day to Pentecost):

Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Christ and the twelve apostles in the East Window in Saint Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested Hymns:

Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26

461, For all thy saints, O Lord
460, For all your saints in glory (verses 1, 2f, 3)

Exodus 28:1-4, 9-10:

643, Be thou my vision

Psalm 1:

649, Happy are they, they that love God
56, Lord as I wake I turn to you
383, Lord, be thou my word, my rule

I John 5: 9-13:

613, Eternal light, shine in my heart

John 17: 6-19

518, Bind us together, Lord
326, Blessed city, heavenly Salem
415, For the bread which you have broken
438, O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray
526, Risen Lord, whose name we cherish
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
531, Where love and loving-kindness dwell

The 12 Apostles in a ceiling display at the crossing in the Church of Saint Nicholas of Myra, Francis Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray’ (Hymn 438) … the Last Supper in a window in Saint Ailbe’s Church, Emly, Co Tpperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 24 May 2020, Seventh Sunday of Easter

‘Sing to God, sing praises to his name; exalt him who rides on the clouds’ (Psalm 68: 4) … a kite above the beach at Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 24 May 2020, is the Seventh Sunday of Easter, the Sunday after Ascension Day.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:

The Readings: Acts 1: 6-14 or Ezekiel 39: 21-29; Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35; I Peter 4: 12-14, 5: 6-11; John 17: 1-11.

There is a link to the readings HERE, apart from the alternative reading in the Book of Ezekiel; there is a link to that alternative reading HERE.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter is an ‘in-between’ time in the 10 days between Ascension Day and the Day of Pentecost … confusing signs on the beach in Bettystown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the readings:

This Sunday is a strange ‘in-between’ time in the calendar of the Church. On the Thursday before (21 May 2020), we celebrate the Day of the Ascension. On the following Sunday (31 May 2020), we celebrate the Day of Pentecost.

In the meantime, we are in what we might call ‘in-between’ time.

It is still the season of Easter, which lasts for 50 days from Easter Day until the Day of Pentecost. But this morning we are still in the Easter season, in that ‘in-between’ time, these ten days between the Day of Ascension and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Church on the Day of Pentecost.

‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?’ (Acts 1: 11) … the Ascension window by Sir Edward Burne-Jones in Saint Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 1: 6-14:

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostle on the preceding Thursday (Acts 1: 1-11) and on this Sunday (Acts 1: 6-14), two angels in white robes ask the disciples after the Ascension why they are standing around looking up into heaven. In the Gospel account of the Ascension (Luke 24: 44-53), they return to ‘Jerusalem with great joy,’ and seem to spend the following days in the Temple.

As the story unfolds in the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples, as well as the Virgin Mary and other women (see verse 14), spend their time in prayer, choosing a successor to Judas, as we are told in this Sunday’s first reading (Acts 1: 6-14).

Ten days after the Ascension, they are going to be filled with Holy Spirit, who comes as a gift not only to the 12 but to all who are gathered with them, including the Virgin Mary and the other women, the brothers of Jesus (verse 14), and other followers in Jerusalem – in all, about 120 people (see verse 15).

But during these ten days, they and we are in that ‘in-between’ time, the ten days between the Ascension and Pentecost. Their faith persists, but the promise has not yet been fulfilled.

They wait in hope. But until that promise is fulfilled they are, you might say, transfixed, believing without doing, unable to move from Jerusalem out into the wider word.

Is this the same upper room where they had gathered after the Crucifixion, behind locked doors, filled with fear, until the Risen Christ arrives and, as Saint John’s Gospel tells us, says to them: ‘Peace be with you … Peace be with you … Receive the Holy Spirit … forgive’ (see John 20: 19-23)?

Fear can transfix, can immobilise us. It leaves us without peace, without the ability to forgive, without the power to move out into, to engage with the wider world out there.

Sometimes, our own fears leave us without peace, unwilling to forgive, unwilling to move out into the wider world.

Fear paralyses, it leaves us without peace, and as we protect ourselves against what we most fear, we decide to define those we are unwilling to forgive so that we can protect ourselves against the unknown, so that we can blame someone for the wrong for which we know we are not guilty.

The Risen Christ tells us: ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matthew 28: 20). But too often we are caught between Ascension Day and Pentecost, waiting but not sure that the kingdom is to come, frightened in the terror and the pain of the present moment.

Feeling powerless and fearful and not knowing what to do combine to make a deadly cocktail that not only immobilises us but robs us of hope.

But, hopefully, we can also see ourselves in the nurses, the doctors, the police, the emergency responders, who respond immediately, without considering how they put themselves in further danger … the supermarket staff, the delivery drivers, the people in communities who deliver shopping, the postal workers who check on the elderly and the vulnerable, the gardai who take smiles and verbal abuse with equal stoicism.

We can see ourselves in them. And hopefully we can see the face of God in them.

And this is our Easter hope and faith.

This is the hope that we will never lose our capacity as Christians to live with the Risen Christ, listening to his desire that we should be not afraid, and that we should love one another.

