St. John the Divine Anglican Church

The day’s theme comes from the entrance antiphon reflecting on Isaiah 66:10-11: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” That motherly theme reminds us that the New Jerusalem, the Church of

The Woman at the Well Water is something we take for granted here. We turn the little handle and the water flows. In many parts of the world, water is a precious resource that is not easy to come by. Water is life. When I was in Malawi, I saw women carrying buckets of water on their heads. Each day they walk to the local well, fill up their buckets,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” from the Gospel according to St. John. These words from the Gospel according to St. John are among the most well known in the Bible. They are filled with hope and love, and reassurance that God loves us, and wants us to live eternally; however, these

“After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” From the Gospel according to St. Matthew. On Wednesday, we began our annual Lenten season of prayer and fasting in which we participate in the 40 days journey in the wilderness with Jesus. I did not say that we will commemorate this event. Rather, we are called to participate in

“Six days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, apart.” (Matthew 17:1-9) Whenever Jesus wanted to teach his disciples, he went up on a mountain, according to Matthew. Remember that Moses went up on a mountain to hear the Lord’s commandments. And so we see

The Gospel reading this week is about Jesus teaching about the Law of Moses. The Pharisees were very strict about the Law, and they wanted everyone else to follow it, too. But Jesus saw something in the Pharisees that they couldn’t see. The Law that they loved so much had become more about legalism, and less about God’s purpose for his people. The Pharisees put the Law above our Lord

Jesus said, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. The Law of Moses is an important topic in the Gospel according to St. Matthew. Jesus made reference to the Law to assure the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jews that he respected the Mosaic Law,

“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong,” from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1:27) Jesus had a way of confounding the people of the world when he walked among us, and he still confounds them today. The Beatitudes, as they are known, has been called the little catechesis, or teaching of

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” From the Gospel according to St. Matthew. At the beginning of his ministry, as recorded by St. Matthew, Jesus went to Caper′na-um by the sea of Galilee. It was there that he found Andrew and Simon Peter, and the rest of the twelve apostles. He began to teach them about repentance and the

“John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” from the Gospel according to St. John 1:29-41 The Gospel reading today contains a number of important statements. These statements influence how we talk about God, or our theology. First, let’s look at the statement of St. John the Baptist. “Behold the Lamb of God,” he writes. To