Absalom Jones was born into slavery in 1746 in Delaware. He taught himself to read from the New Testament and other books. At the age of 16, his mother and sister were sold, while he was brought to Philadelphia. In the evenings, he attended a Quaker school and also worked, and he was able to keep his earnings. In 1770, he married an enslaved woman and purchased her freedom. Then in 1774, he gained his own freedom through manumission….
In my Annual Address during our service of Holy Eucharist last Sunday, I referenced the statement in response to the murder of Renee Good posted by Matt Moberg, NBA chaplain for Minnesota Timberwolves. With his words, chaplain Moberg offers a cry of the heart—and a call to Christians and all faithful people to examine what discipleship means in our lives. You may or may not agree with him, and your feelings and reactions may find expression differently….
When Jesus proclaims the Beatitudes, he is not speaking in abstractions. He is speaking into a world marked by deep inequality, political oppression, and religious complacency. The crowd before him know hunger, violence, and exclusion. Jesus dares to say: Blessed are you…..
Our Director of Operations has a book on her desk titled Death by Meeting. The book presents itself as a “leadership fable” about one of the common realities of all organizations: the need to gather for the purpose of disseminating and processing information. Which, as the title of the book suggests, can be a burdensome—if necessary–expectation for the people in attendance.
We at Holy Apostles had a meeting scheduled for this coming Sunday. Because of the impending winter storm, we have rescheduled our Annual Meeting for next Sunday, February 1st…..
There is so much going on in our world and especially in our country today that is frightening. I am a bit of a news junkie, but these days I am finding that I need to disconnect a bit more — and to instead spend more time with the fundamentals of our faith. I especially find it useful to come back to the baptismal covenant, which we renewed last Sunday as part of our service marking Jesus’ baptism….
We are now in the season of Epiphany; a time to mark the gradual lengthening of daylight, and to carry our celebration of God’s manifestation to us in the Christ child forward into a new calendar year. This year—as in every year—we face many unknowns. In all that will unfold during 2026, we are called to remember God’s companionship with us. God’s ongoing conversation with us, God’s loving presence, abides. It is not contingent on the choices we make or the details of the world we inhabit.
Matthew’s Gospel shows us that faith begins not with certainty but with seeking. The Magi do not understand everything. They misstep in going to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem. They ask questions. They rely on grace. Yet God guides them still – by the star, by Scripture, and finally by a dream.
When they find the child, they fall to their knees. The Journey ends in worshiping the Christ child. Matthew then tells us something beautiful: “They went home by another road.” Encountering Christ does not leave us the same. It changes our direction, our loyalties, our way of seeing the world….
There are a lot of music lovers in our family, which means that at some point during this festive season discussion about favorite Christmas pop songs gets introduced. The responses are similar from year to year: someone always says Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Another likes Bruce Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” My response is always the same. It’s not Christmas for me until I hear John Lennon and Yoko Ono sing their “Happy Christmas” song….
Over the last three Sundays in the Adult Forum we have explored a book called Discernment: A Path to Spiritual Awakening, by Rose Mary Dougherty. In the course of the short book, Dougherty discusses the importance of prayer, self-knowledge, and developing discernment as a habit of life.
She concludes her book with this lovely poem by Sister Maura Eichner, about a particular journey of discernment. May it guide your own Advent journey and beyond!….
On the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, visiting family and I decided to trek down to the Angelika movie theater for an afternoon showing of Hamnet. Based on a novel by the same name, the film is a meditation on the theory that William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet as a response to a profound grief he experienced in the life of his family.
This is not a review of this theory, the book espousing it, or the film adaptation (although I can confirm that all nine of us, ranging in age from 17 to 76 were interested in going, and that every one of us was crying at the end!). The movie, while beautiful, is not for everyone. The subject matter is intense. The plot unfolds slowly….