This is the hope we wait for between the glory of the Ascension and the empowering gifts the Holy Spirit gives us and promises us at Pentecost.

‘I will never again hide my face from them’ (Ezekiel 39: 29) … the Ancient of Days in a fresco in the Church of the Metamorphosis (Transfiguration), Pikopiano, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ezekiel 39: 21-29:

This alternative first reading speaks of God’s glory in ways that reflect some of the images in the Psalm (Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35), recalling how God led the people being out of captivity in the past, and how, in his mercy, God will do so again in the future.

It also reflects some of the thoughts in Christ’s High Priestly Prayer in the Gospel reading (John 17: 1-11), looking forward to God’s people being sanctified, or their holiness being seen, in the sight of all.

God will not hide his face from his people, but will pour out his Spirit on them.

‘As the smoke vanishes, so may they vanish away’ (Psalm 68: 2) … smoke at a mountain railway station in Wales (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35:

Psalm 68 is sometimes difficult to interpret. This psalm consists of snippets, each a few verses long, commemorating how God has looked after the people. For the early church, this psalm foretold the ascension of Christ.

It may have accompanied a liturgy or drama in the Temple depicting the escape of the people from Egypt (verse 7), through their presence before God on Mount Sinai (verses 8, 16) to the promised land (verse 9-10) and to Jerusalem, where God dwells (verse 17). However, this movement is difficult to see in the selection of verses in this reading.

The opening verse echoes Moses’ words whenever the Ark was moved (see Numbers 10: 35).

The language in verse 2, ‘as wax melts,’ is the language of God’s presence. In Canaanite culture, the storm god, Baal, ‘rides upon the clouds’ (verse 4), but both here and in verse it is the Lord God who does his. This is God who is the defender of orphans and widows, the needy and the prisoners (verses 5-6).

‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (I Peter 5: 5) … street art in Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

I Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11:

We have come to the end of a five-week cycle of readings from I Peter, written to a group of new believers who are being oppressed for their new-found faith, or even being persecuted.

In these closing verses, the writer urges his readers to accept their ordeals and trials as sharing in the sufferings of Christ. This is preparation for union with Christ when he comes again (verse 13). In these sufferings, they are blessed and filled with gift of the Spirit verse 14).

The verses missing from this reading include:

● one of only three uses of the word Christian in the New Testament (I Peter 4: 16; see also Acts 11: 26; Acts 26: 28);
● an exhortation to church leaders to tend ‘the flock of God’ and to be good examples to them (I Peter 5: 1-5);
● well-known references to Christ as the shepherd (I Peter 5: 2-4);
● the citation of Septuagint versions of two well-known proverbs: ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved what will become of the ungodly and the sinners’ (I Peter 4: 18; see Proverbs 11: 31 LXX); ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (I Peter 5: 5; see Proverbs 3: 34, LXX).

The author concludes by reminding us we must be prepared to humble yourselves before God. We should discipline ourselves and keep alert, for ‘like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.’ Others also suffer as we do, but our suffering will be brief, for God has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.

‘I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do’ (John 17: 4) … an icon of Christ and the world in the Church of the Holy Name on Beechwood Avenue in Ranelagh, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 17: 1-11:

This Gospel reading follows Christ’s ‘Farewell Discourse’ at the Last Supper (John 14: 1 to 16: 33), Christ has just ended his instructions to his disciples, which conclude with the advice, ‘In the world you face persecution But take courage; I have conquered the world!’ (John 16: 33).

We now read from his prayer to the Father (John 17: 1-26), in which he summarises the significance of his life as the time for his glory – his Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension – has arrived.

This prayer is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer, as it includes many of the elements of prayer a priest offers when a sacrifice is about to be made: glorification (verses 3-5, 25), remembrance of God’s work (verses 2, 6-8, 22, 23), intercession on behalf of others (verses 9, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24), and a declaration of the offering itself (verses 1, 5).

In the Orthodox Church, this passage is also read on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, a day remembering the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in the year 325. That council condemned the heresy of Arianism that taught that the Son of God was created by the Father and that there was a time when the Son of God did not exist. Christ’s words here bear witness to his divinity and to his filial relationship with the Father.

Verses 1-2: the Father gives this glory to the Son, and this adds to the Father’s glory because of the authority the Father has given to the Son over all people, with the promise of eternal life.

Verse 3: this eternal life is knowing the Father and Christ, who has been sent by the Father.

Verses 4-5: Christ glorifies the Father by finishing the work he has been given, and he is being restored to glory in the Father’s presence, a glory Christ had in God’s presence before the world existed.

Verse 6: Christ has made God’s name known in the world, and those who have heard him and have been obedient to the word of God.

Verses 7-8: the disciples now know that the Father is the source of all that the Christ has been given, they know that he has been sent from the Father, and that the Father sent him into the world.

Verse 9: Christ’s petitions are on behalf of his followers.

Verse 10: Those who follow Christ are committed to God’s care.

Verse 11: Looking forward to the time after his departure – after his Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension – Christ now asks the Father to protect the disciples in the world, and prays that they may have a unity that reflects the unity of the Father and the Son … ‘that they may be one, as we are one.’

