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Practicing Presence, Disconnect to Connect
“Where are you?” I looked at my wife and said, “I’m right here.” “No, you’re not,” she said. “You’re a million miles away.” She was right. I was there but I was not present. Most of us, I suspect, have been on both sides of that conversation. We have closed off another and been closed…
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You are God, Te Deum Laudamus
You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord; we acclaim you; You are the eternal Father: All creation worships you. To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.…
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Sermons and Reflections on the Transfiguration of Jesus
The Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus is August 6. The account of Jesus’ transfiguration is found in Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10; and Luke 9:28-36. What about the gospel according to John? Why does John not record the event? There is a sense in which St. John presents Jesus as transfigured throughout the entire gospel account.…
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Unanswered Prayer? A Sermon on Luke 11:1-13
“One of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’” (From Luke 11:1-13, Proper 12C.) As I recall my own life of prayer, prayers I have heard, and conversations I have had about prayer I can’t help but wonder if the coke machine isn’t our primary teacher of prayer. Think about it. We…
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Choosing Like Mary and Martha, A Sermon on Luke 10:38-42
“There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part.” (From Luke 10:38-42, Proper 11C and the Feast of Mary and Martha.) There have been times when I made a choice and I knew deep within it was the only choice to be made. It was absolutely the right choice. If I…
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For the Life and Salvation of our Souls
You have united, O Lord, your divinity with our humanity and our humanity with your divinity; your life with our mortality and our mortality with your life. You have assumed what is ours, and you have given us what is yours, for the life and salvation of our souls. To you, O Lord, be glory…
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Episcopal Monastics, the Order of St. Helena
“There has never been a renewal of church life in western Christianity without a renewal of prayer and Religious Communities, in some form or another, often different.” – Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, 7/5/13 In some ways the monastic has always stood as a counter-cultural symbol, a subversive immersed in what St. Benedict, in the Prologue to…
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7 Teachings from Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet
“When a truly great and unique spirit speaks, the lesser ones must be silent,” Franz Xaver Kappus wrote about Rainer Marie Rilke. Over a period of about six years Kappus and Rilke exchanged letters. Kappus began the correspondence seeking Rilke’s judgment and critique of his poetry. Rilke offered wisdom rather than answers, a way rather…
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Dionysius the Areopagite on Prayer
In followup to yesterday’s post, 7 Thoughts on Prayer, I offer the following from Dionysius the Areopagite, Divine Names, III, 1 (PG 3,680): It may be true that the divine principle is present in every being, but not every being is present in him. We ourselves will come to dwell with him if we call…