Jan
27
2012
Acts 16:11-15; Lk 8:1-3
We all know what a significant contribution is made to the total life of the Church by women. But, very little emphasis has been given to the significance of the contribution that women made to the life of the early Church, although it must be obvious to anyone paying attention to the reading of the Epistles and Gospels of the New Testament that women have been very much involved in the life of the Church from the very beginning. To my knowledge it is only within the past 50 years or so that women have been elected or appointed to major roles in the Episcopal Church. Continue Reading »
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Jan
26
2012
Feast of Timothy, Titus, and Silas (Companions of Paul) – Acts 15:22-26, 30-33; 16:1-5
In our Rule of Life we express the desire that “wherever possible we shall go out on mission in twos and threes rather than singly so that we can express our companionship in ministry” (ch. 32). Our experience has been that when brothers share in ministry they can be a support and encouragement to one another, and can complement one another by their different gifts and styles of teaching.
I suspect that St. Paul would understand this thinking and endorse it. Today we mark the feast of three of his companions, young men who accompanied him on his journeys, whom he trained and encouraged and who then went on to ministries of their own. Continue Reading »
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Jan
24
2012
Mark 3:31-35
Some of you might remember when, some years ago, people were expressing shock and even grief at an instructive issued by the Catholic Church. Speaking on behalf of the magisterium, then Cardinal Ratzinger seemed to say that one must embrace the Roman Church in order to be saved. Of course, our “shock and grief” have found their home in our own communion. Anglicans have engaged in battle for some years now over the nature of human sexuality and what the Bible says or doesn’t say about it. Both sides have fumed at each other. Both sides have claimed the right. Pronouncement has been answered with pronouncement. In our own country, some congregations have decided that the issue is too important to remain within the Episcopal Church and have migrated to less objectionable quarters of the Anglican Communion. There have been law suits, mostly about property rights (ah, that’s code for money). It’s not a pretty picture.
Why should we be surprised that those outside the church looking-in grow more and more confused and turned-off by what they see? Continue Reading »
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Jan
22
2012
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Mark 1:14-20
The news is not necessarily good. If you follow a newspaper or some online news source, or if you take in the news by TV or radio, you will not presume that the news you learn will be good news. NPR reported not long ago on a study which researched the relationship between being well informed with the news, and being happy. Are people who spend more time and energy getting more news more happy in life? No. It’s largely the opposite, an inverted relationship: the people with more news are more unhappy. Well, I’m not about to suggest we become News Luddites; but I am saying that good news is remarkable, because there’s so much bad news, and that is as true today as it was in Jesus’ own day. Which is why the news that people heard on Jesus’ lips was compelling: because it was so good. He called it that – good news – and people voted with their feet. If Jesus had been a political candidate, we could call it an enormous swelling of grassroots’ support. They followed him in hordes. Continue Reading »
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Jan
17
2012
Br. Geoffrey Tristram takes us to the roots of Christian monasticism, to the Desert Abbas and Ammas, to share the words of life these holy men and women left behind. He finds in their uncompromising witness an invitation from God to us all, to be still, silent, and open to the discerning, penetrating gaze of the Almighty.
This sermon is available only in audio format.
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Jan
15
2012
1 Sam. 3: 1-20; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
This is surely one of Jesus’ more obscure sayings. “Very truly I tell you,” he says to Nathanael, “you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” The reference is to Jacob’s dream in Genesis when he sees angels on a ladder ascending to and descending from heaven. But what can it possibly mean? We need to do a little detective work.
So, why not start in Paris? I’m not a regular in Paris, but have managed to get there three or four times. On one visit way back when I happened to go into a book store—an old-fashioned book store (remember book stores?). Very high ceilings with shelves all the way to the top, ladders to get up there. The overflow in stacks on tables, even on the wood plank floor. The fragrance of old leather bindings in the air. It happened to be a Left Bank version of what we would call a “New Age” bookstore: all the world religions, and then some. Theosophy, Anthroposophy, astrology and numerology and the occult, etc. etc.–all the more exotic for being in French. There in the Christian section of the store a little book jumped out at me (have you ever had books jump out at you?) “Le Symbolisme du Temple Chrétien”. The symbolism of the Christian temple. By someone named Jean Hani. I bought and read it. Continue Reading »
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Jan
14
2012
“I Richard Meux Benson, promise and vow to Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, before the whole company of heaven, and before you my fathers, that I will live in celibacy, poverty and obedience, as one of the Mission Priests of Saint John the Evangelist unto my life’s end. So help me God.” With this vow, made on the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist, December 27, 1866, our Society was founded.
It is hard to imagine today what an extraordinary event this was. Henry VIII had presided over the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century – and there had been no monastic life in the Church of England for 300 years. Something new and powerful was happening in the church – a new work of the Holy Spirit. What was it that inspired Richard Benson with the courage and vision to renew the religious life for men in our church, after so many centuries? Continue Reading »
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Jan
13
2012
1 Jn 2:18-25; Lk 12:8-12
When we read, or hear, the beginning words of today’s reading from the first letter of John, “Children, it is the last hour!” (1 Jn 2:18) it may seem to us to be hysterical exaggeration, or a form of romantic hyperbole. On the other hand it could be seen as a summing up of the situation of our world in these days. Someone might ask, “is it the last hour?” I think that most of us do not want to think of the events in the past year or two as signs of the end; earthquakes in Haiti, New Zealand, and Japan; the tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan, typhoons and flooding in the Philippines, wild brush fires in California and Australia, the political upheaval in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the tensions in our own country in these early days of an election year. There have been a number of these “signs”, but most of us don’t want to think of those things as signs of “the last times,” (I’m sure though that there are some people who do think that those things are apocalyptic signs.) The world has been through many similar periods of natural disaster and political, spiritual, and economic tension from almost the earliest times. Continue Reading »
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Jan
10
2012
I Samuel 1:1-20
We brothers are sometimes given the privilege of being in the company of people who are willing to share with us their pain. No doubt many of you have been given this privilege as well. I say this is a privilege because it is an occasion to be with someone in a moment of great vulnerability. They are revealing themselves to us with great transparency, admitting their poverty, allowing us to see and touch their deepest wounds, inviting us to share with them the painful losses, disappointments or unfulfilled longings that have broken and shattered their hearts. We sit in awe before them, feeling a sense of wonder at their courage, their perseverance, and their desire to find God in this place of pain.
We are being given that privilege tonight, as we hear and ponder the story of Hannah. We should approach her story with awe, cherishing the privilege of witnessing her vulnerability and her courage. Continue Reading »
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Jan
08
2012
In this sermon, Br. Kevin Hackett reveals the deep meaning of the scene of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River: We, like Jesus, will not be shielded from the harsh realities of life, but we do know that when we pass through the deep waters, God will be with us. “I have heard the voice of God,” Br. Kevin affirms, “in the waters, speaking through the chaos, through the murkiness, cloudiness, through the mists, saying, ‘Light. Peace. Be Still. Beloved.’”
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Acts 16:11-15; Lk 8:1-3
