Archive for the ‘COVID-19’ Tag
Above: A Vineyard
Image in the Public Domain
Tenants, Not Landlords
OCTOBER 15, 2023
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:7-14 (LBW) or Psalm 118:19-24 (LW)
Philippians 3:12-21
Matthew 21:33-43
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Our Lord Jesus, you have endured
the doubts and foolish questions of every generation.
Forgive us for trying to be judge over you,
and grant us the confident faith to acknowledge you as Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 28
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O God, whose almighty power is made known chiefly
in showing mercy and pity,
grant us the fullness of your grace
that we may be partakers of your heavenly treasures;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 84
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The Bible moves past preaching and immediately starts meddling. Good! It ought to do this.
The vineyard is an image of the people of God in the Bible. In Isaiah 5, the image of vineyard full of wild (literally, noxious) grapes condemns the population doomed to suffer exile and occupation. Psalm 80 likens the people of Israel to a vine and prays for the restoration of Israel in the midst of exile. The Parable of the Tenants condemns fruitless religious authority figures–a timeless warning.
That parable also quotes Psalm 119 when the Matthean text refers to the cornerstone the builders had rejected. The cornerstone is a messianic theme, as in Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; and Zechariah 3:9; 4:7. For other applications of the cornerstone to Jesus, read Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:4f; Ephesians 2:20; and 1 Corinthians 3:11.
Years ago, I had a discouraging conversation with a female student at the college where I taught. She told me before class one day that she did not care about what happened to and on the Earth, for her citizenship was in Heaven. I vainly attempted to persuade her to care. Her attitude contradicted the Law of Moses, the witness of the Hebrew prophets, the teachings of Jesus, and the epistles–Judaism and Christianity, in other words.
The Golden Rule requires us–collectively and individually–to care for and about each other and the planet. Judaism and Christianity teach that people are stewards–not owners–of the planet. (God is the owner.) The state of ecology indicates that we are terrible stewards, overall. The lack of mutuality during the COVID-19 pandemic proves that many people do not give a damn about others and the common good.
God remains God. God still cares. God cannot exist without caring. That should comfort many people and terrify many others. Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 18, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ARTEMISIA BOWDEN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF ERDMANN NEUMEISTER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS JOHN MCCONNELL, U.S. METHODIST BISHOP AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF JONATHAN FRIEDRICH BAHNMAIER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF PETTER DASS, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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Above: St. Paul the Apostle
Image in the Public Domain
The Renewal of All Things
JULY 23, 2023
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Isaiah 55:10-11
Psalm 65
Romans 8:18-25
Matthew 13:1-9 (18-23)
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Almighty God, we thank you for planting in us the seed of your word.
By your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy,
live according to it,
and grow in faith and hope and love;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
or
Lord God, use our lives to touch the world with your love.
Stir us, by your Spirit, to be neighbors to those in need,
serving them with willing hearts;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 25
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O almighty and most merciful God,
of your bountiful goodness keep us, we pray,
from all things that may hurt us that we,
being ready in both body and soul,
may cheerfully accomplish whatever things you want done;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 69
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When reading the assigned lessons in preparation for drafting a post, I often notice that one lesson is an outlier. Today I choose to focus on the outlier. The theme of God sowing, complete with the Matthean version of the Parable of the Sower/the Four Soils, is a topic about which I have written and posted more than once. You, O reader, may access my analysis of that parable by following the germane tags attached to this post. I also refer you to this post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA.
Romans 8:18-25 flows from what precedes it immediately: Christians are heirs–sons, literally–of God, through Jesus, the Son of God. The gendered language is a reflection of St. Paul the Apostle’s cultural setting, in which sons, not daughters, inherited. As “sons of God,” we Christians bear witness with the Holy Spirit that we are members of the household of God.
Literally, Christians are “sons of God” or have received the “spirit of sonship” in verses 14, 15, and 23. We are “children of God” in verses 16, 17, and 21, though. (I checked the Greek texts.) These distinctions are obvious in translations that do not neuter the Greek text. I check genders (male, female, and neuter) via the Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002). My historical training tells me that before I can interpret a document in context, I must know what the document says.
Romans 8:18-30, from which we extract 8:18-25, tells of the renewal of all things. In the midst of suffering, the future glory of the human race in God still awaits. The renewal of creation itself awaits. The sufferings are birth pangs. Meanwhile, Christians must wait with patience and expectation.
For obvious reasons, I leave comments about birth pangs to women who have given birth.
St. Paul the Apostle understood suffering for Christ. St. Paul the Apostle mustered optimism in dark times, by grace. This has always astounded me. I, having endured suffering less severe than that of St. Paul the Apostle, have found depression and pessimism instead.
