Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church, if you imagine yourself as a character in the Gospel Nativity readings, you’ll soon realize that the first Christmas was not about staying home by a warm hearth with chestnuts roasting and stockings hanging. Everyone in these passages is on the move, mostly without warning and against their will. Joseph and Mary are summoned from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census. Shepherds, at the behest of an angel, leave their sheep in the fields to see what all the fuss is about. And the three Magi, my favorites, are just sitting there minding their own kingdoms when a star intrudes on their lives and leads them on an unplanned and uncomfortable trip far away from home.

Being there for one another in times of trouble is harder than it appears on the surface. We often define a friend as someone who will be there for us when we need them, but what does that really mean? Our first instinct when something terrible is happening is to turn away, to run and…

Episcopalians get it about glory; that the glory of God is the hidden flesh-and-blood truth about everybody, everywhere. Therefore proclaiming the glory of the incarnation is the business we are in. Which is to say that we – every parish, diocese, province, person – are in the business of healing, and feeding, and serving, and…

It’s the modern mantra. People chant it all the time: “I’m spiritual, but not religious. I’m spiritual, but not religious.” “Religion” has become a dirty word. Maybe it’s the nun who rapped your knuckles with a ruler when you were 8 years old. Maybe it is arcane morality, rules that do not suit the 21st…

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori presented the following remarks at the opening of the Executive Council Meeting at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, MD (Diocese of Maryland). Executive CouncilOpening RemarksJune 8, 2013 The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts SchoriPresiding Bishop and PrimateThe Episcopal Church             I’m going to talk…

[RCL] Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56 A great many people would agree that, nowadays, the world looks sad and in decline. Precious few news stories situate members of the human race in a positive light. Circumstances look bad in many places. People of diverse and even conflicting perspectives share at least…

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” A widower had some raspberry bushes. The first summer after his wife died, a woman from his church asked if she could come over and pick raspberries. She knew he…

En la lectura del evangelio Jesús señala que su cuerpo y su sangre son alimentos de vida eterna. Esta porción del Evangelio de Juan viene inmediatamente después del relato del milagro de la alimentación de los cinco mil y como parte de la conclusión del conocido discurso del pan de vida. Este es el único…

RCL: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 Genesis 45:1-15 A friend, who is a senior Master of Divinity student, and I had a conversation about veterans today. He and a mutual friend, who is an Episcopal priest in the Austin area, work together on the Episcopal Veterans Fellowship here, planning…

[RCL] Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 71:1-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; John 12:20-36 Being there for one another in times of trouble is harder than it appears on the surface. We often define a friend as someone who will be there for us when we need them, but what does that really mean? Our first instinct when something…