Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, “The Lord...
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to...
“By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.” Genesis 8:13 This morning was not the first...
When I was flipping through a book a couple of weeks into the pandemic lock-down I found a postcard tucked inside. It was bought when Jane and I visited the 12th century cathedral of Monreale in Palermo, Sicily, and gazed awestruck at the mosaics made of gold and coloured glass...
For the Feast of Saint Matthias on May 14 our readings at the Offices touch on the need to replace failed leadership. Matthias was chosen by lot to complete the number of the Twelve after Judas’ betrayal and suicide. The scripture which describes the selection of Matthias, following Jesus’ Ascension...
1 Thessalonians 5: 12-28 In this strange period we’re experiencing, time itself seems to have changed. The indistinguishable days go by in a blur, without the structure of our former schedules. Some of us are out of work; others are adapting to working in completely different ways; suddenly we’re faced...
The biblical wisdom found in 1st Thessalonians is this: Encourage one another and build each other up. It’s a beautiful verse. It’s poetic. It’s what so many of us have been trying to do during the COVID-19 pandemic. I should find this comforting. I should use this as evidence that...
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, for I have taken refuge in you; in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge until this time of trouble has gone by. (Ps 57:1) In 1975 a band named the Ohio Players released a song called “Love Rollercoaster”. Later...
O SING unto the Lord a new song : for he hath done marvellous things (Ps. 98:1) I have always loved the psalms. For me, they are the most expressive, and arguably the most honest, part of the Bible. When I was going through the discernment process in the Diocese of...
Today the Anglican Church celebrates the feast of Dame Julian of Norwich (c. 1343 – 1416). She lived during the second wave of the Black Death, a pandemic which ravaged Europe. She was an Anchorite, someone who chooses to withdraw from secular life and live a life of asceticism, in...
For the last text in my series: how to see this time of confinement as Good News in the light of the Pascal liturgy, I really wanted to bridge the gap between the two shores by approaching the question of mourning from the angle of resilience. I wanted to talk...
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life and...