Ella Baron on the Trump-Harris televised debate (Cartoon © The Guardian)
Patrick Comerford
Donald Trump in his televised debate with Kamala Harris repeated apocryphal stories about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs in the streets of Springfield, Ohio. But this exaggerated lie seems to have backfired and it has become one of the signature moments of their first – and possibly only – debate during this election campaign.
Halfway through the debate in Philadelphia last Tuesday night, Trump repeated the fable that migrants in Springfield were ‘eating the pets of the people that live there.’
The ABC News moderator David Muir interjected quickly to clarify that the network had contacted the city’s manager, who said that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants.
Trump’s lies echoed apocryphal stories circulating worldwide on X (the wretched platform once known as Twitter) and other social media sites that Haitian migrants in Springfield were behind a wave of local crime and to blame for the disappearances of cats and dogs.
In the days immediately before the debate, Trump supporters, including Elon Musk, promoted and reposted these claims, regurgitating lies and conspiracy theories that never survive the light of day off social media.
This particular apocryphal story has become a focus of derision of Trump, and a reminder of everything that is crazy and weird about Trump.
But his claims appeal to the audience he intended: fans on X, who responded by generating memes of cats, dogs and geese pleading with voters to save them by choosing Trump. These unfounded stories about Haitian migrants in Springfield were also repeated ahead of the debate in posts on X by Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance.
About 15,000 Haitians have come to Springfield legally in the past several years under temporary protected status as they flee poverty and violence in their home country. But the Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine says, ‘Haitians who are here are hard-working people.’ He told a news conference in Columbus before the debate, ‘They came to Springfield, Ohio, for work, and many, many, many of them are working and filling positions in Springfield.’
It all reminds me of the saying attributed to Mark Twain but that is, in fact, apocryphal, ‘A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.’
But Trump wallows in apocryphal sayings of his own making, such as ‘The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.’ If he ever said that, what he ought to have said is, ‘The truth about me is that I’m a consummate and incurable liar.’
In her handling of Trump’s barbs and lies last week, Kamala Harris must have taken to heart another apocryphal saying ascribed to Mark Twain, ‘Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.’
One story about senior foreign dignitaries visiting England is the apocryphal story about one visitor who exclaimed, ‘I’ve never understood why they built Windsor Castle right under the flightpath for Heathrow. I’d have thought royalty would have wanted somewhere less busy.’
It wasn’t Trump … but it could have been.
He constantly repeats apocryphal stories about nine-month abortions and post-natal infanticide in maternity wards, he fantasises about ‘the late and great Hannibal Lector’, he lies about the size of his crowds, he is abysmally ignorant about solar and wind energy, and he refuses to accept that he lost the last election or to accept responsibility his role in the 6 January riots in Washington.
We normally use the word Apocrypha to label biblical or related writings that are not part of the accepted canon of the Bible, some of which have doubtful authorship or authenticity. The word apocryphal (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in the public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not always initially included as canonical scripture.
The adjective ‘apocryphal’, meaning of doubtful authenticity, mythical or fictional, has been in use since the late 16th century. It took on the popular meaning of ‘false,’ ‘spurious,’ ‘bad’ or ‘heretical.’ It may be used for any book that might have scriptural claims but which does not appear in the canon accepted by the author.
The word’s origin can be found the mediaeval Latin adjective apocryphus (secret, or non-canonical), from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος, (apokryphos, ‘private’), from the verb ἀποκρύπτειν (apokryptein, ‘to hide away’). It is formed from a combination of ἀπό (apó, ‘from’ or ‘away’) and κρύπτω (krúptō ‘I hide’), and so we have the word apocrypha, ἀπόκρυφα.
The word apocrypha has undergone a major change in meaning throughout the centuries. In its ancient Christian usage, it originally meant a text read in private, rather than in public church settings. Later, the word Apocrypha came to be applied as a name for a set of books often placed in the Bible, between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The canonicity of many of these books is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches and other Churches in the East, and they are often described as deuterocanonical. Many other traditions reject them completely, but others regard the Apocrypha as non-canonical books with some undefined Biblical standing and that remain useful for instruction.
Origen, in his Commentaries on Matthew, distinguishes between writings that were read by the churches and apocryphal writings: γραφὴ μὴ φερομένη μέν ἒν τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ δεδημοσιευμένοις βιβλίοις εἰκὸς δ' ὅτι ἒν ἀποκρύφοις φερομένη (‘writing not found in the common and published books on one hand [and] actually found in the secret ones on the other’). The meaning of αποκρυφος here is practically equivalent to ‘excluded from the public use of the church’ and prepares the way for an even less favourable use of the word.
