432: Ælfric - Homily for Midlent Sunday

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Mar 14, 2026

A lively dive into Ælfric's Midlent homily on the feeding of the five thousand. They tease medieval translation challenges and the meaning of loaves, fishes, and baskets as biblical typology. Conversations range from Genesis in missionary work to sacramental imagination, Tolkien connections, and how ancient preaching reshapes modern catechesis.

02:15:57

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ADVICE

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Christopher Gillespie and Scott Keith recommend writing sermons for the ear: read them aloud, then edit so sentences 'sing' in speech.
They emphasize conversational cadence over page-perfect grammar to hold listeners.

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Reading Ælfric's Midlent Homily Setup

01:30 • 2min

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Pronunciation, Medieval Latin, and Translation

03:10 • 1min

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Biblical Fathers, History, and 'Dark Ages' Reappraisal

04:22 • 4min

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Truth, Lying Preachers, and Trickster Themes

08:21 • 3min

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Serpents, Two-Sided Speech, and Jesus as Counter-Serpent

11:14 • 5min

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Nudity, Iconography, and Shame after the Fall

16:21 • 3min

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Genesis as Conversion Tool in Early Medieval Missions

19:03 • 2min

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Time-Bound vs. Timeless: Chronos and Kairos

21:30 • 4min

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All Stories as Prayer and the Beatitudes' Timelessness

25:57 • 5min

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Start of Ælfric Homily Reading

31:00 • 4min

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Sea as World; Mountain as Ascension

34:46 • 5min

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Feeding: Heavenly and Earthly Meanings

40:11 • 8min

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Miracles Ordinary to God, Unusual to Us

48:19 • 7min

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Five Loaves as Torah and the Boy as Israel

55:04 • 16min

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Barley, Difficulty, and Spiritual Nourishment

01:10:50 • 14min

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Two Fishes as Psalms and Prophets

01:24:47 • 6min

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Twelve Baskets, Apostles, and Preserving Doctrine

01:30:24 • 6min

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Seeing vs. Believing: Miracle Witness and Faith

01:36:52 • 7min

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Sacramental Imagination and Biblical Literacy

01:43:37 • 7min

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Ælfric, Tolkien, and Recovering Christian Mythic Imagination

01:50:38 • 8min

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Went to a Garden Party. In this episode, we read a homily by St. Aelfric of York for Midlent Sunday. Aelfric sermonizes about the earthly and heavenly meaning of Jesus' feeding of the five thousand — its symbolism, historical import, and how loaves and fishes exegete the Old Testament books themselves. This and many, many wilderness wanderings in this episode of the podcast.

SHOW NOTES:

The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38334/38334-h/38334-h.htm#page180