| Thur April 10 | am: 69 pm: 73 | Jer 22:13-23 | Rom 8:12-27 | John 6:41-51 |
FIFTH THURSDAY IN LENT The Martyrs of East Anglia, 870
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY – The year 870 was a terrible year for the Church in East Anglia. The Viking army that had arrived in 865 became a permanent army of occupation. The army rode from York across Mercia into East Anglia, captured Thetford, and defeated and killed King Edmund. At the same time, they came to Medehampstede (Peterborough) and burned and beat it down, slew abbot and monks and all that they found there. Before this, they had demolished the monastery at Bardney in Lincolnshire, killing all the monks, and destroyed Ely. The same thing happened in Norfolk and at the abbey at Thorney. Solemn mass was just ended as the Danes broke into the church, and the clergy had not yet left the sanctuary. A few escaped into the forest, but all who tried to hide in the monastery were butchered. They then sacked the twin monasteries of Chertsey and Barking, founded by St. Erkonwald and his sister, St. Ethelburga. All the nuns at Barking and the 90 monks at Chertsey were killed, including Beocca, the Abbot, and Hethor, the prior.
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: Celestine I was born in the Campania and served as a deacon under Innocent I. Elected Bishop of Rome in 422, Celestine restored a basilica in St. Mary Travestere after it had been damaged in Alaric’s sack of Rome. Although Celestine confirmed the appointment of Nestorius to the see of Constantinople, he opposed Nestorius’ teachings and supported Cyril of Alexandria in the conflict between the two patriarchs. Celestine also combatted Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism in southern Gaul and England. He is supposed to have sent Palladius to evangelize Ireland in 431. Celestine died in the following year and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla.
MEDITATION OF THE DAY: In Shandong Province, north-east China, about two hours’ drive from Beijing there was erected a memorial in 1991 erected by Edinburgh University it bears the simple words taken from the end of the Old Testament Lesson appointed for today from the Orthodox church lectionary: “They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary. It is the text he preached from when he preached during the Olympics in Paris instead of running the race he was slotted for because of his choice to honor the Lord’s Day. It is perhaps stunning to us in the increasingly secular culture we find ourselves in that a person of faith would stand fast and honor the Lord on his day first and foremost even if it meant sacrificing the Gold Medal. It seems that God honored Eric Liddell for his faithfulness because when he participated in the 400 meters, which was not his favorite in he ran it 100 meters’ pace and won All the experts of the race speculated that he was running the first 100 meters far too fast and would tire later in the race. He didn’t! He won with a new world record. They said that Liddell seemed to gather strength from somewhere to keep going. After that great victory, inspired by the Lord’s confidence, Liddell committed to the Lord that he wanted to serve Him. Over the next 20 years, he ran with the power from within and served in China. He knew the promise of these words from Isaiah and staked his life on it, not just for the Olympics but for his life. What do we stake our life upon to be renewed?
PRAYER OF THE DAY: “O my God! O Lord, you offer to raise us on Eagle’s Wings as it is through your mercy, offer us freedom from sin and death. We pray you this day set us free from any bondage or obstacle that saps our strength for the journey so that we may run for you, Lord, and not be weary. Amen
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “I heard some saying, if I do not find it in the ancient Scriptures, I will not believe the Gospel; on my saying to them, it is written, they answered me that remain to be proved. But to me Jesus Christ is in the place of all that is ancient: His cross, and death, and resurrection, and the faith, which is by Him, are undefiled monuments of antiquity.” –St. Ignatius of Antioch, (The Epistle to the Philadelphians, Chap.8).
Lenten Discipline – Seek out a person in your life who needs a substitute as they are struggling to fulfill an obligation at church, school, or home. Offer to take their place, no strings attached. Express to them your desire that this will give them some breathing room so that perhaps they can have their strength renewed and refreshed. If Wednesday is your family night, as it is with some families, use this time to view the film Chariots of Fire and go to http://www.krigline.com/chariots.htm to have a family discussion based on this Christian study guide.
SONG OF THE SEASON – Jesus Remember Me