Mormon Lectionary Project: The Great Vigil of Easter

April 19, 2014 by

Many Christian traditions celebrate an Easter Vigil. The version I have experienced is the Episcopal one, from the Book of Common Prayer. I’m not sure I have a lot to say about it, except that it’s beautiful, and that it seems familiar to me. It reminds me of the temple endowment in many ways–it is a retelling, recreation of salvific history from Creation to Fall to Atonement to Exaltation:

Let us hear the record of God’s saving deeds in history, how
he saved his people in ages past; and let us pray that our God
will bring each of us to the fullness of redemption.

 

One of my favorites of the sermons I’ve been able to publish in Dialogue is an Easter Vigil sermon; I think it gets at both what might seem familiar to Mormons and what might be strangely, newly lovely in it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Mormon Lectionary Project, Religion

Mormon Lectionary Project: Good Friday

April 18, 2014 by

MLP

MLP

Mormon Lectionary Project

Good Friday

Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12 (KJV), Psalm 22 (KJV), Hebrews 10:15-25 (NRSV), John 18 & 19 (KJV), Mosiah 3:9, 3 Nephi 8

The Collect: God the Eternal Father, we ask Thee in the name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to strengthen our resolve as we contemplate the suffering and voluntary sacrifice of Thy Son and seek to emulate the loyalty of Thy Servant Simon Peter in the Garden but without violence or aggression, seeking healing and peace rather than confrontation and conflict as we hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, through the grace of Thy Son and His Atonement in Gethsemane and on Calvary, who now lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anciently Revealed, Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Mormon Lectionary Project, Religion, Scriptures

Good Friday

April 18, 2014 by

And he, bearing his cross went forth into a place 
called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha: 
where they crucified him . . . 

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, 
that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst . . . 
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, 
It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 

– John 19:17–18, 28–30 


J. Kirk Richards, Grey Day at Golgotha

J. Kirk Richards, Grey Day at Golgotha

Eric Huntsman continues his series on Holy Week.

Good Friday is observed with great solemnity in some Christian traditions. While not marked as a holiday as such in the LDS community, Good Friday can be a tender and reflective time for individuals and families to pause and consider how Jesus, as our great high priest, offered himself as a sacrifice for us: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12). Understanding how and why he died makes the miracle of his resurrection on Easter morning all the more glorious and joyous. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anciently Revealed, Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Religion, Scriptures

A Poem for Holy Week

April 17, 2014 by

0413-blood-moon-eclipse_full_600Melody Newey is a frequent guest of the blog. We’re happy that she chose to share some of her poetry with us.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Mormon, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation, Religion

Eric Huntsman on Maundy Thursday

April 17, 2014 by

Heinrich Hofmann, Christ in Gethsemane

Heinrich Hofmann, Christ in Gethsemane

Eric Huntsman continues his series on Holy Week.

The Thursday before Easter is a day rich in deep, often poignant events. These include Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, at which he instituted the sacrament and washed his disciples’ feet; his prayer and agony in the Garden of Gethsemane; his betrayal by Judas and abandonment by the other disciples; and his arrest, cynical examination, and abuse by the Jewish authorities of the time.

Known as Holy Thursday in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communities, in many English-speaking countries this Thursday is sometimes called “Maundy Thursday.” The word “maundy” is an early English form of the Latin mandatum for “commandment” and recalls Jesus’ teaching “A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye love one another” (John 13:34). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anciently Revealed, Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Religion, Scriptures

Spy Wednesday

April 16, 2014 by

Tissot, The Meal in the House of the Pharisee

Tissot, The Meal in the House of the Pharisee

Eric Huntsman continues his series on Holy Week.

The texts for today are Mark 14:1–11; Matthew 26:1–16; Luke 22:1–6 and cover the plot to kill Jesus, the Marcan and Matthean anointing of Jesus prior to his Passion, and Judas’ decision to betray Jesus. The fact that the lovely story of the anointing is in an intercalation (or “sandwiched”) between two dark, deceitful scenes has given the day its traditional name “Spy Wednesday.”

