SUNDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2008
First Sunday after Christmas Day, Year B

PRAYER (traditional language)
Almighty God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine
incarnate Word: Grant that the same light, enkindled in our
hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through the same Jesus
Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)
Almighty God, who have poured upon us the new light of your
incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our
hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

FIRST READING: Isaiah 61:10--62:3
("My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the
garments of salvation.")

PSALM 147 (or 147:13-21)
(Praise the LORD, Who gives His people peace and prosperity.)

THE HOLY INNOCENTS (28 DEC NT)

We read in Matthew 2 that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, King
Herod, fearing for his throne, ordered that all the male infants of
Bethlehem be killed. These children are regarded as martyrs for the
Gospel -- "martyrs in fact though not in will." Augustine called
them "buds, killed by the frost of persecution the moment they
showed themselves." For a discussion of the historical background of
the episode, visit:

http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/christia/old_library/infancy2.html

(NOTE: Ignore what the file says about the ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. I
hope to update it soon.)

PRAYER (traditional language)
We remember this day, O God, the slaughter of the holy
innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive, we
beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims;
and by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants
and establish thy rule of justice, love, and peace; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST (27 DEC NT)

John, son of Zebedee, was one of the twelve apostles of Our Lord.
Together with his brother James and with Simon Peter, he formed a
kind of inner circle of Three among the Twelve, in that those three
were...

STEPHEN, DEACON AND PROTOMARTYR (26 DEC NT)

All that we know about Stephen the Protomartyr (that is, the first
martyr of the Christian Church) is found in chapters 6 and 7
of the Book of Acts.

The early Christian congregations, like the Jewish synagogues, had a
program of assistance for needy widows, and some of the
Greek-speaking Jews in the Jerusalem congregation complained that
their widows...

THE WITNESS DAYS (26 DEC TO 31 DEC)

On the six days between Christmas Day and its Octave on 1 January,
we remember five persons who have in various ways, by martyrdom or
otherwise, born witness to the truth of the Christian faith.
(NOTE that the word MARTYROS in pre-Christian Greek means
simply "witness," and that it is not always clear whether early
Christian uses of it (as in Revelation 2:13) ought to be translated
broadly, as "witness", or in the narrow technical sense as "martyr",
that is, someone who has explicitly chosen to die rather than to
deny Christ as Lord.)

On December 26th, we remember St. Stephen, first member of the early
Christian church to be put to death for his faith -- see Acts 6,7.
He was "a martyr in will and deed."

On December 27th, we remember St. John the Evangelist, one of the
Twelve Apostles. It is commonly believed that, although he was
imprisoned and beaten for his adherence to Christ, he lived to old
age and died a natural death. He was "a martyr in will but not in
deed," meaning that he was willing to lay down his life for his
Lord, but was not called on to do so -- See M 20:20-28 = P 10:35-45.

Friends,

Today we celebrated the "graduation" of my wife from her cancer
treatment. All her medical reports say that her cancer is in remission! We
had a cap and gown for her and a cake! 2 friends who had been through the
same treatment at the same hospital drove us downtown and we all clapped!

Praying certainly helped. Thanks.

Tom.

------------------------------------
Tom Sathre
Address: tom_sathre@acm.org
(801)640-8602 (F - be careful about the area code!)
(303)794-6351 (H)
http://home.earthlink.net/~tsathre/tomsathressite/

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MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST (21 SEP NT)

One day Jesus was walking and saw a tax collector named Matthew
sitting at a tax collection post, and said to him, "Follow me." And
Matthew stood up and followed Him, and became one of His twelve
apostles...

He is good to go where no others go.

"The Only Shade"

("For he was ordering the unclean spirit to leave the man." Luke 8:29a)

Have you looked in the dark where the rejected tear

at the world, at the dirt, at the thorns like

a scab that never closes?

Have you driven to the outskirts where

the dunes are headstones to the lovely

who find no refuge where the Joshua tree grows?

Have you asked why the cliffs are the only shade,

the hoodoos the only respite from the raging wind,

ice and gorged floods in the mind of the barren inhabitants?

Draw the borders, erect the fences, make the city limits

plain as day,

and we may not be bothered by the unbelievable

who nearly rested in our local hostel.

There is one word, a name,

one name, a man, one man, the son,

one son, the same

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:00:05

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Bringing a few pictures together in one portrait.

"Wild Berries and Indian Turnips"

The wild blackberries grow on curves near the

northern shore of the southern border on this

little Washington acre. No matter the morning,

cereal, bagel or quick-carbs from an empty Danish,

they are sweetly presented and paint the day

lightly against the brushy limbs.

My dog has learned to eat them right off the branches

and she returns with her muzzle a watercolor purple,

pink and sand.

She protects the rest from the doe and her fawn

who emerge from the thicket on foggy mornings

for an early meal.

The snap of wild Indian turnips from the northern plains

is Lunch's ideal after berry-graced breakfast.

It is not quite as idyllic as that;

like when a father dies;

or Four Bears the Mandan lies