Upcoming Sunday Epistle
Readings
Patronal
Feast of
The
Exultation of the Holy Cross
Sunday 17 September
2017
Transferred
from 14 September
Galatians
6:14-18
May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is
everything! As for those who will follow this rule -- peace be upon them, and
mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make trouble for me;
for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body. May the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
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This
Epistle reading makes me think of St. Francis, of whom tradition says he
received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ’s cross, on his body. This, we are told, was a powerful witness to
the faith of the saint who devoted his whole life to Christ. For us who belong to a parish named for the
Holy Cross, there should be a desire that we, as a parish, and we, as
individuals, should indeed bear the marks of the cross of Christ in the world. What I am referring to is spiritual marks. And the way we should bear them is in a
spirit of humility and service. We bear
the marks of the cross in order to draw the world to the tenderness and the
love of Christ who humbled himself in service, who in love gives of himself
completely, who even gave of his own life in order to give life eternal to the
dying.
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Father Timothy
Alleman
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