Gottesblog

September 5 is the Feast of Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth according to the Lutheran sanctoral calendar (a date shared with those of Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglican traditions). The Roman Catholic Church celebrates September 23 as the feast for these, the parents of St. John the Baptist.

The tagline of Gottesdienst, namely, “The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy,” can be a little misleading. For when we say “liturgy,” some people believe that the entire journal (and by extension, the blog, the podcast, and the conferences) is, or should only be, related to things like rubrics.

August 15 is celebrated as the Assumption of Mary by the Roman Catholic Church. This is the belief that Mary was bodily assumed into heaven - either instead of, or after, her death (the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches differ in their traditions). This belief is obviously extra-scriptural, as Scripture itself is silent on whether or not the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven - thus we cannot say, “Thus says the Lord” one way or the other. Many early Lutherans retained the Feast of the Assumption in the liturgical calendar, while recognizing it as a speculation rather than a dogma. However, the Pope Pius XII dogmatized this belief in 1950 in his decree Munificentissimus Dei, thus imposing it as doctrine upon Roman Catholics.

Anyone who has ever read the Gospels recognizes just how radical our Lord Jesus Christ is.