Liturgical time matters, for it sacramentalizes days, hours, and minutes, adding up to seasons on the church calendar. Among the frequently overlooked seasons is the Season after Epiphany, the first part of Ordinary Time. The Feast of the Epiphany always falls on January 6 in my tradition. And Ash Wednesday always falls forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday. The Season after Epiphany falls between The Feast of the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. In 2013 the season will span January 7-February 12.
This season ought to be a holy time, one in which to be especially mindful of the imperative to take the good news of Jesus of Nazareth to others by a variety of means, including words when necessary. Words are meaningless when our actions belie them, after all. Among the themes of this season is that the Gospel is for all people, not just those we define as insiders. No, the message is also for our “Gentiles,” those whom we define as outsiders. So, with that thought in mind, I encourage you, O reader, to exclude nobody. Do not define yourself as an insider to the detriment of others. If you follow this advice, you will have a proper Epiphany spirit.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 9, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF BARTON STONE, COFOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
I detect a disconnect between the Job lessons and the Johannine readings. In the Book of Job God refuses to apologize to Job, who admits that he
spoke without understanding.
Then God restores Job’s fortunes. Job’s error in the book had been to speak of how God ought to govern the world. His alleged friends’ main theological error had been to speak of how they thought God does govern the world. But I do not detect a loving God in Job 41.
In John 13, however, Jesus demonstrates his love for his Apostles then says,
I give you a new commandment:
love one another;
you must love one another
just as I have loved you.
It is by your love for one another,
that everyone will recognise you as my disciples.
–John 13:34-35, The New Jerusalem Bible
I am a Christian, not a Jobite. I am a Christian, so, by definition, I (at least try to) follow Jesus. The canonical Gospel definition of discipleship is following Jesus. In Jesus I see God made accessible and manifest. It is obvious to me that the Book of Job reflects an older and different concept of God. As I have heard from a Lutheran minister, not all of the Bilbe is equally important. The Gospels are more important than Leviticus, for example. (That was an easy statement to make.) The Gospels outweigh other parts of the Bible. And the Gospels tell me that God, via Jesus in the case of John 13, models love and that we are to emulate that love.
So be it.
Next stop: Lent.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 27, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE WASHINGTON DOANE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF NEW JERSEY
THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANTONY AND THEODOSIUS OF KIEV, FOUNDERS OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MONASTICISM; SAINT BARLAAM OF KIEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ABBOT; AND SAINT STEPHEN OF KIEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ABBOT AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF THE EARLY ABBOTS OF CLUNY
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH WARRILOW, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
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