Feast of St. Mary The Virgin

"St Thomas receiving the Virgin Mary's girdle"

Mary’s Song of Praise

And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

(Luke 1:46-55)

Readings:

Isaiah 61:10-11
Psalm 34 or 34:1-9
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 1:46-55

Little is known of the life of the Virgin Mary except insofar as it intersects with the life of her Son, and there is an appropriateness in this. The Scriptures record her words to the angel Gabriel, to her kinswoman Elizabeth, to her Son on two occasions. But the only recorded saying of hers to what may be called ordinary, run-of-the-mill hearers is her instruction to the servants at the wedding feast, to whom she says simply, indicating her Son, "Whatever he says to you, do it."

This we may take to be the summation of her message to the world. If we listen to her, she will tell us, "Listen to Him. Listen to my Son. Do what He tells you." When we see her, we see her pointing to her Son. If our regard for the Blessed Virgin does not have the immediate effect of turning our attention from her to the One whom she carried in her womb for nine months and suckled at her breast, to the Incarnate God, the Word made flesh, then we may be sure that it is not the kind of regard that she seeks. A right regard for her will always direct us to Him Who found in her His first earthly dwelling-place.

By James Kiefer at the Lectionary.

PRAYER

O God, who have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary,
mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been
redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your
eternal kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.

Roseann Is Back In The Hospital

From Roseann:

You fall out of your mother's womb, you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave. - Quentin Crisp

Posted by Being Peace at 9:57 AM
....

The good news is the vein study went well. It hurt like a bitch but at least everything was okay. The bad news is I have bronchitis and can hardly breathe. Story of my life. One step forward and one step back.

Posted by Being Peace at 8:16 AM

From Sue this morning:

Morning Mimi,

Roseann is back in the hospital with some sort of respiratory problem. She was running a fever and having breathing difficulties.

Prayers are ascending,

Sue

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant N. the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 458)

From Roseann at Facebook:

I'm in the hospital again. Good news is, it is not Swine Flu.

Who's On First?

For Amelia.

LOU COSTELLO CALLS THE COMPUTER STORE

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. May I help you?

COSTELLO: Yes, I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: Uh, no, the name's Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".

COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some straight answers. OK, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?

ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.

COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. Just tell me what I need!

ABBOTT: Real One.

COSTELLO: If it's a long movie, I also want to watch reels 2, 3 and 4. Can I watch them?

ABBOTT: Of course.

COSTELLO: Great! With what?

ABBOTT: Real One.

COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?

ABBOTT: You click the blue "1".

COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?

ABBOTT: The blue "1".

COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue "W"?

ABBOTT: The blue "1" is Real One and the blue "W" is Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: But there are three words in "office for windows"!

ABBOTT: No, just one. But it's the most popular Word in the world.

COSTELLO: It is?

ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.

COSTELLO: And that word is real one?

ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn't even part of Office.

COSTELLO: STOP! Don't start that again. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!


(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. May I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on "START"....

From Doug.

A Word Of Thanks

On 11 Aug 2009, at 18:57, June Butler wrote:

Hi Jonathan,

You deserve a great deal of credit for being amongst the first in England to speak against the powers in the English church. And before you say that I haven't given you enough credit publicly, I've linked to your blog 111 times. Some of the links are, no doubt, trivial, but many are not, from a cursory look. To prove my point, I could separate the gold from the dross and send you the links, if you like.

Anyway, thank you for courageously taking up the fight early on, thus putting your own position in the church at some risk. The English herd is now following - finally.

June

----------

From: Jonathan Hagger
To: June Butler
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: You were amongst the first


My greatest achievement was to introduce the English Church to Grandmere Mimi. I am certain that this has led to them getting off their arses. Having seen the wreckage that is now that former lion of a young priest called Mad, they are petrified you might start emailing them if they didn't.

Mad.

----------

June Butler wrote:

Dear Mad,

"...that former lion of a young priest called Mad...."

I think he was before my time.
....

June

----------

I have the last word, because Jonathan didn't reply to my second email.

Over the years, Jonathan and I have had our ups and downs. We've had our differences and disagreements (Translation: knock-down-drag-out internet fights). But credit due. The voices out of England were few for a good many years. Now they're coming in greater numbers, and I'm pleased about that, and perhaps Jonathan is, too. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe he liked being the Lone Ranger.

PS: I asked Jonathan's permission before I posted his email.

GOTTA LOVE THOSE ANIMALS

 

For Roseann and KJ

 

For my cat people

 

Another sweetie for my cat people.



Eeeww!



For lovers of dogs and money



Poor baby

Thanks to Susan.

