For those of us who follow the Daily Office lectionary the days after Christmas can be very confusing. Where are the readings? See page 922 of the Book of Common Prayer for the three Holy Days that occur in this interval.
They are a great relief. After all the sugary sweetness we worked ourselves up into thinking of babies, babies, babies (hope, renewal, yes they are cute, hope, yes we love babies) we can stop stretching the hope muscles for a bit and return to the world as we know it. The first thing that happens after the birth, liturgically, is Stephen gets himself stoned. John, whom we commemorate today, we are told by James Kiefer is "a martyr in will but not in deed." And of course tomorrow there are more babies: dead babies.
We received the good news of a great joy. Now get marching. It begins.
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1 comment:
HI, doc,
Thank you for clarifying where to look up the days after Christmas, as my office book does not have them anywhere.
I may have told you about one day at St. J's when I was sitting around in a fed-up state with the
Church and heard God whisper in my right ear, "It brought you the Gospel, didn't it?"
Your calling is to be the light of the world and the Church is the mission field.
Shine on.
Love, Pru
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