Anglican Ascetic

Fr Matthew C. Dallman
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Homilies, teachings, and interviews from your host, Father Matthew C. Dallman, Obl.S.B., who is the leading authority on the theology of Martin Thornton, student of the Venerable S. Bede, and founder of Akenside Institute for English Spirituality. Fr Dallman is an Anglican priest: Rector of Saint Paul's, New Smyrna Beach, in Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. frmcdallman.substack.com

  1. 6 HR AGO

    On the Epistle of S. James, Session 3

    Every Lent, my parish—Saint Paul’s, New Smyrna Beach—offers what we call “Lent Friday Worship.” The weekly festivity begins with Plainsong Evensong, and then is followed by Stations of the Cross, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, then to the parish hall for a community meal, and Rector Forum given by yours truly. This year I am focusing on the Epistle of Saint James. The aim is, by the end of Lent, to go through all of it, line by line, offering my reflective commentary along the way. And to aid the commentary I offer, I will also be consulting and sharing the commentary on this Epistle by the Venerable S. Bede, the great English Church Father. This Session 3 looks at James 2:14 through 4:6. Those verses are below. 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. CHAPTER 3 1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. CHAPTER 4 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    55 min

  2. 1 MAR

    On Christ's Holiness

    Our patron, Saint Paul, has a word today about holiness. He teaches that God called us not to a life of impurity, but to a lift of holiness. That holiness is characteristic of our prayer life, indeed how we walk, so as to please God. Indeed, as David says in our Psalm: that we lift up our eyes to God, in Whom we put our trust: we are to lift up our eyes and gaze upon God that dwells in the heavens. Our lives ought be different than regular lives of non-Christians. So we will get into that more. We are to say unto the Lord: Lord, Thou art my hope, and my stronghold. And how do we say this but in prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of the heart and mind to God, taught S. John of Damascus, 8th century Church Father. Lent is a holy season: because it demands prayer that is more intense; prayer that is more robust; prayer that is more regular, which is to say, more often and daily. Holiness makes up the Christian experience, and it must do so. Because as Saint Paul teaches in his epistle to the Hebrews, “Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” This is one of the lessons our Lord seeks to teach us through the Gospel account from Saint Matthew. The thing to immediately notice in passage is the tension evident between the disciples and Our Lord Jesus. “Send her away, for she is crying after us,” they implore Jesus. But Jesus does not send her away, but rather listens to her, talks with her, and eventually praises her great faith, so much so that we are left with the impression that it was her great faith that healed her daughter from the demon, indeed exorcised her of the demon. The next thing to notice is the dialogue between Jesus and the Canaanite woman. After the disciples attempted unsuccessfully to command Jesus to send her away, He says “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before Him – she knelt, that is, she worshiped – and she said, “Lord, help me. And He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answers, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” It sounds on a plain reading that Jesus is being unloving at first and is trying to exclude the woman. But if that were the case, it would violate basic doctrine about Jesus, that His very nature is love and that His Mission from the beginning is always for the salvation of all peoples. So what is actually going on here? It is not Our Lord who is being taught about compassion and love, but rather the disciples and their hardened hearts, and by extension, us and our hardened hearts. Both of the seemingly inflammatory statements by Jesus—the first, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and the second, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs”—reflect the exclusionary attitude of the Jewish religion of Jesus’s day, as well as the centuries prior. The Jews had been looking for a political messiah to restore political power to them and allow them to complete the rebuilding of the Temple and thereby overthrow their occupiers, the Romans. The last thing they wanted was a Messiah for all peoples Whose very showing of divine power was to die on the tree of the Cross—and be a voluntary failure according not to the illumined eyes of the heart, but rather according to the closed and blind eyes of the world. But it was always the plan of Jesus to show the world what it means to be God by the way He died as a human being. It was always the plan of Jesus to show His disciples that His strength is made perfect in His weakness; that His strength is shown to be divine amidst what seems by worldly standards to be weak. Jesus shows His disciples what it means to be God by the way He died as a human being. In other words, Jesus used this moment with the Canaanite woman to teach not her but the disciples words He had taught to Isaiah centuries before: “Foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the Name of the Lord, and to be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane it, and hold fast My covenant—these I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer.” (Isaiah 56.6-8) And this is what holiness means: God is at work in all people, with no exceptions. He was at work in the prostitute Rahab in our first reading, so much so that through her faith, Joshua led the sons of Israel through the Jordan into the promised land. God was at work in the Canaanite woman, so much so that through her faith not only was her daughter healed, but all Christians are taught about real holiness and real faith. Recognizing that God is at work in all people means our heart and mind are holy, that they are partaking of the living water springing up into life eternal, indeed participating in the celestial water which is above the heavens. Such a heart and mind have been applied to lofty and exalted things, and able, as Saint Paul teaches, to regard no one from a human point of view, even to put on the mind of Christ, which we all are called to do – to love as Christ loves. All by the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    14 min

  3. 28 FEB

    On the Epistle of S. James, Session 2

    Every Lent, my parish—Saint Paul’s, New Smyrna Beach—offers what we call “Lent Friday Worship.” The weekly festivity begins with Plainsong Evensong, and then is followed by Stations of the Cross, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, then to the parish hall for a community meal, and Rector Forum given by yours truly. This year I am focusing on the Epistle of Saint James. The aim is, by the end of Lent, to go through all of it, line by line, offering my reflective commentary along the way. And to aid the commentary I offer, I will also be consulting and sharing the commentary on this Epistle by the Venerable S. Bede, the great English Church Father. This Session 2 covers the Epistle of James, chapter 1 verse 11 through chapter 2 verse 13. Those verses are below. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. CHAPTER 2 1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 11m