‘For the words that you gave to me I have given to them’ (John 17: 7) … Christ as the Great High Priest with an open Bible in an icon in the Church of the Metamorphosis in Piskopiano, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 17: 1-11 (NRSVA):

1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

6 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.’

‘For the words that you gave to me I have given to them’ (John 17: 7) … Christ as the Great High Priest with an open Bible … an icon in the Church of Saint Spyridon in Palaiokastritsa, Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: White (Easter, Year A)

The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Penitential Kyries:

Lord God,
you raised your Son from the dead.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus,
through you we are more than conquerors.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit,
you help us in our weakness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day:

O God the King of Glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Mercifully give us faith to know
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Collect of the Word:

O God,
whose Son, Jesus, prayed for his disciples,
and sent them into the world
to proclaim the coming of your kingdom:
by your Holy Spirit,
hold the Church in unity,
and keep it faithful to your word,
so that, breaking bread together,
we may be one with Christ in faith and love and service,
now and for ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said,
Peace be with you.
Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20: 19, 20).

Preface:

Above all we praise you
for the glorious resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord,
the true paschal lamb who was sacrificed for us;
by dying he destroyed our death;
by rising he restored our life:

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal Giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom.
Confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing:

The God of peace,
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus
that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight:

or:

God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
raise you up to walk with him in the newness of his risen life:

Dismissal (from Easter Day to Pentecost):

Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!

‘Lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds’ (Psalm 68: 4) … small clouds and clear skies over Skerries, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Suggested Hymns:

Acts 1: 6-14:

398, Alleluia! sing to Jesus
259, Christ triumphant, ever reigning
696, God of mercy, God of grace
266, Hail the day that sees him rise
267, Hail the risen Lord, ascended
268, Hail, thou once-despised Jesus!
300, Holy Spirit, truth divine
211, Immortal love for ever full
275, Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
306, O Spirit of the living God
307, Our great Redeemer, as he breathed
109, Sing alleluia to the Lord
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns

Ezekiel 39: 21-29:

457, Pour out thy Spirit from on high

Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35:

494, Beauty for brokenness
13, God moves in a mysterious way
368, Sing of the Lord’s goodness
509, Your kingdom come, O God!

I Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11:

566, Fight the good fight with all thy might!
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
635, Lord, be my guardian and my guide
618, Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy
599, ‘Take up thy cross’, the Saviour said
627, What a friend we have in Jesus

John 17: 1-11:

518, Bind us together, Lord
86, Christ is the King! O friends, rejoice
456, Lord, you give the great commission
438, O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray
526, Risen Lord, whose name we cherish
443, Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns

‘I will never again hide my face from them’ (Ezekiel 39: 29) … ‘Father … glorify your Son’ (John 17: 1) … a modern icon in the Monastery of Varlaam in Meteora (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

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

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).

‘Sing to God, sing praises to his name; exalt him who rides on the clouds’ (Psalm 68: 4) … a sculpture near the beach in Bettystown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 2 June 2019, Seventh Sunday of Easter

Two Greek stamps produced in 1995 to mark the 1900th anniversary of the Book of Revelation … the series of readings from the Book of Revelation reach their climax on the Seventh Sunday of Easter (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 2 June 2019, is the Seventh Sunday of Easter (Easter VII).

The Readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:

The Readings:

Acts 16: 16-34 or I Samuel 12: 19-24; Psalm 97; Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17: 20-26.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

The Last Supper in a fresco in the Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli, between Chania and Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Introducing the readings

On the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we are, I suppose, in some way caught in an in-between time, between Ascension Day, the previous Thursday, and the Day of Pentecost, the following Sunday.

In this ‘in-between time,’ the disciples and other followers and family members are gathered together in upper room, devoting themselves to prayer (see Acts 1: 13-14), and there Matthias is chosen to join the Twelve (see Acts 1: 23-26).

The first reading continues the series of readings from the Acts of the Apostles. The alternative first reading, from Samuel’s farewell address, prepares us to listen to the Gospel reading, which is part of Christ’s farewell discourse at the Last Supper.

The Psalm is a reminder that God is the Lord and King of the earth. This majesty of God, and Christ’s rule over the new heaven and the new earth, is emphasised in the second reading, which concludes our set of readings from the Book of Revelation, looking forward to Christ’s second coming.

The Gospel reading is part of Christ’s great prayer at the Last Supper for his disciples and the future Church after his departure.

All these readings are a call to look forward to being with Christ in glory, which is appropriate preparation for the Day of Pentecost the following Sunday.

Delphi and the ruins of the Temple of Apollo … the slave-girl in Philippi was part of the cult of Apollo (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 16: 16-34:

The Apostle Paul has entered Europe for the first time, and he is in Philippi. Saint Paul, Silas and Timothy have visited the Jewish community, which meets ‘by the river’ (verse 13), perhaps at an outdoor place of prayer. There they met Lydia, a businesswoman. After hearing the good news, she has been converted to the faith.