In general use, the word apocrypha came to mean ‘of doubtful authenticity’. This meaning also appears in Origen’s prologue to his commentary on the Song of Songs: ‘Concerning these scriptures, which are called apocryphal, for the reason that many things are found in them corrupt and against the true faith handed down by the elders, it has pleased them that they not be given a place nor be admitted to authority.’
Augustine defined the word as meaning simply ‘obscurity of origin’, implying that any book of unknown authorship or questionable authenticity would be considered apocryphal. Jerome declared that all books outside the Hebrew canon were apocryphal. In practice, Jerome treated some books outside the Hebrew canon as if they were canonical, and the Western Church did not accept Jerome’s definition of apocrypha, instead retaining the word’s prior meaning.
The Council of Trent in 1546 reconfirmed the canon of Augustine, dating to the second and third centuries, declaring ‘He is also to be anathema who does not receive these entire books, with all their parts, as they have been accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and are found in the ancient editions of the Latin Vulgate, as sacred and canonical.’ The whole of the books in question, with the exception of I Esdras and II Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, were declared canonical at Trent.
Lutherans and Anglicans retained the apocryphal books as Christian intertestamental readings and a part of the Bible (in a section called ‘Apocrypha’), but no doctrine should be based on them.
Article 6 in the 39 Articles in the Church of England declared that ‘the other books the church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners,’ though not to establish doctrine.
It is interesting that liturgically, many weddings in Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist churches have a reading from the Book of Tobit. Two traditional Anglican canticles also have sources in the Apocrypha: the canticles Benedicite and Benedictus es, Domine are based on the Song of the Three, a passage in the Book of Daniel that is generally regarded as apocryphal. In the American Prayer Book, one of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an apocryphal book (Tobit 4: 8-9).
Readings from the Apocrypha are regularly appointed to be read. In all, there are 111 such lessons in the revised American Prayer Book Lectionary, drawing on II Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Three Holy Children, and I Maccabees.
The apocryphal books accepted as canonical by the Orthodox Church include the Psalms of Solomon, III Maccabees, IV Maccabees, the Epistle of Jeremiah the Book of Odes, the Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151.
Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants all agree on the canon of the New Testament. The Ethiopian Orthodox have in the past also included I and II Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas in their New Testament canon.
At one time Donald Trump was Biblically illiterate. When he first ran for the Republican nomination, he was unable to name a single Biblical verse. Now he is touting his own branded edition of the Bible.
The God Bless the USA Bible being hawked by Trump for $59.99 uses public domain text from the King James Version. But its 1,350 pages also include some of America’s most sacred documents: the Declaration of Independence; the Pledge of Allegiance; and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’, a song which is played on repeat at Trump’s political rallies.
It gives a new but blasphemous dimension to Biblical Apocrypha.
Today, the adjective apocryphal is commonly used in modern English to refer to any text or story considered to be of dubious veracity or authority, although it may contain some moral truth. In this broader metaphorical sense, the word suggests a claim that is in the nature of folklore, factoid or urban legend.
Meanwhile, the people of Springfield, Ohio, are going to be remembered for a long time as the apocryphal home of so many lost cats and dogs that have been devoured.
Last word: 47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse
Next word: 49, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις
Previous words in this series:
1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.
2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.
3, Bread, Ψωμί.
4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.
5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.
6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.
7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.
8,Theology, Θεολογία.
9, Icon, Εἰκών.
10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.
11, Chaos, Χάος.
12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.
13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.
14, Mañana, Αύριο.
15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.
16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.
17, The missing words.
18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.
19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.
20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.
21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.
22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.
23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.
24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.
25, Asthma, Ασθμα.
26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.
27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.
28, School, Σχολείο.
29, Muse, Μούσα.
30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.
31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.
32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.
33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.
34, Cinema, Κινημα.
35, autopsy and biopsy
36, Exodus, ἔξοδος
37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος
38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς
39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
40, Practice, πρᾶξις
41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός
42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή
43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή
44, catastrophe, καταστροφή
45, democracy, δημοκρατία
46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end
47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse
47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse
48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha
49, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις
15 September 2024
Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024:
128, Sunday 15 September 2024,
Trinity XVI
‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8: 34) … the cross behind the church at the beach in Laytown, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (15 September 2024).
