CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION AND SAINT AGNES
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dare to hope

IGNORANCE OF THE SCRIPTURES IS IGNORANCE OF CHRIST

9/30/2020

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Today is the feast of the monk and priest St. Jerome (circa 347-420).  After living throughout the Mediterranean world, he spent his final years in Bethlehem.  Jerome is best remembered for the Vulgate, his translation of the Bible into Latin.  The Latin biblical texts sung in the liturgy at Ascension and St. Agnes generally come from this translation.
 
Jerome claims that ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ.  He is not asking us to become biblical scholars as he was.  Instead, he is setting forth as a principle what Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) recognizes in a prayer.  Cranmer’s prayer remains in our liturgy.  In it we ask God to grant that we may so hear the holy Scriptures, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, “that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life” that God has given us in Christ.
 
Ignorance of the scripture is ignorance of Christ.  We can keep overcoming this ignorance through a lifelong process of engagement with scripture.  As we do so in diverse ways, the hope of everlasting life becomes in us an ever-deeper reality.

Charles Hoffacker
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    authors

    The Rev. Charles Hoffacker is a retired priest of the Diocese of Washington
    who lives in Greenbelt, Maryland. He and his wife Helena Mirtova are members of Ascension and St. Agnes.

    The Rev. Mary McCue, is a vocational deacon and currently ministers at Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes.
    ​
    The Rev. Dominique Peridans is the Rector of Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes. 

    Molly Jane Layton is a seminarian intern at Ascension and St. Agnes. 

    Zach Baker Rodes is a seminarian intern at Ascension and St. Agnes.

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Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes
1215 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
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(202) 347-8161
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  • Welcome
    • Newcomers >
      • Letter to Inquirers
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • How to Find Us
    • Childcare
  • Who We Are
    • Our Beliefs >
      • Statements of Mission, Vision, Beliefs & Value
      • What is an Anglo-Catholic?
      • Apolitical or Supra Political?
    • Our History
    • Our Leadership >
      • Parish Staff
      • Vestry
  • Worship
    • About our Worship >
      • Attending Mass
      • Music
  • Formation
    • About Formation
    • Adult Formation >
      • Adult Theology Upcoming
      • Adult Theology Archive >
        • Knowing Christ
    • Sermons
  • Connect
    • Contact us
    • Rector's Weekly Letter
    • Pastoral Care >
      • Pastoral Offices >
        • Reconciliation (Confession)
      • Prayer Requests
    • Stewardship >
      • Stewardship Letter
      • Givelify Instructions
      • Planned Giving
      • Endowment Fund
  • Calendar
  • Baptism
  • Outreach
  • Feasibility Study