U2 has dropped another great (IMHO) EP. The last was on Ash Wednesday and called, reasonably enough, “Days of Ash.” That EP is a powerful set of songs offering a critique of the news of today. Today, on Good Friday, they drop “Easter Lily.” With songs titles like “Scars,” “Resurrection […]
Lent
19 posts
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Lent, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, cones from Old Dutch and Old German, meaning “long” or “lengthen.” It is a reference to the lengthening of days in the spring and in some Old English texts, the term is synonymous with spring. […]
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT FEB 18, 2024 “Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.” 1 Pet. 3:18 I may be wrong, but I think most of us in the Episcopal church today have an issue with sin. […]
The Diocese of Lexington (KY) is offering a 5-week “Spiritual Exercise” formation class. The live Zoom sessions started last week, but you can view the videos for yourself at your own pace. Tonight (March 1, 2021) I will be leading a discussion of the importance of the study of the […]
Readings for Ash Wednesday Ps. 51:15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Amen. Today is Ash Wednesday, marked literally and figuratively by the ashes that will be placed upon our foreheads as a sign and reminder of our mortality. It is the beginning of […]
I don’t need Lent. I don’t need to be reminded of my mortality. I don’t need to be reminded of the sinful and wicked workings of this world. I don’t need to be reminded that I am a sinner. I don’t need to be reminded that I am ashes and […]
The psalm assigned for today’s Morning Prayer is 102. Powerful, poignant, and a reminder both of the importance of lament in our prayer life and of faith within the midst of lament. Psa. 102:0 A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the LORD. 1 Hear my prayer, O […]
We are preparing some of our youth at St. B’s for confirmation and in so doing are working our way through the Catechism: An Outline of the Faith. As I was preparing last week I noticed the question referenced in the title. The Catechism reads as follows, Q: What are the principal […]
An essay for St. B’s quarterly bulletin, The Branch. Growing up in an evangelical Presbyterian church I had never understood Lent until I was in college. I do not mean to suggest that my parents or the pastors did not know about Lent, but it was not something observed in […]
From the St. B’s quarterly bulletin The Branch. Growing up in an evangelical Presbyterian church I had never understood Lent until I was in college. I do not mean to suggest that my parents or the pastors did not know about Lent, but it was not something observed in our church […]