I write this post during dark times for the world. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world. Authoritarian forces endanger representative governments around the world. Polarization has increased to the point that opposite camps have their own facts. (Objective reality be damned!) I have found more causes for depression and pessimism than for optimism.
Yet St. Paul the Apostle, speaking to us down the corridors of time, tells us that these are birth pangs of a better world. I hope that is correct. I pray that these are not birth pangs of a dystopia.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 18, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JACQUES ELLUL, FRENCH REFORMED THEOLOGIAN AND SOCIOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT CELESTINE V, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINT DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, ABBOT OF GLASTONBURY AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF GEORG GOTTFRIED MULLER, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT IVO OF KERMARTIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ATTORNEY, PRIEST, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE POOR
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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Above: Image of COVID-19, by the Centers for Disease Control
Image in the Public Domain
A Covenant People
OCTOBER 23, 2022
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Genesis 17:1-22 or Ruth 4:1-17
Psalm 143
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 15:1-17
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The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) includes part of Genesis 17 only one–on the Second Sunday in Lent, Year B. The RCL guts the chapter, though. The RCL assigns only verses 1-7 and 15-16. As Matthew Thiessen observes in Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity Within First-Century Judaism (2020), the RCL avoids the verses that talk about circumcision. One who hears a RCL-based sermon on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 hears
a very carefully edited, essentially Christianized (or de-Judaized) version of Genesis 17.
–2
The Humes lectionary, in contrast, fills the hole the RCL creates.
Without chasing a proverbial rabbit, I repeat here what I have written elsewhere, in another lectionary-based devotion, recently: Within Judaism, over time, as reflected in the Bible and in non-canonical Jewish texts, a range of opinions regarding circumcision existed. Judaism has never been a monolithic religion, despite what you, O reader, may have heard or read.
Circumcision was a common practice in many cultures in the area of antiquity. In the case of the Jews, it was significant for more than one reason. Hygiene was one reason for circumcision. The practice was also a fertility rite, a ritual of initiation into the covenant people, and an act of ritual purification. The practice, perhaps most importantly, functioned as a marker of identity in God and the divine covenant.
Circumcision is a sign–a covenant I believe remains in effect. I, as a Gentile, function under a second covenant.
Wholeness and restoration–collectively and individually–are possible only in God, via a covenant. As in Ruth 4, God frequently acts through people to create wholeness and restoration. God also acts directly often.
…there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.
–Revelation 21:4b, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
The “world of the past” in Revelation 21:4b remains the world of the present. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim and damage lives and livelihoods. Tears, death, mourning, and sadness remain, in a heightened reality, the cruel companions of victims of the pandemic. One point of Revelation is the imperative of keeping faith and focusing on the light while the darkness threatens to overwhelm with despair and hopelessness.
One joins a covenant by grace. One drops out of a covenant by works of darkness. That is classical Jewish Covenantal Nomism. In other words, remain faithful to God, who is faithful.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a story about a Jew in a Nazi death camp. A guard was mocking a pious Jew, forced to perform the degrading, unpleasant, and disgusting task of cleaning the toilet. The guard asked,
Where is your God now?
The Jew answered,
He is beside me, here in the muck.
Where is God during the COVID-19 pandemic? God is sitting beside the beds of patients. God is walking beside essential workers. God is grieving with those who mourn. God is present with those working to develop or to distribute vaccines. God is with us, here in the muck.
God is faithful. May we be faithful, too.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 29, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/a-covenant-people-part-viii/
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Above: Tear Ducts
Image in the Public Domain
The Tears of the Christ
SEPTEMBER 11, 2022
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Genesis 13:1-16 or Ezra 1:1-7; 3:8-13
Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
Revelation 7:9-17
John 11:1-3. 16-44
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Jesus wept.
–John 11:35, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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They will never hunger or thirst again; neither the sun nor scorching wind will ever plague them because the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears like their eyes.
–Revelation 7:16-17, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
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I could take so many paths through the assigned readings for this week. These readings are rich texts. I will take just one path, however.
Before I do, here are a few notes:
- Abraham waited for God to tell him which land to claim. Abraham chose well.
- Lot chose land on his own. He chose poorly. However, at the time he seemed to have chosen wisely; he selected fertile land.
- I agree with Psalm 136. Divine mercy does endure forever.
- The chronology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah weaves in and out of those books. I know, for I blogged my way through them in chronological order at BLOGA THEOLOGICA last year.
