Fifth Sunday after Easter

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For Fifth Sunday after Easter, commonly known as Rogation Sunday, the Collect is another which was adapted from the Gelasian Sacramentary used in the Roman Catholic tradition. This short prayer acknowledges the LORD as the source of “all things that are good,” which we may think are our own, come through His “merciful guiding.” The Epistle is another reading from the Epistle of St. James offering more practical New Testament wisdom: become “doers” of the Word and “not hearers only.” James describes the benefits of restraint, or “bridling” of the tongue. Almost four centuries later one of the greatest saints of the Eastern Church, John Chrysostom, Bishop of Antioch and then Constantinople, suggested that practicing control of one’s tongue could be considered a worthy sacrifice during the season of Lent. The Gospel reading is again from John 16, this time verses 16-33, in which Jesus grants mankind permission to pray directly to the Father and promises that He will likewise pray for the same to His Father. The reading includes another concept of time of which Jesus spoke in His final days, in this case, “hour,” which are discussed in Episode 43 and Episode 44 in the AIC Video series, New Testament: Gospels, linked from the Digital Library page. In just a few days, the Disciples would discover exactly what Jesus meant in saying “that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation.” This dialogue appears only in the Gospel of John. There are no examples that I know of in Christian art which depict this event. The timeline in The Orthodox Study Bible: New Testament implies, by association with other events on the last days of Christ, that the location was somewhere in Jerusalem on Maundy Thursday. The dialogue is discussed, without illustration, in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Gospel of John: Annotated & Illustrated. The volume is available through my Amazon Author Central page. Full details about the book are found on the AIC Bookstore page.

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings for Fifth Sunday after Easter are discussed in Episode Three in our video series, Eastertide: From Resurrection to Ascension, linked from the Digital Library page. The audio-only version, in MP3 format, is linked from the Podcast Archive page. My Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday after Easter is linked from the Podcast Homilies page. A related Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday after Easter, based on Psalm 118, the appointed Psalm for Morning Prayer, is linked from the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page.

Next week, my Blog post will be made on Ascension Day, May 14th, and will include commentary on readings for Ascension Day and Sunday after Ascension.

As always, thank you for your interest and support for keeping this site available, on-demand, 24/7. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Fifth Sunday in Lent & AIC Bookstore 18

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For Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly known as Passion Sunday, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer composed a Collect based upon the Gregorian Sacramentary (10th C.), affirming that by His “great goodness” mankind may be “governed and preserved.” The Epistle reading, Hebrews 9:11-15, includes a rare reference to the “high priest of good things to come” who is “not made with hands.” The allusion is to the mysterious Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20; Ps. 110:4; Hebrews 5:6-11 & 6:20-7:28), who is considered as a type of Christ. The Gospel reading, the second of two in Lent from the Gospel of John, John 8:46-58, includes Jesus’ bold “I AM” declaration.

Byzantine Mosaic, illustrating Genesis 16:18-20, 6th C, Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. Ravenna, on the northeast coast of Italy, was under the control of Byzantine Empire. The Basilica is contemporary to the rule of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who sponsored the construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. © Dmitry Chulov|Dreamstime.com.

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings are discussed and illustrated in Episode Three in the AIC Christian Education Video series, Lent: the Season of Penitence, which is linked from the Digital Library page. The audio-only version of Episode Three is linked from the Podcast Archive page. My Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday in Lent is linked from the Podcast Homilies page. A separate Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday in Lent, based on Psalm 51, the Morning Prayer reading for Fifth Sunday in Lent is linked from the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page.

Three scenes from Revelation, Bamberg Apocalypse, 1000-1020 A.D., Bamberg State Library, Bamberg, Germany. © Staatsbibliothek, Bamberg, Germany. Used with permission.

The focus of this week’s AIC Bookstore Preview is Revelation: An Idealist Interpretation, another volume produced in the large page, 8.5″ x 8.5″ paperback format designed to enhance the illustrations and allow their placement fully in the context of book text. The book, patterned after the AIC Bible Study Video series of the same name, was made possible by the generous support of the Bamberg State Library, which provided high-resolution images from the original volume, The Bamberg Apocalypse, produced between 1000 and 1020 A.D., during the reigns of the Ottonian Holy Roman Emperors Otto III and Henry II. One of the Ottonian royal family was linked by marriage to a Byzantine princess. Artists working at the Reichenau monastery on Reichenau Island on Lake Constantine produced some of the finest expressions of traditional Christian teachings ever produced in the Western Church tradition. Their art drew upon earlier works produced in and around Constantinople. The volume includes A Brief History of Revelation and A Primer on Numerology in Revelation, the latter important in understanding St. John’s many uses of numbers. The companion video series of the same name is linked from the Bible Study-New Testament page. The volume is available exclusively through our Virtual Bookstore, which is my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information about the book is found on the AIC Bookstore page. 220 pages. 52 illustrations. $49.95.

A tip for understanding the Revelation and the four Gospels: when reading the Gospels, start with the Gospel of John and read it slowly, as if listening yourself to the Evangelist dictate the words to his scribe, Prochorus. Likewise with Revelation, especially noting the many allusions to 1st C. understandings about the Old Testament, from which St. John derived many of his allusions to important numbers (explained in A Primer on Numerology in Revelation, pages 7 to 11.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!