According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Saint Matthias

Image in the Public Domain

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Acts 1:15-26

Psalm 47 (LBW) or Psalm 133 (LW)

1 John 4:13-21

John 17:11b-19

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Almighty and eternal God,

your Son our Savior is with you in eternal glory. 

Give us faith to see that, true to his promise,

he is among us still, and will be with us to the end of time;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

OR

God, our creator and redeemer,

your Son Jesus prayed that his followers might be one. 

Make all Christians one with him as he is with you,

so that in peace and concord

we may carry to the world the message of your love;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 23

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O King of glory, Lord of hosts,

uplifted in triumph above all heavens,

we pray, leave us not without consolation,

but send us the Spirit of truth,

whom you promised from the Father;

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 57

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Consecrate them in the truth;

your word is truth.

–John 17:17, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

Truth, in the Johannine sense, means “activated integrity.”  Truth is also that which is reliable, according to The Anchor Bible Dictionary.  This makes sense.  How can anything be true if it is unreliable?

May we–you, O reader, and I–consider “activated integrity.”  We read of it in the selection for a replacement for Judas Iscariot in Acts 1.  We read about the perfect love that casts our fear in 1 John 4.  The type of fear that perfect love expels belies activated integrity.  We read of an example of the praise of God, who embodies activated integrity, in Psalm 47.  And the restoration of wholeness after the breaking of it (Psalm 133; Acts 1) is an expression of activated integrity.

Divine love, we read in 1 John 4, casts out the fear that has to do with punishment.  Some fear is healthy and encourages safety.  For example, I fear touching hot surfaces.  And when I walk at night, I carry a flashlight and watch where I step.  I fear stepping into a hole, an anthill, et cetera.  Acting based on some fears is a reasonable safety precaution.  In contrast, the fear in 1 John 4 holds people and groups back from their spiritual potential.  These fears often stand between someone and practicing the Golden Rule.  Politicians and media outlets frequently encourage such fear and exaggerate dangers for their own cynical, opportunistic, and nefarious purposes–winning elections based on distortions and damn lies, boosting ratings, perpetuating policies contrary to the Golden Rule, et cetera.  Often they do so while citing God and/or family values.

Jesus taught us to love one another, not to live in fear and distrust of each other.  He taught us to take up our crosses and to follow him, not to scapegoat and victimize people.  So, may divine, perfect love cast out the unreasonable fear in you, O reader.  May it also expel such fear from me.  May such love fill the void the expelled fear leaves behind.  May divine love overflow in you and in me.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 24, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR; AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR, 1980-1992

THE FEAST OF SAINT DIDACUS JOSEPH OF CADIZ, CAPUCHIN FRIAR

THE FEAST OF GEORGE RAWSON, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE RUNDLE PRYNNE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF PAUL COUTURIER, APOSTLE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY

THE FEAST OF THOMAS ATTWOOD, “FATHER OF MODERN CHURCH MUSIC”

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Adapted from this post

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Advertisement

I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

Above:  The Logo of The United Methodist Church

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXVII

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Psalm 133

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Psalm 133 extols the virtues of restored community–in this case, after the dedication of the Second Temple in 516 B.C.E.  The text also holds out hope for the restoration of all the tribes.  That hope remains unfulfilled as of the writing of this post.

The unity of faith community is frequently elusive.  The Pauline tradition tells us down the corridors of time that Jesus erases barriers separating groups of people from each other.  Yet the record of the Church from shortly after the beginning includes people erecting and maintaining boundaries.  The complete erasure of denominational identities is unrealistic, but denominations and congregations can cooperate or common goals.

I am a convert to The Episcopal Church.  I am a contented Episcopalian; I am on this planet to be an Episcopalian.  The Episcopal Church suits my personality, intellectual bent, sacramental tendencies, and social conscience.  My autobiography reveals, however, that my initial spiritual formation occurred in The United Methodist Church, but that my rising Roman Catholic tendencies led to my amicable departure for the The Episcopal Church when I was 18 years old.  That autobiography also reveals subsequent theological developments (Single Predestination, for example) which prevent me from maintaining intellectual honesty and identifying as a Methodist of any stripe.

The slow-motion schism in The United Methodist Church pains me.  Those who commit schism from the UMC in the name of faithfulness either imply or state overtly that people who think as I do (Apostolic Succession, Single Predestination, Transsubstantiation, and a 73-book canon of scripture notwithstanding) are apostates.  I argue this point because, if I were still a United Methodist and an intellectually honest one, the schismatics would be getting away from people such as me.  I fail doctrinal purity tests.  The Global Methodist Church, if it were honest, would call itself the Donatistic Methodist Church.  The intention of having a big tent is noble.  Unfortunately, many people do not want to live under it.