One note on chronology: many LDS harmonies list “no events recorded” for Wednesday, and as far as I can tell this arose from J. Reuben Clark, and others, adopting the harmonization of some nineteenth century Victorian divines, who read “two days before Passover” inclusively. For my reasons for counting it exclusively, see the discussion in my working chronology. I think this also fits the pattern of relative time markers in Mark, and even if it did not, remembering these events on “Spy Wednesday” puts us in harmony with the majority of other Christians who are following traditional observances during Holy Week. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anciently Revealed, Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Religion, Scriptures

Mormon Lectionary Project: Monday in Holy Week

April 14, 2014 by

MLP

MLP

Mormon Lectionary Project

Monday in Holy Week

Isaiah 42:1-9 (KJV), Psalm 36:5-11 (KJV), Hebrews 11:9-15 (NRSV), Mark 11:15-19 (KJV), 2 Nephi 26:29, Alma 13:7-19

The Collect: Heavenly Father, who sent Thy Son as Thy chosen servant to bring justice to the nations, grant that we may both recognize and preach Thy Son, the Great High Priest, as the light of the world and purifier of the faith so that we may faithfully seek Thy righteousness in fruits meet for repentance, thus finding life and peace and an eternal inheritance in the New Covenant, following the example of Melchizedek in humbling ourselves so that we may exercise mighty faith in Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Mormon Lectionary Project, Religion

The Annunciation

March 25, 2014 by

MLP

MLP

Mormon Lectionary Project

The Feast of The Annunciation

Isaiah 7:10-14 (KJV), Psalm 40:5-11 (KJV), Hebrews 10:4-10 (NRSV), Luke 1:26-38 (KJV), 1 Nephi 11:14-22, Moroni 7:22-26, 29-32

The Collect: Father, we thank Thee for the ministration of angels as agents of Thy grace, revealing the incarnation of Thy Son Jesus Christ, as announced by an angel to Mary, Thy servant and chosen vessel both to bear Christ’s body and lifelong testimony of Him. May we heed that angelic message and exercise faith in Christ, becoming sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anciently Revealed, Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Mormon Lectionary Project, Theology, Doctrine & Policy

Three Thoughts, Two Minutes, One Lord

November 11, 2013 by
The Cenotaph, London, England (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenotaph)

The Cenotaph, London, England (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenotaph)

ce·no·taph, ˈsenəˌtaf/
noun
1.
a tomblike monument to someone buried elsewhere, esp. one commemorating people who died in a war.

Today is Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom, Veterans Day in the United States. Yesterday, the Sunday before Remembrance Day, or Remembrance Sunday, my thoughts turned to the religious and public traditions and rituals observed in the United Kingdom to commemorate the importance of this day as a day of national . . . contrition? penance? gratitude? All of them, I think — “celebrate” is the wrong word for what occurs in the public ceremonies that occur on Remembrance Sunday and Remembrance Day. It is a solemn “remembering,” a holy Remembrance, because we remember the lives of those who served particularly in the Great War (1914-1918) but also in all conflicts in the protection of national or territorial integrity and political freedoms and heritage; more specifically, we contemplate the sacrifice that it is to put one’s life on the line for these values and ideals. Very few, if any, “celebrate” that these sacrifices were made or that such devastating wars occurred; virtually all unite across racial, ethnic, and religious divides to remember them and commemorate their sacrifices. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Events, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Politics, Religion

A Mormon Homily for Rosh Hashanah

September 4, 2013 by

Leshana Tova Tikoseiv Vesichoseim Le’Alter LeChaim Tovim U’Leshalom — “May you be inscribed and sealed for a Good Year and for a Good and Peaceful Life”


[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anciently Revealed, Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Liturgy, Mormon, Theology, Doctrine & Policy

In Remembrance

December 23, 2011 by

J. Kirk Richards: "Cristo"

There were no qualifications to the parable. Jesus did not distinguish between the guilty prisoner and the wrongly imprisoned, between the starving lazy man and the starving victim of circumstance. He did distinguish between those who honor Him by extending grace and comfort and sustenance to the most needful and wretched and outcast among us and those who do not. This, it turns out, is not a metaphor either. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon

Nominations: Boggs-Doniphan Gentile of the Year Award 2011

December 23, 2011 by
Trophy

Disclaimer: not the actual B-D trophy.

2011 may be the Year of the Mormon, but in keeping with tradition we will still condescend to acknowledge one lucky person outside the faith this year. Yes, it is time for nominations for the fourth annual Boggs-Doniphan Gentile of the Year Award!
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Boggs-Doniphan Award, Current Events, Features, Holiday, Media, Mormon, Politics, Polls, Pop Culture, Society & Culture Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Corpus Christi

December 22, 2011 by

I don’t think it’s insignificant that Mormons do not have religious holidays, even Christmas and Easter are drawn from western Christian traditions; and thus are usually celebrated by Mormons when the rest of Christendom celebrates them according to the region of the world they are in at the time of those holidays. For instance, Easter in Russia is celebrated by Mormons according to the Orthodox calendar, while Easter in Italy is celebrated by Mormons on the date accorded by Catholic tradition. Christmas in Russia slides by January 7th with little fanfare, culturally crushed by seventy years of Soviet thought. As I’ve mentioned before, while I don’t dislike Christmas, I don’t love it. What holidays offer me is what it means to be Christian as I flesh out day-to-day actions and interactions from all the celebratory traditions that can be overwhelming and at the same time feel meaningless.

