“I know a person… who was caught up into Paradise,” Paul wrote to the church in Corinth nearly two thousand years ago. “Even considering the exceptional character of the revelations, however, I refrain from boasting.”
This passage is one of my favorites in all of Paul’s voluminous and dense correspondence to the early church, in large part because … Read the rest
Continue reading "Unexceptional Grace" »“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the
observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denia
l; and by reading and
meditating on God’s holy Word.” Did y’all happen to hear that exhortation on Ash Wednesday last week? How’s all the prayer, fasting and self-denial going for you?
On the … Read the rest
Continue reading "Become What You Are" »Advent 1B 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lor
d Jesus Christ. I’ve always wanted to say that to a congregation. I’m a relatively new priest and its still kind of a holy surprise to speak the words spoken by apostles who went before me.
We heard this greeting near the beginning … Read the rest
Continue reading "The Front Matter and the Foundation" »De Colores!
What a privilege to be invited to share in this Cursillo weekend with you. For me its been a sacred time that began with my prayers for you all week. And I’ve also been thinking a lot about Moses on Mount Nebo looking out over the promised land, and also about Jesus summarizing the law and the prophets … Read the rest
Continue reading "The View from the Cursillo Mountain Top" »
Allow me the liberty of beginning with a disclaimer. I’ve been a priest for all of six weeks now, and every Sunday it still feels brand new. Which means you may have to bear with my learning, but you also get the benefit of my complete and shameless joy in the new job. And, lest you’ve never … Read the rest
The Monday after I was made a priest, just about three weeks ago, I started an intensive summer class in liturgical leadership. That’s the class that teaches us how to do the things like baptism, Eucharist and marriage. The kinds of things a priest might be expected to do. I figured that two days after my ordination might be a … Read the rest
Continue reading "Turning to Romans 7" »