We are in Belfast this weekend and were at a family celebration last night. I hope to go to church in Belfast later this morning before we catch a flight back to Luton later this afternoon. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘Wisdom cried out in the street … at the entrance of the city gates she spoke’ (Proverbs 1: 20-21) … a Holocaust memorial at the gate of the old Jewish cemetery in Berlin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 8: 27-38 (NRSVA)
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ 28 And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29 He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8: 34) … the Byzantine-style crucifix by Laurence King (1907-1981) in the crypt of Saint Mary le Bow on Cheapside in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Reflection:
We were reflecting on Holy Cross Day yesterday and the significance of the discovery of the true cross by Saint. Today, the Gospel reading (Mark 8: 27-38) challenges us to think what it means to take up the cross ourselves individually and to follow Christ as disciples.
In this reading, Christ travels with the disciples north from the Sea of Galilee to the villages around Caesarea Philippi, a town known for its shrines to the god Pan.
On their way to Caesarea Philippi, they tell him that some people think Christ is a great prophet from the past, like Elijah. Others think he is a modern-day prophet, like Saint John the Baptist. They are good comparisons, but they do no t paint the full picture, they do not tell the full story.
Saint Peter tells Christ that he believes he is the Messiah (Mark 8: 29-30). But even then, Peter seems not to get it fully right either.
Christ then tells his disciples that it is not all going to be a bed of roses, indeed it is going to be more like a crown of thorns. He tells them that on the journey he is going to suffer, be derided, and face his own execution.
Saint Peter is upset. This is not what he expects. This is not what anyone of the day expects of the Messiah. He takes Jesus aside, and he rebukes him.
But he has got it wrong. Christ in turn rebukes Peter and reminds those present that if they want to be his followers they must take up their cross and follow him.
If people asked me two key questions today – ‘Who is Christ?’ and ‘What does it mean to follow Christ?’ – I wonder what answers I would give them.
You could compare Christ to great prophets of the past and the present. You could invite people in to Church with you some Sunday morning, and to seek to meet Christ in Word and Sacrament.
Or you could ask people to see Christ in the way you take up our cross and following him (Mark 8: 34).
I was once on a walking tour of Jewish Berlin. As we passed through the streets and shops, saw the houses here Jewish people had hidden, the factories where they had worked, the synagogues where they had prayed and worshipped, I wondered how they could have seen Christ in their Christian neighbours, their Christian in-laws, the pastors and congregations in the local churches and congregations.
We had just visited the first Jewish cemetery in Berlin, had moved along the street and we were standing outside the Sophienkirche, the Church of Saint Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom, when our Jewish guide told us the story of a German priest who is now counted among the ‘Righteous of the Nations’ – people recognised for having risked or lost their lives to save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust.
Father Bernhard Lichtenberg (1875-1943) was born into a German family in what is now Poland (Ohlau, now Oława, near Breslau, now Wrocław), the second of five children. He studied theology in Innsbruck and Breslau, was ordained in 1899, and began serving as a priest in Berlin in 1900, as the pastor of Charlottenburg.
He was decorated for his distinguished service as an army chaplain during World War I, and he also worked at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Berlin.
In 1931, the Bishop of Berlin made him a canon of the cathedral of Saint Hedwig. When he encouraged Catholics to go to see the anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front, he was targeted in a vicious attack by Joseph Goebbels and his Nazi propaganda paper Der Angriff.
On 31 March 1933, Father Bernhard arranged for the Jewish banker Oskar Wassermann to meet Cardinal Bertram in a vain attempt to convince him to intervene against the planned boycott of Jewish businesses.
The Gestapo raided his house in 1933, for the first but not for the last time. He was not to be silenced. He went personally to Hermann Göring in 1935 to protest against the cruelties of the concentration camps.
Father Bernhard became provost of the cathedral in 1938, and was put in charge of the Bishop of Berlin’s Relief Office, helping Catholics of Jewish descent to flee the Third Reich.
On Kristallnacht, synagogues were attacked and Jewish buildings and houses had their windows smashed and set on fire on the night of 9 November 1938. It was the first organised Nazi pogrom in Germany.
The German churches kept silent in the face of these vicious attacks, but he raised his voice publicly and fearlessly against Nazi brutality. Preaching in the Church of Saint Hedwig, Father Bernhard warned: ‘We know what happened yesterday, we do not know what lies in store for us tomorrow. But we have experienced what has happened today. The burning synagogue outside is also a house of God!’
He continued to pray publicly each day at Vespers for the persecuted Jews. Bishop Konrad von Preysing later entrusted him with the task of helping the Jewish community of Berlin.
As we heard this story, we were standing outside Saint Hedwig Hospital, where he had supported patients who passed on food to Jews, and staff who passed on the identities of dead patients to Jews trying to escape.
