Book Three - Internal Consolation

     The Fiftieth Chapter / How A Desolate Person Ought To Commit Himself Into The Hands Of God

     The Disciple

     LORD God, Holy Father, may You be blessed now and in eternity. For as You will, so is it done; and what You do is good. Let Your servant rejoice in You—not in himself or in any other, for You alone are true joy. You are my hope and my crown. You, O Lord, are my joy and my honor.

     What does Your servant possess that he has not received from You, and that without any merit of his own? Yours are all the things which You have given, all the things which You have made.

     I am poor and in labors since my youth, and my soul is sorrowful sometimes even to the point of tears. At times, also, my spirit is troubled because of impending sufferings. I long for the joy of peace. Earnestly I beg for the peace of Your children who are fed by You in the light of consolation. If You give peace, if You infuse holy joy, the soul of Your servant shall be filled with holy song and be devout in praising You. But if You withdraw Yourself, as You so very often do, he will not be able to follow the way of Your commandments, but will rather be obliged to strike his breast and bend the knee, because his today is different from yesterday and the day before when Your light shone upon his head and he was protected in the shadow of Your wings from the temptations rushing upon him.

     Just Father, ever to be praised, the hour is come for Your servant to be tried. Beloved Father, it is right that in this hour Your servant should suffer something for You. O Father, forever to be honored, the hour which You knew from all eternity is at hand, when for a short time Your servant should be outwardly oppressed, but inwardly should ever live with You.

     Let him be a little slighted, let him be humbled, let him fail in the sight of men, let him be afflicted with sufferings and pains, so that he may rise again with You in the dawn of the new light and be glorified in heaven.

     Holy Father, You have so appointed and wished it. What has happened is what You commanded. For this is a favor to Your friend, to suffer and be troubled in the world for Your love, no matter how often and by whom You permit it to happen to him.

     Nothing happens in the world without Your design and providence, and without cause. It is well for me, O Lord, that You have humbled me, that I may learn the justice of Your judgments and cast away all presumption and haughtiness of heart. It is profitable for me that shame has covered my face that I may look to You rather than to men for consolation. Hereby I have learned also to fear Your inscrutable judgment falling alike upon the just and unjust yet not without equity and justice.

     Thanks to You that You have not spared me evils but have bruised me with bitter blows, inflicting sorrows, sending distress without and within. Under heaven there is none to console me except You, my Lord God, the heavenly Physician of souls, Who wound and heal, Who cast down to hell and raise up again. Your discipline is upon me and Your very rod shall instruct me.

     Behold, beloved Father, I am in Your hands. I bow myself under Your correcting chastisement. Strike my back and my neck, that I may bend my crookedness to Your will. Make of me a pious and humble follower, as in Your goodness You are wont to do, that I may walk according to Your every nod. Myself and all that is mine I commit to You to be corrected, for it is better to be punished here than hereafter.

     You know all things without exception, and nothing in man’s conscience is hidden from You. Coming events You know before they happen, and there is no need for anyone to teach or admonish You of what is being done on earth. You know what will promote my progress, and how much tribulation will serve to cleanse away the rust of vice. Deal with me according to Your good pleasure and do not despise my sinful life, which is known to none so well or so clearly as to You alone.

     Grant me, O Lord, the grace to know what should be known, to praise what is most pleasing to You, to esteem that which appears most precious to You, and to abhor what is unclean in Your sight.

     Do not allow me to judge according to the light of my bodily eyes, nor to give sentence according to the hearing of ignorant men’s ears. But let me distinguish with true judgment between things visible and spiritual, and always seek above all things Your good pleasure. The senses of men often err in their judgments, and the lovers of this world also err in loving only visible things. How is a man the better for being thought greater by men? The deceiver deceives the deceitful, the vain man deceives the vain, the blind deceives the blind, the weak deceives the weak as often as he extols them, and in truth his foolish praise shames them the more. For, as the humble St. Francis says, whatever anyone is in Your sight, that he is and nothing more.

