Thursday, March 19, 2009

St. Joseph, March 19


Kudos to the people responsible for bringing back to Lutherans the Feast of St. Joseph, now restored to its rightful place, March 19, in Lutheran Service Book. Though I still find The Lutheran Hymnal a superior hymnal in many respects, it's hard to excuse the glaring omission of St. Joseph, not only from its calendar, but from the hymns. In all the 660 hymns of TLH, there is but one reference to Joseph, a passing nod in #84.

At St. Paul's, we actually celebrated twice, once last night (since we get a larger crowd then), and again this morning. Hence I preached two (different) sermons:

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you have the time, would you please write an article comparing TLH and LSB and explaining WHY you find TLH to be the superior hymnal? I have found blog articles that either promote or tear down LSB, and the phrase, "TLH is better," seems to be a common theme, but I have yet to find someone actually do a side-by-side comparison. I (and perhaps others) would find that to be most helpful.

Or if such an article already exists, could you post the link?

Rev. Rick Stuckwisch said...

I'm likewise very pleased to have St. Joseph among our festivals. He is quietly a far more important and significant figures than we are prone to realize.

Pastor D said...

With respect to Joseph the protector of the infant Lord Jesus found this item on the news today. More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than in any other year in American history, according to preliminary data reported Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. You can access this information from the on line edition of the New York Times. Possibly our school numbers will be going up, or at least there is the potential. Bottom line - there are more souls who need to hear about Jesus! Births are up abortions are down prayers continue. It’s Lent. Preach on!

Bryce P Wandrey said...

Anonymous,
The Revd Dr John Paul Salay has written a critique of LSB which was published in Lutheran Forum but can now be found here. It does not pit LSB vs TLH but should give you some insight into what a liturgical scholar like Dr Salay thinks is lacking in LSB.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that link, though I've actually read that article before. I understand what people find to be lacking in LSB. What I don't understand is what people find to be superior about TLH. That's why I'm interested in someone actually writing a side-by-side piece.