He protested in person to Nazi officials against the arrest and killing of the sick and the mentally ill, as well as the persecution of the Jews. At first, the Nazis dismissed this priest as a nuisance. Father Bernhard was warned that he was in danger of being arrested for his activities, but he continued fearlessly. He condemned the concentration camps like Dachau, and even organised demonstrations against them outside some camps.
Two women students who heard him pray publicly for Jews and the victims of concentration camps denounced him to the police. The Gestapo raided his home again on 23 October 1941 and found a sermon he had prepared for the next Sunday. It was a response to a Nazi leaflet circulated by Goebbels warning Germans not to help Jews, not even with a friendly greeting. In his sermon, he had written, ‘Let us not be misled by this un-Christian way of thinking but follow the strict command of Jesus Christ: “You shall love you neighbour as you love yourself”.’
Father Bernhard was arrested that day and sent to prison. The Gestapo offered to set him free if he stopped preaching for the rest of the war. Instead, he asked to accompany the deported Jews and Jewish Christians to Poland so he could serve them in pastoral ministry.
With these unyielding principles, the Nazis ordered his internment in Dachau. While he was in transit, he collapsed and died on 5 November 1943. He was beatified in 1996, a public statement that his life was a model of Christian discipleship, of taking up the Cross and following Christ. Yad Vashem listed him among the Righteous of the Nations in 2004.
There is no shame in being Christ-like (Mark 8: 38). And so, we too must be willing to see any insult or taunt, any expression of prejudice or rejection, any racism or any discrimination based on ethnicity or language, gender or sexuality, colour or looks, class or age, is prejudice against Christ, is prejudice against the Body of Christ, is prejudice against all of us, is prejudice against you and me.
If we have no need to be ashamed of who Christ is for us, then neither must we be afraid of speaking up for those he says he has come to bring good news to.
If we take up the Cross and follow him, we may actually find that the burden is not all that heavy. Indeed, we may find we have uncovered a new wisdom and a fresh way of speaking and new expressions of wisdom.
‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8: 34) … the Cross overlooking the beach in Laytown, Co Meath, and looking out to the Irish Sea (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 15 September 2024, Trinity XVI):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘The 5-finger prayer from the Diocese of Kuching, Malaysia.’ This theme is introduced today in reflections ss told to Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG:
“It’s simple,” Revd Jonny replied. As the palm trees swayed in the afternoon breeze outside, he turned to explain the 5-finger prayer he has taught his congregation. “At 12 pm each day, we stop whatever we are doing and pray. With our thumb, for the people who are close to us. With our index finger, for local and national leaders. With our tallest finger for our enemies. With our ring finger, for those in need. With our smallest finger, for ourselves.
Situated in Kampung Benuk, St Paul’s Church was founded in 1951 and is one of the Diocese of Kuching’s more rural parishes. Many in the church here call themselves SPG-Christians rather than Anglicans, as a nod to the presence of SPG missionaries (precursor to USPG) in the region over 170 years ago. A telling sign of the lingering power of a global community of believers.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 15 September 2024, Trinity XVI) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (Thessalonians 5: 16-18).
The Collect:
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Almighty God,
you have taught us through your Son
that love is the fulfilling of the law:
grant that we may love you with our whole heart
and our neighbours as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Lord of creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Sophienkirche, the Church of Saint Sophia or Holy Wisdom in Berlin … there I heard the story of Father Bernhard Lichtenberg (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (15 September 2024).
We are in Belfast this weekend and were at a family celebration last night. I hope to go to church in Belfast later this morning before we catch a flight back to Luton later this afternoon. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘Wisdom cried out in the street … at the entrance of the city gates she spoke’ (Proverbs 1: 20-21) … a Holocaust memorial at the gate of the old Jewish cemetery in Berlin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 8: 27-38 (NRSVA)
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ 28 And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29 He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8: 34) … the Byzantine-style crucifix by Laurence King (1907-1981) in the crypt of Saint Mary le Bow on Cheapside in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Reflection:
We were reflecting on Holy Cross Day yesterday and the significance of the discovery of the true cross by Saint. Today, the Gospel reading (Mark 8: 27-38) challenges us to think what it means to take up the cross ourselves individually and to follow Christ as disciples.
In this reading, Christ travels with the disciples north from the Sea of Galilee to the villages around Caesarea Philippi, a town known for its shrines to the god Pan.
