In the wilderness, a voice was heard. This was not just any voice. It was a voice that echoed with the promise of something greater, something more powerful than anything the world had ever known. This voice belonged to John the Baptist. A man who was not afraid to stand-alone in the wilderness and proclaim the coming of the Messiah for all. He was preparing the way for the Lord, making straight paths for Him. This was a message of hope, a message of salvation….
These days, New Year’s resolutions are controversial. I hear them dismissed as random, or unattainable. Some people say that making resolutions sets us up for failure. And yet…everyone asks about them! The idea of resolutions at the turning of the year is so interwoven in our expectations for what happens overnight between December 31 and the morning of January 1 that we typically default to the assumption that we should be making them (and that everyone else is doing so, as well).
At 10:27 pm Eastern time, Thursday, December 21st, we passed the Winter Solstice. This marked the moment when the North Pole, which had been tilting farther and farther away from the Sun started to shift back. Thursday was the shortest day of the year, and daylight now begins to lengthen for the next six months. The solstice also marks the beginning of astronomical winter. (I learned this year that there is also a “meteorological winter” which began about three weeks ago – how did I never know this before?!)…
Thanksgiving was a day more special than most at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. As you can see in the picture above, we welcomed weekday guests into our nave for the first time since March 13, 2020. While we have hosted community Sunday Supper meals once a month for the last few years, our hot meal service during the week is still offered on a “grab and go” basis.
During the holidays this year, we wanted to give our guests the gift of warmth, relaxation, and family style service. Volunteers brought food directly to tables, and people sitting there could help themselves to what they liked of the turkey, sides and sauces. Pumpkin pie and cookies provided a sweet final course to the meal. The food got unanimously rave reviews….
John The Baptist proclaimed that some one was coming. Someone so spectacular that it was not enough simply to just wait for him to arrive. He called upon the people to be honest with themselves. To step back from their daily routines and prepare their hearts to receive the one whom God was sending, who would redeem them from their sin, and offer them new life. He challenged them to repent; and embrace the Son of God….
Every year around this time, my spouse Charlie brings home a booklet of art that has been created by the detainees he works with on Riker’s Island. Contributions include visual art, poems, short stories and—this year—a one-act play. The subject matter varies, but all the artistic expressions usually have something to do with either endurance, transcendence, or both.
This year’s volume is titled Creating Within: Art from Rikers and the NYC Health + Hospitals Art Collection. The picture above is from the back inside cover of the collection. It was created by Keith A., who writes, “all we need is a drop of hope.” Within the drop of hope coming out of the dropper, you can see that he includes the words “freedom, friends, support, home, job, family, love.”…
We aren’t quite in Advent yet, but the season begins soon ─ next Sunday, December 3rd. Actually, some believe Advent should start a bit earlier ─ after the Feast of St. Andrew on November 30. And scholars remind us that it was originally a seven-week season, before the Church settled into the shorter four weeks or so to which we are accustomed….
Yesterday was “Fast-a-Thon” for Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen; a day when participants ask those in their network to sponsor them as they fast in support of our Soup Kitchen guests. The fast is a modified exercise: in solidarity with those who come to our doors for a hot meal (which is often the only sustenance they receive on any give day), we are asked to eat only one meal within a twenty-four hour-period instead of three….
As a teenager I joined the Boy Scouts, and always remembered the Boy Scout Motto. “Be Prepared.”
The story of the 10 Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13, illustrates this. Five where ready with their lamps when the Bridegroom came and five were not.
This is symbolic, as when we don’t know when the Lord shall return, we don’t know the day nor the hour. He just might come like a thief in the night, and we need to keep oil in our lamps, because in your waiting you don’t have time to run back to the store.
This was the issue with the five foolish virgins. They were not prepared for the bridegroom; they were not prepared to wait on the Lord. They were just caught in the moment of fashion, being on the list, and just hanging out with the in-crowd….
All Saints Day was this past Wednesday, November 1, and we will be celebrating this major feast in the church year on Sunday. During this time of war, in places where there is so much death and anguish, it is especially poignant to reflect on the people who have lived their lives in the service of others—those who have insisted on the humanity of all; those who have committed themselves to peace, even when peace seemed to be an impossibility….