What does it mean to be a “doer of the word”?
On this, the fifth Sunday of easter, we are called by the Holy Church to reflect on how the resurrection of our Lord changes our lives. In light of the resurrection, how are we different? How have our lives changed? Do we live and act differently as Christians?
Right now, there is a small sort of revival going on in the Western Church. Across Europe and North America people are returning to the faith of their fathers. People are studying theology. People are studying Church history. People are coming to the same conclusions that have been held by the Church Catholic for centuries: apostolic bishops, liturgy, sacraments, tradition, and beauty. Great books are being written on philosophy, theology, and Christian virtue. Aquinas is being seriously engaged again. Baptisms are up. Heady Christian blogs and magazines are thriving. Great discussions on capitalism, the enlightenment, a sacramental world view, an open cosmos, and so much more are happening. It is truly and exciting time to be a priest. I love reading this stuff. I love the books. I love the book studies and the amazing questions and discussions I get to participate in. (Which, by the way, check out the symposium coming up on the 21st…)
Read more...Yesterday morning when I came out of my office, Rosemary asked me a very important question. Knowing that I was working on my sermon, she asked me, “Daddy, how do you write a sermon?”
It’s an important question, because I think a lot of people have a certain idea about sermon preparation that’s actually a good bit different from what happens. (At least for me.)
I’ll pull the curtain back a bit and fill you in on my process. First, I pray. Then I read the lectionary readings for the week. Then, I pray again. Then I stare out the window. I wait for the Holy Spirit to give me a faint starting idea. Then, I write and listen. So often, the place I’m taken by the end of the sermon is very different from what I’d have expected. So often, there’s something in the reading I hadn’t noticed before. More often than not, conversations and readings from the last several weeks come into focus and I realize that God was preparing my sermon for me weeks in advance.
Read more...“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Who could truly understand what was happening? He wasn’t the savior they were expecting. He wasn’t saving them in the way they wanted. And, yet, even at that depth of evil, Jesus is eager to forgive, eager for us to return to his Father’s presence. He says, “Father, forgive” that we might boldly pray “Our Father who art in Heaven…”
Read more...I am called to preach the Gospel and faithfully administer the sacraments under the apostolic authority of a bishop of Christ’s Holy Church because God saved a Mormon boy from the pits of despair and freed him from the chains of the law. This God, in securely calling me his own, redirected my heart to serve his one, holy, Catholic Church and to share the truly Good News of unmerited free grace to others lost in darkness. God calls me especially to minister to and establish the Church among those often overlooked and forgotten; the poor, the imprisoned, the foreigner, and the oppressed.
Read more...On October 8, I was invited to preach at McKendree Village where I did my field education last year. It was a blessing to be back with so many friends and to see the healing God had brought to many of the people I had visited in the rehabilitation center.
Since I’m taking A.J. Levine’s course on Mark this semester, I decided to preach on the miracles of the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on water in Mark 6:30-52. My focus was on how God has revealed himself to us and how we often miss the Mark. Though we miss the mark, however, there is still hope. As Jesus was patient with the disciples, he will be patient with us. If we, like the crowd, go to the places Jesus will be — among the poor, the sick, the prisoner, the widow, etc. — he will meet us there. If we open our hearts to him, Jesus will be our shepherd.
Read more...Looking at social media over the last several days has been very disturbing to me. Though Puerto Rico lays in ruins, the Caribbean aches in destruction, Mexico City mourns, and our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa face true persecution for the faith, the so-called Christians of the States are hot about folk kneeling during the State worship hymn.
Though there is much to comment on the militeristic symbolism of American football, the troubling words of the State hymn, and Americans’ reverance towards the flag, I’m not going there. Though I choose not to salute a piece of cloth or pledge alligience to the government or people it represents, I understand why many do and I respect their agency.
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