Richard Hooker, Priest and Theologian, 1600

The Collect:

Rite I:
O God of truth and peace, who didst raise up thy servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Rite II:
O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: 1 Corinthians 2:6–16

⁶ Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. ⁷But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹But, as it is written,
       ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
          nor the human heart conceived,
       what God has prepared for those who love him’—
¹⁰these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹ For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. ¹³And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.

¹⁴ Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually. ¹⁵Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
¹⁶     ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord
            so as to instruct him?’
         But we have the mind of Christ.

Psalm: Psalm 37:1-9

¹ Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
       do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
² For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
       and like the green grass fade away.
³ Put your trust in the Lord and do good; *
       dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord, *
       and he shall give you your heart’s desire.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, *
       and he will bring it to pass.
⁶ He will make your righteousness as clear as the light *
       and your just dealing as the noonday.
⁷ Be still before the Lord *
       and wait patiently for him.
⁸ Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
       the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
⁹ Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
       do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.

Gospel: John 17:18-23

¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰ ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

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