Be Pruned
So, show of hands, how many of y’all took on random hobbies in the last two years or so? Same, same. It all started with Jennifer getting a little pathos plant and two succulents. I took it upon myself to help those plants avoid the normal fate of plants in our house. I researched, I set a calendar reminder for watering, I even got a little grow light. (My neighbors are no doubt incredibly confused by the purple glow that comes from my office all winter long. Read more...
Metaphysical Table of Communion with God and the Saints
The Book of Revelation — or more traditionally the Apocalypse of St. John (better highlighting the genre of apocalypse Fr. Justin spoke about last week) — is a brilliant book to be reading during the season of Easter. Moderns tend to read St. John’s Apocalypse primarily as a prophecy about the “end times.” They aren’t wrong, but to read Revelation and leave with only an urgency to be ready for Christ’s return is to miss the point. Read more...
Jesus Revealing Himself in our Midst
Sermon Audio “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.” The season of Epiphany has been all about God revealing himself to his people. In Advent we await the coming King. At Christmastide we stand awestruck as God enters our filth. In Epiphany we see the perfect revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Read more...
Practical Guidance for Anglicans in Ecumenical Eucharistic Worship
This is part four of a four part project. The final project is here. The genesis of this project starts with my confusion and unease communing at a Disciples of Christ led ecumenical Eucharist service inside a jail each week. Starting with the Chicago statement of Protestant Episcopal Church in 1886 and culminating with the great ecumenical work Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry coming out of Lima in 1984, much academic and theological work has been done within and outside the Anglican Christianity on the path towards visible unity in the Church. Read more...
Plene Esse, the Holy Spirit, & Intercommunion
This is part three of a four part project. The final project is here. “For a long time the Conference on Faith and Order shied away from and avoided directly addressing this problem [ecumenical Eucharist]. It was the type of issue so loaded with emotional dynamite, that we feared it might with the first little thrust set off a spark that would explode our entire movement into pieces.” Dr. Leonard Hodgson. Read more...
Charitable Apostolicity
This is part two of a four part project. The final project is here. As a chaplain, I find myself worshiping and serving during the week more often in contexts outside of my own tradition than I do within. Weekly I face the question of whether a non-catholic1 minister’s orders and, thus, the sacraments she or he presides over are valid — partially or otherwise. At the onset of this project, I described my main concern as finding a path towards a generous orthodoxy. Read more...
Seeking a Charitable Orthodoxy (Definition)
This is part one of a four part project. The final project is here. My journey through Vanderbilt Divinity School (VDS) has been a difficult one. Deep within the inner workings of progressive Christian theology and politics, I quickly learned that traditional liberal values of tolerance, free speech, free thought, and civil debate were more easily affirmed — if even affirmed — than lived. In the words and deeds of many of those around me, it was made clear that there was little space for certain theological questions or viewpoints. Read more...
The Bread of Life II (John 6:35, 41-51)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Last week we talked about Jesus being the bread of life. Jesus was trying to show those around him that they were working for the favor of others. The hole they felt — the sense of not belonging — could only be permanently filled by God’s love, the bread of life. Read more...
The Bread of Life (John 6:24-35)
Let us pray, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. On Sunday my priest preached a sermon from Ephesians 4 and something from that sermon has sat with me all week. I’d like to share it with you in the context of today’s gospel reading from St. John. Ephesians 4 is all about unity in the Body of Christ. Read more...