Now we read of two miracles: the curing of a slave girl who is possessed, which puts Paul and Silas in prison (verses 16-24), and the miraculous earthquake that leads to the conversion and baptism of the jailer and his family (verses 25-34).

The slave-girl’s cry when she realises who Saint Paul is and the response of Paul to her plight is a reminder of the exorcisms carried out by Jesus himself. There too evil spirits recognised God and spoke the truth. Saint Paul continues what Christ began; it is Christ who cures (‘in the name of Jesus Christ,’ verse 18).

The market-place or agora was the seat of the local authorities or judges (verse 19): law cases were heard there, and the city jail was nearby.

The slave-girl’s owners bring two false charges against Paul and Silas: disturbing the peace and urging Roman citizens to practice strange customs (verse 20-21).

The owners stir up the crowd and justice follows swiftly. They are beaten by the police using the bundle of rods sometimes bound around an axe as a sign of justice (verse 22). They are put in a prison cell, and placed in the stocks, which forced the legs apart (verses 23-24).

The railings around the courthouse in Carlow, topped by replicas of the ancient Roman axe and fasces as a symbol of justice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In the second part of this reading, the earthquake is seen as a manifestation of God’s presence: being beyond the natural, it is a miracle. A Roman jailer was likely to be put to death for letting a prisoner escape, and so this one is on the verge of suicide (see 27).

Verses 30-33 tell of the conversion of the jailer and his family: he asks the key question, to which Paul and Silas reply with a brief statement (verse 31).

The jailer and his family are instructed in the faith, he and his family are baptised, and they share a meal, rejoicing (verse 32-34).

The head of Medusa, depicted with snakes in her hair, at the Temple of Apollo in Didyma (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A reflection on the reading:

Taken out of context, this first reading is quite stark and raises many questions.

As we heard the previous Sunday (Acts 16: 9-15, Easter VI, 26 May 2019), the Apostle Paul has a vision of a man calling him to Macedonia. Paul and Silas, and some more companions set sail from Troy, arrive in Eastern Macedonia, and are staying in the Roman colony of Philippi. There the first person they meet is not the man Paul saw in his vision, but Lydia from Thyatira, a rich woman who makes them welcome in her household.

That woman’s name is Lydia, but Lydia is also the name of the area around Thyatira. It was a centre of the cult of Apollo and Artemis, and one of the great Lydian temple to these twins was at Didyme, near the Lydian city of Sardis.

Lydia’s wealth, social standing and independence are unusual for a woman of her time. She and her household are baptised, and she provides lengthy hospitality for Paul, Silas, Luke and whoever else is travelling with them. The Orthodox Church gives her the title of ‘Equal to the Apostles.’ Her home hosts the first church on what we now call European soil. Could we think of her as the first European bishop?

Lydia’s freedom of choice when it comes to religious matters contrasts with the plight of the unnamed girl we meet in these next few verses, the slave-girl who is described in some translations as a ‘damsel’ (e.g. KJV). She has no wealth, no independence from men, and no freedom of religious choice.

This poor girl is possessed – the NRSV says she has ‘a spirit of divination.’ And other people make money out of that. The Greek here is much more specific than this English translation: εχουσαν πνευμα πυθωνος, she ‘has the spirit of Python.’

No, she is not possessed by the humour of Monty Python. Nor has she swallowed a snake. Πύθων in Greek mythology was the name of the Pythian serpent or dragon at Pytho at the foot of Mount Parnassus. This python guarded the oracle at Delphi and was slain by Apollo (Ἀπόλλων). And so, Python became one of the names of Apollo, the Greek god of light and the sun, the fine arts, music, poetry, medicine, eloquence and prophecy, the patron of shepherds and the guardian of truth. He is the son of Zeus, and in Greek mythology he dies and rises again.

The celebrated oracle at Delphi, the priestess of Apollo, was said to be inspired by Apollo. She became violently agitated during the periods of supposed inspiration and gave responses about the future that were regarded as the oracles of the god.

This possessed young woman is a minor oracle of the cult of Apollo. She is exploited by a group of men who make a pretty income from her utterances, what the NRSV describes as her ‘fortune-telling.’ But the Greek uses the word μαντεύομαι – she is not like a fortune teller with a turban in a circus tent looking at the palms of hands; she acts as a seer, she delivers an oracle, she is a slave priestess of the cult of Apollo.

The priestesses of Apollo were said to give their answers from their bellies – the seat of emotions – while their mouths were closed.

How does this oracle of Apollo behave when she is confronted with the disciples of the good shepherd, the one who is the way the truth and the light, the Son of God who died and rises again?

But there is a contradiction here: if she is an oracle slave of Apollo, why is she proclaiming that Paul and his companions are the slaves of the Most High, proclaiming the way of salvation?

And I find myself asking, why does she keep on doing this, for days and days on end (see verse 18)?

Why is Saint Paul so annoyed with what she says?

Was he right to ignore her for the first few days?

Or has he come to realise her plight, the full enormity of her religious enslavement?

If she is already proclaiming, for many days, the God that Paul and Silas proclaim as the Most High God, and she is acknowledging that they are preaching salvation, surely she has already lost her value to her owners before they start blaming Saint Paul and his exorcism?