The hope of Psalm 133 remains elusive in more than one way.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 20, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HENRI DE LUCAC, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, CARDINAL, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF HEALEY WILLAN, CANADIAN ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAWA RODZINSKA, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MARTYR, 1945

THE FEAST OF SAINT WULFRIC OF HALELBURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXXI

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Psalms 120 and 123

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Psalms 120 and 123 are similar to each other.

Psalms 120-134 are songs of ascents.  As you, O reader, read these texts, imagine a caravan of devout Jews making a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.  Then you will be in the correct frame of mind for getting the most out of the texts.

Psalms 120 and 123 concern the perils of the negative attitudes and words of others.  These perils may be individual or collective.  That words matter is a point I have made many times at this weblog and already in this series.  So, I hereby repeat the headline (“WORDS MATTER”) and decline to unpack it again in this post.

Psalm 120 does require some explanation, though.

Woe to me, for I have sojourned in Meshach,

dwelled among the tents of Kedar.

–Psalm 120:5, Robert Alter

Poetry does not have to be literal.  Meshach and Kedar are far-flung places far away from each other.  Meshach (Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 32:26; 38:2-3; 39:1-3) is in northwestern Asia Minor (now Turkey), between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.  Kedar (Genesis 25:13) is on the Arabian Peninsula.  They symbolize barbaric, warlike peoples on the edge of the known world.  Robert Alter explains the poetic imagery this way:

…it may be plausible to understand them as metaphors for living among people who behave like strangers, even if those people were within a stone’s throw of Jerusalem (as someone today might say, “I felt as though I were in Siberia or Timbuktu.”

—The Hebrew Bible:  A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3, The Writings (2019), 292

The germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) concludes:

The psalmist feels as if he lives, metaphorically, among these far-away, militant people (v.6); he is alienated from his own society.

–1412

Imagine, O reader, a caravan of devout Jews from a village making their pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, for one of the major festivals.  Then ask yourself why they would sing that psalm.

Psalm 123 begins as an individual prayer (“To You I lift up my eyes”) and concludes as a collective lament.  Notice the words “our” and “us,” in verses 2-4, O reader.

Grant us grace, LORD, grant us grace,

for we are sorely sated with scorn.

Surely has our being been sated

with the contempt of the smug,

the scorn of the haughty.

–Verses 3-4, Robert Alter

Psalm 123, unlike other psalms, which complain about slander and libel, reflects frustration with arrogant scorn and contempt.  “We” take that complaint to God.

What was happening close to home, for members of a pious caravan to sing Psalm 123 en route to the Temple in Jerusalem?

One need not stretch one’s imagination to grasp additional meanings of these texts for Jews of the Diaspora.

A psalm carries different meanings at different times and in various places.  A text composed in one period with one meaning or set of meanings in mind may, therefore, remain germane elsewhere and long after composition.  A psalm is a living text.

So, I propose a new context for relating to Psalms 120 and 123.  The global Western cultures are becoming increasingly secular, with a growing strain of antitheism.  Do not misunderstand me, O reader; I favor the separation of church and state, mainly to prevent the church from become an arm of the state, thereby losing its prophetic, moral edge.  Yet the increasingly secular societies, combined with the rise of fashionable atheism and antitheism, heap scorn upon piety and the pious.  The devout may, against their will, find themselves alienated from their own society and even from religious establishments which endorse bigotry and Christian or Jewish nationalism.  Taking this sense of alienation and spiritual fatigue to God makes sense.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF CARRHAE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF CHRISTOPH CARL LUDWIG VON PFEIL, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS, APOSTLES TO THE SLAVS

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHANN MICHAEL ALTENBURG, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR, COMPOSER, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VICTOR OLOF PETERSEN, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN HYMN TRANSLATOR

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Church Row, Louvale, Georgia

Image Source = Google Earth

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Acts 1:(1-7) 8-14

Psalm 47 (LBW) or Psalm 133 (LW)

1 Peter 4:12-17; 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

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Almighty and eternal God,

your Son our Savior is with you in eternal glory. 

Give us faith to see that, true to his promise,

he is among us still, and will be with us to the end of time;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

OR

God, our creator and redeemer,

your Son Jesus prayed that his followers might be one. 

Make all Christians one with him as he is with you,

so that in peace and concord

we may carry to the world the message of your love;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 23

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O King of glory, Lord of hosts,

uplifted in triumph above all heavens,

we pray, leave us not without consolation,

but send us the Spirit of truth,

whom you promised from the Father;

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 57

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My theme in this post is unity.