For the record, the chronological reading order of Ezra-Nehemiah follows:
- Ezra 1:1-2:70; Nehemiah 7:6-73a;
- Ezra 3:1-4:5;
- Ezra 5:1-6:22;
- Ezra 4:6-24;
- Nehemiah 1:1-2:20;
- Nehemiah 3:1-4:17;
- Nehemiah 5:1-19;
- Nehemiah 6:1-7:5;
- Nehemiah 11:1-12:47;
- Nehemiah 13:1-31;
- Nehemiah 9:38-10:39;
- Ezra 7:1-10:44; and
- Nehemiah 7:73b-9:38.
I take my lead in this post from the New Testament readings. Tears are prominent in both of them. Tears are on my mind during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also on my mind as I continue to mourn the violent death of my beloved. Her departure from this side of the veil of tears has left me shaken and as forever changed me.
The full divinity and full humanity of Jesus are on display in John 11. We read that Jesus wept over the death of his friend, St. Lazarus of Bethany. We also read of other people mourning and weeping in the immediate area. We may not pay much attention to that. We may tell ourselves, “Of course, they grieved and wept.” But two words–“Jesus wept”–remain prominent.
There is a scene in The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (1964) that fits this theme. At the time, Hollywood studios had recently released technicolor movies about a Jesus who had no tear ducts yet had an impressive command of Elizabethan English while resembling a Northern European. Yet Pier Paolo Pasolini, who committed about half of the Gospel of Matthew to film, presented a Jesus who had tear ducts. Immediately after the off-camera decapitation of St. John the Baptist, the next shot was a focus on Christ’s face. He was crying. So were the men standing in front of him.
Jesus wept.
We weep. Jesus weeps with us until the day God will wipe away all tears of those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 23, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE ALMSGIVER, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA
THE FEAST OF CHARLES KINGSLEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST, NOVELIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD GRUBB, ENGLISH QUAKER AUTHOR, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES D. SMART, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF PHILLIPS BROOKS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/the-tears-of-the-christ/
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Above: The Logo of the Moravian Church
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
The Victory of Suffering Love
AUGUST 28, 2022
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Genesis 8:13-22; 9:12-17 or Acts 28:1-10
Psalm 134
Revelation 5:1-14
John 8:48-59
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Revelation 5:1-14 provides the keynote for this blog post. This scriptural text is one I cannot read without hearing the finale of Handel’s Messiah thundering inside my cranium.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Ernest Lee Stoffel, writing in The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), summarized verses 6-14 with five words:
THE VICTORY OF SUFFERING LOVE.
Stoffel elaborated:
What is this really saying? I believe it is saying the suffering love of God is the key that will help us live with our suffering and ourselves. There is something in the universe that has not been defeated by pain and evil and sin. That something is the crucified love of the Creator. I have to believe that love is the key to the world’s destiny, and that it will triumph over my pain and sin. I believe I can give my pain and sin to that love, which is also wisdom….
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I go off the Humes lectionary briefly to bring in a germane text:
“I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have hardship,
but be courageous:
I have conquered the world.”
–John 16:33, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Divine, suffering love has triumphed and conquered. This love figuratively hung up its bow of war in the beautiful mythology of Genesis 9:12-17. This divine love called and accompanied St. Paul the Apostle. This love has long inspired people to bless the Lord.
What should a person or a faith community do with the “victory of suffering love” in the context of heartbreaking, preventable human suffering? I write this post during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news is mostly grim. The temptation to curse God, fate, or whatever, then to curl up in a ball of despair is great. Yes, vaccines are available, to an extent. Yes, more vaccines are in the process of gaining official approval. And yes, people continue to die needlessly, before they can receive a vaccination. We, as a species, will spend a long time digging our way out of the wreckage of this pandemic. Furthermore, many people will never recover from the economic carnage. Many people will always have health-related effects of COVID-19. And the dead will remain deceased. None of this had to happen.
Do we trust that the crucified love of the Creator has remained unconquered? Do we trust that Jesus has conquered the world? Depending on the time of day, I may or may not so trust. Yet I know that I must take my fears and doubts to the foot of the cross of Christ and deposit them there. Having faith is not living free of doubts. No, having faith entails wrestling with them and even with God. Having faith entails never giving up the idol of false certainly and resisting the allure of easy answers to difficult questions.
