Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. The summer I graduated from college, and about a year before the 1997 earthquakes in Italy badly damaged the Basilica of St. Francis, I traveled to Europe and visited…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Give us today our daily bread, and dear God, forgive us our ungrateful hearts, that we might embrace the transforming love you freely extend. That could very well be a prayer offered…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew contains one of the enduring images we have of the Body of Christ: For where two or three are gathered in my name,…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Last week Moses was a baby being drawn from the river by the Pharaoh’s daughter. This week we’ve jumped ahead not only to his adulthood, but right past the part where he kills an Egyptian…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. An iconic line from an iconic play. A sentiment, in context, meant to break…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. What does that mean to you? Does it mean anything? For Jesus and his friends – for those who would have first…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today we take a break from our regularly scheduled summer of parables to celebrate the Transfiguration. You might be thinking, wait – this is something we celebrate the last Sunday before Lent – why now? …
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today we commemorate St. James the Greater – the patron saint of this parish. Technically St. James Day falls on July 25, so, in order to celebrate it, we move it to the Sunday following.…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. This year, for the first time since moving to Maryland, we planted a garden. It’s not very big – two 4×4 connected raised beds – but it’s enough to have some herbs, a couple rows…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. We are fully into the long green season of the church year. Properly called the season after Pentecost – sometimes called ordinary time – my favorite name…