The Eagles Fight Song

Getting ready for Lent

Lent is a special time for me. It is a time of introspection and mathematics: As I look inwardly at myself, I often add and subtract a few necessities. It kicks off with Ash Wednesday, a solemn day for me and my denomination and it will end on the eve of Easter. Deacon Phil and I will - on Ash Wednesday - be making ashes available at the north end of the Frankford Terminal beginning at 6:00 am for the early morning commuters. Ash Wednesday is an opportunity for those who are separated from the Christian Church to return. The forty days of Lent are days of introspection when we delve deeply into ourselves through subtraction by fasting and rest, as well as days of addition, when we add study, service, and prayer specific to the season to our spirituality. I read, and pray the Daily Office every day, which guides me to lessons which focus on the Lenten themes of the church; in theory, as I pray the Daily Office, I am praying alongside Christians of every denomination, but especial...

Basin and Bowl

So often we see the cross as the core imagery of Christianity; in the Episcopal Church we often use a crest and shield as a symbol of our denomination. The executioners cross and the shield are images of imperialism, one of Rome and the other of the English crown. I offer that the picture painted by Professor Osvaldo Vena, New Testament Professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and published at workingpreacher.com is one that truly resonates with me. The image he paints of basin and towel rest easy in my heart; the elements used by Jesus to wash the feet of those he loved should be the imagery of our denomination and not the marks of imperialism.

And so the Spirit Speaks

Earlier today, February 21st, I opened my Daily Office book for an inspiration for me to "share the message" as my Baptist brother calls the role of preaching for our Wednesday morning joint worship event with Oxford Circle Baptist Church; I call it preaching. I opened to the reading for today and found 1 Corinthians 2:1-13, which I've printed a portion of below. After a long day, the reading kept haunting me, as the Scripture is known to do. I opened the Mission St. Claire website and they had published the wrong lesson, 1 Cor 1:1-13, which I have never found them to do before today. So, what was the Spirit trying to convey to me? I think it means that the Spirit wants me to pay extra attention to today's lesson(s.) I have been following posts on the Facebook site of the Third Order Franciscans for years. I have the pleasure of working with a Third Order Franciscan and so I sought out the group. There has been a running discussion over the past few days abou...

Reflections of an Urban Priest

Search This Blog