RSS FeedI HAD A DREAM LAST NIGHT
As I slept last night my mind was troubled about many things. Before I awoke I had a vivid dream that I was in a church, a strange church to me, one that I had never been in before. I was invited to preach. As I walked up to the pulpit I noticed that the church was...
THE REMEDY FOR FEAR
Fear of social and political turmoil. Fear of COVID-19. A lunch friend of mine has just succumbed to the virus. The availability of a vaccine causes long lines and competition to receive it. A change of administration and uncertainty of the future can trigger anxiety....
WHO ARE YOU? A FOCUS FOR THE NEW YEAR
At one stage in her life, novelist Muriel Spark (1918-2006) wrote, “I resolved to write an autobiography which would help to explain, to myself and others: who am I?” She said it would give her a sense of enriched self-knowledge. Authors of autobiographies are...
EPIPHANY – REVELATION – APPEARANCE
The Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings’ Day, is celebrated on January 6 each year. In the Latin and Eastern Orthodox Church it is the day when gifts are given and received. Matthew 2 records the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem. Because St. Luke does not mention the...
PRAYERS FOR THE YEAR’S END
Lord our God, our years come and go. We ourselves live and die. But you are and remain. Your rule and your faithfulness, your justice and your mercy, have no beginning and no end. You are thus the origin and aim of our lives. You are thus the judge of our thoughts,...
MEMENTO MORI
Sam Sacks, who writes the fiction reviews in the weekend Wall Street Journal, put his finger on what is the most interesting subject that has impressed me this past year. He writes: “There is a hole in contemporary fiction that has been noticeable for some time but...
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER
DEAR JESUS, I want to emblazon your Name on the Greatest Cathedral today, to paint it in bold letters in Light. May it stand like Sentinel Angels around the precincts of each Christian heart tonight. A Wall of Fire against the dark night of men’s souls. May it burst...
CHRISTMAS IN CONFINEMENT
In many ways the pandemic has imprisoned many people I know who are confined to their homes and are fearful of venturing outside. The media, health experts, politicians and even church leaders have contributed to a culture that has encouraged fear of illness,...
HELL
During Advent I have been writing about The Four Last Things: the traditional subjects of the four Sundays in Advent – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. The fourth of the four last things is the theme of Hell. This is a subject rarely heard of today. Sermons tend to...
SPIRITUAL RESOURCES FOR THE NEW YEAR
What spiritual resources do you have as you approach the new year? This past year has strained our ability to maintain our Christian resilience in the face of the pandemic. The social fabric of community has been kidnapped by social distancing, mask wearing and fear...
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