Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Heroes/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated:
Richard Meux Benson, Religious, 1915, and Charles Gore, Bishop of Worcester, of Birmingham, and of Oxford, 1932
Richard Meux Benson (1824-1915) was a priest in the Church of England and founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the first religious order of monks in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Anglican Church of Canada on 15 January and of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 16 January.
1. Early life
Born into a wealthy family of London in 1824, Benson was taught at home by a private tutor and entered Christ Church, Oxford. After his degree and ordination and a curacy at Surbiton, in 1850 he became vicar of Cowley, Oxford. He was considered High Church. In 1858 Benson conducted a retreat for priests using material taken in part from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. In 1859, having erected a new parish church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, Benson planned a mission to India but abandoned the plan at the request of his bishop.
At the time there were convents of Anglican women in England, and in 1865 two priests joined Benson in Cowley to begin community life under the name of Mission Priests of St. John the Evangelist with Benson as Superior.
2. Society of St. John the Evangelist
The form of religious life instituted by Benson was not purely contemplative—its members engaged in active external ministry—but they recited the Divine Office together daily in choir, and Benson emphasized contemplation. The brothers were to get an hour's meditation daily if possible, and he gave the community a summer retreat of four weeks, later reduced to fortnight. He prescribed other retreat days and silence days. As a religious founder, he concentrated on essentials, among which he reckoned life-vows, taken with precautions as to maturity; regular confession; choir office, prayer and meditation; and priestly ministry. He fully recognized the authority of his bishop over the priests of the community, who were clergy of the diocese, but not as extending to their private life together.
From 1870 to 1883 the Society spread to the United States, India, and South Africa. Benson himself made an American mission tour. In 1884 the society adopted a Constitution and Rule drafted by Benson.
During the creation of the Society, Benson had maintained his duties as a parish vicar. In 1886 he resigned this charge to devote all his attention to the Society and its mission.
In 1890 Benson stepped aside for another to be elected Superior. He spent one year in India, and eight years at the American house in Boston.
The last sixteen years of Benson's life were lived at home again. He celebrated the Holy Eucharist as long as he could stand at the altar, and then was wheeled in a chair to his Communion every morning. He died on 14 January 1915.
3. Works
•Benedictus Dominus
•The Final Passover, Vol. 1, 1893.
•The Final Passover, Vol. 2, Part 1, 1895.
•The Final Passover, Vol. 2, Part 2, 1895.
•The Final Passover, Vol. 3., Part 1, 1893.
•The Final Passover, Vol. 3., Part 2, 1893.
•Letters of Richard Meux Benson, 1916.
•The Magnificat, 1889.
•The Manual of Intercessory Prayer
4. References
•Smith, Martin L. (ed.) (1980) Benson of Cowley, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-213112-5
•Woodgate, M.V. (1953) Father Benson: founder of the Cowley Fathers, London : Geoffery Bles, 183 p.
Charles Gore (22 January 1853 - 17 January 1932) was an English theologian and Anglican bishop
Born 22 January 1853
Wimbledon
Died 17 January 1932
Venerated in Church of England, Episcopal Church (United States)
Feast 17 January, 16 January
1. Early life and Oxford
Gore was the third son of the Honourable Charles Alexander Gore, and brother of the fourth Earl of Arran. His mother was a daughter of the fourth Earl of Bessborough. Gore was educated at Harrow and at Balliol College, Oxford and was elected fellow of Trinity College, Oxford in 1875. From 1880 to 1883 he was vice-principal of the theological college at Cuddesdon and when, in 1884, Pusey House was founded at Oxford as a home for Dr Pusey's library and a centre for the propagation of his principles, Gore was appointed as the principal, a position which he held until 1893. As principal of Pusey House Gore exercised a wide influence over undergraduates and the younger clergy, and it was largely, if not mainly, under this influence that the Oxford Movement underwent a change which to the survivors of the old school of Tractarians seemed to involve a break with its basic principles. Puseyism had been in the highest degree conservative, basing itself on authority and tradition and repudiating any compromise with the modern critical and liberalizing spirit. Gore, starting from the same basis of faith and authority, soon found from his practical experience in dealing with the doubts and difficulties of the younger generation that this uncompromising attitude was untenable and set himself the task of reconciling the principle of authority in religion with that of scientific authority by attempting to define the boundaries of their respective spheres of influence. To him the divine authority of the Catholic Church was an axiom and in 1889 he published two works, the larger of which, The Church and the Ministry, is a learned vindication of the principle of Apostolic Succession in the episcopate against the Presbyterians and other Protestant bodies, while the second, Roman Catholic Claims, is a defence, couched in a more popular form, of the Anglican Church and Anglican orders against the attacks of the Romanists.