But then, as Saint James reminds readers of his epistle, ‘even the demons believe’ (James 2: 19).

She may be stating the truth, but she is not serving the truth. But how often are we deceived by people who speak the truth but whose intentions are so contrary to what is truthful and wholesome?

And if the financial dependence and the religious slavery of this girl contrast with the financial independence and religious freedom of the more mature Lydia, then her slavery to exploitative religion, her imprisonment to those who make a profit out the cult of Apollo, is in contrast to the subsequent imprisonment for Christ’s sake suffered by Paul and Silas.

The story comes between two sets of conversions and baptisms – those of Lydia and her household (Acts 16: 15), and of the Philippian jailer and his entire family, which concludes Sunday’s reading (Acts 16: 25-34).

Of course, later, when Paul challenges the cult of Artemis in Ephesus he is jailed by those facing financial loss, just as he is jailed in Philippi for challenging the exploitative cult of Apollo.

But this reading raises a number of questions:

Are there appropriate and inappropriate times and places for proclaiming the Gospel?

Are there times to be silent about who God is and about the Gospel?

Is there an appropriate time or place to be annoyed or irritated by what other people are saying about our ministry or our discipleship?

Are we aware of times when religion is used as a way of trapping and abusing vulnerable people?

Or times when religion is used for making a great deal of money for others?

Do we appreciate how sometimes other people may have to pay the price for our ministry and mission?

Do we appreciate and pray for those who suffer for the faith, sometimes in hidden and unseen circumstances, perhaps even in the silence of their own homes?

And when people are like Lydia to us, encouraging, supporting and hospitable, do we merely accept it passively and take it for granted, or do we fully appreciate it, acknowledging that they too have an apostolic ministry?

Apart from acknowledging God most high and preaching of the way of salvation, which even this oracle of Apollo can acknowledge, how do we show our faith and the life in Christ in the way we live our own lives?

The Temple of Apollo in Didyma … one of the most important shrines and temples in the classical world to Apollo and his twin sister Artemis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I Samuel 12: 19-24:

The alternative first reading is from Samuel’s farewell address, in which he urges the people to put fear aside, and to serve the Lord ‘with all your heart’ (verse 19), and to serve him ‘faithfully with all your heart’ (verse 24).

Samuel’s farewell address could be compared to the thoughts in the Gospel reading from Christ’s great discourse in Saint John’s Gospel (see John 17: 20-26, below), and the words in which he urges the disciples to live without fear and guided by God’s love.

‘The Lord is King! Let earth rejoice’ (Psalm 97: 1) … a stained glass window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Psalm 97:

Psalm 97 is a hymn celebrating God’s kingship. It emphasises God’s supremacy as Lord of the earth. ‘The Lord is king!’ (verse 1), in other words, he has won the battle for world kingship over the forces of chaos. May the whole earth rejoice!

Verses 2-5 are a theophany, a description of how God has appeared as he has visited earth: in a cloud and in a burning bush during the Exodus, etc. He rules with righteousness and justice. He is ‘the Lord of all the earth’ (verse 5).

The word ‘all’ occurs three times in verses 6-9, emphasising God’s omnipotence. Verse 7 says that those who worship images or idols will realise the error of their ways. Other gods recognise God’s supremacy. Then, in verse 8, the people of Israel rejoice in God’s justice.

Verses 10-12 tell us the kind of rule God exercises. Those who hate evil are faithful to him, and he rescues them from the ways of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous, who rejoice and who give thanks to God.

The Lamb on the Throne … a ‘Vesccia’ design in one of the upper transept windows in Holy Cross Church, Charleville, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21:

Saint John has come to the end of recounting the revelation he has received on Patmos.

Now, in verse 12, Jesus, who is the Lamb on throne speaks to him (see verse 16). Using the image of the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things (verse 13; see Revelation 1: 8).

‘Those who wash their robes,’ those who are faithful, are now blessed, and may enter the city, the New Jerusalem, by the gates (verse 14).

In the earliest manuscripts, there are two versions of verse 14: one refers to ‘those who wash their robes’; the other refers to those who ‘do his commandments.’ Both use terms found throughout this book.

The tree of life (verse 14) is an image that also allows us to link the beginning of the creation story (see Genesis 3: 22) with the fulfilment of creation in this closing book of the Bible. Earlier in this chapter, we are told the ‘tree of life’ has ‘twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves are for the healing of the nations’ (verse 2).

Christ then identifies himself with traditional Jewish messianic titles (see Isaiah 11: 2, 10). He is born of David’s line, and it was he who sent his angel to Saint John to give this revelation ‘for the churches’ (verse 16). He is the ‘star [that] shall come out of Jacob [Israel]’ (see Numbers 24: 17).

The bride in verse 17 is the Church (see 21: 2, 9). Both the Spirit and the Church are integral with God, and both seek Christ’s return. The water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb (verse 1). God’s gift of eternal life is available to all.