John 17:1-11 opens with the Johannine definition of eternal life (knowing God via Jesus) and concludes with another Johannine motif–spiritual indwelling.

Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.

–John 17:11b, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus dwells in the Father.  Christians dwell in Jesus, therefore, they dwell in the Father.

In John 17:11b, the prayer is that God will keep the disciples as a unity, not as units–that the unity of the faith community will mirror the unity of Jesus and the Father.

Spiritual unity and organic unity differ.  One can exist in the absence of the other one.  Denominations or congregations may cooperate harmoniously while bitter infighting divides a denomination or congregation.  Organic unity may not always be desirable or feasible, but ecumenical cooperation may be effective.

Psalm 133 opens:

Oh, how good and pleasant it is when brethren live together in unity.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

One subtext to this may be hopes for the reunion of the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.  If so, we have an example of another dashed hope.  One may also recall the argumentative house churches in Corinth, thanks to epistles from St. Paul the Apostle.

Spiritual unity is a noble goal.  Yet I know from experience that it is frequently elusive on the small scale.  Within my family, for example, I feel as if I exist on a parallel spiritual track, even to the other professing, practicing Christians to whom I am related.  I own a tee-shirt that reads,

HERETIC.

I wear it with pride and defiance.  I also belong to a congregation that suffered a schism in 2012, before I moved to town.  And, as I write these words, my childhood denomination, The United Methodist Church, is proving that “Untied Methodist Church” is far more than a typographical error.  This contemporary manifestation of Donatism grieves me.

Such is life.  The ideal of spiritual unity persists.  It beckons.  How many of us are paying attention?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 24, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR C

GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE

THE FEAST OF SAINT EGBERT OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK; AND SAINT ADALBERT OF EGMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN, CAPUCHIN FRIAR AND MYSTIC, 1622

THE FEAST OF JAKOB BÖHME, GERMAN LUTHERAN MYSTIC

THE FEAST OF JOHANN WALTER, “FIRST CANTOR OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH”

THE FEAST OF SAINT MELLITUS, BISHOP OF LONDON, AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

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Adapted from this post

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Above:  Jeremiah

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fifth Sunday after Easter, Year 1

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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O God, from whom all good things do come; grant to us thy humble servants,

that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be right,

and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 173-174

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Jeremiah 20:11-14

Psalms 133 and 134

Revelation 3:14-22

John 17:1-19

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The complaint against the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22 is being spiritually lukewarm.  Although the assigned Psalms differ in time with the lament of Jeremiah, one can state accurately that the authors of these texts were spiritually hot.  The Book of Jeremiah fits neatly into a wonderful Hebrew tradition–arguing faithfully with God.  The relationship is not always pleasant, but it exists, at least.

Jesus of Nazareth, the historical figure and the incarnate form of the Second Person of the Trinity (however that works and whatever it means) had a unique relationship with YHWH.  This was a priest the author of the Gospel of John kept emphasizing.  That author reserved “son” for Jesus and wrote that we, through Jesus, can become children of God.

In other words, each of us can have a relationship with God.  It will also be unique, particular to each person’s circumstances.

May we, by grace, encourage one another in our journeys with Christ, our relationships with God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 9, 2020 COMMON ERA

MAUNDY THURSDAY

THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MARTYR, 1945

THE FEAST OF JOHANN CRUGER, GERMAN LUTHERAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN SAMUEL BEWLEY MONSELL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET; AND RICHARD MANT, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF LYDIA EMILIE GRUCHY, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN LITURGIST, BISHOP OF TURKU, AND “FATHER OF FINNISH LITERARY LANGUAGE”

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Above:  Stoning of St. Stephen, by Giovanni Battista Lucini

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Acts 6:1-15

Psalm 133

2 Peter 1:1-12

Mark 16:9-20

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The solution to the lack of fraternal unity (see Psalm 133) in the church at Jerusalem was the creation of the diaconate.  St. Stephen was one of the first deacons.  His diaconal duties did lead to his martyrdom, though.  No, his preaching (see Mark 16:16) did.

The martyrdom of St. Stephen occurred soon after the crucifixion of Jesus.  The death of St. Stephen was the first Christian martyrdom.  The martyrdom of Christians has continued into the present day, unfortunately.  Many who have caused a host of these martyrdoms have done so in the name of God.  A plethora of Christians have gone to their martyrdoms at the hands of other Christians.