So far his published views had been in complete consonance with those of the older Tractarians but, in 1890, a great stir was created by the publication, under his editorship, of Lux Mundi, a series of essays by different writers, being an attempt to succour a distressed faith by endeavouring to bring the Christian creed into its right relation to the modern growth of knowledge, scientific, historic, critical; and to modern problems of politics and ethics. Gore himself contributed an essay on The Holy Spirit and Inspiration and from the tenth edition one of Gore's sermons, On the Christian Doctrine of Sin, was included as an appendix. The book, which ran through twelve editions in a little over a year, met with a somewhat mixed reception. Orthodox churchmen, Evangelical and Tractarian alike, were alarmed by views on the incarnate nature of Christ that seemed to them to impugn his Divinity, and by concessions to the Higher Criticism in the matter of the inspiration of Holy Scripture which appeared to them to convert the impregnable rock, as Gladstone had called it, into a foundation of sand; sceptics, on the other hand, were not greatly impressed by a system of defence which seemed to draw an artificial line beyond which criticism was not to advance. None-the-less the book produced a profound effect far beyond the borders of the English Church and it is largely due to its influence, and to that of the school it represents, that the High Church movement developed on Modernist rather than Tractarian lines from then on.
In 1891 Gore was chosen to deliver the Bampton lectures and took for his subject the Incarnation. In these lectures he developed the doctrine, the enunciation of which in Lux Mundi had caused so much heart-searching. This is an attempt to explain how it came that Christ, though incarnate God, could err, e.g. in his citations from the Old Testament. The orthodox explanation was based on the principle of accommodation. This, however, ignored the difficulty that if Christ on earth was not subject to human limitations, especially of knowledge, he was not as other men, not subject to their trials and temptations. This difficulty Gore sought to meet through the Kenotic Theory of the Incarnation. Theologians had attempted to explain what St. Paul meant when he wrote of Christ (Phil. ii.7) that he emptied himself (kenosis) and took upon him the form of a servant. According to Gore this means that Christ, on his incarnation, became subject to all human limitations and had stripped himself of all the attributes of the Godhead, including the Divine omniscience, the Divine nature being hidden under the human. [1]
2. Radley and London
The Bampton lectures led to a tense situation which was relieved when in 1893 Gore resigned his principalship and became vicar of Radley, a small parish near Oxford. In 1894 he became a canon of Westminster. Here he gained commanding influence as a preacher and in 1898 was appointed one of the court chaplains.
3. Worcester, Birmingham and Oxford
Portrait of Bishop Gore by Glyn Philpot.
In 1902 he succeeded J. J. S. Perowne as Bishop of Worcester and in 1905 was installed as the first Bishop of Birmingham, a new see the creation of which (by dividing his see of Worcester) had been mainly due to his efforts. The second parish church of Birmingham, St Philip, became the cathedral. While adhering rigidly to his views on the divine institution of episcopacy as essential to the Christian Church, Dr Gore from the first cultivated friendly relations with the ministers of other denominations, and advocated co-operation with them in all matters when agreement was possible. In social questions he became one of the leaders of the considerable group of High Churchmen known, somewhat loosely, as Christian Socialists, and helped found the Christian Social Union at Pusey House in 1889. He worked actively against the sweating system, pleaded for European intervention in Macedonia, and was a keen supporter of the Licensing Bill of 1908. In 1911 he succeeded Francis Paget as Bishop of Oxford.
On 28 September 1917 he licensed 21 women as lay readers called the "Diocesan Band of Women Messengers". These were possibly the first female lay readers in the Church of England. The last one, Miss Bessie Bangay, died in 1987 aged 98.
4. Retirement
He resigned in June 1919 and retired to London, where he took residence at 6 Margaret Street, as tenant of the parochial authorities of All Saints, Margaret Street. There he remained for several years, celebrating regularly in the church and in the sisters' chapel close by, and taking his usual keen interest in the affairs of the church and parish. At the same time he attached himself to Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street, and was licensed to the Rector of St George's, Hanover Square, in whose parish the chapel stands, thus becoming for the first time in his life a licensed curate. [2]
He died in 1932 and his body was cremated. The ashes were taken to Mirfield for burial in the church of the Community of the Resurrection. His cope and mitre remain at the Grosvenor Chapel.
5. Community of the Resurrection
In 1892 he had founded a clerical fraternity, known as the Community of the Resurrection, at Pusey House. He became their first superior, only resigning when appointed Bishop of Worcester. Its members were priests who were bound by the obligation of celibacy, lived under a common rule and with a common purse. Their work was pastoral, evangelistic, literary and educational. They followed him to Radley in 1893, most of them remaining there when he moved to London in 1894. In 1898 the House of the Resurrection at Mirfield, near Huddersfield, became the centre of the community; in 1903 a college for training candidates for the Anglican priesthood (College of the Resurrection), was established there and, in the same year, a branch house for missionary work was set up in Johannesburg in South Africa.
