Our readings for today as follows – Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; I Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21 While there are variations in the last two lines, this is the verse popularized in the mid-nineteenth century. The origin of the verse is unclear. One possible origin maybe the defeat of King Richard III of England at Bosworth […]
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; I Peter 2:2-10; John 14: 1-14 “When times are tough, the tough get going.” These are tough times we live in. St. Stephen lived in tough times, too. The Jesus movement was challenging the ancient faith of Israel, challenging the traditionalists of his day. The disciples were guiding the people […]
The Fourth Sunday of Easter
Today is traditionally called “Shepherd’s Sunday”. Our readings are – Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23, I Peter 2:19-25, and John 10:1-10. From the 23rd Psalm, we observe that a shepherd has three tools to care for the sheep, voice, staff, and rod. With the voice “he calls his own by name…the sheep know his voice”. The […]
The Third Sunday of Easter
What is essential and necessary, and what is good and helpful? We are all self-quarantined these days, prohibited from gathering for worship together, from graduating together, from learning together, from drinking coffee together. While smog around the world is dissipating and we are able to see more clearly and breathe more deeply, this crisis is […]
The Second Sunday of Easter
God had additional plans beyond the empty tomb. The stone was rolled away; the linen cloths were neatly folded; the crucified Jesus as raised from the dead. Alleluia. Christ is Risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia. The glory of God is revealed. The glory of God is more powerful than the darkness of the […]
Easter Sunday
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and […]
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Jesus So states the first of the Beatitudes that we are currently reciting for our Sunday morning canticle. There is blessedness here and now for those who know their need of God and their need for a community of faith. There is […]
In Tough, Chaotic, Tumultuous Times
In ancient Israel, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon surrounded Jerusalem with his troops. Within the walls, King Zedekiah, confined the prophet, Jeremiah. Still, Jeremiah listened to the voice of God that spoke to his heart. God insisted that Jeremiah purchase a field in the land of Benjamin. He was instructed by God to pay in silver […]
There is a Balm in Gilead
From the region of Gilead, Israel, near Jericho, came a rare perfume that contained balsam (a species of pine) that is noted in ancient texts as a cure for pleurisy, pneumonia, epilepsy, vertigo, asthma, and coughing. The balm of Gilead was traded throughout the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The prophet Jeremiah in troubling times questioned: Is […]
Full Speed Ahead, Damn the Torpedoes
On the 5th of August, 1964, the battle of Mobile Bay Alabama was fought. Mobile Bay was the last Confederate port open in the Gulf of Mexico. The entrance to the bay had been narrowed by mines (torpedoes) and was protected by three forts and numerous warships. Admiral Farragut was the commander of the Union […]