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

     "Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead!" were the words of Admiral David Farragut, who captured Mobile, Alabama, and on this day, April 29, 1862, captured New Orleans. Under tremendous fire, he breached the heavy chain cable that was stretched across the Mississippi, and courageously led his ships up the channel filled with mines, called "torpedoes." The loss of New Orleans was a major disaster for the South, as it was the Confederacy's largest city. During his last illness, David Farragut, the Navy's first four star Admiral, asked for a clergyman to pray to the Lord for him, saying: "He must be my pilot now!"

William J. Federer. American Minute

I don't know if God exists,
but it would be better for His reputation
if He didn't.
--- Jules Renard


A man can no more diminish God's glory
by refusing to worship Him
than a lunatic can put out the sun
by scribbling the word,
'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
--- C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain


He has brought himself to this state; he has exposed his heart as a common road to every evil influence of the world, till it has become hard as a pavement.
--- Richard Trench

... from here, there and everywhere

28     The mind of the righteous thinks before speaking,
but the mouth of the wicked spews out evil stuff.

29     ADONAI is far from the wicked,
but he listens to the prayer of the righteous.

30     A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart,
and good news invigorates the bones.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                The graciousness of uncertainty

     It doth not yet appear what we shall be. --- 1 John 3:2.

     Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere. Common sense says—‘Well, supposing I were in that condition …’ We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in.

     Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our life with surprises all the time. When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only believe our belief about Him. Jesus said “Except ye … become as little children.” Spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.

     “Believe also in Me,” said Jesus, not—‘Believe certain things about Me.’ Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come. Remain loyal to Him.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

Reservoirs

There are places in Wales I don't go:
  Reservoirs that are the subconcious
  Of a people, troubled far down
  With gravestones, chapels, villages even;
  The serenity of their expression
  Revolts me, it is a pose
  For strangers, a watercolour's appeal
  To the mass, instead of the poem's
  Harsher conditions. There are the hills,
  Too; gardens gone under the scum
  Of the forests; and the smashed faces
  Of the farms with the stone trickle
  Of their tears down the hills' side.
  Where can I go, then, from the smell
  Of decay, from the putrefying of a dead
  Nation? I have walked the shore
  For an hour and seen the English
  Scavenging among the remains
  Of our culture, covering the sand
  Like the tide and, with the roughness
  Of the tide, elbowing our language
  Into the grave that we have dug for it.


R.S. Thomas Selected poems, 1946-1968

     D’RASH

     In a famous Willy Nelson song, the singer apologizes for all the wrongs he did to a lover with the excuse: "You were always on my mind." Even if I did not write or call, at least I thought of you, that is, I did not do something to hurt you, but simply had no opportunity to do something to help you or our relationship. To the singer, this is a less malicious sin, one of omission rather than commission.

     Theodore Tronchin, a physician writing in an eighteenth century journal of medicine, held that "In medicine, sins of commission are mortal, sins of omission, venial." In other words, what the doctor does can hurt someone, but what he misses or forgets to do is benign. Though this line of reasoning is understandable and undoubtedly true in many situations, few us of would accept such medical practices. We have heard about and seen too many people who were hurt by medical sins of omission.

     Are Willy Nelson and Theodore Tronchin right, that less fault can be assigned for action not taken than for action taken? Can we say that a person had intention or design through inaction? Rabbi Akiva and Rav Dimi would take a skeptical view of this approach. Perhaps we should as well. One who has the opportunity to help a fellow human being but does not help is, in a way, choosing not to be involved.

     Being "actively uninvolved" is something we do all the time. When the former friend, who has become an annoyance, calls, we tell a family member to say that we're not there. This deception takes a great deal of effort on our part, even though we never talk on the phone. Those of us who have passed beggars and panhandlers on the street know that it is a very active and a very conscious choice not to give them a handout. There may be good reason for not giving them, but it is an act of neglect. Every act of omission is also one of volition.

