Humbled
or Exalted
Reformation Day
All Saints’ Day
O children
of Zion, be glad
and rejoice in the Lord your
God;
for he has given the
early rain for your vindication,
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors
shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will repay you for
the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the
destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.
You shall eat in
plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I
am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord,
am your God and there is no other.
And my people
shall never again
be put to shame.
Then afterward
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and
female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
I will show portents in the heavens and on the
earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to
darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord shall
be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape,
as the Lord has
said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
Joel 2:23-32
The
Prophet Joel
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1508-1512
Sistine
Chapel
Fresco
Vatican
City
|
Notes:
|
What
follows is a comment upon the Sistine Chapel figure of the prophet Joel, from
the following: Life and Early Works (Michelangelo: Selected Scholarship
in English), by William E. Wallace. Routledge, 1995, pg. 16.
"Joel
is informed by a higher energy of spirit than the Delfica [Delphic Sibyls],
expressing a contrast of principle that will persist throughout the ceiling
between the male force of the Prophets and a lesser spiritual vigor in the
Sibyls. More not only than the Delfica but than his companion Zachariah, Joel
makes the spectator know that Michelangelo will henceforth speak about a new
dimension of humanity. Joel's controlled energy and scale of form convey that
they are the reciprocal of a state of mind: he makes the impression of a
being magnified in body and spirit far above the normal status of
humanity."
|
https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20251025972153402&code=act&RC=54225&Row=20
When we become aware of
our humility,
we’ve lost it.
~ Anonymous
No man who needs a
monument
CONGRATULATIONS,
BRIDGET ALEXANDER!!!
Dinner
with the Moores
Bill
Manning, Kimra Perkins, Ann Moore, Connie Ning
Mande
Mischler, Marsha Manning
Ted
Ning, Mike Moore, Marsha Manning, Mande Mischler
Yet
Another Birthday Celebration!
Carolyn
Alexander, Kimra Perkins, Sondra Kellogg — at the Cheesecake Factory
Just
look at that cheesecake!!!
Humanity's capacity for justice
makes democracy possible;
but humanity's inclination to
injustice makes democracy necessary.
October 26, 2025 Twentieth
Sunday after Pentecost - Year C - [Prop.
25C]
Previous OPQs may be found at:
Jesus
told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by
himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people:
thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a
week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far
off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying,
`God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home
justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus
Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
For
Reformation Day:
(October
31, 2025)
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If
you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and
have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made
free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a
slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the
son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free
indeed.
John 8:31-36
There
is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the
Most High.
God
is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the
morning dawns.
The
nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth
melts.
The
Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come,
behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He
makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the
spear; he burns the shields with fire.
‘Be
still, and know that I am God!
I
am exalted among the nations,
I
am exalted in the earth.’
The
Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Protestant
Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when
Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation
on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses.
LECTIONARY
Joel
2:23-32 and Psalm 65
Sirach
35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 and Psalm 84:1-7
REFORMATION
DAY - Friday, October 31st
“The tax collector stood off at a distance and
would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God,
be merciful to me a sinner.’”
Luke 18: 9-14
THE WORD:
The Pharisee and the tax collector (or “publican” as he is
called in some translations) are images of two extreme religious attitudes.
Pharisees were the “separated ones” who positioned themselves in
society as the great keepers of the holy law. They were held in great
esteem by the Jewish community, despite the Pharisees’ haughty condemnation of
those they viewed as less than faithful.
Tax collectors were Jews who worked for Rome. To become a
tax collector, one would bid for a certain territory by paying a sum that the
government determined that area should yield in taxes. The tax collector
then won the right to collect taxes from the people in that locale in order to
recoup his investment and make a considerable profit; as part of the
arrangement, tax collectors could count on Roman cooperation to enforce their
outrageous charges. It was a system that was rife with extortion, with
little accountability demanded of the tax collectors and no avenues of recourse
for the poor they preyed upon. Tax collectors were despised by Jewish
society as thieves and collaborators.
The parable contrasts two very different attitudes of
prayer. The Pharisee approaches God seeking the reward he feels he
deserves. His prayer is really a testimonial to himself for all the good
things the Pharisee has done to merit God's grace. The tax collector, on
the other hand, realizes his nothingness before God. He comes before God
seeking his mercy because of the good things God has done for undeserving
sinners like himself. It is the prayer of the humble who come before God
with an attitude of humble thanks for God’s unconditional and limitless mercy
that is heard and “exalted” before God.
In our own time and place, the parable of the Pharisee and the
tax collector is played out not so much as a lack of humility before God but as
a lack of awareness of the needs, hopes and cries for help of those around us.
Joel
2:23-32
O children
of Zion, be glad
and rejoice in the Lord your
God;
for he has given the
early rain for your vindication,
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors
shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will repay you for
the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the
destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.
You shall eat in
plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I
am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord,
am your God and there is no other.
And my people
shall never again
be put to shame.
Then afterward
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and
female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
I will show portents in the heavens and on the
earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to
darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord shall
be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape,
as the Lord has
said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
The
Psalm
Psalm 65
Te decet hymnus
1 You are to be praised,
O God, in Zion; *
to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem.
2
To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, *
because of their transgressions.
3
Our sins are stronger than we are, *
but you will blot them out.
4
Happy are they whom you choose
and draw to your courts to dwell there! *
they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.
5
Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness,
O God of our salvation, *
O Hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the seas that are far away.
6
You make fast the mountains by your power; *
they are girded about with might.
7
You still the roaring of the seas, *
the roaring of their waves,
and the clamor of the peoples.
8
Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous signs;
*
you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.
9
You visit the earth and water it abundantly;
you make it very plenteous; *
the river of God is full of water.
10
You prepare the grain, *
for so you provide for the earth.
11
You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; *
with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.
12
You crown the year with your goodness, *
and your paths overflow with plenty.
13
May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing, *
and the hills be clothed with joy.
14
May the meadows cover themselves with flocks,
and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; *
let them shout for joy and sing.
The
Reading
Sirach
35:12-17
Give
to the Most High as he has given to you,
and as generously as you can afford.
For the Lord is the
one who repays,
and he will repay you sevenfold.
Do not offer him a
bribe, for he will not accept it
and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the
judge,
and with him there is no partiality.
He will not show
partiality to the poor;
but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
He will not ignore
the supplication of the orphan,
or the widow when she pours out her complaint.
Jeremiah 14:7-10,19-22
Although
our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord,
for your name's sake;
our apostasies indeed
are many,
and we have sinned against you.
O hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be
like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler turning aside for the night?
Why should you be
like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!
Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
Truly they have loved
to wander,
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them,
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
Have you completely
rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck
us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace,
but find no good;
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
We acknowledge our
wickedness, O Lord,
the iniquity of our ancestors,
for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us, for
your name's sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Can any idols of the
nations bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this.
The Psalm
Psalm
84:1-6
Quam dilecta!
1 How dear to me is your
dwelling, O Lord of
hosts! *
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
2
The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
3
Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
they will always be praising you.
4
Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.
5
Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.
6
They will climb from height to height, *
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.
The Epistle
2
Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
I am
already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but
also to all who have longed for his appearing.
At my first defense no one came to my support,
but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by
me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's
mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his
heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Gospel
Luke
18:9-14
Jesus
told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by
himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people:
thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a
week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far
off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying,
`God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home
justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp25_RCL.html