Our 1st Reading this morning comes from the Book of Sirach. Now, if you learned your Books of the Bible, longer than perhaps 25 years ago, you’re probably wondering, “Where did Sirach come from?” Sirach comes from the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha is a collection of O. T. writings, that for various reasons, were not included … [Read more…]
February 2004 Dear God, I had to send Bridget to you today. I took her to the vet to see if something could be done about her arthritis. X-rays showed that she did not have arthritis but very advanced bone cancer. The vet said that she was in a lot of pain. She never let … [Read more…]
It seems like every time I go in for my semi-annual physical, my doctor goes over my lab results and says, “Your sodium is a little high. You need to cut back on your salt intake.” Then I usually get a gentle lecture about not salting my meat, and reading labels to find reduced salt … [Read more…]
February 2020 A haunting dilemma. A group of us took a weekend in New York City before Christmas. We saw the Christmas Show at Radio City, visited Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, Saint Mary the Virgin, Grand Central, and all of those other wonderful Midtown Manhattan “must sees.” Someone suggested that we visit the 9/11 Memorial. … [Read more…]
Well, our readings today really move us away from our Epiphany story, don’t they? No more Magi. No more shepherds. No more star. No more Herod. No more dashing from place to place. But it’s still Epiphany, with its theme of “manifestation”, or “showing forth.” So, now our readings turn to passages like this morning’s … [Read more…]
January 2000 Following are a few of my well-intended New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t promise to keep any of them, but at least you know I’m thinking about them: I’ll clean and straighten my desk to keep Merle happy. I’ll mention Jesus more in my homilies to keep Gertrude happy. I’ll start services on time … [Read more…]
In our liturgical calendar, today is known as “The Second Sunday after Christmas Day.” These “Sundays after Christmas” always feel kind of weird. If you go into almost any store, all of the Christmas stuff is gone, and in many places, the Valentine’s Day stuff is out – while we sit here singing Christmas Carols. … [Read more…]
This past Sunday Evening, ABC’s “60 Minutes” aired a special on “The 11 Churches of Lalibela.” Lalibela is in Ethiopia, and the 11 churches belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is one of the oldest, purest Christian churches in the world. The 11 Churches of Lalibela are in a very remote volcanic mountain region … [Read more…]
January 2019 I’ve debated for the past few years whether or not to put up my Christmas Tree. When you live alone, it’s easy to set that sort of thing aside as “too much trouble.” I’m one of those strange people who assigns personalities to inanimate objects. And each year at this time, I think … [Read more…]