2023-03-22 - Laetare Midweek

Occasion: Laetare Midweek Colour: Violet/Purple Order of Service: Evening Prayer (LSB Page 243) Reading 1: Judges 4 Reading 2: John 19:28–30 Sermon: "A Matter of Faith" Lent: Lent is unlike any other time of the year. Throughout the rest of the year, the norm is a full mass proper on Sundays, with the propers repeated throughout the week and an additional Epistle and Gospel provided for Wednesday and Friday in each week. During Lent, however, every single day from Ash Wednesday onward has its own full mass with proper Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gospel, and so on, as the Church single-mindedly focuses our attention on the approaching Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord. Nearly all of these readings are widely attested from very early on. Thursdays are the exception to this rule, as they were formerly aliturgical, not having masses assigned until the eighth century. As a result, there were varying approaches to filling in these newly available Lenten weekdays. The vast majority used these Thursdays to read otherwise unheard portions of St. John’s Gospel, though the minority custom reflected in Roman usage simply reappropriated existing texts from elsewhere in the lectionary. In contrast to the rest of the year, the Epistles on Lenten weekdays are universally drawn from the Old Testament, and many have an explicit and obvious typological connection. As the weeks of Lent go on, a distinct progression can be seen in the nature of the readings. The first part of Lent is heavily weighted toward St. Matthew’s Gospel, but, by the end of the third week, every Gospel until Palm Sunday is drawn from St. John. In addition, the readings can grow quite lengthy as the season goes on, sometimes covering nearly the entirety of a chapter. The Friday of the third week and the Wednesday and Friday of the fourth are perhaps the most striking examples of this tendency, each being associated with the ancient rites preceding baptism in the early church. As the readings continue through the season of Lent, you will also sense a growing tension. On the first Sunday in Lent, Satan shows his hand outright, but he works through the rest of the season by intermediaries. The beginning of Lent sees a relatively subdued conflict between Our Lord and the religious elite, but by the end of the second week we have the first mention of the religious elite seeking to take Him by force. On the Monday following, they try to throw him down a cliff, and the Johannine Gospels of the fourth week portray the rising anger, with repeated threats of violence. Finally, on the fifth Sunday, they take up stones to throw at Him in the temple, and the fury escalates until, on that Friday, we hear that "they plotted to put Him to death." As always, our service can be found online at https://www.logan-monkton.com/wordpre... 00:00 - Start of Service 00:08 - Pastor's Opening 00:23 - Service of Light 00:59 - Phos Hilaron 01:56 - Thanksgiving for Light 02:54 - Psalm 141 05:19 - Psalm Prayer 05:40 - First Reading 10:16 - Second Reading 10:55 - Final Reading Response 20:32 - Magnificat 23:47 - Litany (Lent) 27:18 - Collect for Peace 27:53 - Lord's Prayer 28:31 - Benedicamus 28:43 - Benediction 29:00 - Pastor's Closing