God is faithful. God is faithful when we neglect to be faithful. God is faithful when we strive unsuccessfully to be faithful. God is faithful when we are faithful. May we stand, sit, or assume any posture we can in the presence of God wherever we are. And may we bless the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, whose love remains unconquered. May we cooperate with that love. May it conquer our despair and grief. May it heal the world.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 22, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN JULIAN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER MEN, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1990
THE FEAST OF SAINT LADISLAO BATTHÁNY-STRATTMANN, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN AND PHILANTHROPIST
THE FEAST OF LOUISE CECILIA FLEMING, AFRICAN-AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY AND PHYSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT VINCENT PALLOTTI, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE CATHOLIC APOSTALATE, THE UNION OF CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE, AND THE SISTERS OF THE CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/the-victory-of-suffering-love/
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Above: The Healing of the Ten Lepers, by James Tissot
Image in the Public Domain
Gratitude
NOVEMBER 25, 2021
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Deuteronomy 8:1-20
Psalm 65
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Luke 17:11-19
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The heading of notes on Deuteronomy 8:1-20 in The Jewish Study Bible is
The temptation to pride and self-sufficiency in the land.
Indeed, pride and self-sufficiency are obstacles to thanking God.
We can never thank God enough. That is reality. So be it. They can look for reasons to thank God. They can be as mundane as lovely cloud formations and as extraordinary as a blessed and rare event. They can include, as in Luke 17:11-19, the opportunity to shake off stigma and rejoin one’s family and community. That seems extraordinary to me.
Were the other nine healed lepers not grateful? No. I propose that they may have been in a hurry to get back home as soon as possible. Saying “thank you” to Jesus would have been proper, though.
I draft this post in days of uncertainty. I am behaving responsibly and obeying orders to shelter in place during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Reasons for gratitude can be difficult to find, from a certain perspective. On the other hand, the light of God shines most brightly in the darkness. I have no challenge identifying reasons for gratitude.
I do not know what the circumstances of Thanksgiving Day will be 2020 (the year I draft this post), much less 2021 (the first year this post will be on the schedule) or any other year. I have no idea what will happen five seconds from now. I do know, however, that reasons for gratitude will exist, and that nobody should be too proud and labor under delusions of self-sufficiency to thank God for what God has done.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 2, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALEXANDER OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH; AND SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH AND “FATHER OF ORTHODOXY”
THE FEAST OF CHARLES SILVESTER HORNE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHARLES FRIEDRICH HASSE, GERMAN-BRITISH MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF JULIA BULKLEY CADY CORY, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/gratitude-part-v/
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Above: King Manasseh
Image in the Public Domain
Parts of One Body II
JUNE 6, 2021
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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2 Chronicles 33:1-13 or Joshua 20
Psalm 81
Ephesians 5:1-20
Luke 6:17-26
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Ephesians 4:25 (from the previous post in this series) provides essential context for all these readings, not just Ephesians 5:1-20.
Then have done with falsehood and speak the truth to each other, for we belong to one another as parts of one body.
–Ephesians 4:25, The Revised English Bible (1989)
All of us can change and need grace. Even the most wicked person can revere course. Those who commit crimes unwittingly (see Joshua 20) differ from those who do so purposefully. Mercy does not negate all consequences for actions, but mercy is present, fortunately. All of us ought to be at home in the light of God and to act accordingly, as Ephesians 5:1-20 details. Alas, not all of us are at home in that light, hence the woes following the Beatitudes in Luke 6.
I live in a topsy-turvy society glorifies the targets of Lukan woes and further afflicts–sometimes even criminalizes–the targets of Lukan Beatitudes. I live in a society in which the advice from Ephesians 5:1-20 is sorely needed. I read these verses and think,
So much for the most of the Internet and much of television, radio, and social media!
I do not pretend, however, that a golden age ever existed. No, I know better than that. We have degenerated in many ways, though, compared to previous times. We have also improved in other ways. All in all, we remain well below the high standard God has established.
How does one properly live into his or divine calling in a politically divided and dangerous time, when even objective reality is a topic for political dispute? Racist, nativisitic, and xenophobic and politically expedient conspiracy theories about Coronavirus/COVID-19 continue to thrive. Some members of the United States Congress continue to dismiss the threat this pandemic poses. How does one properly live into one’s divine calling in such a context? I do not know. Each person has a limit of how much poison one can consume before spiritual toxicity takes its toll? Is dropping out the best strategy? Perhaps not, but it does entail less unpleasantness and strife.
May we listen to and follow God’s call to us, both individually and collectively. May we function as agents of individual and collective healing, justice, and reconciliation. We do, after all, belong to one another as parts of one body.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 20, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SEBASTIAN CASTELLIO, PROPHET OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
THE FEAST OF CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, HYMN WRITER AND ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN
THE FEAST OF ELLEN GATES STARR, U.S. EPISCOPALIAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND REFORMER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA JOSEFA SANCHO DE GUERRA, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SERVANTS OF JESUS
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL RODIGAST, GERMAN LUTHERAN ACADEMIC AND HYMN WRITER
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Based on this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/devotion-for-the-seventh-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c-humes/
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/parts-of-one-body-ii/
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ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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