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SAINT JEROME, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Catholic Daily Readings First Reading  Zec 2:5–9 ,  14–15a  or  2 Ti 3:14–17 Response  Je 31:10d  or  Ps 119:12 Psalm   Je 31:10–12b ,  13  or  Ps 119:9–14 Gospel Acclamation  2 Ti 1:10  or  Ac 16:14b Gospel   Lk 9:43b–45  or  Mt 13:47–52

JEROME, TRANSLATOR OF HOLY SCRIPTURE Lutheran Service Book Three Year Lectionary

SATURDAY BEFORE PROPER 21 Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings Psalm  Ps 25:1–9  or  Ps 78:1–4 ,  12–16 First Reading  Eze 18:19–24  or  Nu 27:12–14 Second Reading  Mk 11:27–33

SATURDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK AFTER TRINITY, MORNING PRAYER Book of Common Prayer (1928) Daily Office Lectionary Psalm   Ps 92 First Reading  1 Ki 3:16 Second Reading  2 Co 13

JEROME, PRIEST, AND MONK OF BETHLEHEM, 420 Episcopal Church (USA) Revised Common Lectionary

Go To Morning Reading                   Evening, September 30 “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” — Ecclesiastes 9:4 Life is a precious thing, and in its humblest form it is superior to death. This truth is eminently certain in spiritual things. It is better to be the least in the kingdom of heaven than the greatest out of it. The lowest degree of grace is superior to the noblest development of unregenerate nature. Where the Holy Ghost implants divine life in the soul, there is a precious deposit which none of the refinements of education can equal. The thief on the cross excels Caesar on his throne; Lazarus among the dogs is better than Cicero among the senators; and the most unlettered Christian is in the sight of God superior to Plato. Life is the badge of nobility in the realm of spiritual things, and men without it are only coarser or finer specimens of the same lifeless material, needing to be quickened, for they are...

September 30: Key Players and Main Narratives Malachi 2:10–4:6; Acts 28:1–31 ; Job 31:23–40 The book of Acts ends on a somewhat unsatisfying note. After all that Paul has been through—imprisonment, trial, shipwreck—we expect a showdown with Caesar or mass conversions of the Jews. Instead, the plot seems to sputter out. Paul arrives in Rome and appeals to the Jews living there. He quotes Isaiah to the Jewish leaders: “You will keep on hearing, and will never understand, and you will keep on seeing and will never perceive” ( Acts 28:26 ). When they fail to respond, Paul determines to reach out to the Gentiles. “They also will listen” ( Acts 28:28 ) and will respond differently. The poignant end of this book leaves Paul “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance” ( Acts 28:31 ). Facing either rejection or reception, he continues proclaiming the good news to both Jew and Gentile. Paul is a key...

September 30th The commission of the call Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake. Col. 1:24 . We make calls out of our own spiritual consecration, but when we get right with God He brushes all these aside, and rivets us with a pain that is terrific to one thing we never dreamed of, and for one radiant, flashing moment we see what He is after, and we say— “Here am I, send me.” This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with. If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object. We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If ever we ar...

September 30 He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways Ps. 91:11 Count no duty too little, no round of life too small, no work too low, if it come in thy way, since God thinks so much of it as to send His angels to guard thee in it. Mark Guy Pearse  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

Wisdom in the Book of James James 1:5 Excerpt The Letter of James as a whole bears striking resemblance to traditional wisdom literature because of its hortatory or parenetic nature. Wisdom is a gift to be asked from God, who will grant it ( 1:5 ). This is practical wisdom. While it is ‘from above,’ in contrast to the wisdom that is ‘earthly,’ it expresses itself in exemplary conduct; it is ‘peaceable,…full of mercy and good fruits’ ( 3:13-18 ).  More Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature.  Harper’s Bible  Dictionary  1985 : 1136. Print.

