Almighty Father

I just found a Seventh Day Adventist prayer for all souls.   I grew up Seventh Day Adventist and was surprised to find this in their 1941 Hymnal, the one in use till mid 80’s or so.   Naturally by redefining the word soul they don’t mean what it says, rather they mean something else.    It was never recited in the decades I was among them and I suspect its not in their newer hymnal.

Almighty Father, hear our prayer, and bless all souls that wait before Thee.  Amen.

This is found as number 687 in that hymnal.   The bottom of the page is the Gloria Patri as 689.

Psalm 112 The Life To Come

1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for ever. 4 Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.

6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever. 7 He is not afraid of evil tidings; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is steady, he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire on his adversaries. 9 He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever; his horn is exalted in honor. 10 The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked man comes to nought.

Psalm 112 RSV

The 112 Psalm is, like many psalms, pregnant with meaning.   It is a psalm about this life and the life to come.   Righteousness endures forever, by almsgiving and charity the righteous man will have riches in his house, which is to say riches in heaven.   The righteous will not fear evil tidings, for himself he is not afraid of suffering or death in this life because he knows that a light will shine in the darkness, he will be rewarded.   He knows the wicked, who in this life may have exploited the poor and oppressed others, will see his reward and be angry, they will gnash their teeth and melt at the brightness of the Lord.

All Souls Day

Today is All Souls Day and the Saints calendar I was using had this picture of the Resurrection. Its macabre but I like it.    Click through for a larger image.

All Saints Day

A picture is worth a thousand words. We on earth worship with the angels and saints above in Holy Communion.

Elijah Pleads With God

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Eli’jah, how he pleads with God against Israel? — Romans 11:2 RSV

The words of the apostle Paul long after the image in the picture above yet similar in concept.   Elijah still pleads with God.

Sanctity of Marriage : Henry -vs- Luther

In deep irony King Henry VIII responded to Luther by defending the Sacrament of Marriage, among other things, in 1521. I say irony because now the offspring of both of them has obliterated Marriage. At the time Henry VIII wrote this he was still a devout Catholic, and for the writing he produced and the promise of arms if need be he earned the title “Defender of the Faith” from Rome.

“Because  ( says he) we read it not”

O strong reason and mother of many heresies!  This was the fountain from which Helvidius drew his venom.

You admit no Sacrament unless you read its institution in a Book !   What Book was ever written that instituted it all ?

‘Concerning some things, (says he) I believe Christ’s Evangelists’.

…

The Church believes this, and tells you waht She believes too.

The same Church that says, ‘the Evangelists wrote the Gospel’, tells you this also.

If the Church had not said that ‘the Gospel of John is the Gospel of John,’ you should not have known it; for you were not present when he wrote it.

Why, then, don’t you believe the Church when She tells you that Christ did these things, and instituted these Sacraments, the Apostles delivered them, as well as when she says, ‘the Evangelists wrote such and such Gospels’ ?

Henry VIII Defence of the Seven Sacraments

Millenium Edition

Page 134.

Henry’s arguments relating to Scripture Alone are so compellingly obvious they need no further explanation.

Death of St. Francis

Blessed Francis talked with the doctor, who admitted that there was nothing further to be done, and gave his opinion that Francis had very little time to live.  Then Francis, lying on his bed, spread his hands out to the Lord with very great devotion and reverence, and said with great joy of mind and body, “Welcome, my Sister Death.”  Then he asked his brothers to sing to him the song he had made in praise of all things.  Before the last verse of the Canticle, he added some verses of Sister Death.

At the time of his illness, Francis was visiting with the old bishop in Assisi.  Francis seemed to hear a little silver voice within that confirmed the physician’s words, so he begged his brothers to carry him to the Portiuncula, the house he loved where his work on  earth had begun.  As he left the city, he paused to bless it, asking Christ to allow Assisi to forever be a beacon and an example to all Christians as a city where Christ is known and glorified.

Keeping faith with Lady Poverty, even unto death, Francis died in a habit loaned to him by one of the brethren.  As he lay on his bed, the brothers gathered ’round and he took each one by the hand and said goodbye, blessing them tenderly.  When they asked what they could do for him he asked them to sing again and again the song he loved best.  All day he lay smiling and listening; when evening came he begged for a few bites of food.

After he had eaten, Francis asked the brothers to read to him from the Bible.  As the brothers read, Francis lay gazing upward, still smiling happily.  Suddenly he rose up on his bed, stretched his thin hands out and in a voice quivering with joy he crfied, “Welcome, welcome, Sister Death.”

Weeping, the brothers gathered about the bed in the little room.  Suddenly one of the brothers saw a soft light hovering over the bed, shining like the sun glistening on water.  It lingered awhile, then faded slowly away.  At the hour of his passing, the llarks — birds that love the light and dread the shades of twilight — flocked in great numbers onto the roof of the house, even though night was descending, and wheeling about it for a long while, sang even more joyously than customarily, to offer their witness to the saint who so often called them unto the divine praises.

Catholic Book of the Dead, p. 102-103

The Heavens Declare

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.– Psalm 19:1-5 RSV

Much Ado

Having spent a long time reading Catholic and Protestant ( including Lutheran ) teaching on justification I began to wonder what all the fuss was about.   Particularly what the dispute was with Lutherans and Catholics.   Even the Canons of Trent, when actually read, show remarkable similarity.   We are saved by the Grace of God through Faith and as a result we change our lives and do good deeds and depart from our old deeds.   In protestant views if we do not change our life and live as sinful heathens then that means we didn’t really have faith to start with.    From the Catholic view we are saved by the Grace of God and we produce faith and works together.   Either way one who is saved produces works or they are not saved.   The dispute is not at the practical daily life level of a Christian, its in the finer nuances of theology.   And salvation is not a theology quiz.

It seems I am not alone.   Back in 1999 the Lutheran World Fellowship and the Vatican issued a Joint Statement on Justification.   The LWF represents 95% of Lutherans worldwide with the others being 2.5% LCMS, 0.6 % WELS and the rest spread out among groups I’m not sure of.

Putting on my “lets think like a protestant” hat the only real distinction between LCMS and the other groups seems to be on two key hotbutton issues.   The roles of women in the priesthood and sexuality.    That and higher criticism and not being firmly scripture only  which was the cause of the split that produced the ECLA.

Howdy Pilgrim

It was another sunny Florida day in November 1620.   A Spanish priest was walking along the shores of the 55 year old city of St. Augustine Florida.    Way off in the distance to the North by Massachusettes he noticed a ship called the Mayflower just pulling in to harbor.   He recognized the occupants as British Seperatists, and he called out “Howdy Pilgrim !”.    But the Pilgrims were to busy arguing about the meaning and sense of a passage of scripture and trying to see which one was the smartest and could win the debate to establish truth.   Thus it was they didn’t hear the greeting of the priest.   They never did read any Catholic literature and rejected all knowledge they were given by Catholics in any form.   

And that is why to this day in the USA you learn in school that for all practical purposes history started with the Pilgrims who brought the Christian faith to America.