Readings

August 14: Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Martyr, 1965

The Collect of the Day

Jonathan Myrick Daniels

O God of justice and compassion, who puts down the proud and mighty from their place, and lifts up the poor and the afflicted: We give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jonathan Myrick Daniels

O God of justice and compassion, who didst put down the proud and the mighty from their place, and dost lift up the poor and the afflicted: Wegive thee thanks for thy faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1939. Like many young adults, from high school in Keene to graduate school at Harvard, Jonathan wrestled with vocation. Attracted to medicine, ordained ministry, law, and writing, he found himself close to a loss of faith until his discernment was clarified by a profound conversion on Easter Day 1962 at the Church of the Advent in Boston. Jonathan then entered the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In March of 1965, the televised appeal of Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma to secure for all citizens the right to vote touched Jonathan’s passions for the well-being of others, the Christian witness of the church, and political justice. His conviction was deepened at Evening Prayer during the singing of the Magnificat: “He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things.” He wrote: “I knew that I must go to Selma. The Virgin’s song was to grow more and more dear to me in the weeks ahead.”

In Selma he found himself in the midst of a time and place where the nation’s racism and the Episcopal Church’s share in that inheritance were exposed. Greatly moved by what he saw and experienced, he returned to seminary, asked leave to work in Selma while continuing his studies, and returned there under the sponsorship of the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity.

After a brief return to Cambridge in May to complete his exams, he returned to Alabama to resume his efforts assisting those engaged in the integration struggle. Jailed on August 14th for joining a picket line, Jonathan and his companions resolved to remain together until bail could be posted for all of them, as it was six days later. Released and aware that they were in danger, four of them walked to a small store. As sixteen-year-old Ruby Sales reached the top step of the entrance, a man with a shotgun appeared, cursing her. Jonathan pulled her to one side to shield her from the unexpected threats and was killed instantly by the 12-gauge blast.

Jonathan’s letters and papers bear eloquent witness to the profound effect that Selma had upon him. He writes, “The doctrine of the creeds,the enacted faith of the sacraments, were the essential preconditionsof the experience itself. The faith with which I went to Selma has not changed: it has grown…I began to know in my bones and sinews that I had been truly baptized into the Lord’s death and resurrection…with them, the black men and white men, with all life, in him whose Name is above all the names that the races and nations shout…We are indelibly and unspeakably one.”

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

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Psalm

7God is much to be feared in the council of the holy ones, *great and terrible to all those round about him.

8Who is like you, Lord God of hosts? *O mighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you.

9You rule the raging of the sea *and still the surging of its waves.

10You have crushed Rahab of the deep with a deadly wound; *you have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

11Yours are the heavens; the earth also is yours; *you laid the foundations of the world and all that is in it.

12You have made the north and the south; *Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your Name.

13You have a mighty arm; *strong is your hand and high is your right hand.

Gospel

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Luke 1:46–55

46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Amos 5:18–24

18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. 23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.