In reviewing the daily lectionary readings, there are times one wonders if there is any connectivity among the assigned scriptures for the day. Sometimes yes and other times no. After reading the passages and letting them settle in my mind and heart, I began to see the threads of what people of faith refer to as a “call” in each. While the circumstances, settings
It’s ironic that in Matthew 6:1, Jesus has just instructed us to pray in secret and build a relationship with him in private, just before he gives us the most public prayer of all time. Nearly every church I have ever attended recited the Lord’s Prayer together, but the content is the example not the discipline. The Lord’s Prayer asks us to keep his name holy, it instructs us to find our purpose; necessities or daily bread are in God’s plan for us. Take responsibility for our sins and receive God’s Grace and forgiveness. Evil will come against us but trust that the Lord is by our side. We know how the story ends…
Matthew indicates a Christian is either a ‘sheep’ or a ‘goat’. His gospel indicates the Son of Man separates the sheep (on his right hand) from the goats (on his left hand) according to the evidence of the caring of their brothers and sisters. He blesses those who fed him when he was hungry, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the sick or imprisoned, indicating to the sheep on his right hand, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
In several places in the gospels Jesus is recorded as saying: “Follow me.” I often wonder if these seemingly blunt requests are more nuanced and subtle than what appears on the surface. In one of today’s readings Jesus says it to Levi – one of the social undesirables – who then in turn, with generous hospitality, celebrates Jesus with other undesirables at a banquet.
Today’s readings all mention fasting or sacrifice, which seems particularly appropriate for a Friday in Lent. The readings in Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, often mention fasting, and many people choose to fast as part of their observance of the season. In the reading from Matthew, Jesus does not condemn fasting, and we know that he too fasted while in the wilderness, and likely
To have been present at the death of someone you have loved is to have witnessed life — a life ended, a life begun. But it is also to know loss and to feel what it is to be lost. Not so much a feeling of where am I to go, rather how am I to be, how am I to live? We are
It always strikes me as ironic that the day of the Church year that we hear Jesus’ strong words about not practicing our piety to be seen by others is the same day when our liturgies offer us a visible mark of ashes on our foreheads to express our participation in the beginning of Lent. I don’t think it means we shouldn’t use ashes,
The Church of the Ascension will hold services tomorrow, January 23, as usual at 9 am, 11 am and 7 pm. Please join us if you can get here safely!
Due to the upcoming snow situation, the parish directory photographers will not take pictures this weekend. New appointments will be available on January 29 & 30 and February 5, 6, & 7. If you provided a telephone number when making your original appointment, the photographer’s office will likely call you about rescheduling. You can also look for information on how to reschedule in the
Bishop Dietsche wrote to the people of the New York Diocese in response to the vote of the primates of the Anglican Communion to sanction The Episcopal Church. His letter, together with the statement of the Presiding Bishop referred to in it, follows. A Spanish translation of the letter from Bishop Dietsche can be read with this link. January 15, 2016 My brothers and