In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
St. Gregory of Nyssa

Today on the calendar of the Episcopal Church we commemorate the 4th Century bishop and theologian, St. Gregory of Nyssa, one of the Cappadocian Fathers. The introduction to The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s article on St. Gregory Nyssan provides this information:

Gregory of Nyssa spent his life in Cappadocia, a region in central Asia Minor. He was the most philosophically adept of the three so-called Cappadocians, who included brother Basil the Great and friend Gregory of Nazianzus. Together, the Cappadocians are credited with defining Christian orthodoxy in the Eastern Roman Empire, as Augustine (354 – 430 CE) was to do in the West. Gregory was a highly original thinker, drawing inspiration from the pagan Greek philosophical schools, as well as from the Jewish and Eastern Christian traditions, and formulating an original synthesis that was to influence later Byzantine, and possibly even modern European, thought. A central idea in Gregory’s writing is the distinction between the transcendent nature and immanent energies of God, and much of his thought is a working out of the implications of that idea in other areas – notably, the world, humanity, history, knowledge, and virtue. This leads him to expand the nature-energies distinction into a general cosmological principle, to apply it particularly to human nature, which he conceives as having been created in God’s image, and to rear a theory of unending intellectual and moral perfectibility on the premise that the purpose of human life is literally to become like the infinite nature of God. (Read the Encyclopedia’s entire article here.)

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of St. Gregory Nyssan is this collect from Lesser Feasts and Fasts – 2006:

Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

Today is also Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom you have given a fervent desire to pray, may, by your mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy

Today, in a commemoration new to the Episcopal Church calendar, we remember Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, a World War I chaplain and poet. He has been remembered on the calendar of the Church of England for many years. Exciting Holiness – 2007 tells us:

Born in 1883, Studdert Kennedy was a young vicar in Worcester who became an army chaplain during the First World War. His warm personality soon earned the respect of soldiers, who nicknamed him ‘Woodbine Willie’ after the brand of cigarettes he shared with them. After the First World War, he became a writer and regular preacher, drawing large crowds, who were attracted by his combination of traditional sacramental theology with more unconventional theological views. He worked tirelessly for the Christian Industrial Fellowship, but his frail health gave way and he died (still a young man) on this day in 1929.

A prolific poety, Studdert Kennedy wrote many poems about war and religion. Representative of his art is this piece entitled Indifference, published in 1929:

When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree,
They drave great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by,
They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,”
And still it rained the wintry rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.

(Read other examples of Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy’s poetry here.)

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy is this collect found in Holy Women, Holy Men (2009):

Glorious God, we give thanks not merely for high and holy things, but for the common things of earth which you have created: Wake us to love and work, that Jesus, the Lord of life, may set our hearts ablaze and that we, like Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, may recognize you in your people and in your creation, serving the holy and undivided Trinity; who lives and reigns throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

Today is also Monday in the Third Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

Look upon the heart-felt desires of your humble servants, Almighty God, and stretch forth the right hand of your majesty to be our defense against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
Third Sunday in Lent (Year C):

Today is the Third Sunday in Lent. In the Gospel lesson appointed by the Revised Common Lectionary (Year C), Jesus tells the parable of the barren fig tree:

[H]e told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)

Lutheran pastor and seminary professor, The Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad, says of this parable:

Jesus’ parable isn’t primarily a lesson about farming. We’ve already noted the connection between the three years of the parable and the three years of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is the gardener, isn’t he? He refused to give up on those who are living in the vineyard. Maybe the vineyard is the whole earth. Maybe it’s the church. Maybe it’s your life and mine. Jesus isn’t giving up on any of us–you, me, the church, the whole earth. There’s hope in this parable–don’t cut the tree down. But there’s also urgency–give me one more year.

Could this be the year? We can hear that as a threat. There’s not much time left. Indeed, some evangelists press us with the question, “Where will you be if you die tonight?” But Jesus’ parable moves in the direction of promise more than threat: “I’m going to do everything I can to help this tree live and bear fruit. I’m going to dig around it and put down manure. I’m going to find every way possible to get to hearts that are hard as packed down soil.” While we’re speculating about why certain people died at Pilate’s hands or why the others were killed by the falling tower, Jesus, the gardener, is working on our hearts. Yes, those stories were real. They were as real as every tragedy we can name: flood or earthquake or military tyrant, cancer or heart attack or an innocent child caught in the crossfire of drug warfare. Such realities remind us that our time is finite. Stories like these dig at our hearts. They get to us with the truth that we can’t keep putting everything off until tomorrow.