Verses 18-19 seek to ensure that this book is transmitted accurately to all, for it is from God. It is not to be added to, nor is anything to be taken from it.

He will soon return, bringing reward and recompense for the faithful, to the extent that they have acted for Christ (verse 20).

The final verse, which echoes many of the blessings in the New Testament letters, is a fitting closing to this book and to the Bible: ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen’ (verse 21).

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’ (Revelation 22: 13) … a detail in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

John 17: 20-26:

The Gospel reading is part of Christ’s high priestly prayer at the Last Supper, in which he prays to the Father on behalf of his disciples and the Church, and for the world.

Before this reading, in verses 6-19, Christ prays for his followers, that they may be protected from evil, that they may be one as he and his Father are one (verse 11), that they may be protected (verse 12), may have joy (verse 13), and that they may fulfil his mission as his agents in the world (verses 14-18).

Now, in this reading, Christ prays for the Church of all times. He looks beyond those who follow him now, to those who will come to believe through their witness. May the Church be rooted in the oneness he shares with the Father (verse 21), which is a relationship of mutual love (verse 23).

He prays that his followers may attain the ultimate goal: to share in Christ’s glory, which is founded in love that has been there before time began (verse 24).

His followers know that Christ has been sent by the Father (verse 25), and he prays that ‘the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them’ (verse 26).

‘I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may … see my glory’ (John 17: 24) … the south transept window by Charles Eamer Kempe in Lichfield Cathedral depicts Christ in Glory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

John 17: 20-26 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’

An image of Christ in glory in a stained-glass window in the Cathedral in Seville (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Liturgical resources:

Liturgical Colour: White

The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Penitential Kyries:

Lord God,
you raised your Son from the dead.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus,
through you we are more than conquerors.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit,
you help us in our weakness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect:

O God the King of Glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Mercifully give us faith to know
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, Peace be with you. Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20: 19, 20).

Preface:

Above all we praise you
for the glorious resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord,
the true paschal lamb who was sacrificed for us;
by dying he destroyed our death;
by rising he restored our life:

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal Giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom.
Confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Blessing:

The God of peace,
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus
that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight:

or:

God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
raise you up to walk with him in the newness of his risen life:

Dismissal: (from Easter Day to Pentecost):

Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!

‘Crown him with many crowns’ (Hymn 263) … Christ in Glory depicted in the mosaics in the apse of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Suggested Hymns:

The hymns suggested for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year C) in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:

Acts 16: 16-34:

320, Firmly I believe and truly
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

I Samuel 12: 19-24:

619, Lord, teach us how to pray aright
625, Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire

Psalm 97:

34, O worship the King all glorious all glorious above
281, Rejoice, the Lord is King!
8, The Lord is king! Lift up your voice

Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21:

501, Christ is the world’s true light
332, Come, let us join our cheerful songs
37, Come, ye thankful people, come
263, Crown him with many crowns
459, For all the saints, who from their labour rest
646, Glorious things of thee are spoken
381, God has spoken – by his prophets
127, Hark what a sound, and too divine for hearing
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
300, Holy Spirit, truth divine
553, Jesu, lover of my soul
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
132, Lo! he comes with clouds descending
303, Lord of the Church, we pray for our renewing
634, Love divine, all loves excelling
137, Promised Lord and Christ is he
281, Rejoice, the Lord is King!
138, Soon and very soon we are going to see the King 144, Word of justice, alleluia
509, Your kingdom come, O God!

John 17: 20-26:

518, Bind us together, Lord
326, Blessed city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
415, For the bread which you have broken
438, O thou, who at the eucharist didst pray
526, Risen Lord, whose name we cherish
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
531, Where love and loving kindness dwell

‘Risen Lord, whose name we cherish’ (Hymn 526) … the East Window in the Round Church, Cambridge, depicts the Risen Christ in Majesty, with Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Andrew on either side (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’ (Revelation 22: 13) … Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 13 May 2018, Seventh Sunday of Easter

‘The lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles’ (Acts 1: 17) … Christ and the twelve apostles in the East Window in Saint Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday [13 May 2018] is the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This day comes between Ascension Day and the Day of Pentecost, and because of the timing of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland this week, many parishes may decide to mark Ascension Day.

The resources for planning Ascension Day, including the readings, propers, a reflection, hymn suggestions and illustrations are available HERE.

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for next Sunday are: Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26 or Exodus 28:1-4, 9-10; Psalm 1; I John 5: 9-13; John 17: 6-19.

There is a direct link to these readings HERE.

Peter stood up among the believers … and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled’ (Acts 1: 15) … Saint Peter depicted in a window in the north nave in in Saint Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26:

None of us would like to be counted as the successor of Judas. But this reading from the Acts of the Apostles recalls the successor to Judas as one of the Twelve, the Apostle Matthias. Indeed, His feast day falls the following day, Monday 14 May 2018.

I sometimes wonder whether Saint Matthias saw the humour in being second choice. After all, he was the second choice – not the first choice, but the second choice – to succeed Judas among the Twelve.