     There are, admittedly, times when we will not notice one who needs help. We cannot be faulted for these. It is the other opportunities that Rabbi Akiva is referring to. Poet Marianne Moore spoke to these in the revision of her Complete Poems. She deleted several lines from a poem, adding a personal note that "Omissions are no accident." In so many cases, they are not.

     The building up of children is really tearing down, while the tearing down of elders is really building.

     Text / Rav said: "One who visits the sick is saved from the punishment of Gehinnom, as it says: 'Happy is he who is thoughtful of the wretched; in bad times may the Lord keep him from harm [Psalms 41:2].' 'Wretched [dal]' can refer only to the sick, as it says: 'He will cut me off from sickness [dalah] [Isaiah 38:12, author's translation].' And also from this verse: 'Why are you so dejected [dal], O prince, morning after morning [2 Samuel 13:4]?' 'Harm' can refer only to Gehinnom, as it says: 'The Lord made everything for a purpose, even the wicked for an evil day' [Proverbs 16:4]." If he visits [the sick], what is his reward? What is his reward?! It was said: "He is saved from the punishment of Gehinnom!" But what is his reward in this world? "May the Lord guard him and preserve him and may he be thought happy in the land. Do not subject him to the will of his enemies [Psalms 41:3]." "May the Lord guard him"—from the evil inclination. "… and preserve him"—from suffering. "… and may he be thought happy in the land"—everyone will be honored through him. "Do not subject him to the will of his enemies"—that he may chance upon friends like Naaman's who healed his leprosy, and not chance upon friends like Rehoboam's who divided his kingdom.

     It is taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: "If children say to you 'Build!' and elders [say] 'Tear down!' listen to the elders and do not listen to the children, for the building up of children is really tearing down, while the tearing down of elders is really building. An example of this is Rehoboam, son of Solomon."

     Context / Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was important to his lord and high in his favor, for through him the Lord had granted victory to Aram. But the man, though a great warrior, was a leper.… Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." … So he went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had bidden; and his flesh became like a little boy's, and he was clean. (2 Kings 5:1, 10, 14)

     … Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam as follows: "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke which your father laid on us, and we will serve you." … King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. He said, "What answer do you advise [me] to give to this people?" They answered him, "If you will be a servant to those people today and serve them, and if you respond to them with kind words, they will be your servants always." But he ignored the advice that the elders gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.… And the young men who had grown up with him answered … "Say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins. My father imposed a heavy yoke on you, and I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.' " (1 Kings 12:3–4, 6–8, 10–11)

     Rav begins our section by talking about the mitzvah of bikkur ḥolim, visiting the sick. It is considered a very important act of kindness; the reward for this mitzvah is that after death, a person would be spared the punishments of "Gehinnom." The name Gehinnom originally derived from "the valley of the sons of Hinnom," south of Jerusalem, where children were offered in fire to the god Moloch. Because of this, it later came to mean the place where the dead were sent to receive punishments for their sins. (The concept of "burning in Hell," common in literature including rabbinic texts, is not referred to in the Bible.) Rav brings several verses to prove his assertion; because the same key word dal (sick, wretched, poor) appears in them all, the context of one is applied to the others.

     The question is asked about the reward in this life for performing the mitzvah of visiting the sick. The final answer is that such a person will be given friends like those of Naaman and will be spared friends like those of Rehoboam. Rehoboam succeeded his father Solomon as king. Solomon had heavily taxed the people, and they were deeply concerned about Rehoboam's policies. Because the king followed the bad advice of his young friends to be harsh with the people, the ten northern tribes broke away and founded their own kingdom, known as Israel and ruled by Jeroboam. Rehoboam was left ruling only the two southern tribes, known as Judah.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

     The book takes its name from the leaders who emerged to deliver and govern Israelite tribes during an era of moral decay.

     The period probably extended from about 1390 B.C. to around 1050 B.C. when Saul was anointed king. In understanding this book it is important to note that a judge's influence was primarily regional, over a single tribe or several. The oppressors during this period lived on several different borders of Palestine, and their attack was directed on the tribes closest to them.

