George Herbert was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. His original intention was to enter the Anglican ministry but this was overwhelmed by academic achievement and easy entry into the world of politics. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity and in 1618 he was appointed Reader in Rhetoric at Cambridge. Then in 1620 he was elected Public Orator of the university. In 1624 Herbert was elected to Parliament as MP for Montgomery. This brought him to the attention of King James I, who granted him an annual allowance and seemed likely to make him an ambassador. However, in 1625 the king died and Herbert, resolving to ‘lose himself in an humble way’ turned back from worldly ambition to his long-delayed vocation to ministry. Ordained deacon in 1626, he was priested four years later when he was presented to the living of Bemerton near Salisbury.
 
Though Herbert was suffering from tuberculosis and only lived for a further three years, he threw himself with vigor into the life of his parish, where he became known as ‘Holy Mr. Herbert’ because of his spiritual, pastoral and liturgical diligence. His book, A Priest to the Temple, or the Country Parson, was an attempt to share his insights of rural ministry with others. But privately he was a prolific writer of poetry and left his poems to his friend Nicholas Ferrar, to publish if he thought them suitable.
 
They appeared as The Temple in 1633. Herbert’s poems, characterized by a precision of language and written as if to be read aloud, explore and celebrate the ways of God’s love as he had discovered them from personal experience. Herbert was an unambiguously Christian and, some would say, a quintessentially Anglican poet. He wrote no secular verse and his poems are personal and intimate without being sickly, often revealing his own spiritual struggles and the strength and solace he found in the practical work of ministry.
 
Several of his poems, such as Let all the world in every corner sing, Teach me, my God and King and King of glory, King of peace, were later set to music and remain popular as hymns today. One example of his use of biblical themes in his poetry is Redemption:

Having been tenant long to a rich Lord,
Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,
And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancell th’old.
In heaven at his manor I him sought
They told me there, that he was lately gone
About some land, which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession.
I straight returned, and knowing his great birth
Sought him accordingly in great resorts;
In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts:
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth
Of thieves and murderers: there I him espied    
Who straight, Your suit is granted said, & died.

Unless otherwise stated, the source of my narrative is from, “Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church. Saints on Earth: A Biographical Companion to "Common Worship" (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)”

​The reflection I offer today is based on Ephesians 3:16-17. 
 
"I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love." Ephesians 3:16-17
 
Power and love, love and power dominate the themes of movies, novels, poems and plays.  The love of power has crashed empires and laid waist to entire peoples.  Powerful people have done some very hateful and evil things.  They were rooted in love of self.  Love and power shape what we are in our lives, our homes, our church and our country.  Power and love shape our worldview.  These themes run through this great prayer left to us by the Apostle Paul.  Paul’s prayer is that we be strengthened in our inner being with the power of the Holy Spirit.  This strengthening enables us to become rooted in the love of God.  Our power then is derived from God and not our own selfish ambition.  Zechariah 4:6 says that we are strengthened not by our own might or power but by the Spirit.  This is the basis of Paul’s prayer.
 
The Apostle is teaching us that prayer brings together love and power.  When we are truly rooted in love we become strengthened in the power of the Spirit.  From there, a relationship grows up and blossoms between God and us.  This flowering of God’s power through us empowers us to put down roots even deeper into His love.  This then is how God builds His home in us and strengthens.  And with God in us, our house is unmovable and secure on a foundation grounded in love and spiritual power.  By this we are capable of doing far, far more good than we could ever ask for or imagine.  Let our prayers always be an expression of love and self-surrender to God.  

When Polycarp was 86 years old, he was bound, slain by the sword, and his body burnt in the
arena at Smyrna, in front of a crowd baying for his blood. He was one of the first Christian martyrs and, according to his own account, had been a believer since childhood. His words at his trial, when he was asked to swear against God, have echoed down through the centuries as a testimony of one man’s obedience to Christ: “For eighty-six years I have been his servant and he has never done me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?
 
Originally one of the disciples of John, Polycarp is a link between the apostles and the earliest Church Fathers. Accounts of his martyrdom were circulated from very soon after his death and give witness to the Early Church tradition of venerating martyrs and saints.
 
As one of the first bishops of Roman Asia, he tried to set a date for celebrating Easter with Anicetus, Bishop of Rome, but they failed to agree a compromise between their two traditions. The Church at Rome always celebrated Easter on a Sunday, but in Asia it was celebrated according to the Hebrew calendar, on
whichever day of the week it fell. This had been a burning issue within the Early Church, and remained so for a long time. However, a mark of the esteem in which Polycarp was held can be seen in that he presided at the celebration of the Eucharist at Rome at the end of the discussions. Polycarp is also remembered for the way in which he defended Christianity against early attacks, particularly by the Gnostics who sought to dilute the Church’s understanding of the nature and person of Christ. Much of his writing is concerned with correcting heretical ideas of the Incarnation, particularly those of Marcion. On one occasion when Polycarp was asked if he recognized Marcion in a room, he replied, “Of course; I recognize the first born of Satan.”
 
