David, December 29th

David

David, the greatest of Israel’s kings, ruled from about 1010 to 970 B.C. The events of his life are found in 1 Samuel 16 through 1 Kings 2 and in 1 Chronicles 10-29. David was also gifted musically. He was skilled in playing the lyre and the author of no less than 73 psalms, including the beloved Psalm 23. His public and private character displayed a mixture of good (for example, his defeat of the giant Goliath, 1 Samuel 17) and evil (as in his adultery with Uriah’s wife, followed by his murder of Uriah, 2 Samuel 11). David’s greatness lay in his fierce loyalty to God as Israel’s military and political leader, coupled with his willingness to acknowledge his sins and ask for God’s forgiveness (2 Samuel 12; see also Psalm 51). It was under David’s leadership that the people of Israel were united into a single nation with Jerusalem as its capital city.

Source: www.LCMS.org Commemorations Biographies

Slaughter of the Innocents, December 28th

1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:15-17 Epistle: Revelation 14:1-5 Gospel: Matthew 2:13-18

Color: Red

Hymn of the Day: 969 Sweet flowerets of the martyr band 764 When aimless violence takes those we love

Holy Innocents, Martyrs

King Herod ordered the execution of all young male children, “from two years old and under” (Matthew 2:16-18), in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.

These infants’ deaths were regarded by the early church as the first Christian martyrs.

“Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children.” (Matthew 2:17-18a)

St. John, December 28th

1st Reading: Revelation 1:1-6
Epistle: 1 John 1:1-2:2
Gospel: John 21:20-25

Color: White

Hymn of the Day: 523 O Word of God incarnate

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

John was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of Saint James the Greater, another of the Twelve Apostles.

He is also known as St. John the Apostle and St. John the Evangelist. John is widely believed to be the author of the fourth gospel and the three New Testament epistles of John. He is also identified with Saint John the Divine, the author of the Book of Revelation.

John and his brother James the Greater were originally fishermen who, together with their father, fished in the Lake of Genesareth. John was first a disciple of John the Baptist and later one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.

Peter, James and John were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37) of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1) and of the Agony in Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:37) Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper) (Luke 22:8). At the meal itself, his place was next to Jesus on whose chest he leaned (John 13:23-25). John alone remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary with Jesus’ mother, Mary, and the pious women and took Mary into his care.

After the Resurrection, John and Peter were the first of the disciples to run towards the tomb and John was the first of the apostles to believe that Jesus had truly risen. (John 20:2-10)

After Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, John, together with Peter, took a prominent part in the early church. He is with Peter at the healing of the lame man in the Temple (Acts 3:1ff). With Peter he is also thrown into prison (Acts 4:3). He is also with Peter visiting the newly converted in Samaria (Acts 8:14).

Paul refers to John along with Peter and James the Just as “pillars of the church.” (Gal. 2:9)

Tradition says John out lived all the other apostles and the only apostle not to meet with martyrdom, dying at about 100 A.D.

St. Stephen, December 26th

1st Reading: 2 Chronicles 24:17-22 Epistle: Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51-60 Gospel: Matthew 23:34-39

Color: Red

Hymn of the Day: The Son of God Goes Forth to War

St. Stephen, Martyr

St Stephen, one of the original seven deacons in Jerusalem appointed by the Apostles. He was charged with blasphemy and stoned, thus becoming the first Christian martyr. Saul of Tarsus (later St. Paul) was present at his execution.

Acts of the Apostles tells the story of how Stephen was tried by the Sanhedrin (priests) for blasphemy against Moses and God (Acts 6:11) and speaking against the Temple and the Law (Acts 6:13-14). He was stoned to death (34-35 A.D.) by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus (as St. Paul was known before his conversion to Christianity): "And Saul entirely approved of putting him to death" (Acts 8:1).

Katharina von Bora Luther, December 20th

Katharina von Bora Luther

Katharina von Bora (1499-1552) was placed in a convent when still a child and became a nun in 1515. In April 1523 she and eight other nuns were rescued from the convent and brought to Wittenberg. There Martin Luther helped return some to their former homes and placed the rest in good families. Katharina and Martin were married on June 13, 1525. Their marriage was a happy one and blessed with six children. Katharina skillfully managed the Luther household, which always seemed to grow because of his generous hospitality. After Luther’s death in 1546, Katharina remained in Wittenberg but lived much of the time in poverty. She died in an accident while traveling with her children to Torgau in order to escape the plague.

Source: www.LCMS.org Commemorations Biographies

Frankly and simply put, the Reformation would not have happened without the faithful teamwork that Katie brought to their marriage.

Adam and Eve, December 19th

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Adam was the first man, made in the image of God and given dominion over all the earth (Gen 1:26). Eve was the first woman, formed from one of Adam’s ribs to be his companion and helper (2:18-24). God placed them in the Garden of Eden to take care of the creation as his representatives. But they forsook God’s Word and plunged the world into sin (3:1-7). For this disobedience God drove them from the Garden. Eve had to suffer the pain of childbirth and be subject to Adam; Adam had to toil amid thorns and thistles and return to the dust of the ground. Yet God promised that the woman’s Seed would crush the serpent’s head (3:8-24). Sin had entered God’s perfect creation and changed it until God would restore it again through Christ. Eve is the mother of the human race, while Adam is representative of all humanity and the Fall, as St. Paul writes, “For in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).

Source: www.LCMS.org Commemorations Biographies

Interesting comparison to the Expulsion from the Garden and the Annunciation to Mary

The presence of God (God’s angel) caused fear in both of them, one hides the other is told not to fear.

The greeting for Eve is “what have you done?” but for Mary is it “favored one.”

The declaration by God is expulsion from communion in the garden for Eve and the greatest communion between God and man in the conception of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Both were told of birth ahead, both would suffer in birth, but Cain would give birth to murder and Jesus would give life to those dead in sin.

From Eve we would inherit sin the leads to eternal death, from Mary’s son, Jesus, we would be offered life that leads to eternal communion with God; finally destroying the sin the separated us in the beginning.

*something to note, most of the artwork pieces of Adam and Eve include belly buttons Lego did not.

St. Lucia, December 13th

St. Lucia

Lucia, Martyr

One of the victims of the great persecution under the Roman emperor Diocletian, Lucia met her death at Syracuse on the island of Sicily in the year A.D. 304, because of her Christian faith. Known for her charity, “Santa Lucia” (as she is called in Italy) gave away her dowry and remained a virgin until her execution by the sword. The name Lucia means “light,” and, because of that, festivals of light commemorating her became popular throughout Europe, especially in the Scandinavian countries. There her feast day corresponds with the time of year when there is the least amount of daylight. In artistic expression she is often portrayed in a white baptismal gown, wearing a wreath of candles on her head.

Source: www.LCMS.org Commemorations Biographies

St. Nicholas of Myra, December 6th

Nicholas of Myra, Pastor

Of the many saints commemorated by the Christian Church, Nicholas (d. A.D. 342) is one of the best known. Very little is known historically of him, although there was a church of Saint Nicholas in Constantinople as early as the sixth century. Research has affirmed that there was a bishop by the name of Nicholas in the city of Myra in Lycia (part of Turkey today) in the fourth century. From that coastal location, legends about Nicholas have traveled throughout time and space. He is associated with charitable giving in many countries around the world and is portrayed as the rescuer of sailors, the protector of children, and the friend of people in distress or need. In commemoration of “Sinte Klaas” (Dutch for Saint Nicholas, in English “Santa Claus”), December 6 is a day for giving and receiving gifts in many parts of Europe.

Source: www.LCMS.org Commemorations Biographies