What we have in our Gospel reading today, and also in our Gospel reading last Sunday, from the 16th chapter of St. John, are Jesus’ words to his disciples as he prepares to depart from them. This section of John’s Gospel is called the Farewell Discourses, because in them Jesus is preparing his disciples for … [Read more…]
The Twelve Days of Christmas are from Dec. 25 to the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6. The Friday fast is waived during this period. Saint Stephen, the first martyr, is remembered on Dec. 26. This is the day when “Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the feast of Stephen,” and is sometimes called … [Read more…]
Love God truly, and you will easily love your neighbor; for you will see God’s image of him, or interest in him, and feel all his precepts and mercies obliging you hereunto. To this end let Christ be your continual study. He is the full revelation of the love of God; the lively pattern of … [Read more…]
The fundamental revelation about God in the Christian faith is that there is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, both the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creeds have a three-part structure, being organized around what the Church believes regarding each of the three Divine Persons. Although the term “Trinity” is not … [Read more…]
Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is this Wednesday, March 1. We will mark the day with the Penitential Office, Blessing and Distribution of Ashes, and Holy Communion at the church starting at 7:00 pm. We will meet in the Loyal Builders’ Room behind the sanctuary. Ash Wednesday is one of the two fasting … [Read more…]
We’re still in the Christmas season, and today, January 1st, is the Octave, or 8th day of Christmas. And while the world around us generally considers Christmas now to be officially over, and puts the Christmas trees out on the curb for trash, we Christians are still keeping the Christmas season, which is a full … [Read more…]
Pentecost is one the three great feasts of the Christian Year (the other two being Easter and Christmas). It celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and other disciples in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem, as recounted in today’s Epistle reading from the Book of Acts. It is also … [Read more…]
The wise men came to see Christ and to worship him. And to present him with gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. It’s from the feast of the Epiphany that we derive our custom of giving gifts at Christmas. It’s still the practice in some countries to give gifts on Epiphany, January 6, rather than … [Read more…]
John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer, is truly the great Advent figure. The Bible tells us that the whole function and purpose of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the Messiah. In fact Jesus himself made reference to this function. He said that John was a prophet and more than a … [Read more…]
Sunday, November 29 begins the season of Advent, which lasts until the feast of Christmas. The word advent is from two Latin words meaning “coming to,” and during Advent the Church remembers the two great “coming to us’s” of Christ: his first coming to us as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem, and his … [Read more…]
