First of All, No. That’s sort of a nonsense question. The order we read things in can make a difference to how clearly we understand them, or the impression they leave on us; but, e.g., the statements “the sky is blue” and “rainfall comes from the sky” don’t change in truth-value based on which one you put first. But also: kind of? After all, the order we read things in can make a difference to how clearly we understand them... Read more

The Solemnity of SS. Peter and Paul This past Sunday, we celebrated the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul. This is kind of unusual: Solemnities are often displaced by Sundays. Advent, Lent, and Eastertide all rely fairly strongly on their week-by-week structure as seasons, so their Sundays take precedence (and most solemnities are either directly tied to Easter, or fall somewhere from December to March); however, Trinitytide has comparatively little structure, so most of its Sundays give way to... Read more

Well, at Least Once, Anyway I thought I had translated two other Gospels’ accounts of this miracle before—John’s last July, and Mark’s … at some point. In truth, I had bamboozled myself: Just before translating John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand,1 I translated Mark’s lead-in to this miracle, which by itself was our Gospel text for the Sunday before we started in on John. Loaves and fishes from the Catacombs of Callixtus (3rd century?). This miracle is... Read more

Trinitytide This is the longest single season in the Anglican Use liturgical year.1 In terms of the lectionary, it corresponds to most of Ordinary Time in the Novus Ordo calendar, but Trinitytide doesn’t kick in until after Pentecost—the chunk of Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent equates with Epiphanytide in the Ordinariate’s calendar. I got into this a little bit early this year in my series on sacred time; I there identified Trinitytide as one of the five principal seasons... Read more

Resuming from Chapters One and Two. Revelation 21:9-10 There came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, “Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. At first blush, this might seem like... Read more

Resuming from Chapter One. Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” I feel this verse highlights a spiritual issue that seems commonplace in the US at least. It may be common in a lot of places with a... Read more

“Thirty Days, Thirty Verses” As we know, June is LGBTQ Pride Month; and thereby hangs a tale, and as usual, it’s the worst. For the last few years, I have been much annoyed by the attempt among some right-wing Catholics to turn June’s dedication to the Sacred Heart into an expression of homophobia. These are not their words; they’ve generally called it “reclaiming June for the Sacred Heart,” who needs our assistance apparently (doesn’t he always). It turns out God... Read more

So, picking up from last time: Acts 15:1-2, 3-21, 22-29, RSV-CE But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way... Read more

The Synod of Jerusalem Map of Jerusalem (1472) by Pietro del Massaio and Hugo Comminelli. Our text here is the lesson from the Sixth Sunday in Easter, the Sunday before Ascension. It’s from Acts 15, and recounts the Church’s first-ever synod, or council, which is thought to have been held around the year 50. The First Council of Nicæa, the source of the Creed,1 took place two hundred and seventy-five years after this; to the Nicene bishops, the Synod of... Read more

Another Lengthy One This one is long not because it’s multiple lessons together, but because the lesson we have cut St. Paul’s … whole sermon. Which, I get it, it’s long, and we do get a lot of readings from the Pauline epistles all year—but it kinda bums me out, because St. Paul doing a homily sounds rather different from St. Paul writing a letter. The next will probably be lengthy too, for similar reasons. As before, I’m aiming for... Read more