All Good Things

I had someone comment on a post today asking if there was any chance of me returning to blogging any time soon.

Honestly, the answer is no...for now. I am back in Fort Wayne for my final year at seminary, which in and of itself is taking up quite a bit of my time. But more importantly than that, my wife is pregnant with our first child, and so they are taking up quite a bit of my time as well. Add on top of that the fact that most of my hymnals and reference books are buried in boxes at the moment.

And honestly, at least for now, I've lost the bug to blog.

HOWEVER, I do have some exciting news, which I think I can make public now (as it more or less is public anyway). Concordia Publishing House is going to be publishing LSB: Hymnal Companion sometime in the future (though I honestly don't know when). This is going to be the absolute BEST companion volume to any hymnal anywhere--partly because it is going to contain the most comprehensive and thorough information regarding the hymns in LSB, but mostly because they asked me to author some of the hymn essays. I won't divulge which essays or how many. I'll just let you know that you should keep an eye out for it when it is released.

For the time being I will leave this blog active so that you can go back and read some of my older posts if you are so inclined. And perhaps I will want to pick it up again sometime next year after I have been placed.

Soli Deo Gloria!

When Bad Churches Get Even Worse

This is the latest in the series of unfortunate events that is the ELCA.

A short hymn is a appropriate for this:

"Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy."

Lost in the shadow of that story is the news that the assembly also approved full fellowship with the U.M.C.

St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord

Today is the Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord.

LSB 855, "For All the Faithful Women" sts. 1, 8, 3, 4

"For all the faithful women
Who served in days of old,
To You shall thanks be given;
To all, their story told.
They served with strength and gladness
In tasks Your wisdom gave.
To You their lives bore witness,
Proclaimed Your pow'r to save.

We sing of Mary, mother,
Fair maiden, full of grace.
She bore the Christ, our brother,
Who came to save our race.
May we, with her, surrender
Ourselves to Your command
And lay upon Your altar
Our gifts of heart and hand.

O God, for saints and servants,
Those named and those unknown
In whom through all the ages
Your light of glory shone,
We offer glad thanksgiving
And fervent prayer we raise
That, faithful in Your service,
Our lives may sing Your praise.

All praise to God the Father!
All praise to Christ the Son!
All praise the Holy Spirit,
Who binds the Church in one!
With saints who went before us,
With saints who witness still,
We sing glad Alleluias
And strive to do Your will."

Text: Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr., b. 1923, alt.
Tune: Kuortane, Finninsh, 19th cent.

This hymn is similar to LSB 517/518, "By All Your Saints in Warfare," in that there are many stanzas that may be inserted to commemorate many different people. As the title of this hymn suggests, all of the alternate stanzas are about various women in the Bible: Miriam, Hannah, Ruth, Mary, Martha and Mary, The Woman at the Well, Mary Magdalene, Dorcas, and Eunice and Lois.

I'm not sure how I feel about a hymn dedicated specifically to women. While there is nothing inherently wrong with it, I can't help but be suspect about the intentions of the hymn. Women's roles in the Church have always been a very hotly debated topic (despite the clear command of the Word of God), and so a hymn specifically about women raises red flags in my head. A quick read of the individual stanzas doesn't reveal anything that would concern me. I would just be cautious about its usage.

As for the content of the text, I don't like how stanza four is constructed. I am no hymn-writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I would rather it read this:

"All praise to God the Father!
All praise to God the Son!
All praise to God the Spirit!
Eternal Three-in-One!"

As it is written in LSB, the shift in the third verse about the Holy Spirit is poetically out of place. Furthermore, the work of the Spirit is praised while the work of the Father and the Son is not even mentioned. It is rather awkward to me.

I also don't like how the hymn ends, "And strive to do Your will." Stanzas of Trinitarian doxology should not end with the Law.

I might consider using this hymn in small group settings, but I don't think I would use it in the Divine Service. For saints' days I would rather use the aforementioned "By All Your Saints."