But being scared to death can rob us of all hope. Life can then seem utterly arbitrary–if I die, I die. There’s nothing I can do about it, so why try? Into the midst of such despair, the gardener comes. Don’t cut the tree down. Let it alone for one more year. Jesus, the gardener, wants us to live. His passion marked for us by great urgency–don’t wait! Look at your life and dare to ask the hard questions: Am I stingy in my love for others? Am I withholding forgiveness for old wrongs? Do I refuse to believe that I can be forgiven, carrying from year to year a growing burden of guilt? Am I so busy making a living that I’ve forgotten to make a life? Jesus digs at us with questions like these. Jesus digs at our hearts in the outstretched hand of every homeless beggar on the streets, of every child not fed. “What have you done?” Jesus asks, and “What have you left undone?” Such questions, like the parable of the fig tree, move us toward repentance, a word that means to turn around, to believe things can be different, to trust that the one who calls us to turn around will be there even when we fail.

We might not do things this way. We’d probably be far more impatient than God. “You’ve had your chance,” I’m tempted to say. “The year has passed and you still haven’t shaped up!” But I am not God, nor can I put my words in God’s mouth. Still, the gardener comes. “One more year,” he says, “I’ll do everything I can to bring this tree back to life.”

“Who knows?” asks the gardener. “Could this be the year for figs?” (Read Lundblad’s sermon in full here.)

A prayer for today:

The collect for this Sunday is found in The Book of Common Prayer – 1979:

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
William W. Mayo, Charles Menninger,
and Their Sons

Today on the calendar of the Episcopal Church we commemorate William W. Mayo, Charles Menninger, and their sons. The notes of the Standing Liturgical Commission, which moved the General Convention of 2009 to include this commemoration, tell us:

In 1889, Dr. William W. Mayo, with his two sons, Dr. William J. and Dr. Charles H. Mayo, built the first general hospital in Minnesota. It soon took on other doctors and helpers, and rapidly expanded to model cooperative scientific medical care and research. With the Sisters of St. Francis, originally a teaching order but persuaded to turn to nursing, their clinical practice also took care to treat the whole patient both medically and spiritually. Today, the Mayo Clinic remains an outstanding source of patient care and medical research.

In 1919, Dr. Charles Menninger (1862-1953) and his son, Dr. Karl Menninger (1893-1990) pioneered a new kind of psychiatric facility in Topeka, Kansas. They were joined by Karl’s brother, William (1899-1966) and worked not only to treat mental illness in a more humane and medically sound way, but also to educate the American public about mental health. The Menninger Clinic remains an important American institution.

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of the Mayos and the Menningers is this collect found in Holy Women, Holy Men (2009):

Divine Physician, we bless your Name for the work and witness of the Mayos and the Menningers, and the revolutionary developments that they brought to the practice of medicine. As Jesus went about healing the sick as a sign of the reign of God come near, bless and guide all those inspired to the work of healing by your Holy Spirit, that they may follow his example for the sake of your kingdom and the health of your people; through the same Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today is also Saturday in the Second Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

Grant, most merciful Lord, to your faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
Perpetua & her Companions

Today on the calendar of the Episcopal Church is a feria. March 7 we will commemorate the 3rd Century martyrs St. Perpetua and her companions, but this feast will be supplanted by the Third Sunday in Lent; therefore, we mention St. Perpetua and her companions on this website today. James Kiefer’s hagiography of these Carthaginian martyrs begins:

During a persecution of Christians under the emperor Septimius Severus, a group of Christians died together in the arena at Carthage. Their final days have been recorded for us in a document that is partly in their own words, and partly in those of an anonymous narrator (sometimes thought to be Tertullian). What follow are extracts, sometimes condensed, from that document.

Vivia Perpetua was a catchumen (i.e. a convert not yet baptized), well educated and from a prosperous family, about 22 years old, married and apparently recently widowed, with a child at her breast, and with two brothers and both parents still living. (Her father was not a Christian.) Felicity (Latin: Felicitas) was a slave woman in advanced pregnancy. With them were Revocatus (also a slave), Saturninus, and Secundus.

They were arrested and placed in a dungeon, but after a few days two deacons visited the prison and by a gift of money to the jailers arranged (1) that they should have an interval in the better part of the prison to refresh themselves, and (2) that Perpetua should be allowed to keep her child with her.

