It’s Friday…

It’s Friday…

It’s winter again…

Well, no… but…

Ok, the sun is shining… so… there! Well, it was…

First, Latin was the language, not just of the church, back when, but of a whole lot of other things too.

You did official everything in Latin. Law… medicine—and of course theology.

If you had gone to Europe, say a couple of decades ago, to conduct business, it would have been German. Now English is it. Did we win, then?

When scholars want to do historical research in the church, they need more than just Latin. French is another, along with German and Latin. But over time things change. The church might be the slowest. And this is a good thing. The Eastern church has a good saying. It says that if it is new, it is most likely heresy!

I think they saw Latin like this as everything they had began in Greek… but… they were smarter than the western church. Whenever they did missionary work, they translated the church books (hymnals, church orders, liturgies, etc.) into the native tongue of the place they went to evangelize. Rome insisted on Latin. No wonder there was (and is) so much hocus pocus. The new thing here, though, was to say that Latin was God’s choice just because it was Rome’s choice!

And so, because of this we still retain some of the old Latin names. This is not a bad thing, even if Rome insisted on it. Because it distinguishes things. There should be a clear distinction between church things and worldly things. God did that all the time, as we see in Scripture. He set things aside for Himself. Not that we have to, but it is good when someone can say… of a certain music—hey, that is church music. Or that is a church, and not a conference center. Or that is a pulpit and not a podium.

How about: he or she is a Christian?

Lent is like that. It points to the very end of history itself. The almost last important thing in this created universe. All else is just clean-up.

Like after D-day. The war is over, but there were still those who had not heard and were still fighting. There were enemies still on the run—hiding out. There were people who had to answer for crimes against humanity. There were still prisoners to release.

When I say last part of History, I include Holy week and Easter along with the Ascension. But for us, the church here—that still lives in the shadow of the valley of death, under the cross… our Easter is yet to come.

So Lent is still our life here… even though we get Easter every year (and every Sunday)… even THOUGH EASTER HAS HAPPENED…

And because of that HISTORICAL FACT! We look to ours to come…

So we still make use of Lent… to let it remind us of WHY…

Because from dust we were made and to dust we will return..

But not to stay…

No…Because He IS RISEN! Because Easter HAS HAPPENED! Ours is next! This is most certainly true!

But back to Lent… (don’t worry Easter is almost here…)

So, to use Lent’s old names emphasizes something. It is to set it apart. We should.

Here are their meanings:

Traditional Latin Names for Lent Sundays:

First Sunday of Lent: Invocabit (“He shall call upon me”)
Second Sunday of Lent: Reminiscere (“Remember, O Lord”)
Third Sunday of Lent: Oculi (“My eyes are ever toward the Lord”)
Fourth Sunday of Lent: Laetare (“Rejoice, O Jerusalem” – also known as Rose Sunday)
Fifth Sunday of Lent: Judica (“Judge me, O God” – Passion Sunday)
Sixth Sunday of Lent: Palmarum (Palm Sunday) 

Notice anything about them? They are the first words of the entrance Psalm for that Sunday… that is, if you are using the historical lectionary—and we are this year. This instead of the more modern 3-year series. More on that on another day….

And the entrance psalm is…? The Introit, of course….

This is another Latin term we use in the church: “introitus” which means “entrance”. The congregation used to stand outside the church doors, on the steps, and chant or sing this as they were ushered into the Nave (another Latin term for the main place where you sat in the sanctuary of the church) to begin the Divine Service.

Ever notice that a lot of ships are shaped like churches… umm, I mean a lot of churches are shaped like ships? That is our symbol. The new Ark of the New Covenant! Saved again by Water!

Our Baptism! Yes… you guessed it!

Hey, you are learning Latin too! There are still many such words in our Hymnal. This has nothing to do with Rome. It has everything to do with church.

We are a church of the west, after all. We should not hesitate to take our things back and use them as they were meant to be used. Not how they have been abused!

All making ready for the main course to come…

Our Easter rising…

Yes, it is only Friday… but Easter is almost here…

This coming Sunday – Laetare Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent) – March 15th – 2026

Old Testament – Exodus 16:2-21
Psalm – 132
Epistle – Galatians 4:21-31
Gospel – John 6:1-15
Sermon – BY WHAT RULES? – based on Epistle reading – Galatians 4:1-15

Prayers: For a lasting peace in our world and in our cities—especially Minneapolis! That a lasting one would remain between the people of Israel and Gaza as well as for the people of Russia and the Ukraine. That the war with Iran would come to an end quickly and that justice would be served. That the people of Iran would be free from tyranny and that the evil there would be put down. For our congregation that it would please our Lord that we would increase in numbers and there remain in this place a congregation that calls upon Him rightly, practicing the faith according to the Scriptures. For those who are being persecuted and murdered because they call upon the name of Jesus—especially in Africa. For the end of violence in our cities and that our schools and congregations would be protected from those who wish them harm. For our families that parents would courageously discipline their children and raise them in the fear of the Lord, teaching them about salvation in Jesus alone.