On their way to Caesarea Philippi, they tell him that some people think Christ is a great prophet from the past, like Elijah. Others think he is a modern-day prophet, like Saint John the Baptist. They are good comparisons, but they do no t paint the full picture, they do not tell the full story.
Saint Peter tells Christ that he believes he is the Messiah (Mark 8: 29-30). But even then, Peter seems not to get it fully right either.
Christ then tells his disciples that it is not all going to be a bed of roses, indeed it is going to be more like a crown of thorns. He tells them that on the journey he is going to suffer, be derided, and face his own execution.
Saint Peter is upset. This is not what he expects. This is not what anyone of the day expects of the Messiah. He takes Jesus aside, and he rebukes him.
But he has got it wrong. Christ in turn rebukes Peter and reminds those present that if they want to be his followers they must take up their cross and follow him.
If people asked me two key questions today – ‘Who is Christ?’ and ‘What does it mean to follow Christ?’ – I wonder what answers I would give them.
You could compare Christ to great prophets of the past and the present. You could invite people in to Church with you some Sunday morning, and to seek to meet Christ in Word and Sacrament.
Or you could ask people to see Christ in the way you take up our cross and following him (Mark 8: 34).
I was once on a walking tour of Jewish Berlin. As we passed through the streets and shops, saw the houses here Jewish people had hidden, the factories where they had worked, the synagogues where they had prayed and worshipped, I wondered how they could have seen Christ in their Christian neighbours, their Christian in-laws, the pastors and congregations in the local churches and congregations.
We had just visited the first Jewish cemetery in Berlin, had moved along the street and we were standing outside the Sophienkirche, the Church of Saint Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom, when our Jewish guide told us the story of a German priest who is now counted among the ‘Righteous of the Nations’ – people recognised for having risked or lost their lives to save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust.
Father Bernhard Lichtenberg (1875-1943) was born into a German family in what is now Poland (Ohlau, now Oława, near Breslau, now Wrocław), the second of five children. He studied theology in Innsbruck and Breslau, was ordained in 1899, and began serving as a priest in Berlin in 1900, as the pastor of Charlottenburg.
He was decorated for his distinguished service as an army chaplain during World War I, and he also worked at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Berlin.
In 1931, the Bishop of Berlin made him a canon of the cathedral of Saint Hedwig. When he encouraged Catholics to go to see the anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front, he was targeted in a vicious attack by Joseph Goebbels and his Nazi propaganda paper Der Angriff.
On 31 March 1933, Father Bernhard arranged for the Jewish banker Oskar Wassermann to meet Cardinal Bertram in a vain attempt to convince him to intervene against the planned boycott of Jewish businesses.
The Gestapo raided his house in 1933, for the first but not for the last time. He was not to be silenced. He went personally to Hermann Göring in 1935 to protest against the cruelties of the concentration camps.
Father Bernhard became provost of the cathedral in 1938, and was put in charge of the Bishop of Berlin’s Relief Office, helping Catholics of Jewish descent to flee the Third Reich.
On Kristallnacht, synagogues were attacked and Jewish buildings and houses had their windows smashed and set on fire on the night of 9 November 1938. It was the first organised Nazi pogrom in Germany.
The German churches kept silent in the face of these vicious attacks, but he raised his voice publicly and fearlessly against Nazi brutality. Preaching in the Church of Saint Hedwig, Father Bernhard warned: ‘We know what happened yesterday, we do not know what lies in store for us tomorrow. But we have experienced what has happened today. The burning synagogue outside is also a house of God!’
He continued to pray publicly each day at Vespers for the persecuted Jews. Bishop Konrad von Preysing later entrusted him with the task of helping the Jewish community of Berlin.
As we heard this story, we were standing outside Saint Hedwig Hospital, where he had supported patients who passed on food to Jews, and staff who passed on the identities of dead patients to Jews trying to escape.
He protested in person to Nazi officials against the arrest and killing of the sick and the mentally ill, as well as the persecution of the Jews. At first, the Nazis dismissed this priest as a nuisance. Father Bernhard was warned that he was in danger of being arrested for his activities, but he continued fearlessly. He condemned the concentration camps like Dachau, and even organised demonstrations against them outside some camps.
Two women students who heard him pray publicly for Jews and the victims of concentration camps denounced him to the police. The Gestapo raided his home again on 23 October 1941 and found a sermon he had prepared for the next Sunday. It was a response to a Nazi leaflet circulated by Goebbels warning Germans not to help Jews, not even with a friendly greeting. In his sermon, he had written, ‘Let us not be misled by this un-Christian way of thinking but follow the strict command of Jesus Christ: “You shall love you neighbour as you love yourself”.’