Imagine how Saint Matthias might have felt: the first time round, he was not good enough to be among the Twelve, but Judas was. The second time round, his name is not mentioned first; instead, the first name to come forward is that of Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, but nobody ever since remembers him, and his saintly life has passed into oblivion. I hear very few children in school playgrounds or on football pitches being called Barsabbas, as in: ‘Hey Barsabbas, pass the ball over here.’

And then, to compound matters, nobody has the foggiest idea who Saint Matthias was, before or after his election. His name, identity and life story have been forgotten, apart from making him the patron saint of alcoholism and smallpox, and a of few small towns. We are not even sure where or how he died, or where he is buried.

This reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Saint Matthias is the Apostle chosen by the remaining eleven of the twelve to take the place of Judas Iscariot following his betrayal of Christ and his subsequent death by suicide (Acts 1:15-26).

According to the Acts of the Apostles, in the days following the Ascension of Christ, Peter proposes to the assembled disciples, who number about 120, that they choose one among them to fill the place of Judas among the Twelve.

And so, the assembled believers come forward with two nominations: their first choice is Joseph Barsabbas, or Joseph Justus. It may only be an afterthought that someone suggests the name of Matthias.

And then, they cannot make up their minds. Instead, they cast lots, and the lot falls to Matthias. I doubt any of us would be happy to hear we have been selected or nominated for any role in life we value by tossing a coin, drawing straws or rolling a dice as others pray about whether we are suitable or qualified.

Saint Matthias is unnamed before this account. After this, there is no further mention of him in the New Testament. He is the forgotten apostle. Having made an unexpected entrance on the stage, Saint Matthias walks off the scene once again. And we hear nothing more about him. We have no further information about him.

Saint Matthias in a roof boss in Saint Helen’s Church, Bishopsgate, Norwich

Clement of Alexandria says the apostles are not chosen for some outstanding character, and certainly not on their own merits. After all, Judas is chosen as one of the Twelve, and even among the others Saint Peter denies Christ at the Crucifixion and Saint Thomas at first denies the Resurrection.

The apostles are chosen by Christ for his own reasons, but not for their merits.

If Matthias had not been worthy of being called first time round, how is he worthy now to join the Twelve?

But discipleship, like ministry, is never about my worthiness, my merits. I have earned no right to be called to ordained ministry, to share in the priesthood of the Church, we have earned no right to be called disciples and part of the Body of Christ.

It is Christ alone who calls us.

Saint Matthias was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. Christ chooses each one of us in the same way.

I am not worthy to be even a poor substitute, even a second best substitute for Judas, who had his own unique place in God’s salvific plan as it unfolded.

It does not matter whether others think you have been too early or too late in responding to Christ’s call. It does not matter whether we are worthy in the eyes of others for any office or position we hold, or any good opinion others hold of us. What matters more is: What does Christ want of you?

And it matters little whether I am someone’s first choice or second choice in any role in life, whether I am praised or thanked for my work, whether anyone will remember my achievements, whether anyone remembers me after I die, can spell my name, or find my grave. All that matters is God’s plan, and whether I follow God’s call faithfully.

We are often in the place we are in life only because the person who was here before me failed: Joshua led Israel because Moses failed in the wilderness; David became King because Saul had failed; Matthias became an apostle because Judas had failed.

Saint Matthias is a living reminder of God’s grace to and for us. He was ‘grafted in’ to the company of the Apostles, not through his own merits, but by God’s grace. We have been grafted into the company of the Children of God, not through our own merits, but by God’s grace.

Saint Matthias is also a warning to us. He silently warns, ‘I am here because someone else failed. The same thing could happen to me if I stop taking my nourishment from the True Vine and stop bearing good fruit.’

‘Like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither, whatever they do, it shall prosper’ (Psalm 1: 3) … trees by the water at World’s End, Castleconnell, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 1:

This psalm, an introduction to the book of Psalms, contrasts the fate of the godly and the ungodly. The psalmist speaks of the happiness of the godly. They do not live as the ungodly do. Instead, they constantly and joyfully study and God’s law, and they keep it. They prosper like trees planted by living water that bear fruit, and they are prosperous.

On the other hand, the ungodly are like chaff, and their future threatens to be a disaster. They will be excluded from the company enjoyed by those who follow God’s ways, and will suffer.

The cross on a relief carving in Saint John’s Basilica in Ephesus ... in I John, the secessionists are compared with idolaters (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I John 5: 9-13:

We have come to cycle of readings from the First Letter of Saint John. In the verses immediately before this passage, Saint John says the Holy Spirit witnesses or testifies to both Christ’s baptism (‘the water’) and his suffering on the cross (‘the blood’). Accepting this is expressed in discipleship, and in the sacramental life of the Church, Baptism and the Eucharist.

Now, in verses 9-13, we read that the principal witness to Christ, who is the truth, is the Holy Spirit, who has been sent by the Father to give testimony about his Son. The Spirit is the most convincing witness possible through the indwelling of the Spirit. To reject the Spirit is to reject life itself and to reject God.

In this section of I John, we are being told that love of God involves obedience to his will and love for God and for one another, and it brings Christians the promise of victory and everlasting life.