  4. 25 FEB

    More on Noah's Ark as Spiritual Allegory (Part 2)

    O Lord, Who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights: Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey Thy godly motions in righteousness and true holiness, to Thy honour and glory, Who livest and reignest with the Father in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    21 min

  5. 22 FEB

    On Christ our Strength and Defense

    The conclusion of my sermon for last Sunday had these words: In hearing and reflecting upon the profound account given us about love in the example of Jesus Christ, we may well feel overwhelmed at our great lack of it, as we come to fathom what true love is, and measure ourselves by Our Lord’s perfect pattern. Our great relief now, in Lent, and all our days is to understand that we live in Him: so we with confidence and humility look to Christ in prayer; in prayer with regard to every particular of our daily short-comings; and what we derive from examining our vices and sins, and thus our falling short of Christ’s expectation of us. In Christ we have the assurance that if we are faithful in Him and genuine in our desire to follow Him, to put off our old man and put on the new garments of Christ, if we are like the blind man who simply cried out to Jesus and said, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” He will hear us. This is why Jesus entered into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. He did this not for Himself, for He is the Sinless One. He did this for us, that we would always know that He hears us in prayer, and understands what we are going through in our lives. After all, Jesus is the Son of God; Jesus and the Father are One. And in being the Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father, He made a clear-cut decision to go into the wilderness for a very definite purpose. Jesus took on the Devil in the wilderness because He sought the Devil out. There was no question as to who would win this battle. Christ had already won the war, because He is God and the Devil is not. The Devil had lost long ago, had lost to Archangel Michael and his holy Angels fighting under their general, Jesus Christ. The Devil and his angels were thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. This is what Moses described in Genesis chapter 1, verse 4: “God separated the light from the darkness,” the darkness that was over the face of the deep abyss of hell. The word “darkness” in Genesis 1 refers to the unholy angels of the Devil, and the Devil himself. They were separated from God’s grace by their own demonic pride, and now cover the face of the deep abyss of hell. Hence the Devil appears already in Genesis 2 to Eve and Adam, already the face of darkness, of temptation. Christ had already won the battle against the Devil, and so His entering into the wilderness was to show His disciples, to show us, that Jesus Christ conquers. And so do we, if we imitate the Archangel Michael and fight the devil under the banner of Jesus Christ. We do this in our prayer. The battle is unseen warfare in our heart. Our weapons are the weapons of righteousness as Saint Paul teaches in the Epistle: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. We must have these weapons of Christ. Without them, we stand no chance against the temptations of the Devil. These weapons of righteousness are weapons of Christ Himself. With these weapons, the darkness of the unseen warfare is brought into the light of Christ. From these weapons of righteousness flow grace, by which we are able to triumph over every evil. We are able to wield these weapons if we no longer live to ourselves, but unto Him Who died for us and rose again. Without Christ, the weapons are too heavy for our frail bodies of little strength. With Christ, He lifts them, He wields them, because Christ is our strength and our shield. We possess these weapons as the fruit of faith in Christ. He will use them through us because Christ always hears us if we call to Him in faith, in love, in zeal, out of our yearning for Him: His presence, His peace, His power. We know He hears us because in keeping His words and keeping His commandments, Christ dwells in us – for He taught this very thing, and taught it many times. And because He dwells in us, we dwell in His defense, under the defense of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty. Let us say unto the Lord: Lord, Thou art my hope, and my stronghold. And how do we say this but in prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of the heart and mind to God, taught S. John of Damascus, 8th century Church Father. Let us truly pray, by lifting our heart and mind to God this whole season of Lent. This is what makes Lent a holy season: that our prayer is more intense, that our prayer is more robust, that our prayer is regular, which is to say, daily. Let us this Lent read and meditate upon God’s holy Word more than we usually do. Let us this Lent worship in the Liturgy more often than we usually do. By increasing the intensity of our prayer and the frequency of our prayer, by increasing our attendance and participation in Liturgy, we allow Jesus Christ to join us in our hearts, and transform us so as to win the battle against the Devil and his dragon-like angels: because our God is an awesome God, He is Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    12 min

  6. 21 FEB

    On the Epistle of S. James, Session 1

    Every Lent, my parish—Saint Paul’s, New Smyrna Beach—offers what we call “Lent Friday Worship.” The weekly festivity begins with Plainsong Evensong, and then is followed by Stations of the Cross, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, then to the parish hall for a community meal, and Rector Forum given by yours truly. This year I am focusing on the Epistle of Saint James. The aim is, by the end of Lent, to go through all of it, line by line, offering my reflective commentary along the way. And to aid the commentary I offer, I will also be consulting and sharing the commentary on this Epistle by the Venerable S. Bede, the great English Church Father. This Session 1 covers the background of James and the Epistle, and then looks at the first eleven verses of chapter 11. Those verses are below. CHAPTER 1 1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 8m

  7. 19 FEB

    On Jonah, Disobedience, and Lent

    Almighty and everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    21 min

  8. 16 FEB

    On Noah's Ark as Allegory

    O Lord God, Who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth: Send Thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever lives is counted dead before Thee: Grant this for Thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the same Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe

    13 min
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About

Homilies, teachings, and interviews from your host, Father Matthew C. Dallman, Obl.S.B., who is the leading authority on the theology of Martin Thornton, student of the Venerable S. Bede, and founder of Akenside Institute for English Spirituality. Fr Dallman is an Anglican priest: Rector of Saint Paul's, New Smyrna Beach, in Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. frmcdallman.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Fr Matthew C. Dallman
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    222
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Fr Matthew C Dallman
  • Show Website
    Anglican Ascetic

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