Bethany and Jerusalem: A Day of Questions
Mark 11:19-25 Jesus teaches on the way from Bethany to Jerusalem.
Matthew 21:23-22:46 Jesus teaches and answers questions in the court of the Temple.
Matthew 23:1-39 Jesus denounces the scribes and the Pharisees in his last public discourse.
Mark 12:41-44 Jesus commends the poor widow for her gift to the Temple treasury.
Matthew 24-25 Jesus teaches his disciples on the Mount of Olives about eschatology and his second coming.
Bethany and Jerusalem: A Day of Messianic Power
Mark 11:12-18; Luke 19:45-47 The barren fig tree is cursed, and Jesus cleanses the Temple for the second time.
John 19:20-50 Some Greek seekers come to see Jesus, and he teaches concerning his impending death and sacrifice.
I plan to post Scripture reading for each day this week. Come back tomorrow for a Day of Controversy.
In my iTunes under the title “Resurrection”:
Messiah, HWV 56, PART 2: Lift up your heads (chorus: A tempo ordinario) 3:15 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Benjamin Luxon, Cambridge King’s College Choir, James Bowman, Robert Tear & Sir David Willcocks
Messiah, HWV 56, PART 2: Hallelujah (chorus: Allegro) 4:25 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Benjamin Luxon, Cambridge King’s College Choir, James Bowman, Robert Tear & Sir David Willcocks
Messiah, HWV 56, PART 3: I know that my Redeemer liveth (soprano air: Larghetto) 5:56 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Benjamin Luxon, Cambridge King’s College Choir, James Bowman, Robert Tear & Sir David Willcocks
We Delight 3:23 Caedmon’s Call In the Company of Angels – A Call to Worship
The Danse 5:15 Caedmon’s Call In the Company of Angels – A Call to Worship
Rise Again 4:25 Dallas Holm
He’s Alive 4:53 Don Francisco
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today 3:44 Glad: Glad Collector’s Series
Trumpet Concerto in E flat major: Allegro 5:05 Franz Joseph Haydn/Ludwig Güttler (trumpet), Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum, Max Pommer (cond)
Pachelbel Canon – Baroque Favorites (Handel, Telemann, Bach, Vivaldi)
Easter Song 3:59 Keith Green The Ministry Years 1977-1979
Song Of The Lamb 4:41 Sovereign Grace: No Greater Love
I Will Glory In My Redeemer 4:50 Sovereign Grace: No Greater Love
An eclectic mix, don’t you think? What should I add?
I planned to extend the blogging break until Resurrection Sunday, but I’m inspired to post some thoughts and quotations and poems and book suggestions for the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord this week. I think I’ll enjoy celebrating here at the blog, and I hope you will, too.
Illustrations from St. Nicholas magazine (public domain)
More vintage children’s book illustrations.
Illustrations from old Bible story books, coutesy of La Vista Church of Christ. Also public domain.
Coloring pages of famous artists’ pictures, including Cezanne, Picasso, Monet and others.
I found these sites with beautiful vintage pictures thanks to various and sundry blog friends before I went on break, and unfortunately I can’t remember who you were. Thanks to all anyway.
This powerful poem/prayer of blessing and invocation is supposed to have been composed by St. Patrick himself both in Latin and in Gaelic. This version is one translation that I found here.
I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.
I arise today through the strength of Christ with His Baptism,
through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial
through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.
I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim
in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels,
in hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets,
in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors,
in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.
I arise today, through the strength of Heaven:
light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendour of Fire,
speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.
I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to secure me:
against snares of devils, against temptations of vices, against inclinations of nature, against everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.
I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils):
against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul,
against incantations of false prophets,
against black laws of heathenry,
against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry,
against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
against every knowledge that endangers man’s body and soul.
Christ to protect me today against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so that there may come abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right,
Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length,
Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.
Pi Day is observed in the U.S. on March 14 — 3/14 — in recognition of the value of pi. Celebrations can begin at approximately 1:59 p.m. as a further reminder of pi’s approximate value, 3.14159.