As an aside to all of this, if you own a copy of the Treasury of Daily Prayer, be sure to read the snippet from Luther about Mary. I don't have mine with me, but I was particularly struck by his comment that Mary is remembered because God beheld her. She is not remembered because of her virginity. There are many out there who would rather remember Mary because of her supposed perpetual virginity than because of the favor the Lord showed to her. It's a quite interesting perspective.

On the Reliquae

For whatever reason, I just can't help but contribute my two cents to what has been a very hot topic among Lutheran bloggers. As always, there is a hymn in here.

The reliquae is what remains of Holy Communion after the distribution is over. What has been so vociferously debated has been the question of how to properly handle the reliquae.

Yet before we can answer the question of what we are to do with it, we must understand what it is. As the holy evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul record for us, Christ Himself tells us that what we receive in Holy Communion is not simply bread and wine, but it is really, truly, firmly His body and blood. The fullness of Christ is present in, with, and under the bread and the wine. We even sing about this. Though I do not particularly like this hymn, it says some good things in the text.

LSB 629, "What Is This Bread?"

"What is this bread?
Christ's body risen from the dead:
This bread we break,
This life we take,
Was crushed to pay for our release.
O taste and see--the Lord is peace.

What is this wine?
The blood of Jesus shed for mine;
The cup of grace
Brings His embrace
Of life and love until I sing!
O taste and see--the Lord is King.

So who am I,
That I should live and He should die
Under the rod?
My God, my God,
Why have You not forsaken me?
O taste and see--the Lord is free.

Yet is God here?
Oh, yes! By Word and promise clear,
In mouth and soul
He makes us whole--
Christ, truly present in this meal.
O taste and see--the Lord is real.

Is this for me?
I am forgiven and set free!
I do believe
That I receive
His very body and His blood.
O taste and see--the Lord is good."

Text: Frederic W. Baue, b. 1946
Tune: Preparation, Jean Neuhauser Baue, b. 1951

There are some very good statements in this hymn. The opening verses of stanzas one and two are very clear: this bread? this wine? They are both the body and the blood. And in stanza four, "Yet is God here? Oh, yes! By Word and promise clear, in mouth and soul."

What I don't like about this hymn are the tune and the fact that each verse begins with a question. It just seems a bit trite. But in terms of its clear confession of the real presence, it is quite strong.

So we read in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions and we proclaim in Lutheran hymnody that the bread and the wine in Holy Communion are truly the body and blood of Christ. And yet that's only the first step. Before we can tackle the question of what to do with the reliquae, we must determine whether or not it is still the body and blood of Christ after the Communion is over. After all, if it ceases to be the body and blood of Christ then it does not matter what we do with mere bread and wine, right?

And yet, here's the hitch that so many people seem to get caught up on: the question of whether or not it is still Christ's body and blood is, for all intents and purposes, irrelevant (I will explain momentarily). Now, for the record, I believe that it remains Christ's body and blood, but there are those who argue that it ceases to be when the Sacrament is over.

Okay, so let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that it does cease to be Christ's body and blood. This means, then, that at one point in time it was Christ's body and blood. It was sacred. It was holy. It was used for a Godly purpose. How shall we deal with these things that once carried--indeed, were the very body and blood of Christ?

Let's take a lesson from secular society. If you go to Greenfield Village in Deerborn, MI or to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL you will find vehicles that once served as presidential limousines. They are no longer used for this purpose. That is, they no longer carry the real, physical presence of the president. And yet they are preserved with great care and love. They are no longer presidential limousines. They are just mere vehicles, right? And yet despite being mere vehicles, they are treated with a great amount of respect. Should we not treat the elements of Holy Communion with the same--nay, greater reverence than these secular vehicles? And this is, of course, assuming that Christ's body and blood cease to be present in, with, and under the bread and the wine (which does not happen).

