The Dolorous Stroke
The Golden Tree, by Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911) Lections: The Second Sunday After Pentecost ( Lectionary 10 ), AD 2026 A Homily: Lord, we pray for the preacher, for you know his sins are great. Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Wheresoever Jesus goes, death dies—whether it’s the political death of a Jewish tax collector collaborating with the Roman occupation, or the social death of a woman whose chronic illness keeps her ritually unclean, or the literal death of a father’s beloved daughter. Everything Christ touches comes to life. It’s as though He Himself were the living antithesis of violence, as though He were Love made Man. We were all raised, to one degree or another, on tales of King Arthur, of Excalibur and Lancelot and Avalon. But one of those stories rarely retold, and certainly not included in any Disney adaptation, is that of the Dolorous Stroke. It begins with a knight named Balin. Known as Balin the Sava...
