’m not going to comment on these photos, except to say that they are all of fruit blossoms taken this Wednesday in our back yard orchard. This can be a test for you. See if you can identify the fruit that will come from these blossoms. I will give you a couple of clues. The peaches have already finished blooming, and the blackberries haven’t yet begun. The file names give it all away. Notice my supporting cast in the first two pics. Enjoy.
otice the set-up. I’ll contextualize it a bit for modern times: “In the absence of justice, what is government?” I’m not saying we are there (yet), and I’m not saying we are not.
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kindgoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on.
Saint Augustine, The City of God, book 4, chapter 4.
(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)
40. Why was it necessary for Christ to suffer death?
41. Why was He buried?
42. Since then Christ died for us, why must we also die?
43. What further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice and death of Christ on the cross?
44. Why is it added: He descended into Hell?
There is nothing common about the common Lilac, Syringia vulgaris. It has a fragrance that is like nothing else in the landscape, a fragrance that more than makes up for this old standard’s lack of show for the remainder of the year. Being deciduous, it stands bare all winter long, and for it to bloom in the spring that winter needs to be long and cold. Here in zone 6b most all lilacs are at their southern limit. The lilac is to the north country what the crape myrtle is to the south.
All that being said, the fragrance of the lilac all by itself is worth the entire price of admission. We have one planted on the south-west corner of our house, which is where our bedroom is located. On warm spring nights, with the windows open, the gentle breezes fill the room with scent of lilac. So much else is blooming out in the landscape these days, but I had to pick this one for this week.
Have a great weekend, to the glory of God, and be sure to gather with the saints on the Lord’s day. Blessings.
For to the just all the evils imposed on them by unjust rulers are not the punishment of crime, but the test of virtue. Therefore the good man, although he is a slave, is free; but the bad man, even if he reigns, is a slave, and that not of one man, but, what is far more grievous, of as many masters as he has vices; of which vices when the divine scripture treats, it says, “For of whom any man is overcome, to the same he is also the bond-slave.”
Saint Augustine, The City of God, book 4, chapter 3.
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. Mark 16:1-6; ESV.
(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)
37. What dost thou understand by the word: Suffered?
38. Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate, as judge?
39. Is there anything more in His having been crucified, than if He had died some other death?
Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, is probably the most widely-planted spring-flowering tree in the eastern half of North America. It will grow anywhere it can get a moderate amount of rainfall, but its native habitat is that of an understory tree in hard-wood forests where there is a well drained, evenly moist soil. You can find the native stands in the hilly woods of eastern and south-eastern Oklahoma, mostly all of them white, with a few accent trees standing out in various shades of pink.
This year Holy Week has fallen right in the middle of peak dogwood bloom here in Oklahoma. There is a legend which claims that the cross of Christ was made of timbers from the dogwood tree. The story goes that at the time dogwoods were as large and stately as any oak, but after the crucifixion Christ saw to it that the dogwood would never grow so large as to be able to be used for such purposes again. He also changed the appearance of the white blossom to resemble a cross, and gave the ends of each petal a rusty notch, representing Christ’s pierced hands and feet, and bleeding head. The center stamens and pistils also are suppose to represent Christ’s crown of thorns. Even though there are a number of European and Asian species of dogwood, the story is most surely only a legend. To begin with, Palestine is way too arid to support the dogwood’s growth. One has to admit, the dog wood blossom does make an able symbol to remind us of the death of our Lord.
This little specimin, only in its second season, grows on the west side of our house. Like the cornelian cherry dogwood, Cornus mas, that featured a few weeks back, this dogwood also was planted to celebrate the marriage of one of our three children. I was commenting to my wife the other day that we didn’t have a white-blooming specimen in our landscape. The rusty-red notches are very prominent against the pure whiteness of the blossom. We will have to look for one soon. Hay kids, next year is our 35th. Maybe you guys could go together and….
Try to find a Good Friday service today where ever you happen to be. If you are near Tulsa, come worship with us. Good Friday puts Our Lord’s resurrection in perspective. He is risen. He is risen, indeed.
aint Augustine, like all good teachers likes to ramble, just a bit. It will be a dozen or more “books” into The City of God before Augustine gets to the real meat of his subject, but the journey to the start, as it were, is quite fascinating. Within the opening “books,” what we would call “chapters” today, one will find a host of subjects, ranging from theology to philosophy, with a good bit of Roman history mixed all through, and a good bit more besides. In the next to the last chapter of the first book of The City of God, Augustine lays out the purpose of the book. It is a gracious explanation of the mixed multitude that the visible church is made of; an explanation filled with hope, and the gospel.
But let this city bear in mind, that among her enemies lie hid those who are destined to be fellow-citizens, that she may not think it a fruitless labour to bear what they inflict as enemies until they become confessors of the faith. So, too, as long as she is a stranger in the world, the cit of God has in her communion, and bound to her by the sacraments, some who shall not eternally dwell in the lot of the saints. Of these, some are not now recognised; others declare themselves, and do not hesitate to make common cause with our enemies in murmuring against God, whose sacramental badge they wear. These men you may to-day see thronging the churches with us, to-morrow crowding the theatres with the godless. But we have the less reason to despair of the reclamation even of such persons, if among our most declared enemies there are now some, unknown to themselves, who are destined to become our friends. In truth, these two cities are entangled together in this world, and intermixed until the last judgment effect their separation. I now proceed to speak, as God shall help me, of the rise, progress, and end of these two cities; and what I write, I write for the glory of the city of God, that, being placed in comparison with the other, it may shine with a brighter lustre.
Saint Augustine, The City of God; book 1, chapter 35.
(Second Part: Of Man’s Redemption—Questions 12-85)
35. What is the meaning of: Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary?
36. What benefit dost thou receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?