So whether we are dealing with the true body and blood of Christ (which we are) or whether we are dealing with those things that merely once were the true body and blood of Christ (which we are not), the approach ought to be along the same lines. This is why the whole question is irrelevant. Either way, we are dealing with something holy and sacred. What both sides of the "Is-this-or-is-this-not-Christ's-body" issue should be able to agree on is that these are holy things, and holy things deserve holy treatment.

And so now we can finally get to the matter of what to do with the reliquae. Since we are dealing with something holy and sacred, the first key to answering this question is reverence. Holy things deserve reverent treatment. Therefore, the reliquae should be treated in a reverent and worthy manner. That is, treat them as if they are actually holy. That means the following actions are probably not the most beneficial:

- Dumping it into the garbage to be mingled with common waste in the landfill;
- Pouring it down the drain or into the toilet to be mingled with common waste in the sewers.

So first off we have a disposal issue. Holy things are not common waste, and so straight up "trashing" probably ought not be done. I would imagine that most of us would no sooner throw a Bible in the garbage or a crucifix in the toilet.

Now, to be fair, some people are queasy about retaining the blood of Christ. Some of them are afraid of germs and disease (despite the fact that alcohol and precious metals both contribute to killing germs and disease). Some of them just don't want to see the blood of Christ reused, so they look for some manner of disposal. If either the body or the blood of Christ must be disposed of, there are two possible methods of disposal:

- Pour it into the ground;
- Burn it.

Pouring the remaining wine into the ground returns the elements to nature. As for burning, again taking a page from secular society and how we treat our secular "holy" things, flags are burned when they are no longer fit to be used.

As I see it, though, there are two potential problems here. The first is that Christ is risen from the dead. That is, His body and blood are no longer "in the ground," that is, in the grave. It might not be the most beneficial practice to put His body or blood back into the ground. Personally, I think that would be a bit of a stretch, but I could perhaps see someone raising that objection. The second problem is similar, and that is that cremation is not in the best Christian practice. However, when the body and blood of Christ are consumed in Holy Communion, they are "burned" in that the elements are used for caloric energy. Again, I think it's a bit of a stretch, but I could see someone being concerned about burning Christ's body and blood.

Overall, I'm not a big fan of any form of disposal. Christ commanded that we eat and drink. Therefore, whatever is consecrated in Holy Communion ought to be eaten and drunk. So from that line of thinking, I see three different opportunities in which the reliquae can be consumed:

- At the next Divine Service;
- Throughout the week during shut-in visits;
- Immediately at the conclusion of distribution.

Now, there is a bit of a difference between reserving against the next Communion and taking to the shut-ins. From what I understand, the men who reserve and take these to their shut-ins do it for the sake of wanting to join these members with the entire body as well as avoiding using unsacred things such as hospital trays or coffee tables as altars. While I respect this line of thinking, I find a few small flaws with it.

First, to say that bringing the elements from the Sunday Communion joins the people with the common body implies (it does not state, but it implies) that consecrating in the hospital or in the home somehow brings to them a different Communion. Every Communion is participation in the death of Christ. Every Communion is with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. So if Holy Communion is celebrated in the hospital or in the home, they are still communing with the entire body of Christ, even if the specific elements were consecrated separately.

Secondly, while I respect the idea of not wanting to use hospital trays as altars, there are remedies to this. I know of pastors who have a set of visitation linens that they use to cover whatever surface they are using. If that does not cover the "unsacred" makeshift altar enough, a small, portable mensa could be made and placed on top of whatever surface is being used. This covers the common with those things that are set apart as sacred.

Lastly, to say that the same elements should be used implies that the shut-in are not worthy of seeing the full Service of the Sacrament. It implies that the reliquae is good enough for them and they have no need to hear the words of institution spoken, that a mere repeating of the words that were spoken is comparable. In my discussions about this topic with others, I have spoken with people who would be horribly offended if their pastor only brought the "leftovers" to them and did not speak the full mass in their presence.

So I find this particular argument to be weak and perhaps a little flawed, though I personally do not find it to be offensive or sinful.

If it is reserved against the next Communion, whatever is reserved would be the first to be distributed.

