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Reading
Ephesians 4:1–6
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Devotion
This week's painting celebrates the recent feast of Hilda of Whitby on 18 November. This work, by James Clark (1858-1943) lives in the Hartlepool Art Gallery in Hartlepool, UK. I love its vibrant colors. Hilda, a magnificent leader of convent and monastery, hosted the Synod of Whitby in 664. She stands in the middle of painting, eyes on a small child being clothed, while mixing medicine or perhaps preparing food for the person on her left. In the background a monk interacts with a boy. It's a very pastoral scene. Hilda shines in her white clothing. The blue mantle shows her authority. Her saintliness is proclaimed by a narrow halo.
I love Hilda. She was an able administrator who maintained a firm sense of caring for all. A child of the old Celtic Church, she nevertheless became a leading proponent of change when the Synod she hosted decided that the Roman method of determining the date of Easter should prevail. Can you believe that people were making such a fuss about something like that? Apparently, the proper date of the celebration of the most significant Christian feast had already resulted in visible disunity in the Northumbrian court: Queen Eanfled of Bernicia and her court observed Easter on a different day than did King Oswiu. While one royal faction was celebrating Easter, the other would still be fasting during Lent. So, a synod or big meeting was called upon to decide.
When it seems that people or communities of faith just can't get along, I think of the words of St. Paul above and about Hilda.
Prayer
O God of peace, by whose grace the abbess Hilda was endowed with gifts of justice, prudence, and strength to rule as a wise mother over the nuns and monks of her household: Raise up these gifts in us, that we, following her example and prayers, may build up one another in love to the benefit of your church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Lesser Feasts and Fasts)