6. Works
Statue of Charles Gore, outside St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham.
•Lux Mundi (editor) (1889)
•The Incarnation (Bampton Lectures, 1891)
•The Creed of the Christian (1895)
•The Sermon on the Mount (1896)
•The Epistle to the Ephesians (1898)
•Prayer, and the Lord's Prayer (1898)
•Romans (1899)
•The Body of Christ (1901)
•The New Theology and the Old Religion (1908)
•Orders and Unity (1910)
•Belief in God (1921)
•Belief in Christ (1922)
•The Holy Spirit and the Church (1924)
•The Doctrine of the Infallible Book (1924)
•Christ and Society (Halley Stewart Lectures, 1927) (pub. 1928)
•A New Commentary on Holy Scripture (contributor and co-editor) (1928)
Belief in God, Belief in Christ and The Holy Spirit and the Church were reissued in a single volume as The Reconstruction of Belief in 1926.
7. See also
•Kenosis
8. Notes
1.Cf. the Lutheran theologian Ernst Sartorius in his Lehre von der heiligen Liebe (1844), Lehre ii. pp. 21 et seq.: the Son of God veils his all-seeing eye and descends into human darkness and as child of man opens his eye as the gradually growing light of the world of humanity, until at the right hand of the Father he allows it to shine forth in all its glory. See G. F. Loofs, Art. Kenosis in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie (ed. 1901), x. 247.
2.Charles Gore: A Biographical Sketch by Gordon Crosse, Milwaukee: Morehouse, 1932.
9. References
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Scriptural Readings:
Morning Office:
Psalm 148
Praise for God’s Universal Glory
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.
6 He established them for ever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.*
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149
Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel
1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgement decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150
Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!*
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Isaiah 43:14-44:5
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.*
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild animals will honour me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
22 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt-offerings,
or honoured me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 I, I am He
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Accuse me, let us go to trial;
set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.
27 Your first ancestor sinned,
and your interpreters transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary,
I delivered Jacob to utter destruction,
and Israel to reviling.
God’s Blessing on Israel44But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you in the womb and will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants,
and my blessing on your offspring.
4 They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’,
another will be called by the name of Jacob,
yet another will write on the hand, ‘The Lord’s’,
and adopt the name of Israel.
Hebrews 6:17-7:1017In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, 18so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. 19We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek7This ‘King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him’; 2and to him Abraham apportioned ‘one-tenth of everything’. His name, in the first place, means ‘king of righteousness’; next he is also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’. 3Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest for ever.
4 See how great he is! Even* Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils. 5And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes* from the people, that is, from their kindred,* though these also are descended from Abraham. 6But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes* from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. 7It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Evening Office:
Psalm 114
God’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became God’s* sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
Psalm 115
The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say,
‘Where is their God?’
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,
both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any that go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!
John 4:27-42
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ 28Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,* can he?’ 30They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ 32But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ 33So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ 34Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving* wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
Sunday Readings:
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for HelpTo the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,*
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.*
Burnt-offering and sin-offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.*
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.’
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 Do not, O Lord, withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe for ever.
Isaiah 49:1-7
The Servant’s Mission49Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
4 But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.’
5 And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
7 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
THE FIRST LETTER OF PAUL TO THECorinthians
Salutation1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord* and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I give thanks to my* God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6just as the testimony of* Christ has been strengthened among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 1:29-42
The Lamb of God29 The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ 32And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’*
The First Disciples of Jesus35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed*). 42He brought Simon* to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter*).
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SUNDAY, January 16 2 Epiphany
John 1:29-42. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.”
Look at this! Andrew, the first man to receive Christ, was ordinary, what we call “the common or garden variety.” He had no genius or fine theories. He was not a great leader but he was a prince of a follower. His plain common sense detected Jesus’ greatness at once. Andrew asked no questions. The matter was settled for him: follow. At once he goes to work and brings his gifted brother. Wherever we read of Andrew, he is introducing someone to Jesus.
Reader, do you rate yourself as plain, ordinary, everyday? Remember what Lincoln said: “God must love the common people; he made so many of them.” God does. And so does his church.
We have leaders aplenty. Christ calls for followers, workers, plain men and women who accept what good and truth they see and act upon it. Leave brilliance to someone else. Hold to your simple faith. Take your place. Witness where you are. Be a plain disciple, steadily drawing others to Christ. (1936)
PRAY for The Church in Nigeria and the Diocese of Abuja (Province of Abuja, Nigeria)
Ps 40:1-12; Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
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