I write this from the Sea of Galilee where the weather is wet and a little dreary. The lush green hills look more like the English Lake district rather than the Middle East. Yesterday, in Nazareth, was bright and sunny as we visited Christ Church Anglican parish for the Eucharist...
It’s easy to forget that Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) are sisters. Right action springs from the same root as contemplation. This week, spend a quiet moment holding your “to do” list reverently in prayer. Here’s an essay by Eknath Easwaran on his grandmother’s joyful attention to the tasks of...
Forum will be meeting next Tuesday, January 20 at 6:30 in St Anselm’s Chapel on the second floor of Cathedral place. Light refreshments, mostly wine and cheese, will be served from about 6 pm. This half hour is a pleasant time of socialising before the meeting. On the agenda is...
Many crowds followed Jesus, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit...
A new year is born. For some, the time has come to commit to resolutions, while for other people this is the beginning of expectations, expectation of a birth, of a fresh start, of a closure, of a change. Again, for others, continuity will prevail. Whatever our state of mind,...
After you have blessed your house by chalking the door (instructions here) settle into the blessing in a comfortable chair and read the Gospel of Mark from beginning to end. This, the shortest of the four Gospels, contains passages you’ll hear on many Sundays this year. [You can download a portable...
Christmas is over and the season of Epiphany has begun, but miraculously our organists and choir are still making beautiful music. You are all invited to the service of music and readings for Epiphany, this Sunday evening at 4 pm. It will be broadcast as usual by Radio Ville-Marie (91.3...
Blessing the home on or near the feast of Epiphany is a tradition that dates from the middle ages. Using chalk, we mark our doorways with the inscription 20+C+M+B+15, calling to mind the magi, traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, who journeyed far from their homes to Bethlehem in search...
The holiday season bombards us with sounds both sacred and secular, with scriptures so familiar that hearing them fresh is a challenge, and with old and perhaps unconscious scripts of what family and gifts mean to us. Perhaps you saw or spoke to friends and family members, people you don’t...
A few pictures from our lovely Christmas Pageant With thanks to Ben Seamone for taking them! Also, the sermons from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day can be found here.
Here is a poem by Mary Karr, suggested by Rhonda for contemplation this week. It’s the perfect antidote to those toomany sweets!
Forget “Merry Christmas” – a more appropriate holiday greeting is “Be not afraid” (perhaps the response could be “Thank you. Nor you”) Not only would this better capture the tone of the Christmas story, echoing the angel’s greetings to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, it would better address the emotional...