One can correctly derive more than one valid lesson from the death and resurrection of Jesus.  One of these lessons is never to take life in the name of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 27, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CORNELIUS HILL, ONEIDA CHIEF AND EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF HUGH THOMSON KERR, SR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST; AND HIS SON, HUGH THOMSON KERR, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JAMES MOFFATT, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE GEORGIAN, ABBOT; AND SAINTS EUTHYMIUS OF ATHOS AND GEORGE OF THE BLACK MOUNTAIN, ABBOTS AND TRANSLATORS

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2019/06/27/devotion-for-the-second-sunday-of-easter-year-b-humes/

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Book One: Psalms 1-41

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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The psalter of the Septuagint contains 151 psalms.

I have written based on all of them, in numerical order.  I have retained the Hebrew numbering system, not that of the Septuagint.

Although I have no theological reticence to venture into textual territory that, according the United Methodism of my youth, is apocryphal, I do have limits.  They reside in the realm of Orthodoxy, with its range of scriptural canons.  Beyond that one finds the Pseudipigrapha.  Psalm 151 concludes the Book of Psalms in The Orthodox Study Bible (2008); so be it.

The Hebrew psalter concludes with Psalm 150.  In other psalters, however, the count is higher.  In certain editions of the Septuagint, for example, Psalm 151 is an appendix to the Book of Psalms.  In other editions of the Septuagint, however, Psalm 151 is an integrated part of the psalter.  There is also the matter of the Syraic psalter, which goes as high as Psalm 155.  I have no immediate plans to ponder Psalms 152-155, however.  Neither do I plan to read and write about Psalms 156-160 any time soon, if ever.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 23, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARTIN DE PORRES AND JUAN MACIAS, HUMANITARIANS AND DOMINICAN LAY BROTHERS; SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, HUMANITARIAN AND DOMINICAN SISTER; AND SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGROVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN COPELAND, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

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God bless America.

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POST LV OF LX

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The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days.  I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 226

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Psalms 120-134 are Songs of Ascents, which pilgrims to Jerusalem used en route to festivals at the Temple.

Psalms 132 and 133 come from the time after the Babylonian Exile.  Psalm 132 reflects the aspirations of many for the restoration of the Davidic Dynasty.  Psalm 133 celebrates the rebuilding of the Temple and the resumption of worship there.  Communal hopes for a better future mark these texts.  Psalm 134 flows naturally from its immediate predecessor; in Psalm 134 people bless God and God blesses them.

People also bless God in Psalm 135.  This text condemns idolatry and extols the greatness of God, as evident in nature and in previous dealings with the Israelite people.  The name of God, we read, endures forever.

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a frequent refrain was

At the same time a new bumper sticker read,

AMERICA, BLESS GOD.

“God bless America,” by itself in that context, was incomplete, for it ignored human duties to God (while avoiding theocracy and calls for it, of course).

May we not be so concerned about obtaining divine blessings that we fall into or remain in a transactional relationship with God.  May we nurture a mindset of gratitude because it is the correct spiritual practice.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 22, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

THE FEAST OF JOHN DRYDEN, ENGLISH PURITAN THEN ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND TRANSLATOR

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Above:  The Shema

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

O Lord God, you teach us that without love, our actions gain nothing.

Pour into our hearts your most excellent gift of love, that,

made alive by your Spirit, we may know goodness and peace,

through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 34

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The Assigned Readings:

Leviticus 19:9-18

Psalm 133

Luke 10:25-28

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Oh, how good and pleasant it is

when brethren live together in unity!

It is like fine oil upon the head

that runs down upon the beard,

Upon the beard of Aaron,

and runs down upon the collar of his robe.

It is like the dew of Hermon

that falls upon the hills of Zion.

For there the LORD has ordained the blessing,

life for evermore.

–Psalm 133, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The brethren cannot live together in unity when some of them exploit others of them economically, mistreat and insult the handicapped, engage in judicial corruption, and/or harbor hatred.

The reading from Luke 10 provides an example of the Bible quoting itself.  There we read to commandments from the Torah:

Love your fellow as yourself

–Leviticus 19:18b, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

and

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

–Deuteronomy 6:5, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

These are timeless principles.  Passages such as the rest of Leviticus 9:9-18 contain generalizations and culturally specific details.  They are the sort of material Rabbi Hillel said,

The rest is commentary.  Go and learn it.

How ought we to apply the timeless principles of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 in our times and places?  May we do so properly and successfully, by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 2, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF JOHANN KONRAD WILHELM LOEHE, BAVARIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND COORDINATOR OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONS

THE FEAST OF SABINE BARING-GOULD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/01/02/devotion-for-wednesday-after-the-fifth-sunday-of-easter-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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