Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 11: Year 2
Psalms 119:49-72, 49, [53] Joshua 8:30-35; Romans14:13-23; Matthew 26:57-68
“The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.” (Romans 14:22)
I am a mentor of Education for Ministry (EfM) administered from School of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. As such, I have learned through many sessions to develop my own theology and I have framed it with a personal creed; a creed to live by; a faith that I have, that I have as my own conviction before God. I have put together words that I believe really capture my belief. Here it is: “I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom, we must give an account.”
I think it is the Holy Spirit of our Lord Jesus that was promised to us when He went back to where He was before he came to us more than 2000 years ago. We read in the Gospel of St. John, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (14:26). Jesus prayed to Creator God that those of us who continue to believe (long after His initial visit) that those of us who follow, will also believe their words. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20 – 21) This handed down lesson is my conviction before God. I am very aware of the “account” part of my creed. I will do the best that I can to be a good person and to love all people. This too is my conviction before God.
We also remember Mary Magdalene today. My heart always goes out to Mary Magdalene. Again from the Gospel of John: “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to lookinto the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.’ (John 20: 11 – 18) First Resurrection sermon ever preached. Enough said. Praise Jesus!
Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do. John
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