In The Exponent II Winter 2011 Issue; Erica Eastley explores some of the practices of new Mormons with non-Christian backgrounds. She notes, “[The] culture of the LDS Church is heav­ily influenced by Protestant culture and practice. This isn’t surprising or nec­essarily a bad thing, but it does affect how the Church and its doctrines are received by people whose background isn’t Protestant.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon, Religion

Nativities

December 21, 2011 by

A Christmas memory: At some point in my teenage years my mother purchased a new nativity set, a Fontanini. I didn’t eagerly await the unwrapping of the nativity scene in the same way I did the Dickens Village; it was a tradition each year for my parents to purchase one new piece for the village. Possibly my favorite Christmas memories consisted of watching the village grow year after year. When I finally left home the Village had become quite substantial. But the preparations for the traditions into which we spoke and enacted every Christmas were not complete until the Nativity had been unwrapped and carefully and lovingly arranged on the table. The placement of the Nativity allowed the celebration to officially commence.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation, Religion, Scriptures, Theology, Doctrine & Policy

OccuPie

November 24, 2011 by

Because let’s face it, 99% of Thanksgiving is dessert!

                         [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation, Polls

Monday Morning Theological Poll: Monster Mash Edition

October 31, 2011 by

In honor of the holiday, we present the following poll. (multiple answers accepted)

Answers are only considered legitimate if recited three times in the dark in front of a mirror during a sleepover.

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon, Polls, Pop Culture, Religion

BCC Zeitcast 74: Matt Bowman, Bigfoot, Monsters, & Mormons

October 27, 2011 by

In this special Halloween episode, Scott B. and Steve Evans play host to BCC’s long-time friend and Juvenile Instructor blogger Matt Bowman, who thrills the children with tales of Cain, Bigfoot, and secret UFO societies. Later, recent BCC guest blogger Theric (Eric Jepson) gives us an update on the soon-to-be-released anthology “Monsters and Mormons.”

And if that lineup isn’t sufficient, our very own Kristine Haglund checks in to help the ladies design Halloween costumes depicting famous Mormon women.

Episode Content Guide (below the fold) [Read more…]

Filed Under: BCC Zeitcast, Books & Journals, Features, Film & Television, Holiday, Media, Mormon, Pop Culture, Society & Culture

Easter Sermons

April 24, 2011 by

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,
when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre,
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas were not widely celebrated in the United States during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. Such anniversaries were associated with Catholicism, and much of Protestant America saw them as symbols of “popery” and pagan in origin.[1]
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: , ,

False dichotomies and Easter: a quick post, sorta

April 24, 2011 by

Quick, use up one of your twenty pageviews and read this article by David Brooks. Then go read this response by Andrew Sullivan.

We all back? Good. Brooks is right that most of the folks in Africa (and elsewhere) who join religious movements join because of the creeds promoted, not in spite of them. Sullivan, on the other hand, is correct that we apply our human reason to any particular set of creeds, using that act to determine if they are appropriate for our belief (There is a reason folks go church shopping). So, while I believe that they are both right, I also believe that they are both wrong. They are setting up a false choice between rational and miraculous belief. As a Mormon, I get to believe in both types. We believe that God tells us the truth via our hearts and our minds. So, while both Brooks and Sullivan appear to believe that casual dismissal of Mormonism is de rigueur, Mormonism actually resolves the false dilemma their two approaches create.

Why on Easter? Because we, as Mormons, actually believe that Christ did something rationally impossible. He rose from the dead on the third day, ascended to His Father, and created the means for our return. That doesn’t make us unique (plenty of Christians believe the same), but it does mean that our faith derives from some miraculous moment (in our own experience and in historical experience). At the same time, we derive further meaning from that moment (and many like it) to determine how to live on earth. The derivation of law from experience is the very heart of rationalism. There is no contradiction, really, between the two, or rather, they exist in apparent contradiction, but aren’t, really. We have a Moebius strip of a religion, folks. That’s what gives it power and that is what allows it to appeal to the rational, the irrational, the conservative, the liberal, the fundamentalist, and the revisionist. Christ’s message is to all people; He died & He is Risen.

Amen.