Polycarp is remembered as an example of humility under persecution, and as a man who showed true Christ like character throughout his life. In his letters he exhorts the Church to pray for those that persecute them, and are in authority over them: “Pray also for kings and powers and rulers, and for them that persecute you and hate you,
and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest unto all, that you may be perfect in him.”
​
​Unless otherwise stated, the source of my narrative is from, “Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church. Saints on Earth: A Biographical Companion to "Common Worship" (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)”

The reflection I offer today, "Between Heaven and Earth", is based Colossians 3:1-4 and various writings of Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Teacher of the Faith, 397.
 
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
(Col 3:1-4 ESV)
 
In the midst of Paradise God has planted two trees; the Tree of Life and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Therefore, in the middle of Paradise there is both a cause for the life and a cause for death.  The Apostle Paul is reminding us that Jesus is our cause for life.  During our Lenten journey, as we re-center our focus on following the precepts of God, let us find the new life mentioned by the Apostle.  And as the dust of Ash Wednesday fades, let us remember that our life on earth is but a shadow.  When Christ who is our life appears, then the shadow will be lifted.  Instead of ash on our foreheads there will be the name of Jesus.  As it says in Revelation 22:3-5, “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Reflect on unburdening ourselves from the world.  Let us set our minds on things above, on Christ and heavenly things.  By doing this we will find the treasure we seek, the treasure of new life hidden in Christ.

Thomas Bray February 15, 1730 Priest and Missionary, Founder of the SPCK and the SPG
 Born 1656 at Marton in Shropshire, Thomas Bray went from Oswestry Grammar School to All Souls College, Oxford, probably as a clerk or chorister – a recognized route for those from poor homes to gain a degree. He was ordained in 1681, quickly coming to the notice of influential patrons, and in 1690 was presented to the living of Sheldon, in Warwickshire.
 
By now a widower with two small children, he busied himself with a detailed teaching syllabus for the children and youth of his parish and in 1696 wrote and published a four-volume work on the Catechism. This filled a real need in the Church and brought Bray to the attention of Henry Compton, Bishop of London, who commissioned him to report on the condition of the Church in the colony of Maryland.
 
It was in investigating the needs of the colonial Church that Bray became aware of the chronic difficulty in accessing books which was restricting Christian teaching and making clergy reluctant to offer to serve in the colony. Consequently he hit upon the idea of providing both books and whole libraries for the benefit of the colonial clergy. This led to the foundation of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1698, though SPCK quickly developed a dual focus both overseas and in Britain, as it sought ‘to dispense, both at home and abroad, Bibles and tracts of religion; and in general to advance the honor of God and the good of mankind by promoting Christian knowledge’. The SPCK began commissioning tracts and pamphlets, something it has continued ever since, making it the third oldest publishing house still operating in England today. The Society’s work in providing Welsh-language literature was a major contributory factor in kick-starting the evangelical revival of the eighteenth century.
 
In order to further the work overseas Bray and his associates also founded, in 1701, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). This was the Church of England’s first overseas missionary society and had the twin objects of providing for the spiritual needs of Britons overseas and evangelizing those non-Christian races in territories subject to the Crown.
 
In 1708 Bray became Vicar of St Botolph, Aldgate, in the City of London, and until his death in 1730 continued to promote his vision of advancing Christianity through the power of the printed word.
 
Prayer
O God of compassion, who didst open the eyes of thy servant Thomas Bray to see the needs of the Church in the New World, and didst lead him to found societies to meet those needs: Make the Church in this land diligent at all times to propagate the Gospel among those who have not received it, and to promote the spread of Christian knowledge; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.
 
Readings
Psalm 77
Genesis 39
Galatians 2:11-21
 
Unless otherwise stated, the source of my narrative is from, “Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church. Saints on Earth: A Biographical Companion to "Common Worship" (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)”

​This week’s reflection, “Set Free” is based on Romans 7:6, “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” ESV
 
The Apostle Paul frequently referred to the Law of Moses.  He hinted over and over that it was given by God and bore witness to the Gospel.  Nevertheless, Christians are not “under the law” because Jesus has given us a new way to serve Him.  He fulfilled and re-explained the law and by the fresh power of the Holy Spirit He put the law on our hearts.  Jesus has set us free to worship out of thanks and praise for what He has done for each of us.  We walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us.  We worship and serve Him by sharing His transforming love with everyone we meet.  We long to be refreshed and guided by His Spirit, to serve God in all we do.
 
Let us cry out to the Lord with our whole hearts, truly set free to worship and serve Him in Spirit and Truth. 

Let us pray: Lord our Father, each morning you welcome us as we are; give us a heart that is pure and free to receive your word, then set us free to discover in our brothers and sisters the message of life that you put in our hearts through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Preparing the Way of The Lord

4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:4-6 ESV)
 







John the Baptist was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  Every year at this time, the Church asks us to hear John the Baptist’s voice and message. He speaks of a particular way – “the way of the Lord.” He does not speak about getting “things” ready as to prepare for the holidays. Instead he speaks about getting ourselves prepared and ready. While the world announces preparation for a holiday, John announces preparation for a way.   John’s message interrupts the circumstances of our life. His message disrupts the patterns and habits of our life within our family, social circumstances, business transactions, consumer activities and church. Yet, John’s message is a message of hope and promise. His message is a picture of the character of our inner landscape. Each of us could name the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the mountains and valleys of our life. We could recount the crooked paths on which we got lost and the rough ways on which we stumbled and fell. With prophetic foresight, John’s words describe the possibilities of how our life and world can become different – the low places can be filled, the high places can be made low, the crooked can be made straight, and the rough can be made smooth.  John’s message is also a warning that must be taken to heart. It’s a call for change.
 
