Break Open the Word

The Readings for Pentecost XXIII Isaiah 1:10-18 Psalm 32:1-8 II Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 Saint Luke 19:1-10        BACKGROUND I once designed an altar frontal for Saint Francis Church in San Francisco for use during the Sundays after Pentecost – a season of eternal green.  It was designed to be augmented, period by period, with darker and darker greens and complementary colors added as accents.  So it is with the lectionary at this point in the Church’s Year.  The readings in the next few Sundays will begin to represent a sort of “Shadow Advent”, as the themes of end-time and judgment remain from a much longer Advent season.  These all culminate in the brightness of Christ the King, but it is important to pay attention to these dark moods portrayed in the lectionary.  These readings are pepper in the pot of our liturgical stew.  They explore a side of life that evangelicals would just as soon forget, lost in a...

The Readings for All Saint’s Day Contemporary Reading: from “A Christmas Memory”, Truman Capote Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 Psalm 149 Ephesians 1:11-23 Saint Luke 6:20-31        BACKGROUND All Saints Day – the origin of this day is a bit murky, perhaps originating in the Eastern Church, where it was observed in May, or the Sunday after Pentecost.  In 609, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs.  In the eighth century celebrations of all the Saints emerged in England, celebrated principally on 1 November, which was brought to England either through the ministry of Egbert of York, or perhaps from earlier celebrations either in Ireland or Gaul.  It is a day in which the Church celebrates saints living and departed, a representation of the totality of the Body of Christ.  The present celebration in the Book of Common Prayer is classed as a Principal Feast, one of seven.  It is als...