Evenings With Bede are taken from the Sunday solemn Plainsong Evensong services of Saint Paul’s, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where I am Rector. The format is a Scripture passage, then a passage of commentary from the Venerable S. Bede, then a short homily by yours truly expounding upon both. The audio for all three is found above. The text of the two passages is found below.

A Lesson from the Gospel according to S. John 16.23

Jesus taught the disciples in the Upper Room, saying “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything aof the Father, he will give it to you in my name. Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

A Lesson from a Homily by the Venerable S. Bede (Homily II.12)

Our Lord Jesus said, “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” He came forth from the Father and came into the world, because He made Himself visible to the world in His humanity, Who in His divinity was invisible along with the Father. He came forth from the Father, because He appeared, not in that form in which He is equal to the Father, but in the lesser one of a created being, which He took on Himself. And He came into the world because, in the form of a servant which He accepted, He offered Himself to be seen even by those who love this world. Again, He left the world behind and returned to the Father because He removed from the sight of those who love the world what they had seen, and He taught to those who love Him that He should be believed to be equal to the Father. He left the world behind and returned to the Father because by His Ascension He brought the humanity which He had put on to the place of invisible realities. . . . We ought to keep watch meticulously, so that we may render not only our words and works, but also the very secrets of our hearts, worthy of divine inspection. Let not the blight of hatred or of envy remain in the temple of our breast; let not the beginning of any base or slanderous utterance arise from there. Let us be mindful of the Lord’s threat wherein He says, “I am coming to gather their works and their thoughts” (Is 66.18). When the traces of chaotic vices have been driven out of our heart, let us prepare a dwelling wherein He, Who is its inescapable examiner and judge, may deign to abide.

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