Perpetua had a vision in which she saw a golden ladder, guarded by a fierce dragon, but she climbed it, stepping on the dragon’s head to do so. At the top, she found herself in a green meadow, with many white-robed figures, and in their midst a shepherd, who welcomed her and gave her a morsel of cheese from the sheep-milk. She awakened and understood that their martyrdom was certain. (Read Kiefer’s entire article here.)

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of Perpetua and her companions is this collect found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts – 2006:

O God the King of saints, you strengthened your servants Perpetua and Felicitas and their companions to make a good confession, staunchly resisting, for the cause of Christ, the claims of human affection, and encouraging one another in their time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith, and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today is also Friday in the Second Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

Grant, O Lord, that as your Son Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the cross, so we may have grace to forgive those who wrongfully or scornfully use us, that we ourselves may be able to receive your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
Paul Cuffee

Today in the Episcopal Church we commemorate Paul Cuffee, an 18th Century Shinnecock Indian who was converted to Christianity in his early 20s and became a famous preacher and apostle to the native communities on Long Island. Find a Grave, a website dedicated to historic burial places, provides this information about Cuffee who, though ordained in the Presbyterian tradition, was known to his people as “Priest Paul” :

Cuffee, a Shinnecock Indian, was a celebrated minister, like his grandfather Peter John, who preached to Indians of Long Island. Cuffee during his youth was an indentured servant to a Wading River farmer who became an enthusiastic convert in his early 20s.

Cuffee preached among Indian communities to include a small reservation called Poospatuck (present day Mastic Beach); Canoe Place Hampton Bays, and in the end, Montauk. This vigorous preacher’s services were attended by large crowds.

His broken solitary grave marker reads:
In testifying the Gospel of the Grace of God He finished his course with Joy on 7th of March 1812 Aged 55 years and Three Days

(Read the entire article here.)

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of Paul Cuffee is this collect found in Holy Women, Holy Men (2009):

Almighty God, you empowered Paul Cuffee to be a powerful evangelist and preacher and so to win many souls for Christ among the Native Americans of Long Island: Help us to proclaim your Word with power, in the Name of the same Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today is also Thursday in the Second Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

O Lord, strong and mighty, Lord of hosts and King of glory: Cleanse our hearts from sin, keep our hands pure, and turn our minds from what is passing away; so that at the last we may stand in your holy place and receive your blessing; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
John and Charles Wesley

Today in the Episcopal Church we commemorate the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, and his brother, hymnodist Charles Wesley, both of whom were priests in the Church of England during the late 18th Century. Hagiographer James Kiefer writes of the brothers:

The Wesley brothers, born in 1703 and 1707, were leaders of the evangelical revival in the Church of England in the eighteenth century. They both attended Oxford University , and there they gathered a few friends with whom they undertook a strict adherence to the worship and discipline of the Book of Common Prayer, from which strict observance they received the nickname, “Methodists.” Having been ordained, they went to the American colony of Georgia in 1735, John as a missionary and Charles as secretary to Governor Oglethorpe. They found the experience disheartening, and returned home in a few years. There, three days apart, they underwent a conversion experience. John, present with a group of Moravians who were reading Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, received a strong emotional awareness of the love of Christ displayed in freely forgiving his sins and granting him eternal life.

Following this experience, John and Charles, with others, set about to stir up in others a like awareness of and response to the saving love of God. Of the two, John was the more powerful preacher, and averaged 8000 miles of travel a year, mostly on horseback. At the time of his death he was probably the best known and best loved man in England.

***

Charles was the better hymn-writer of the two. He wrote over 6000 hymns, including about 600 for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. (Read Kiefer’s entire article here.)

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of the Wesleys is this collect found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts – 2006:

Lord God, you inspired your servants John and Charles Wesley with burning zeal for the sanctification of souls, and endowed them with eloquence in speech and song; Kindle in your Church, we entreat you, such fervor, that those whose faith has cooled may be warmed, and those who have not known Christ may turn to him and be saved; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today is also Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

O God, you so loved the world that you gave your only-begotten Son to reconcile earth with heaven: Grant that we, loving you above all things, may love our friends in you, and our enemies for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The March 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
St. Chad of Litchfield

Today in the Episcopal Church, together with the Church of England and other branches of the church, we commemorate a Celtic saint, the 7th Century Bishop of Litchfield, Chad. Exciting Holiness tells us:

Chad was born in Northumbria, the youngest of four sons, all of whom became both priests and monks. They entered the monastery on the isle of Lindisfarne and were taught by St Aidan. Chad’s brother Cedd had founded the abbey at Lastingham and, on his brother’s death, Chad was elected abbot. During the confusion in ecclesiastical discipline between the Celtic-oriented, Anglo-Saxon hierarchy and the pressure from Rome for conformity, Chad became Bishop of York for a time. He graciously stepped back with the arrival in Britain of Theodore, who doubted the validity of indigenous consecrations. This was eventually rectified and Chad became Bishop of Mercia, a huge diocese the centre of which he moved from Repton to Lichfield. Chad travelled extensively and became much loved for his wisdom and gentleness in otherwise difficult situations. The plague was prevalent at this time and Chad died on this day in the year 672.

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of St. Chad is this collect found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts – 2006:

Almighty God, for the peace of the Church your servant Chad relinquished cheerfully the honors that had been thrust upon him, only to be rewarded with equal responsibility: Keep us, we pray, from thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and ready at all times to step aside for others, that the cause of Christ may be advanced; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today is also Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

O God, you willed to redeem us from all iniquity by your Son: Deliver us when we are tempted to regard sin without abhorrence, and let the virtue of his passion come between us and our mortal enemy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The February 2010 issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
St. David of Wales

Today is the traditional date for commemoration of St. David of Wales, who was Bishop of Menevia in the early 6th Century. In Welsh, he is known as “Dewi Sant”. He is said to have been born at Carfai, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 487 A.D. He died at Mynyw (Menevia), which is now called St. David’s, Pembrokeshire, on March 1, 589. An article at Britannia Biographies begins with this legend:

The life-story and legends of St. David are largely based on his biography written by one Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. He is generally accepted as having been the son of a lady of noble Irish birth living in Dyfed. Lady Non by name, she had taking on a religious life, joining the convent at Ty Gwyn near Whitesands Bay. However, her beauty brought her to the attention of Sandde, a prince of the adjoining Kingdom of Ceredigion, while he was travelling nearby. His advances were, of course, vehemently rejected but the Royal lord would not take no for an answer and forced his passions upon the unfortunate Non.

The poor girl fell pregnant with the future St. David: a man of such holiness that even from the womb he, apparently, performed miracles. For an old story tells how, during her pregnancy, Non entered a certain church to listen the preaching of the local priest – he is said to have been St. Gildas but he was somewhat younger than David – and immediately the man was struck dumb. Because her child was soon to excel all religious teachers, the cleric found himself unable to continue whilst in the great man’s presence. (Read the entire biography here.)

A prayer for today:

A prayer appropriate for commemoration of St. David is this collect found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts – 2006:

Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today is also Monday in the Second Week of Lent. A Collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

Let your Spirit, O Lord, come into the midst of us to wash us with the pure water of repentance, and prepare us to be always a living sacrifice to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The February issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar –
Second Sunday in Lent (Year C):

Today is the Second Sunday in Lent. In the Gospel lesson appointed by the Revised Common Lectionary (Year C), St. Luke relates the story of Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem:

Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Luke 4:1-13)

Episcopal priest, the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, says of the metaphor used by Jesus in this passage:

If you have ever loved someone you could not protect, then you understand the depth of Jesus’ lament. All you can do is open your arms. You cannot make anyone walk into them. Meanwhile, this is the most vulnerable posture in the world –wings spread, breast exposed — but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand.

Given the number of animals available, it is curious that Jesus chooses a hen. Where is the biblical precedent for that? What about the mighty eagle of Exodus, or Hosea’s stealthy leopard? What about the proud lion of Judah, mowing down his enemies with a roar? Compared to any of those, a mother hen does not inspire much confidence. No wonder some of the chicks decided to go with the fox.

But a hen is what Jesus chooses, which — if you think about it –is pretty typical of him. He is always turning things upside down, so that children and peasants wind up on top while kings and scholars land on the bottom. He is always wrecking our expectations of how things should turn out by giving prizes to losers and paying the last first. So of course he chooses a chicken, which is about as far from a fox as you can get. That way the options become very clear: you can live by licking your chops or you can die protecting the chicks. (Read Taylor’s article in full here.)

A prayer for today:

The collect for this Sunday is found in The Book of Common Prayer – 1979:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.