Wouldn’t you know the ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom would throw a party while I’m on vacation! Well, ladies, enjoy the party, and I’ll see you back here at Semicolon on the other side of Resurrection Day in April.
In the meantime, you might enjoy some of the following “celebrations” from past Semicolon posts:
Celebrating Classic Fiction for Nine Year Old Boys
Enjoy the parties, and come back soon. Oh and take a look at the prize I’m giving away in honor of The Ultimate Blog Party, a copy of my book Picture Book Preschool. You can win one by linking your blog at 5 Minutes for Mom.
The patron saint of Wales is Saint David, or Sant Dewi as the Welsh call him. He lived in the sixth century and became the Archbishop of Wales. He was particularly fond of bread, vegetables, and water, drinking nothing but water for most of his life. He is also associated with water because it is said that a spring of water came bubbling up where he walked at significant times and places during his life. I’m interested in Saint David partly because some of my ancestors came from Wales.
The Welsh celebrate Saint David’s Day with leeks (remember Fluellen in Shakespeare’s Henry V?) and daffodils, male voice choirs, and harp concerts. If you would like to celebrate this Welsh holiday with your children, the website below has coloring pages, craft projects, a recipe for leek soup, and more information on David’s life.
St. David’s Day Activities for Kids
St. David died in about 589, and his last words were recorded as:
“Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.”
‘Do the little things’ (‘Gwnewch y pethau bychain’) is today a very well-known phrase in Welsh. It reminds me of Elisabeth Elliot’s admonition to “do the next thing.” Either way it seems to me to be a good motto. Sometimes it’s all I can do– to do the next little thing that needs to be done, and sometimes it’s enough. Happy St. David’s Day!
The Woman
“She did not dare to own that the man she loved was her inferior, or to feel that she had given her heart away too soon. Given once, the pure bashful maiden was too modest, too tender, too trustful, too weak, too much woman, to recall it.” Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.
“One of woman’s magnanimities is to yield. Love, at the height where it is absolute, is complicated with some indescribably celestial blindness of modesty. But what dangers you run, O noble souls! Often you give the heart, and we take the body. Your heart remains with you, you gaze upon it in the gloom with a shudder. Love has no middle course; it either ruins or it saves.” Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
“I’m waning in his favor, yet I love him.
I love this man, who runs to meet his ruin.
And sure the gods, like me, are fond of him;
His virtues lie so mingled with his crimes
As would confound their choice to punish one
And not reward the other.” All For Love by John Dryden
The Man
“He looked at Natasha as she sang, and something new and joyful stirred in his soul. He felt happy and at the same time sad. He had absolutely nothing to weep about yet he was ready to weep. What about? His former love? The little princess? His disillusionments?… His hopes for the future?… Yes and no. The chief reason was a sudden, vivid sense of the terrible contrast between something infinitely great and illimitable within him and that limited and material something that he, and even she, was. This contrast weighed on and yet cheered him while she sang.” War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
“So was man created, to hunger for the ideal that is above himself, until one day there is magic in the air, and the eyes of a girl rest upon him. He does not know that it is he himself who crowned her, and if the girl is as pure as he, their love is the one form of idolatry that is not quite ignoble. It is the joining of two souls on their way to God.” The Little Minister by James Barrie
In Love
“To see a young couple loving each other is no wonder; but to see an old couple loving each other is the best sight of all.” Henry Esmond by William Makepeace Thackeray.
“Our souls were near together, like two raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly nearer, ever nearer; for now they had touched and were not two, but one inseparable drop, crystallised beyond change, not to be disintegrated by time, nor shattered by death’s blow, nor resolved by any alchemy.” Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson.
“Love is my life, life is my love,
love is my whole felicity,
Love is my sweet, sweet is my love,
I am in love, and love in me.” From A Shepherd’s Garland by Michael Drayton.
The Cure
“It may have been observed that there is no regular path for getting out of love as there is for getting in. Some people look upon marriage as a short cut that way but it has been known to fail.” Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
“My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware , as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath–a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind–not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
“Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love.” As You Like It by William Shakespeare.
True Love
If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
‘I love her for her smile … her look … her way
Of speaking gently, … for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ —
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,–and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou may’st love on, through love’s eternity.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.