grant that we who have been schooled in the faith which he taught
may labour to bring others to Christ,
whom by the power of the Spirit
you raised to live with you,
his God and Father,
for ever and ever.
9 April
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Lutheran Pastor, Martyr
England, Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Martyrs
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 into an academic family. Ordained in the Lutheran Church, his theology was influenced by Karl Barth and he became a lecturer: in Spain, the USA and, in 1931, back in Berlin. Opposed to the philosophy of Nazism, he was one of the leaders of the Confessing Church, a movement which broke away from the Nazi-dominated Lutherans in 1934. Banned from teaching, and harassed by Hitler’s regime, he bravely returned to Germany at the outbreak of war in 1939, despite being on a lecture tour in the United States at the time. His defiant opposition to the Nazis led to his arrest in 1943. His experiences led him to propose a more radical theology in his later works, which have been influential among post-war theologians. He was executed by the Nazi police in Flossenburg concentration camp on this day in 1945.
Collect (Wales)
Lord Jesus Christ,
your servant Dietrich [Bonhoeffer]
learned the cost of discipleship
in his faithful witness to justice and peace:
give us the assurance of your presence
that we may persevere faithfully unto death;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
9 April
Saints, Martyrs and Missionaries of South America
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Missionaries
The gospel was first brought to South America by the Spanish and Portuguese in the years after Columbus’s landfall. Today we recall those who have worthily proclaimed the gospel of Christ in South America: people like Bartolomé de las Casas and Martin de Porres who challenged the injustices inflicted on the native people, Allen Gardiner who died at the southernmost tip of the continent, and Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador murdered in his cathedral for preaching economic and social justice. We give thanks for their witness and that of all the saints of God in South America.
Collect
Almighty God,
we praise and bless your name
for the saints, missionaries and martyrs of South America:
may we, in life and death, be a community of love
united in prayer and faith with him who died and rose again,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
whom by the power of the Spirit
you raised to live with you,
his God and Father,
for ever and ever.
10 April
William Law
White
Priest, Spiritual Writer
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration
Born at Kings Cliffe in Northamptonshire in 1686, William Law was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and, after ordination as a deacon, became a fellow of the college in 1711. When George i came to the throne in 1714, William declined to take the Oath of Allegiance, being a member of the non-or party who believed the anointed but deposed monarch James II and his heirs should occupy the throne. He lost his fellowship, but in 1728 was ordained priest, and in the same year published A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, which much influenced such people as Samuel Johnson and John and Charles Wesley. In it he stresses the moral virtues, a personal prayer life and asceticism. He returned to Kings Cliffe in 1740, where he led a life of devotion and simplicity and caring for the poor. He remained there for the rest of his life and died on this day in the year 1761.
Collect
Almighty God,
who called your servant William Law
to a devout and holy life:
grant that by your spirit of love
and through faithfulness in prayer
we may find the way to divine knowledge
and so come to see the hidden things of God;
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.
A reading from the Book of Tobit.
I performed many acts of charity to my kindred, those of my tribe: I would give my food to the hungry and my clothing to the naked; and if I saw the dead body of any of my people thrown out behind the wall of Nineveh, I would bury it. I also buried any whom the king put to death when he came fleeing from Judea in those days of judgement that the king of heaven executed upon him because of his blasphemies. For in his anger he put to death many Israelites; but I would secretly remove the bodies and bury them.
This is the word of the Lord.
Tobit 1.16b–18a
Responsorial Psalm
R: The free gift of God is eternal life
[for the Lord redeems his people].
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits. R
Who forgives all your sins
and heals all your infirmities;
Who redeems your life from the Pit
and crowns you with faithful love and compassion. R
Who satisfies you with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
The Lord executes righteousness
and judgement for all who are oppressed. R
From Psalm 103
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans.
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the word of the Lord.
Romans 6.20–end
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus said to the crowds, ‘No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is