Now, these two options raise yet another issue, which must be tackled. Whether they are being reserved against the next Communion or being taken to the shut-ins, they must be reserved in some manner. How is this to be done? The Lutheran Liturgy provides an answer to this question. "When the Service has been completed, an elder or other officer shall remove the sacramental vessels from the altar to the sacristy and dispose of that part of the bread and wine which remains as follows: He shall carefully remove the bread from the paten and ciborium to a fit receptacle, there to be kept against the next Communion. He shall carry the chalice to a proper and convenient place without the church and pour the wine upon the ground" (p. 421). As you can see, The Lutheran Liturgy supports pouring it upon the ground. Again, I personally don't like the idea of disposal. And then it goes on to state that the bread shall be put into "a fit receptacle." Notice also that The Lutheran Liturgy speaks of reserving against the next Communion.

Sadly, though, this raises another question. What is "a fit receptacle." Remember, at the absolute least these things once were the body and blood of Christ. Again, I believe that they are still the body and blood of Christ, but regardless, they are holy. This means the following probably are not fit receptacles:

- Plastic bags or bottles;
- Empty peanut butter jars;
- Tupperware-type containers;
- Containers and vessels holding common/unconsecrated elements.

Remember, presidential limousines get museums. How then shall we keep the body and blood of Christ? What makes a fit receptacle for the bodily presence of God? Many communionware sets include an item called a "pyx." This is a small box of precious metal, usually with a lamb on the lid. This certainly is a fit receptacle. It is nice. It is special. It is precious. It is not common. The body of Christ would be well kept in such a container or any container of a similar nature, such as a Ciborium.

Concerning the blood of Christ, I am not keen on reusing wine bottles. However, there are very nice cruets available into which the remaining wine could be poured and kept.

A tabernacle is also a fit receptacle. This is a container upon the altar for the specific purpose of holding the reliquae. It is nice, special, precious, and uncommon. I have never used one, though I saw a Roman Catholic priest empty one once, and he had the host in a Ciborium inside the tabernacle. I'm not sure what the common practice is for using these. Perhaps in these days of Lutheranism in America, though, it is a bit too uncommon. Because of this, it may be best for these to be used only in congregations that have been well catechized.

If there is no tabernacle, where shall the pyx (and perhaps cruet) be kept? Again, these are containing holy things. They should be treated in a holy manner. This means the following probably are not the best locations:

- Dark cupboards or closets in the sacristy;
- In the pastor's study;
- In a refrigerator with common food.

Considering the altar is the place of the sacrifice, the place where we remember the sacrifice, the place where we conduct Holy Communion, keeping the pyx upon the altar is quite appropriate. This is space is sacred, special, and holy. It is the most sensible and respectful place to keep the body and blood of Christ. I suppose it would also be suitable to designate an open area in the sacristy (the place where the sacred vessels are kept) for the pyx (and cruet) to be kept out in the open so as not to hide it in a dark cupboard.

With reservation, though, the issue of vandalism must be considered. While it would be rare for a the body and blood of Christ to be stolen, it would not be unheard of. It has happened before. So reservation brings about a very small risk of severe desecration.

There is, however, one method that I mentioned that eliminates this entire discussion: consume the elements immediately. When this is done there is no longer any question about whether or not it remains the body and blood of Christ. There is no longer any question about what a fit receptacle is. There is no longer any question about where that fit receptacle ought to be kept. The only place where it creates an issue is carrying the elements from the Sunday Communion to the shut-in. I personally don't see this as being a big issue, but for some men and for their shut-ins it is important, and I respect that.

So here's the order in which I would treat the reliquae:

- Consume it all right away;
- Reserve it in a pyx (and cruet) upon the altar against the next Communion;
- Reserve it in a pyx (and cruet) upon the altar and take it to the shut-in;
- Reserve it in a pyx (and cruet) in a designated, open place in the sacristy against the next Communion;
- Reserve it in a pyx (and cruet) in a designated, open place in the sacristy and take it to the shut-in;
- Pour the wine into the ground;
- Burn the bread and the wine.

