In Year A, we now follow in the footsteps of our Lord to the days in which the religious leaders in Jerusalem sought to trap Jesus in order that they might execute him. We will hear first, out of Matthew 22:15-22, their question to him as to whether it is right to pay taxes to…
The Feast of the Visitation: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Church celebrates the Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth and Zechariah on May 31st. It commemorates Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, Jesus’s first meeting with John the Baptist while both were in utero, and Mary’s joyful praise as expressed in her Magnificat. The Collect Almighty God, by whose grace…
Today in the Spirit: The Sunday after the Ascension A
The Sunday after Ascension Day is the seventh Sunday of the Easter season (just as Pentecost Sunday is the eighth Sunday of Easter), but you will find that nowhere in the BCP 2019 is this Sunday referred to as Easter 7. The designation Sunday after Ascension Day is a change from the BCP 1979 back…
Ordinary Time: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Season after Trinity
Welcome to Ordinary Time! Now, if you’re like me, you might hear “Ordinary Time” as “boring time,” but that’s not the case! The Church Year revolves around two cycles: first, the Christmas cycle (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany). Next, the cycle shifts to the Easter cycle (Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost). The rest of the year is…
Week of the Sunday from September 4 to September 10: A Collect Reflection
O Lord God, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Seeking the…
Spiritual Renewal for the Dog Days of Summer
Summer I and Summer II Summer seems to be two seasons in one. One really should distinguish between Summer I and Summer II, for they are vastly different, both in the weather of the world and the weather of the soul. Summer I Beginning on Memorial Day weekend and ending around the Fourth of July…
Week of the Sunday from May 29 to June 4: A Collect Reflection
Week of the Sunday from May 29 to June 4 O God, the protector of all those who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not…
The Church Calendar: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Christian Year
What time is it? At first glance, it might not seem like it, but this is one of the most important questions a human being can ask! Thankfully, there’s an Anglican answer! Or, better, there is a Christian answer that the Anglican tradition helps proclaim! While the secular calendar organizes life around civic holidays, national…
What They Are Saying About The Trinity
It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, “Let us make man”. It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, “Let us save man”. — J. C. Ryle The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship…
Help for that Tricky Trinity Sunday Sermon
For many years, when I preached or taught on the Holy Trinity, I always started by saying basically the same thing, something like this: “I am as unsure as anyone how the doctrine of the Trinity makes sense or is directly relevant to daily life. However, it is a true biblical and Christian belief, and…
Ascension Day & the Real Absence of Christ
Ascension Day is forty days after Easter. After Jesus rose again, he spent forty days with the disciples, then, “…he parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51). His ascension marked the beginning of his absence. Imagine the roller coaster ride the disciples went through, from their disappointment at Jesus’s death to…
