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Showing posts from August, 2012

The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17 - 2 September 2012

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The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17 - 26 August 2012 Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Psalm 15 James 1:17-27 St. Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23                                                                                     
 Background:  The Deuteronomist It is probably not correct to speak of this movement in the singular, for there were probably several individuals, if not a school that functioned as the Deuteronomist.  In the Documentary Hypothesis, in its earliest form, scholars identified four strands in the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses): J for the Yahwist, E for the Elohist, D for the Deuteronomist, and P for the Priestly source.  All of these sources seemed to have operated with older materials and traditions, editing them to support a particular view or theology.  The Deuteronomic materials include the Book of Deuteronomy, which is essentially a book of the Law, and parts of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Jeremiah.  This school operate

The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16 - 26 August 2012

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The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16 - 26 August 2012 Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18 Psalm 34:15-22 Ephesians 6:10-20 St. John 6:56-69                                                                                    
 Background:  Joshua The Book of Joshua reflects several aspects of the history of Israel, not only in the materials that it has preserved, but in its editing as well.  The first major section of the book is a narrative concerning the conquest of Canaan (2:1- 11:23) and these are largely etiologies, i.e., stories of explanation about landmarks, place names and such.  A later editor completed this section with a closing commentary in the final chapters of this section.  This is followed by a list on conquered kings, and then an account of the allotment of the Promised Land (13:1 – 21:45), which began as an item of record and then was edited as a narrative in which Joshua allots the land.  The final sections: Regarding the tribe

The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15 - 19 August 2012

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The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15 - 19 August 2012 Proverbs 9:1-6 Psalm 34:9-14 Ephesians 5:15-20 St. John 6:51-58                                                                                    
 Background:  Wisdom In the Hebrew Scriptures, particularly in the Book of Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon, and other apocryphal books, wisdom is personified as a righteous woman.  The role of wisdom in ancient literature is ubiquitous, being found in most ancient near eastern cultures.  She is often present at creation, and serves as focus and reimagining of God’s work with humankind.  In Christianity, the concept becomes an icon of Jesus, the Savior – Jesus being wisdom.  The central church of Constantinople was dedicated to Hagia Sophia , or Holy Wisdom – Jesus being the reality of the Wisdom that God has revealed to us. Proverbs 9:1-6 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her anima

Saint Mary the Virgin - 15 August 2012

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Saint Mary the Virgin Isaiah 61:10-11 Psalm 34:1-9 Galatians 4:4-7 St. Luke 1:46-56                                                                                     Background: The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Anglican Churches In popular opinion, it seems that Mary is the big divide between the so-called Protestant Churches and the Roman Catholic Church.  The truth, however, is that there is not a “protestant” consensus on Mary and her status, as she enjoys some level of devotion in some of the churches.  In the Anglican Church, at the time of the reformation, the Church of England concentrated its teachings about Mary as the Theotokos, “The Mother of God”.  All other ideas about her center on her role as the mother of Jesus.  Roman Catholic doctrines and speculations about Mary such as her role as “co-redemptrix” are not generally honored.  The devotion to Mary has had both high and low moments in the history of the English Church, rangi