     Judges can be outlined simply:

I.   The Times Explained 1:1–3:6
II.  Stories of Judges 3:7–16:31
III. Portraits of Decay 17:1–21:25

     Judge. The Hebrew word sapat is translated "judge" in this book. The word implies every function of government, not just the judicial. Thus the judges of this era were governors in the fullest sense. They were military leaders, with executive and legislative power as well as judicial power. Most important, the judges of Israel were divinely appointed to deliver God's people when the people turned from idols and returned to the Lord.

     The stories of the heroic men and women of faith who served as judges in Israel during this period have delighted children, and contain many lessons on the spiritual life for adults.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

     ... although it is generally recognized that Judges 1 is dependent upon the narrative account of the conquest of Canaan found in Joshua 13–19, our text summarizes, recasts, and continues the story of the process of Israel's taking possession of the land of Canaan." In so doing the form adopted resembles that of Assyrian summary inscriptions of military campaigns. In such documents events are not arranged chronologically but according to geography. The descriptions are also much shorter, and relatively long periods of time are telescoped into brief spans of reading time. Summary inscriptions tend to describe a static world in general terms rather than dynamic scenes of action developing a narrative plot.

     This description fits the present text precisely. It does indeed begin with a chronological note, highlighting the fact that after the death of Joshua, Judah was the first tribe to attack the Canaanites. However, it is impossible to construct a chronology of the conquest from this chapter. Except for the anecdotal notes (which represent insertions from other sources interested less in tribal achievements than personal fates/fortunes), the accounts of individual campaigns are brief, static, and without characterization or plot. Rhetorical flourishes are absent completely. One may conclude, therefore, that the present document is not intended as a corrective to the normative narrative found in Joshua but as a summary of Israel's fortunes after the death of Joshua, without which the theological narratives that follow lack historical context. The author is hereby sending an early signal to his readers that the Canaanization of Israel did not occur in a vacuum.

Block, D. I. (2001). The New American Commentary: Volume 6 - Judges-Ruth (New American Commentary Old Testament)

     Despite its size and importance to both the Roman economy and political system, when Judea again became a Roman province following the death of Agrippa I, it was not upgraded to proconsular status. Instead, as before, an equestrian procurator governed from Caesarea under the supervision of the governor of Syria. For the next twenty years, these procurators would govern a province that became increasingly unstable and hostile to Roman rule. Ultimately, their mismanagement of the province would be one of the major causes of the outbreak of the Great Jewish Revolt in 66 C.E. Josephus attributes the outbreak of revolution in 66 C.E. to the following other factors: Roman oppression, socioeconomic tensions, religious incitement, and quarrels with local Gentiles. Some scholars have added another factor ignored by Josephus: the failure of the Judean elite to control the province and its restive population (Goodman 1987). As with any complex event, it is more likely that the culmination of these factors, as opposed to one or another, caused the revolt.

Adam Kolman Marshak (2010). From Pompey to Hadrian.The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism

     For Thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. --- Psalm 25:11. KJV

     Christ will not refuse to save the greatest sinners who in a right manner come to God for mercy, for this is his work. (Classic Sermons on the Grace of God (Kregel Classic Sermons Series) ) It is his business to be a Savior of sinners. It is the work on which he came into the world, therefore he will not object to it. He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Sin is the very evil that he came into the world to remedy. Therefore he will not object to anyone that he or she is very sinful. The more sinful the person, the more the need of Christ.

     The whole ingenious plan of the way of salvation is to glorify the free grace of God. God had it on his heart from all eternity to glorify this virtue; that is the reason that the technique of saving sinners by Christ was conceived. The greatness of divine grace appears very much in this, that God by Christ saves the greatest offenders. The greater the guilt of any sinner is, the more glorious and wonderful is the grace shown in that sinner’s pardon. It is the honor of Christ to save the greatest sinners when they come to him, as it is the honor of a physician to cure the most desperate diseases or wounds.