From The Holy Office Of The Laity - A New Structure

Anglican Communion News Office:

The Secretary General, Canon Kenneth Kearon, has announced the appointment of Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan as Director for Unity, Faith and Order at the Anglican Communion Office. The post is a new one in the Communion, and arose after some restructuring following the election of Canon Gregory Cameron, formally Director of Ecumenical Affairs and Deputy Secretary General, as Bishop of St Asaph in the Church in Wales.

We (the collective "we" of the Holy Office of the Laity, also a new structure) can only hope that this new structure, headed by Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan, is not the cousin of the Holy Office of the Inquisition* of the Roman Catholic Church. Already we don't like the title of the new structure. And a woman as the Director? Not another Maggie Thatcher, please, Alyson!

Adrian at Pluralist Speaks has a first-person account from a pseudonymous (of necessity!) archdeacon's meeting with the new director of UFO. Here's a snippet:

Director: Yes. As part of my office I now use a new piece of software as contracted by the Primates. The program is orthodox.exe, and it takes the names of any Anglican clergy person worldwide and does an immediate search of all links and connections, including for example your entries on any social networking sites. The software examines phrases of words and compares them with an orthodoxy meter, and results below a generous 50% are notified in my email inbox.

Take great care with your sermons, clergy and bishops! The days of internet spying technology have arrived.

Read the rest of the interview over there. If we didn't have Pluralist in Anglican Blogland, we'd need to invent him.

*Name updated to The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to appear less threatening.

Don't Blame Facebook And Twitter

From Roz Kaveney at the Guardian:

When the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster criticises Facebook and Twitter, he raises some points of real concern; the problem is that he does not do so in an appropriate spirit of humility.

As he rightly points out, some teenagers have killed themselves over what has been said about them online; as he does not bother to mention, a significant factor in many other teen suicides is the discovery of sexuality or gender issues that clash with the faith in which teenagers have been brought up. To be told, by the Pope, that to be gay is to be "objectively disordered" is no less a cause of despair – some would say rather more of one – than to get a text saying that your breath smells and your hair is ratty.
....

The most meanspirited of teenage bullies persecuting a classmate for acne or the wrong trainers does not expect to influence how the law treats their victim; Archbishop Nichols can have every realistic expectation that the irrational prejudice of his church and other religious organizations against LGBT people will be to some degree protected in law, even in the new Equalities Bill. One of the saddest things about the Archbishop's public role – and on some issues he is on the progressive side of things – is that he does not understand the deep suspicion held of him by the secular minded even when he is right.

When religious leaders of any faith make cruel, unreasonable, or foolish statements, their words may have far-reaching and unintended negative consequences. Roz's example is Roman Catholic Archbishop Nichols, however she could well have chosen her example from the leaders of other faiths. When those same leaders speak the truth about matters such as war, poverty, untrammeled capitalism, etc., few pay attention, for they have lost the moral high ground due to their foolish judgements on other issues.

The fault, dear people of faith, is not in our stars, nor in our Facebook or Twitter accounts, but in ourselves.

H/T to TheMe at ThatDamnBlogThat'sHardToSpell.

Please Pray - David@Montreal

dear Giants
i'd ask your prayers for Johnnie & Vaughan
Johnnie is a post-graduate student in ministry who has had to put aside his academic year to look after Vaughan his beloved spouse who has been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive cancer.
Johnnie and Vaughan are a truly beautiful couple and were married in the United Church of Canada just a year ago by Rev. Arlan Bonner.

i'd also ask your prayers for the successful realization of public health coverage in the United States. for the safety and protection of all those who speak truth to power, speak truth to insanity, speak truth to greed and fear.

prayers for the American Church, that those who have been able to afford vacations will return refreshed and ready to lovingly support those in reduced & frightening circumstances, and that together they will be open to the wondrous work the Holy Spirit is working in their province, that together they will take strength & comfort from the post- Anaheim realities for God' larger Church.

I'd also ask prayers for Terry & Demi, and all those personally impacted by the drastic budget cuts in the American Church.

(Yes, I'm still Canadian, and gratefully so, but the prophetic place the Episcopal Church finds itself in right now has been much on my heart)

and lastly a Mary Oliver poem which was waiting for me when I returned home fromr a lovely evening, a wonderful meal and fellowship and a viewing of' Susan & Louise's 'Claiming the Blessing.' (at long last!)


From Thirst - by Mary Oliver

Another morning and I wake up with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord, I
was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the
hour and the bell; grant me, in your
mercy, a little more time. Love for the
earth and love for you are having such a
long conversation in my heart. Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.

(emphasis, mine)

David@Montreal

Story Of The Day - Aiming Low

I need you to
come home
soon, she said.
I'm walking
around like a
woman who's let
herself go.


From StoryPeople.