And I would absolutely never:

- Throw it away;
- Pour it into the sewer;
- Keep it in a shoddy plastic container of any sort.

I wrote this article in a rather free fashion. I just typed it as my thoughts progressed with only one read-through for better wording on some of the points, so do not take this as a scholarly article. I am wide open to discussion, critique, and clarification--especially about the hymn (which, admittedly, I barely touched on)!

An Unexpected Closing Hymn

As my vicarage year progresses to a close my supervisor is giving me the occasional opportunity to select hymns for some of the services. I mostly use the "Hymn Selection Guide" that CPH put out along with LSB to...well...guide me in my hymn selection. It's a great book and resource. If you haven't seen one you are truly missing out.

I preached on Sunday, July 12th, and that was one such weekend where my supervisor allowed me to pick out the hymns that we used. The text was Mark 6:14-29, the beheading of John the Baptist. I had us begin with "Jesus, Priceless Treasure." The hymn of the day was, "By All Your Saints in Warfare" with the stanza for the martydom of John the Baptist. The distribution hymns were "Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior" and "Saints, See the Cloud of Witnesses."

But, as the title of this post suggests, I want to draw attention to what I selected as the closing hymn.

LSB 713, "From God Can Nothing Move Me"

"From God can nothing move me;
He will not step aside
But gently will reprove me
And be my constant guide.
He stretches out His hand
In evening and in morning,
My life with grace adorning
Wherever I may stand.

When those whom I regarded
As trustworthy and sure
Have long from me departed,
God's grace shall still endure.
He rescues me from sin
And breaks the chains that bind me.
I leave death's fear behind me;
His peace I have within.

The Lord my life arranges;
Who can His work destroy?
In His good time He changes
All sorrow into joy.
So let me then be still:
My body, soul, and spirit
His tender care inherit
According to His will.

Each day at His good pleasure
God's gracious will is done.
He sent His greatest treasure
In Jesus Christ, His Son.
He ev'ry gift imparts.
The bread of earth and heaven
Are by His kindness given.
Praise Him with thankful hearts!

Praise God with acclamation
And in His gifts rejoice.
Each day finds its vocation
Responding to His voice.
Soon years on earth are past;
But time we spend expressing
The love of God brings blessing
That will forever last!

Yet even though I suffer
The world's unpleasantness,
And though the days grow rougher
And bring me great distress,
That day of bliss divine,
Which knows no end or measure,
And Christ, who is my pleasure,
Forever shall be mine.

For thus the Father willed it,
Who fashioned us from clay;
And His own Son fulfilled it
And brought eternal day.
The Spirit now has come,
To us true faith has given,
He leads us home to heaven.
O praise the Three in One!"

Text: Ludwig Helmbold, 1532-98; tr. Gerald Thorson, 1921-2001, sts. 1-2, 6, alt.; tr. Lutheran Service Book, 2006, st. 3; tr. Gregory J. Wismar, b. 1946, st. 4-5; tr. Joseph Herl, b. 1959, st. 7
Tune: Von Gott Will Ich Nicht Lassen; Recueil de plusieurs chansons, Lyons, 1557, alt.

This is a long hymn, but I have found that I have no qualms about giving long hymns to the people. They need to sing them and they need to sing all of the stanzas, for all of the stanzas are a part of the story.

But what makes this one so great as a closing hymn is that it confesses everything that just happened to the people. Because of hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament, nothing can sever them from God. God's grace endures with them. God's gracious will has been done among them. They have been fed with the bread of heaven just as they will be fed with the bread of earth through the coming week.

I wasn't sure about it when I first selected it, and perhaps I should have selected a different hymn on account of my feelings, but I am glad now that I didn't.

Proper 8B -- A hymn and a sermon

Today is the festival of Sts. Peter and Paul. If I were to do as I have done in the past I would post LSB 518, "By All Your Saints in Warfare," stanzas 1, 19, and 3.