     The invitations of the gospel are always in universal terms: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink; come to me, all you who are weary and burdened; whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. So Christ promises, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). This is the direction of Christ to his apostles after his resurrection: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15–16).

     This teaching encourages sinners whose consciences are burdened with a sense of guilt immediately to go to God through Christ for mercy. If you go in the manner we have described, the arms of mercy are open to embrace you. You need not be at all the more fearful of going because of your sins, let them be ever so evil. Therefore, if your souls are burdened and you are distressed for fear of hell, you need not bear that burden and distress any longer. If you are only willing, you may freely come and unload yourselves and cast all your burdens on Christ and rest in him.
--- Jonathan Edwards

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     Giacomo Benincasa, dyer of fabrics in Siena, Italy, named his twenty-third child Catherine. Their house sat on a hillside, the basement containing dye rooms. Atop the hill sat the church of St. Dominic over which, when Catherine was seven, she saw a vision of Jesus. From that day she yearned to serve Christ.

     At age 12 she so resisted her father’s pressure to marry that he said, May God preserve us, dearest daughter, from trying to set ourselves against the will of God. We have long seen that it was no childish whim of thine, and now we know clearly that it is the Spirit of God. He gave her a room near his dye quarters, and there Catherine made herself a chapel.

     Catherine’s personality burned like a knife, and she soon inserted herself without invitation into community and church affairs, becoming the most outspoken Italian woman of the Middle Ages. She railed against the death sentence of a young man convicted of criticizing the government, and she accompanied him to his execution, snapping up his decapitated head and arousing public protest. She cared for prisoners. When the Black Death swept Italy, Catherine was everywhere giving aid.

     Catherine fumed and stormed about corruption in the Church. She denounced materialism and immorality in the monasteries. “Those who should be the temples of God,” she wrote, “are the stables of swine.” She fired letters like missiles, keeping three secretaries busy at a time. She told Pope Gregory it would be better for him to resign than to founder, and “Do not be a boy, but a man!” She negotiated peace treaties. She was instrumental in moving the papacy from France back to Rome.

     It’s no wonder that, on April 29, 1380 she died at age 32 of exhaustion from these and other labors. Her last words: “Dear children, let not my death sadden you; rather rejoice that I am leaving a place of many suffering to be united forever with my most sweet and loving Bridegroom.”

     Next to St. Francis, Catherine of Siena is the most celebrated of the Italian saints.

     Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up. We should help people whenever we can, especially if they are followers of the Lord.
--- Galatians 6:9,10.

     Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
YEAR 2

Psalms (Morning) Psalm 63:1–8 (9–11) 98
Psalms (Evening) Psalm 103
Old Testament Exodus 28:1–4, 30–38
New Testament 1 John 2:18–29
Gospel Mark 6:30–44

Index of Readings

PSALMS (MORNING)
Psalm 63:1–8 (9–11) 98

1 O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

[ 9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped. ]

A Psalm.

1 O sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

PSALMS (EVENING)
Psalm 103

Of David.

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
obedient to his spoken word.
21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul.

OLD TESTAMENT
Exodus 28:1–4, 30–38

28 Then bring near to you your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the Israelites, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 You shall make sacred vestments for the glorious adornment of your brother Aaron. 3 And you shall speak to all who have ability, whom I have endowed with skill, that they make Aaron’s vestments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban, and a sash. When they make these sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests,

30 In the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD; thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the Israelites on his heart before the LORD continually.

31 You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it may not be torn. 33 On its lower hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, all around the lower hem, with bells of gold between them all around— 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe. 35 Aaron shall wear it when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he may not die.

36 You shall make a rosette of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the LORD.” 37 You shall fasten it on the turban with a blue cord; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take on himself any guilt incurred in the holy offering that the Israelites consecrate as their sacred donations; it shall always be on his forehead, in order that they may find favor before the LORD.

NEW TESTAMENT
1 John 2:18–29

18 Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

26 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.

29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.

GOSPEL
Mark 6:30–44

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary