“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you,” from the Gospel according to St. John. St. John uses the
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” … from the Revelation to St. John the Divine, 19:1,4-9 You will notice that this reading from the Revelation to St. John the Divine is filled with images of marriage. Listen to these words: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our
The Fourth Sunday of Easter – Mothers Day
Acts of the Apostles 13:15-16, 26-39 Happy Mother’s Day to the dear Mothers here among us. St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy to regard all older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters. This shows his love and respect for all women, and we men today would be wise to do the same. And Happy Mother’s Day to the Mother of our Lord, the Ever Blessed Virgin Mary, the
The Third Sunday of Easter
John 21:1-14 Our Gospel reading this morning chronicles the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples since he was raised from the dead. You will recall that last Sunday we heard about the first two appearances. Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” What
The Second Sunday of Easter
John 20:19-31 From the Gospel of St. John, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today is the second Sunday in Eastertide, and as it is the 8th day of Easter, it is known as the Octave. The eight-day feast coincides with Passover this year, which ended at Nightfall last night. On this Second Sunday in Eastertide, in the year 2000,
Easter Sunday
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! How wonderful it is to cry out Alleluia once again. Today, like that early morning that we heard about in the Gospel is the first day of the week. This is the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. Every Sunday of the year is a celebration of his resurrection, but this one is our annual feast recalling that
Easter Vigil
Tonight we celebrate the most glorious event in the history of mankind, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Alleluia! In the midst of darkness, we lit the New Fire, the very Light of Christ. We heard the Exultet, singing the praises of Mother Church and the Holy Flame. This past Holy Week we have remembered and celebrated the final events in the life of our Savior. On
Sunday of the Passion; Palm Sunday
There is a hymn published in 1876 by Dr. Robert Lowry, a prominent Baptist preacher who was born in Philadelphia. It is not in our hymnal, so I had never heard it until it was performed by the Jars of Clay, on the album Redemption Songs, released in 2005. The album featured many songs that the artists had sung in their Baptist or Methodist churches as youths, and they put
The Prodigal Son and the Forgiving Father
Today, the fourth Sunday in Lent is known by some as Laetare Sunday, which in Latin means Rejoice. The word comes from the traditional mass introit, “Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.” It is also known as Mothering Sunday in the UK, not
A Call to Repentance
“God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” St. Paul wrote his two letters to the Corinthian Church to gently guide them into the truth of the Gospel. From his other writings to them we can discern that they were a bit unruly. They