It's always strange to see stanza numbers that are not sequential. It usually happens in situations where there are many different stanzas, but you never sing all of them at once. You insert certain stanzas on certain days at certain times. There are a few such hymns like this in LSB.

One of those hymns is LSB 552, "O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life." This hymn has three different pairs of stanzas that speak to three different resurrection accounts in the four Gospels. If you would sing this hymn you would sing stanzas 1, 5, 6, and 4; or 1, 7, 8, and 4 or; 1, 9, 10, and 4. Stanzas 5 and 6 refer to the raising of Jairus' daughter; stanzas 7 and 8 refer to the raising of the widow's son; and stanzas 9 and 10 refer to the raising of Lazarus.

The Gospel reading for Proper 8B in the LSB Three-Year Lectionary is Mark 5:21-43, which includes (but certainly is not limited to) the raising of Jairus' daughter.

LSB 552, "O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life," sts. 1, 5, 6, 4

"O Christ, who shared our mortal life
And ended death's long reign,
Who healed the sick and raised the dead
And bore our grief and pain:
We know our years on earth are few,
That death is always near.
Come now to us, O Lord of Life;
Bring hope that conquers fear!

A ruler proud but bent by grief
Knelt down before Your feet:
'My precious daughter's gripped by death!
Come now and death defeat!'
A multitude had gathered round
To hear the truth You taught,
But, leaving them, You turned to help
A father sore distraught.

You pressed through crowds to reach the child
Whose limbs with death grew cold.
'She is not dead; she only sleeps!'
The weeping folk You told.
And then You took her hand and called,
'My child, I bid you rise!'
She rose! And all stood round You, Lord,
With awed and wond'ring eyes!

Death's power holds us still in thrall
And bears us toward the tomb.
Death's dark'ning cloud hangs like a pall
That threatens earth with doom.
But You have broken death's embrace
And torn away its sting.
Restore to life our mortal race!
Raise us, O Risen King!"

Text: Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr., b. 1923, alt.
Tune: Lord of Life, Kevin J. Hildebrand, b. 1973

I did not choose to use this hymn yesterday. While it tells the story that goes along with the text, it leaves out a crucial component, which is the healing of the woman with the flow of blood. And so it does not necessarily fit the text because it ignores half of what's there.

But that does not mean that this hymn is not usable. There are still two other resurrection accounts that this hymn can be paired with.

And yet, despite the good text that appears throughout this hymn, the ending leaves me hanging. The is a reference to "hope" at the end of the first stanza, but there is no assurance of hope by the end of the hymn. This leaves the singer without the words, "You WILL be raised from the dead on the last day." It ends with a petition unto God, but with no comfort from that blessed hope to which there was a brief reference.

And for that reason that this hymn is not usable. This hymn is incomplete. This hymn ends too quickly. It needs more. It needs another stanza that speaks to the certainty of the resurrection of the dead. It has good language, especially referring to "death's dark'ning cloud hang[ing] like a pall." That draws people into the context of a funeral, which is a pretty clear reminder of death. That is great imagery!

But it doesn't end with life. It ends with a plea for mercy. It does not end with the Gospel. There is a very homiletical feel to this hymn, narrating the story and bringing people to repentance. But the Gospel is omitted, and that can never be done in preaching.

Now, as the title of this post indicated, there is a sermon here as well. I rarely share my sermons. But every once in a while I write and preach one that I really like, and because of that I want to share it with others. So if you have nothing better to do for 19 minutes and 2 seconds, click here to listen to my sermon. Just to set the stage for what you will hear, my sound guys didn't get it started right at the very beginning, so my Trinitarian invocation was cut off. What you hear at first is simply a portion of the Gospel reading, which is the practice here at my vicarage congregation.

A Survey of the Best Prayers Ever (vol. 3)

There are times that I feel guilty about not keeping up with posting. But then I notice that even some of the more prolific bloggers go through lulls in posting from time-to-time, such as the Rev. David Petersen (Cyberstones, linked to the right), who hasn't posted since May 29th. That makes me feel better about myself.