Father Bernhard was arrested that day and sent to prison. The Gestapo offered to set him free if he stopped preaching for the rest of the war. Instead, he asked to accompany the deported Jews and Jewish Christians to Poland so he could serve them in pastoral ministry.
With these unyielding principles, the Nazis ordered his internment in Dachau. While he was in transit, he collapsed and died on 5 November 1943. He was beatified in 1996, a public statement that his life was a model of Christian discipleship, of taking up the Cross and following Christ. Yad Vashem listed him among the Righteous of the Nations in 2004.
There is no shame in being Christ-like (Mark 8: 38). And so, we too must be willing to see any insult or taunt, any expression of prejudice or rejection, any racism or any discrimination based on ethnicity or language, gender or sexuality, colour or looks, class or age, is prejudice against Christ, is prejudice against the Body of Christ, is prejudice against all of us, is prejudice against you and me.
If we have no need to be ashamed of who Christ is for us, then neither must we be afraid of speaking up for those he says he has come to bring good news to.
If we take up the Cross and follow him, we may actually find that the burden is not all that heavy. Indeed, we may find we have uncovered a new wisdom and a fresh way of speaking and new expressions of wisdom.
‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8: 34) … the Cross overlooking the beach in Laytown, Co Meath, and looking out to the Irish Sea (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 15 September 2024, Trinity XVI):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘The 5-finger prayer from the Diocese of Kuching, Malaysia.’ This theme is introduced today in reflections ss told to Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG:
“It’s simple,” Revd Jonny replied. As the palm trees swayed in the afternoon breeze outside, he turned to explain the 5-finger prayer he has taught his congregation. “At 12 pm each day, we stop whatever we are doing and pray. With our thumb, for the people who are close to us. With our index finger, for local and national leaders. With our tallest finger for our enemies. With our ring finger, for those in need. With our smallest finger, for ourselves.
Situated in Kampung Benuk, St Paul’s Church was founded in 1951 and is one of the Diocese of Kuching’s more rural parishes. Many in the church here call themselves SPG-Christians rather than Anglicans, as a nod to the presence of SPG missionaries (precursor to USPG) in the region over 170 years ago. A telling sign of the lingering power of a global community of believers.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 15 September 2024, Trinity XVI) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (Thessalonians 5: 16-18).
The Collect:
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Almighty God,
you have taught us through your Son
that love is the fulfilling of the law:
grant that we may love you with our whole heart
and our neighbours as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Lord of creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Sophienkirche, the Church of Saint Sophia or Holy Wisdom in Berlin … there I heard the story of Father Bernhard Lichtenberg (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Greeks have a word for it:
47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Acropolis? … part of the Parthenon frieze in the Acropolis Museum in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
Going around the Acropolis Museum in Athens some years ago, I overheard a tourist in one guide, who was gazing on the displays of the frieze, exclaim out loud, in wonder and awe: ‘Look, the Four Horsemen of the Acropolis.’
This is not an apocryphal story. But I can only imagine how difficult it must be for any tour guide to explain to someone so knowledgeable and informed as that man the difference between the words Acropolis, Apocalypse and, perhaps even, Apocrypha … and apoplectic.
The English word apocalypse comes directly from the Greek word ἀποκάλυψις (apokállipsis), derived a combination of απο- (apo-), a prefix used like ‘un-’ in English and meaning ‘away from’ or ‘not’; and καλύπτω (-calypto) meaning to cover, veil or hide. So, an apocalypse is something hidden that is unveiled, uncovered or revealed.
In Greek mythology, Calypso (Καλυψώ) was a nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia. Her name comes from καλύπτω (kalyptō), ‘to cover’, ‘to conceal’, or ‘to hide’, so her name means ‘she who conceals.’ She was believed to conceal vital knowledge and was a reclusive character on her island.
Homer says in the Odyssey Calypso she detained Odysseus for seven years against his will and promised him immortality if he would stay with her. But Odysseus preferred to return home and eventually, after the intervention of other gods, Calypso was forced to let Odysseus go.
Imagine a new sculpture or work of art about to be unveiled in a town square. It is still under wraps while people gather and the speeches are made. After the ceremonies, a chord is pulled, the cloth falls off, and the statue, which has remained unseen, is unveiled and revealed. This quite simply is an apocalyptic moment. It is a dramatic moment, but without being melodramatic.