Love Your Wives Excerpt Present active imperative, “keep on loving.” That is precisely the point.  Be not bitter  ( μη   πικραινεσθε  [ mē  pikrainesthe ]). Present middle imperative in prohibition: “Stop being bitter” or “do not have the habit of being bitter.” This is the sin of husbands.  Πικραινω [ Pikrainō ] is an old verb from  πικρος  [ pikros ] ( bitter ). In N.T. only here and  Rev. 8:11 ;  10:9f . The bitter word rankles in the soul.  More Robertson, A.T.  Word Pictures in the New Testament . Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933. Print.

SAINT MICHAEL, GABRIEL, AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS Catholic Daily Readings First Reading  Da 7:9–10 ,  13–14  or  Re 12:7–12b Response  Ps 138:1 Psalm  Ps 138:1–5 Gospel Acclamation  Ps 103:21 Gospel   Jn 1:47–51

ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS Lutheran Service Book Three Year Lectionary Old Testament  Da 10:10–14 ;  12:1–3 Psalm   Ps 91 Epistle   Re 12:7–12 Gospel   Mt 18:1–11  or  Lk 10:17–20

FRIDAY BEFORE PROPER 21 Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings Psalm   Ps 25:1–9  or  Ps 78:1–4 ,  12–16 First Reading  Eze 18:5–18  or  Nu 20:1–13 Second Reading  Ac 13:32–41

ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, MORNING PRAYER Book of Common Prayer (1928) Daily Office Lectionary Psalm   Ps 8 ;  91 First Reading  Job 38:1–7 Second Reading  Heb 1:13–2:10

ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS Episcopal Church (USA) Revised Common Lectionary First Reading  Ge 28:10–17 Psalm   Ps 103  or  Ps 103:19–22 Second Reading  Re 12:7–12 Gospel  Jn 1:47–51

Go To Morning Reading                    Evening, September 29 “I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go.” — Song of Solomon 3:4 Does Christ receive us when we come to him, notwithstanding all our past sinfulness? Does he never chide us for having tried all other refuges first? And is there none on earth like him? Is he the best of all the good, the fairest of all the fair? Oh, then let us praise him! Daughters of Jerusalem, extol him with timbrel and harp! Down with your idols, up with the Lord Jesus. Now let the standards of pomp and pride be trampled under foot, but let the cross of Jesus, which the world frowns and scoffs at, be lifted on high. O for a throne of ivory for our King Solomon! Let him be set on high for ever, and let my soul sit at his footstool, and kiss his feet, and wash them with my tears. Oh, how precious is Christ! How can it be that I have thought so little of him? How is ...

September 29: Rebuilding Is Not Always Wise Malachi 1:1–2:9 ; Acts 27:1–44; Job 31:9–22 Who can rebuild what Yahweh tears down? The prophets articulate this message again and again. Yahweh tears down evil things; evil people rebuild them; the prophets insist that He will just tear them down again. God tolerates evil for a time, waiting for people to repent, but when His patience is up, it’s up. “ ‘I have loved you,’ says Yahweh, but you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is Esau not Jacob’s brother?’ declares Yahweh. ‘I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountain ranges a desolation, and given his inheritance to the jackals of the desert.’ If Edom says, ‘We are shattered, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,’ Yahweh of hosts says this: ‘They may build, but I will tear down; and they will be called a territory of wickedness, and the people with whom Yahweh is angry forever.’ Your eyes will see this, and you will say, ‘Yahweh is great beyond t...

September 29th The consciousness of the call For necessity is laid upon me: yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! 1 Cor. 9:16 . We are apt to forget the mystical, supernatural touch of God. If you can tell where you got the call of God and all about it, I question whether you have ever had a call. The call of God does not come like that, it is much more supernatural. The realization of it in a man’s life may come with a sudden thunder-clap or with a gradual dawning, but in whatever way it comes, it comes with the undercurrent of the supernatural, something that cannot be put into words, it is always accompanied with a glow. At any moment there may break the sudden consciousness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life— “I have chosen you.” The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification. It is not because you are sanctified that you are therefore called to preach the gospel; the call to preach the gosp...