Filed Under: Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Mormon, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation, Religion

Music for Easter Morning

April 23, 2011 by

First, Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs Since I was a little girl, Easter has arrived for me with the opening Rise, Heart (skip to 25 seconds in to avoid annoying announcer). The rest of the five are here. If I ever understand atonement, it will be because of “Love Bade Me Welcome.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Media, Music Tagged With:

Holy Week

April 23, 2011 by

The dark of night lies everywhere.
So young the night around,
We see how vast with stars the sky,
Each star as radiant as day.
And if the earth could have its way,
It would sleep on– through Easter Day—
Lulled by the reading of the psalms.

The dark of night lies everywhere.
So young the night, the square seems like
Eternity form end to end
Where still a thousand years must wait
The dawn of day and light. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With:

Good Friday

April 22, 2011 by

Bach. The Passion According to St. John, in an exquisite performance by the Bach Collegium Japan, directed by Maasaki Suzuki.

Part I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII

I can hardly bear to pick favorites, but if you have to choose, I’d say 3, 5, 10, and 11. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon Tagged With: ,

Maundy Thursday–That Ye Love One Another

April 21, 2011 by

The liturgy of Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, and often includes the washing of feet–either the priest washing other priests’ or congregants’ feet or congregants washing one another’s. It is a startlingly beautiful, powerful, and visceral reminder of Jesus’s personal love for those he called friends.

The indispensable text for this service is “Ubi Caritas”
 [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon Tagged With:

Holy Wednesday–Into Darkness

April 20, 2011 by

The traditional service for Wednesday night before Maundy Thursday is known as Tenebrae. Services vary among denominations, but most of them feature the gradual extinguishing of lights in the sanctuary until the service ends in total darknesss. This night marks the beginning of the end, the descent into despair that will be miraculously lifted by the dawn of Easter.

Here is Paul Celan (whose poetry is holy despair all through) reading his “Tenebrae.” And here’s a translation.

The music for these services often consists of settings of texts from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. A few examples:

Lassus
Victoria (with an interesting bit of history of the (d)evolution of Tenebrae services)
Palestrina
Poulenc

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon Tagged With: ,

Holy Monday

April 18, 2011 by

The world would be a better place if everyone listened to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at least once a year, and I highly recommend it as a Holy Week observance.

The story of the Anointing at Bethany is often part of the reading for Holy Monday (even though it’s not chronologically proper to holy week), so the first section of the St. Matthew (particularly starting at about 10 minutes in) is especially good for today.

And for the textually-inclined, here‘s a sermon on the anointing.

Text below: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon Tagged With: ,

For Palm Sunday

April 17, 2011 by

Hosanna to the Son of David–Weelkes, Gibbons

My Song is Love Unknown

1. My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I,
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon Tagged With: ,

Ash Wednesday

March 8, 2011 by

Miserere mei, Deus

I’m pretty sure I had never seen anyone with ashes on his forehead until I was in college–the imposition of ashes at the start of Lent just wasn’t part of the liturgical life of the Baptist/Methodist/Campbellite town I grew up in.  I was initially puzzled, and then vaguely repulsed by this physical, public acknowledgment of sin and penitence and the messiness of mortality.

Culturally, Mormons aren’t really big on public acknowledgment of sin–we’re optimistic that sin can be contained at home or, at worst, in the bishop’s office.  We speak cheerily of the 4 (or 5, or 7, depending on the teacher’s creativity) R’s of Repentance, a discrete process akin to running the dishwasher.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Comparative/Ecumenical, Holiday, Marriage, Mormon, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation Tagged With: , , ,

Women of Courage

March 8, 2011 by

Happy International Women’s Day to BCC readers.  This is, unfortunately, a rarely celebrated holiday in the U.S., but is recognized around the world as a moment to celebrate the achievements of women, appreciate the women in our own lives, and most importantly think about women’s issues and what work remains to be done to achieve safety and equality for women.  Today, ten women from around the world were honored at the U.S. State Department as Women of Courage.  In the case of some of these women, “courage” is an understatement.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Mormon, Women

Monday Mid-President’s Day Poll

February 21, 2011 by

In honor of President’s Day, click a button on our poll and explain yourself below!


Justify your claims with YouTube clips, quotes, and scandalous photographs! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday, Polls Tagged With: , ,

Proposal Stories

February 12, 2011 by

Mormon culture, especially of the Wasatch Front variety, is big on creative dating. There has been a lot of discussion of whether this is a good thing, but that there is pressure for bringing creativity to the dating enterprise among at least some groups of Mormon young people seems clear. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Holiday Tagged With: , , ,
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