But the word apocalyptic has melodramatic significance because many of us associate these words with the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. Many years ago, I caught a ferry from Kos to Patmos, and climbed halfway up the mountainside to the Cave of the Apocalypse (Σπήλαιο Αποκάλυψης), between the villages of Chóra and Skala. The cave marks the place where Saint John received his visions recorded in the Book of Revelation.
The opening verse introduces the book as: Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ …’ Indeed, some translations give Apocalypse as the title of the book. Its many revelations, often horrific, are typically regarded as apocalyptic, including the four horsemen in Chapter 6.
The four horsemen ride on white, red, black, and pale horses, and all save for the figure of Death are portrayed as human in appearance. The first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown as a figure of conquest. The second horseman carries a great sword and rides a red horse as the creator of war and slaughter. The third rides a black horse symbolising famine and carries a pair of scales. The fourth horse is pale, and on it rides Death, followed by Hades.
‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ (Ezekiel 37: 3) … skulls in the ossuary in Arkadi Monastery from a battle in 1866 during the Turkish occupation of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
These revelations have given the word apocalypse negative connotation, similar to Armageddon, the final cataclysmic battle (see Revelation 16: 16) and the end of the world.
But apocalyptic literature is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597-587 BCE). In this genre, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically involve symbolic imagery drawn from the Hebrew Bible, cosmological and pessimistic historical surveys, the division of time into periods, esoteric numerology, and claims of ecstasy and inspiration.
Almost all examples are written under pseudonyms, claiming as their author a hero from the past, as with parts of the Book of Daniel (7-12), composed during the 2nd century BCE but bearing the name of Daniel from the 6th century BCE.
Elements of apocalyptic literature are also found in Ezekiel 1-3, 37 (the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones) and 38-39; and Zechariah 1-6, and in apocryphal works such as 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. There are apocalyptic themes too in Isaiah (24-27, 33, 34-35), Jeremiah (33: 14-26), Joel (3: 9-17) and Zechariah (12-14).
The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament. But the account of the baptism of Jesus in Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 3: 13-17) could be considered apocalyptic, for the heavens open for the presence of a divine mediator, the dove representing the Holy Spirit, and a voice communicates supernatural information, although there is no eschatological element.
The Gospel accounts foretelling the destruction of the Temple and predicting signs of the end times and the second coming (Matthew 24: 1-51; Mark 13: 1-37) are apocalyptic narratives that draw extensively on Daniel 7. The account of the Last Judgment, with the separation of the sheep and the goats is also apocalyptic in nature (Matthew 25: 31-46).
In addition, there are apocalyptic passages in some Pauline passages (see II Thessalonians 2: 1-12, the vision of the Man of Lawlessness), as well as II Peter 3 and Jude 14-15.
Previous words: 46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end
Next word: 48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha
Saint John the Evangelist in the Cave of the Apocalypse in Patmos … two images on Greek postage stamps (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Previous words in this series:
1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.
2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.
3, Bread, Ψωμί.
4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.
5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.
6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.
7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.
8,Theology, Θεολογία.
9, Icon, Εἰκών.
10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.
11, Chaos, Χάος.
12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.
13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.
14, Mañana, Αύριο.
15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.
16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.
17, The missing words.
18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.
19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.
20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.
21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.
22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.
23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.
24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.
25, Asthma, Ασθμα.
26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.
27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.
28, School, Σχολείο.
29, Muse, Μούσα.
30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.
31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.
32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.
33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.
34, Cinema, Κινημα.
35, autopsy and biopsy
36, Exodus, ἔξοδος
37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος
38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς
39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
40, Practice, πρᾶξις
41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός
42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή
43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή
44, catastrophe, καταστροφή
45, democracy, δημοκρατία
46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end
47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse
48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha
49, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις
Patrick Comerford
Going around the Acropolis Museum in Athens some years ago, I overheard a tourist in one guide, who was gazing on the displays of the frieze, exclaim out loud, in wonder and awe: ‘Look, the Four Horsemen of the Acropolis.’
This is not an apocryphal story. But I can only imagine how difficult it must be for any tour guide to explain to someone so knowledgeable and informed as that man the difference between the words Acropolis, Apocalypse and, perhaps even, Apocrypha … and apoplectic.
The English word apocalypse comes directly from the Greek word ἀποκάλυψις (apokállipsis), derived a combination of απο- (apo-), a prefix used like ‘un-’ in English and meaning ‘away from’ or ‘not’; and καλύπτω (-calypto) meaning to cover, veil or hide. So, an apocalypse is something hidden that is unveiled, uncovered or revealed.
