Every three years on this day, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, our scripture readings take a few moments to remember a crucial character in the birth we are about to celebrate, a character who soon fades into the background and is rarely seen again. I’m talking, of...
They must be the most famous words ever uttered by any woman in history. I’m talking about the Magnificat, also known as the Song of Mary, which we sang in place of the usual psalm today. Mary, a poor, unwed teenager, has just heard the startling news from...
I’d like to share with you this morning a true story, told by writer Barbara Kingsolver, that seems to me to be a modern-day parable for Advent, one that could be straight from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. The story takes place in a cool October in the forested...
In recent years, researching one’s family tree has become a very popular hobby, aided by genealogy websites on line. Finding out about one’s ancestors and history can help give us a sense of who we are, where we came from, what transpired in history to bring us to...
When I was young, one of my favorite books was Anna and the King of Siam. I read this tale of the young Englishwoman who taught in the exotic Far East country of Siam, now known as Thailand, over and over and over again. One of the things that intrigued me most about...
A friend of mine recently returned from a trip to France, one of the highlights of which was a tour of Chartres Cathedral. The first cathedral was built in that town sometime in the fourth century. That original...
The words are said at the beginning of every funeral in the Episcopal Church. And no matter how many hundreds of times I have heard or spoken them, they never fail to move me with their powerful proclamation of faith and defiance in the face of death. “As for me, I...
Today is All Saints’ Day, one of the major feast days of the Church, and one of my favorite days of the year. This first Sunday in November is the day that we remember the saints of the church – all of them, those who are important and have their own day on the church...