John calls us to change our life, to become more like Jesus. Repentance is not focused on condemnation and judgment, guilt and remorse, or even saying, “I’m sorry.”  We repent, not because we are bad or defective, but because we are loved. God’s love and desire for us are the basis of every call for repentance. It begins with us being honest with ourselves and examining our lives and discovering the patterns and habits of thinking, speaking, acting, relating, and living as if God were not present and active in our lives. They are patterns that blind us. These patterns and habits, or ways, distort reality, impoverish our relationships and ultimately destroy love. They are things like anger, pride, fear, greed, the need for approval, perfectionism, being judgmental, gossip, the need to control or be right, individualism, self-hatred, and despair.  Insight into these patterns and habits by itself is not enough. We must also turn away from these old and dead ways and turn again to the living way. Repentance is about getting our ways turned around and heading in a Christward direction. It means a change of mind and heart. It is about turning our gaze back toward Jesus and choosing life even when the possibilities seem hopeless and empty.  When we turn our gaze back to Jesus we once again reclaim our true life and we become re-rooted in Jesus’ way of love, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.  Choosing to follow Jesus is a way of life, a way of being where we find ourselves truly preparing the way of the Lord.  May each of us make Jesus our way of life this Christmas and beyond.

Scholastica, whose name means ‘learned woman’, was the sister of Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order. Gregory the Great tells us that Scholastica was consecrated to God from childhood, and that she established, and then led, an ascetic community that followed the Benedictine rule of life in Plombariola. The community was five miles away from the Benedictine community in Monte Cassino, which was led by her brother. We are also told by Gregory that it was Scholastica’s practice to ​make an annual journey to a cottage just outside her brother’s monastery at Monte Cassino where she would consult with him concerning spiritual matters and prayer. Such scant evidence for her life has led to speculation about her existence at all. The first record of her life is found in the work of Gregory the Great (c.593), and is only brief. Gregory mentions the emotional last meeting between brother and sister, in which Benedict is prevented from returning to his monastery at nightfall by Scholastica praying for a storm to arise. Their last night together was then spent discussing heaven, before Benedict left the following morning. Scholastica died three days later, and Benedict is reported to have witnessed her soul rising to heaven in the form of a dove.
The source of this biography is Common Worship: Saints on Earth: a Biographical Companion to Common Worship (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)
​
Prayer: Lord our God, you robed the virgin Scholastica with the beauty and splendor of innocence.  Help us to walk blamelessly before you that in the company of virgins and all the saints we might praise your name for ever and find our delight in you.  This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Born in Scotland in 1600, Charles moved to England at the age of three when his father, James VI of Scotland, succeeded Queen Elizabeth I. He was the first British monarch to be brought up in the Church of England and there is no doubt that his loyalty and attachment to the Church were entirely genuine on both an intellectual and spiritual plane. ‘He was punctual and regular in his devotions, so that he was never known to enter upon his recreations or sports, though never so early in the morning, before he had been at public prayers.’ No one can doubt Charles’ personal faith or his devotion to a church which provided ‘the middle way between the pomp of superstitious tyranny and the meanness of fantastick anarchy’.

Unfortunately there was more to it than that. His promotion of High Church practices in an overwhelmingly Calvinist (and increasingly Puritan) Church did not increase his popularity, nor did his use of harsh methods (in both Church and State) to enforce the royal will. And Charles was no statesman. Handicapped by his belief in the ‘divine right of kings’ he stood on his dignity, habitually failed to take the peaceful option, and showed in his public dealings that his word could not be relied upon. Even Archbishop Laud, who had more reason than most to be grateful to him, described Charles as ‘a mild and gracious prince who knew not how to be, or be made, great’.

The deterioration and breakdown in relations between Crown and Parliament showed Charles at his worst and the tragedy of the Civil War, the fate of the Church of England (it should not be forgotten that Charles was still king when episcopacy was abolished in 1645) and Charles’ personal fate were all largely (though, of course, not entirely) his own fault. Perhaps sensing that he could do more good in death than he had ever done in life Charles resolved after receiving the death sentence to meet his end in a noble and fearless way and, as he told his daughter, to die ‘for the laws and liberties of this land and for maintaining the true Protestant religion’. If his life and reign were largely a failure, he redeemed them both by the manner of his death in Whitehall on 30 January 1649. Paradoxically, his execution was a triumph which left an enduring legend, cemented the relationship between Church and State and gave the Church of England a martyr.
The source of this biography is Common Worship: Saints on Earth: a Biographical Companion to Common Worship (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)