In Greek mythology, Calypso (Καλυψώ) was a nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia. Her name comes from καλύπτω (kalyptō), ‘to cover’, ‘to conceal’, or ‘to hide’, so her name means ‘she who conceals.’ She was believed to conceal vital knowledge and was a reclusive character on her island.
Homer says in the Odyssey Calypso she detained Odysseus for seven years against his will and promised him immortality if he would stay with her. But Odysseus preferred to return home and eventually, after the intervention of other gods, Calypso was forced to let Odysseus go.
Imagine a new sculpture or work of art about to be unveiled in a town square. It is still under wraps while people gather and the speeches are made. After the ceremonies, a chord is pulled, the cloth falls off, and the statue, which has remained unseen, is unveiled and revealed. This quite simply is an apocalyptic moment. It is a dramatic moment, but without being melodramatic.
But the word apocalyptic has melodramatic significance because many of us associate these words with the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. Many years ago, I caught a ferry from Kos to Patmos, and climbed halfway up the mountainside to the Cave of the Apocalypse (Σπήλαιο Αποκάλυψης), between the villages of Chóra and Skala. The cave marks the place where Saint John received his visions recorded in the Book of Revelation.
The opening verse introduces the book as: Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ …’ Indeed, some translations give Apocalypse as the title of the book. Its many revelations, often horrific, are typically regarded as apocalyptic, including the four horsemen in Chapter 6.
The four horsemen ride on white, red, black, and pale horses, and all save for the figure of Death are portrayed as human in appearance. The first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown as a figure of conquest. The second horseman carries a great sword and rides a red horse as the creator of war and slaughter. The third rides a black horse symbolising famine and carries a pair of scales. The fourth horse is pale, and on it rides Death, followed by Hades.
‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ (Ezekiel 37: 3) … skulls in the ossuary in Arkadi Monastery from a battle in 1866 during the Turkish occupation of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
These revelations have given the word apocalypse negative connotation, similar to Armageddon, the final cataclysmic battle (see Revelation 16: 16) and the end of the world.
But apocalyptic literature is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597-587 BCE). In this genre, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically involve symbolic imagery drawn from the Hebrew Bible, cosmological and pessimistic historical surveys, the division of time into periods, esoteric numerology, and claims of ecstasy and inspiration.
Almost all examples are written under pseudonyms, claiming as their author a hero from the past, as with parts of the Book of Daniel (7-12), composed during the 2nd century BCE but bearing the name of Daniel from the 6th century BCE.
Elements of apocalyptic literature are also found in Ezekiel 1-3, 37 (the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones) and 38-39; and Zechariah 1-6, and in apocryphal works such as 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. There are apocalyptic themes too in Isaiah (24-27, 33, 34-35), Jeremiah (33: 14-26), Joel (3: 9-17) and Zechariah (12-14).
The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament. But the account of the baptism of Jesus in Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 3: 13-17) could be considered apocalyptic, for the heavens open for the presence of a divine mediator, the dove representing the Holy Spirit, and a voice communicates supernatural information, although there is no eschatological element.
The Gospel accounts foretelling the destruction of the Temple and predicting signs of the end times and the second coming (Matthew 24: 1-51; Mark 13: 1-37) are apocalyptic narratives that draw extensively on Daniel 7. The account of the Last Judgment, with the separation of the sheep and the goats is also apocalyptic in nature (Matthew 25: 31-46).
In addition, there are apocalyptic passages in some Pauline passages (see II Thessalonians 2: 1-12, the vision of the Man of Lawlessness), as well as II Peter 3 and Jude 14-15.
Previous words: 46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end
Next word: 48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha
Saint John the Evangelist in the Cave of the Apocalypse in Patmos … two images on Greek postage stamps (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Previous words in this series:
1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.
2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.
3, Bread, Ψωμί.
4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.
5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.
6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.
7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.
8,Theology, Θεολογία.
9, Icon, Εἰκών.
10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.
11, Chaos, Χάος.
12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.
13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.
14, Mañana, Αύριο.
15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.
16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.
17, The missing words.
18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.
19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.
20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.
21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.
22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.
23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.
24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.
25, Asthma, Ασθμα.
26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.
27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.
28, School, Σχολείο.
29, Muse, Μούσα.
30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.
31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.
32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.
33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.
34, Cinema, Κινημα.
35, autopsy and biopsy
36, Exodus, ἔξοδος
37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος
38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς
39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
40, Practice, πρᾶξις
41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός
42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή
43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή
44, catastrophe, καταστροφή
45, democracy, δημοκρατία
46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end
47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse
48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha
49, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις
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