When I came out of my sabbatical two weeks ago I had hoped to post three times in that first week. I successfully posted twice, but let the third slip by. Then last week I truly was quite busy, having to tend to everything at my vicarage parish while my bishop is in Europe. Not only am I doing all of the preaching and teaching my normal Wednesday morning study on Matthew, but I am also picking up his Thursday morning study on the Old Testament reading for the week and his Sunday morning study on the Gospel reading. Add on top of that all of my usual tasks, and my time gets absorbed pretty quickly. Last week I essentially marked my time by completing tasks, and before I knew it Saturday was upon me. This was a good thing, though, because I spent all day Saturday in Chicago with my wife and some friends.

But the third posting that I wanted to do I am finally doing today, which is another installment in the series of the Best Prayers Ever. I started this back in December and haven't posted since. If you want to read the first two installments there is a label to them on the list of labels to the right. For this post I give you the prayer for a "Home For the Aged."

Lord God, Heavenly Father, who providest for all Thy children and hast said, "Even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you"; and whose dear Son committed His mother to the disciple whom He loved, thereby showing us what to do for those who are left lonely in their advancing years: grant, we beseech Thee, that we may realize more and more fully that, as we are to honor the hoary head, so Thou wouldst have us as instruments of Thy mercy house and clothe and feed the aged, and that in so doing we are housing and clothing and feeding Christ, who will account that done unto the least of our brethren as done unto Himself.

And as by Thy guidance we have established here a Home for the Aged, dispose us to continue the good work by making us midful of all the temporal and spiritual blessings we daily receive from Thee, and wherewith we are enabled to serve those whose strength faileth. Let us not grow forgetful of their various needs, but loving them as our own parents, diligently seek to provide them with sustenance for the body and every necessary convenience, and, above all things, with the bread of life, the Word of God.

Graciously preserve this Home from all calamities, that its inmates may dwell securely therein, and make it for them a scene of pleasant companionships without envyings or strifes or animosities, that in quietness and contentment and godliness they may contemplate all Thy goodness expereinced by them in the years gone by, and cheerfully wait for the gates to be throw ajar and the angel to come forth that is to bear them into the mansions of rest and peace and joy, their eternal home.

Raise up many new friends to this institution, and incline them to contribute generously toward its maintenance, that its usefulness may be extended and its blessings felt in ever widening circles. Bestow upon those entrusted with the administration and management of the Home wisdom and faithfulness in their counsels and actions. And may all who by their support assist in its upbuilding learn that they are lending unto the Lord.

May we in all things perform our work in a manner pleasing to Thee. Let no worldly-mindedness enter into our charities, lest, in aiming to do good works, we defeat our faith, and even our greatest works become sins. Let us do all as in Thy presense, and after the example of Him who loved us and gave His life for us, that our work may please Thee; and hereafter receive us all into our eternal home with Thee in heaven, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Doesn't this sound like an ideal place? A place where the needs of the aged are not forgotten; where they are loved by those who serve them as if they were their parents; where they are provided the sustenance for the body as well as (and I like this phrase) every "necessary convenience"; where they receive the bread of life; where they dwell securely; where there is no envy, strife, or animosity; where there is pleasant companionship.

What is asked for in this prayer is truly godly, even to the extent that they don't want their good works being done at the Home to "defeat" their faith. Truly, let this place be a place of service and kindness unto God and neighbor.

There is nothing wrong with calling them "aged" or "hoary-headed" or even "inmates." These are correct terms which, unfortunately (as with the other prayers), too many P.C. people have been offended by (somehow or another).

But this prayer especially demonstrates that it is not up to the government to provide charity. It is up to the Church. We are to be caring for our widows and elderly (such as in Acts 6; 1 Timothy 5; and James 1). It would truly be a wonderful scenario if we could provide all of our parents homes and places of life such as what is described here.