September 29 This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith 1 John 5:4 The world conquers me when it succeeds in hindering me from seeing, loving, holding communion with, and serving my Father, God. I conquer it when I lay my hand upon it and force it to help me to get nearer Him, to get more like Him, to think oftener of Him, to do His will more gladly and more constantly. The one victory over the world is to bend it to serve me in the highest things—the attainment of a clearer vision of the divine nature, the attainment of a deeper love to God Himself, and a more glad consecration and service to Him. That is the victory—when you can make the world a ladder to lift you to God. When the world comes between you and God as an obscuring screen, it has conquered you. When the world comes between you and God as a transparent medium you have conquered it. To win victory is to get it beneath your feet and stand upon it, and reach up thereby to God. Alexander Maclaren...

The Spirit and the Son at Creation Genesis 1:2 Excerpt At the beginning of Creation Week, the earth was “empty, a formless mass.” There was soil and water but no light. The Holy Spirit was “hovering over” this newly created world. The Holy Spirit, third person of the Trinity, may be best known for his appearance at Pentecost ( Acts 2 ), but he made his grand entrance here, at the very beginning of Creation. We read elsewhere that Jesus, Son of God and second person of the Trinity, took part in Creation as well ( John 1:1–3 ;  Col. 1:16 ;  Heb. 1:2 ).  More Willmington, H. L.  Willmington’s Bible Handbook . Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997. Print.

The Ten Commandments Excerpt The Ten Commandments, in their present form in  Exodus 20 , reveal signs  of later development and expansion from an earlier form. It is likely that the  original form was very brief and much easier to memorize. Some believe that  all of the commands were negative at first, even though two of them now are  expressed in the positive. (See verses   8  and  12 .) This Decalogue , as it is called,  has been inserted into the narrative at this point in order to prove its divine authority and its connection with Moses. In this way these commandments  become a summary of “the people’s obligation” in the covenant that was  established at Mount Sinai. There is a close parallel account of the Decalogue in  Deut 5:6-21 , and the translator should be aware of the similarities and differences. Both accounts have the same form of law that is quite different from the laws listed in “ The Book of the Cov...

Biblical Theology Excerpt ‎ Biblical theology is theology drawn  from  the Bible rather than theology imposed  onto  the Bible . Biblical theology helps Christians understand the broad biblical message, discern developments in the canon, and see how each particular text fits in with the larger story of Scripture . In studying biblical theology, interpreters try to determine what the authors of the Bible thought or believed in their own historical contexts and on their own distinctive terms. ‎Historical research plays a significant role in biblical theology. Interpreters focus on understanding what the biblical texts meant for the original author and readers, rather than on the development of doctrine over time (historical theology). Before Christians can apply Scripture accurately to the present or systematize it around various topics, they must first interpret it correctly in its historical context and with its original intended meaning. Biblical t...

God Appears to Moses Exodus 3:2–5 Excerpt Here, at Horeb, God appeared to Moses as the Angel of the Lord (vid., p. 118f.)  “in a  flame of fire out of the midst of the thorn-bush”  ( סְנֶה ,  βάτος ,  rubus ), which burned in the fire and was not consumed.  אֻכָּל , in combination with  אֵינֶנּוּ , must be a participle for  מְאֻכָּל . When Moses turned aside from the road or spot where he was standing,  “to look at this great sight”  ( מַרְאֶה ), i.e., the miraculous vision of the bush that was burning and yet not burned up, Jehovah called to him out of the midst of the thorn-bush,  “Moses, Moses  (the reduplication as in  Gen. 22:11 ),  draw  not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy  ground”   ( אֲדָמָה ).  More Keil, Carl Friedrich, and Franz Delitzsch.  Commentary on the Old Testament . Vol. 1. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, ...

THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Catholic Daily Readings First Reading  Hag 1:1–8 Response  Ps 149:4a Psalm  Ps 149:1b–6a ,  9b Gospel Acclamation  Jn 14:6 Gospel   Lk 9:7–9