We are continuing to share favorite prayers from our Book of Common Prayer (BCP). If you have a special BCP prayer you’d like to recommend, please let me know! ([email protected])
Today’s prayer is from Lucy Sexton. It can be found in the service of Holy Baptism in the BCP, pp. 299-311…
I wonder how you feel about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? The members of my family run the gamut, from embracing it enthusiastically in their work and tasks like travel planning, to shunning it entirely on moral, creative, and environmental grounds. I will confess to using it occasionally to get help on complicated problems with my computer or phone, but have no fear: there will be absolutely no AI sermons!
No matter your feelings about AI, there is no doubt that we will have to grapple with its implications in our lives and the world around us. Pope Leo has released his first encyclical, “Magnifica humanitas,” on the subject (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html). The subtitle reads in part, “On Safeguarding the Human Person,” which fits well with Jesus’ gospel message emphasizing the full dignity and value of every one of God’s children….
We are continuing to share favorite prayers from our Book of Common Prayer (BCP). If you have a special BCP prayer you’d like to recommend, please let me know! ([email protected])
Today’s prayer, For Those We Love, is the favorite of Matthew Reeg. It can be found in the Prayers and Thanksgiving portion of the BCP, pp. 814-841:…..
On Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, as it commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. Pentecost reminds us that God does not leave His people powerless, afraid, or alone.
In Acts 2, the disciples were gathered together, uncertain about the future after Jesus’s Ascension. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit came upon them like a rushing wind and tongues of fire rested upon each of them. In that moment, ordinary people were transformed into bold witnesses for Christ.
Pentecost teaches us three important truths….
Over the next few months we will continue to regularly share favorite prayers from our Book of Common Prayer (BCP). If you have a favorite you’d like to recommend, please let me know! ([email protected])
Today’s prayer, A General Thanksgiving, is the favorite of two of our community members, Donn Mitchell and Denise Hibay. It can be found in the Prayers and Thanksgiving portion of the BCP, pp. 814-841:….
Today is the feast day of Julian of Norwich, who, over recent decades, has gone from being a relatively unknown figure in the church to a more widely-known and read mystic who spoke not only to her context in the 14th-15th centuries but also speaks to our time as well.
Julian (1342-1416) received a series of visions of Christ when she was gravely ill. After recovering, she wrote down these visions, giving us Revelations of Divine Love, which is thought to be the very first book in English written by a woman….
Over the next few months we will continue to regularly share favorite prayers from our Book of Common Prayer (BCP). If you have a favorite you’d like to recommend, please let me know! ([email protected])
Today’s prayer, For the Human Family, is from John Covington, and it can be found in the Prayers and Thanksgiving portion of the BCP, pp. 814-835…
Jesus speaks with striking clarity about who He is and why He has come. He paints a picture familiar to His listeners: a sheepfold, a gate, a shepherd, and sheep who recognize the voice of the one who truly cares for them. This is not just a pastoral image, it is a revelation of trust, belonging and life itself.
Jesus contrasts two kinds of voices. There is the voice of the shepherd, who calls his sheep by name, leads them out, and walks ahead of them. Then, there are the voices of strangers, thieves and robbers- who seek to steal, kill and destroy. The sheep, Jesus says, will not follow a stranger because they do not recognize that voice. This raises a question for us: whose voice are we listening to? In a world filled with noise-competing truths, anxieties, and distractions, discerning the voice of Christ becomes essential. His voice does not coerce or confuse; it calls, leads, and gives life….
Over the next few months we will regularly share favorite prayers from our Book of Common Prayer (BCP). If you have a favorite you’d like to recommend, please let me know! ([email protected])
Today’s prayer is from Marcia Wallace, and it can be found near the end of the Compline service, pp. 127-135 of the BCP:
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen. (BCP, p. 134)
As I mentioned in my Maundy Thursday sermon, the Anglican Communion of which our Episcopal Church is a part has a new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally. Archbishop Mullally was installed in a service at Canterbury Cathedral on March 25. She is the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC), and the first woman to hold the position since it was created back in 597 CE! The ABC is the leader of the Church of England, and she serves as a “focus of unity” for the worldwide Anglican Communion….