Love, for us as Christians, is the most important sign of victory in faith. As they say in the Nike advertising campaign: ‘Just do it.’

In this Epilogue, the writer returns to the theme of asking for things according to God’s will. The Early Church soon discovered that private requests in prayer were not always granted.

The author of I John is cautious as he tells his readers that while prayers will be heard in regard to most sins and most sinners, there is one sin so serious that he does not encourage people to pray for the offender.

Why does I John not tell us what this sin is? Have you ever wondered what it is?

Probably I John here is referring to the secessionists in the Church in Ephesus, and their apostasy, with the hint that this sin would be judged harshly throughout the Church. Saint John Chrysostom and many other Early Fathers of the Church taught that schism was worse than heresy, because schismatics tore apart the Church, the Body of Christ apart, while heretics could be admonished and corrected with careful teaching.

It is not that schism is unforgivable; it is that we should leave it and those who breach the fellowship of the Church in God’s hands.

On the other hand, the idea that every other sin is open to forgiveness through prayer could lead to a very lax and libertine attitude within the Church.

The setting for the Gospel reading (John 17: 5-19) is in the Garden of Gethsemane immediately the Last Supper, known in Orthodoxy as the Mystical Supper (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 17: 6-19

[Jesus said:] 6 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Reflecting on the Gospel reading:

We are all familiar with the phrase ‘what’s mine is your and what’s your is mine.’

It may work well in families, or among schoolfriends. But what Christ is saying in verse 10 is more profound. We could read this as Trinitarian passage, for Christ is praying to the Father, that the disciples may be sanctified in the truth as they are sent into the world. So this is also an appropriate passage for this time between Ascension Day and Pentecost, preparing us for both the Day of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday a week later.

The context of this reading is the immediate aftermath of the Last Supper, indeed at points in this passage we may only grasp the significance of Christ’s words in the light of the Resurrection and the Ascension.

If we invite people who are listening to think back to the first reading and the selection of Saint Mattias as the next disciple, we can then point out that the timeframe for this passage is that interim space between Judas having left the Last Supper, and his betrayal of Christ, who is about to be arrested soon in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In his time alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ looks up to heaven. He prays to the Father, asking him to ‘glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.’ Christ waits to be restored to his glory. He has come to earth to provide eternal life to all who believe. Now he prays to the Father for the disciples.

He has made the Father known to those who would believe. To John, the ‘world’, or the cosmos, is notable for its unbelief and hatred. The disciples have been faithful to ‘your word,’ to truth, to God, to Christ’s teachings.

They have come to realise the relationship of the Son to the Father. They know Christ’s origin and mission. This prayer is on behalf of believers, who are God’s, and not on behalf of all people. We hear that belonging to God implies belonging to the Son, a theme that we might relate to the appointed Psalm. Christ’s power and authority have been shown to them.

In this reading, Christ asks four things of the Father:

• that they may be ‘one,’ as he and the Father are;

• that they may have ‘my joy’;

• that they may be protected from the influence of evil;

• that they may be able them to fulfil his mission in the world.

Christ asks the Father to ‘protect them in your name,’ by his authority and as his representatives. The Father has given Christ this authority. He has protected them, except for one: Judas.

In fulfilment of ‘the scripture’, or by God’s will, he asks the Father to set them apart or sanctify them as they are sent out into the world … a theme we face again the following Sunday, the Day of Pentecost.

The Last Supper depicted on the reredos in Saint Edan’s Cathedral, Ferns, Co Wexford, carved 100 years ago in 1918 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical resources:

Liturgical Colour: White, or Gold.

The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Penitential Kyries:

God our Father,
you exalted your Son to sit at your right hand.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus,
you are the way, the truth and the life.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit, Counsellor,
you are sent to be with us for ever.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect (Easter 7):

O God the King of Glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Mercifully give us faith to know
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

Jesus said, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives (John 14: 27, 28)

Preface:

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who after he had risen from the dead ascended into heaven,
where he is seated at your right hand to intercede for us
and to prepare a place for us in glory:

Post Communion Prayer:

Eternal Giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom.
Confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing:

Christ our exalted King
pour on you his abundant gifts
make you faithful and strong to do his will
that you may reign with him in glory:

Dismissal: (from Easter Day to Pentecost):

Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Suggested Hymns:

The hymns suggested for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year B), in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:

Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26

461, For all thy saints, O Lord
460, For all your saints in glory (verses 1, 2f, 3)

Exodus 28:1-4, 9-10:

643, Be thou my vision

Psalm 1:

649, Happy are they, they that love God
56, Lord as I wake I turn to you
383, Lord, be thou my word, my rule

I John 5: 9-13:

613, Eternal light, shine in my heart

John 17: 6-19

518, Bind us together, Lord
326, Blessed city, heavenly Salem
415, For the bread which you have broken
438, O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray
526, Risen Lord, whose name we cherish
527, Son of God, eternal Saviour
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
531, Where love and loving-kindness dwell

Saint Peter depicted in one of the paired east windows in Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Clonfert, Co Galway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.