joseph of arimathea (31 july)

besides the gospel account of joseph of arimathea as the sanhedran member who took jesus' body for burial in his own new tomb, there are many charming legends about the man sometimes called jesus' god father or foster father. my favourite is that joseph, a tin trader who therefore traveled sometimes to cornwall whence came most of the tin in the classical world, took with him on one of his trips the young jesus. this legend is the basis for hubert parry's great setting of william blake's hymn jerusalem, which many people consider the real national anthem of england.

there is much for us to imitate in all of the stories of this fabled saint. one of the duties of israelites was the burial of the dead, an important part of the story of tobit, which is seem as a prophecy of joseph's action. the early church continued this work, and the non-christians in the pagan world found it quite remarkable that christians buried not only their own but strangers. how ironic therefore that in some times and some places, the church refused "christian burial" or burial in "holy ground" to"those who do not profess the christian faith." i am happy to report that this charity is being recovered by the church, and more and more suggestions for how the church should minister to the dead whose faith is known to god alone are available, such as the excellent material in the episcopal book of occasional services.

in the story of joseph and the young jesus' trip to england and blakes' poem is the recognition that all ground is holy ground, if we have eyes to see (another action encouraged, by the way, in book of occasional services). indeed one of the works of the church as the body of christ is to tread the earth in a holy way, casting off our shoes, as it were. many orders of nuns and monks recognize this.

here is a collect for this day:

o merciful god, by whose servant joseph the body of our lord and saviour was committed to the grave with reverence and godly fear: grant, we beseech thee, to thy faithful people grace and courage to serve and love jesus with unfeigned devotion all the days of their life; through the same jesus christ our lord. amen.