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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
This morning I want to look at our first reading, from the Book of Jeremiah. We don’t often have readings from Jeremiah, and most of us probably don’t know a great deal about him. So, this morning I want to talk about Jeremiah. Although we’re not sure when he was born, we do know that … [Read more…]
In this month’s parish newsletter, I mentioned that this year’s Blessing of the Pets – would have a sad overtone – since we had recently experienced the death of several well known pets in our parish family. I think I got more response to that article – then any of the many that I’ve written. … [Read more…]
I don’t know about you – but the only thing on my mind this morning is giving thanks that this we were spared from that storm this past week. If it had drifted just a few miles further north –we would be in the same mess as our neighbors in the Carolinas. At the same time I … [Read more…]
