Real presence. Ever heard that phrase, “real presence?” Presence meaning not gifts – presents but presence, to be present to another. Real presence. We oftentimes use that phrase when we talk about the Eucharist. We talk about Jesus being really present to us. We say that when we celebrate the Eucharist that the bread and wine is tranformed from the body and blood of Jesus, and Jesus is really present…
Have you ever seen the show Myth Busters? In the show, these two guys take on something that people accept as true and try to prove that it’s not true. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don’t. They’re using the word myth as it is usually used in our culture and society to mean something that’s not true. But in theology and spirituality we often use the word in a different way…
Oftentimes when you hear me preaching or teaching, I use the image or the phrase “the journey.” Many of our other clergy use it as well. The journey, or spiritual journey. And when we think of a journey, oftentimes we think of going from here to there, to where I’m not yet. Kind of a linear understanding of the journey…
It was a disaster. There’s no other way of describing it. A disaster and a nightmare. That’s how I think this week we call Holy Week could be described. As we try to enter into the life of these early disciples of Jesus, who experienced this incredible week with Jesus. What’s the context of their experience?
The Feast of Palm Sunday is not a day that is a celebration in itself, but rather is part of something larger. It’s quite different from many other celebrations. For instance there’s the Feast of Pentecost, there’s the feast of Christ the King, there are Sundays where we come together because that Sunday is celebrating a particular event. Palm Sunday is quite different…
So often when we read the Gospels and we see Jesus being talked about, oftentimes he seems to be in the midst of a relationship with people. Out of relationships comes this discovery of who He is and who God is and what Jesus is about – the kingdom – the teachings of what he’s about. Today I want to share with you a story of an experience I had a couple of weeks ago…
We find ourselves in the season referred to as Epiphany, that season where God’s presence is shown forth to the world. Today’s readings are about the baptism of Jesus, one of those first moments in the Gospels where Jesus’ life is beginning to expand and reach beyond just his intimate family, but into the world. And so we gather on this Feast of the Ephiphany for our annual meeting…
According to the parish website, our liturgy this morning is a contemplative celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Now in my experience and perhaps some of yours, a contemplative eucharist can mean several things. It can mean perhaps candles and incense; it can mean Celtic music, or music from, say, the Taize community in France, or it can mean no music at all…
“Breathe!” Did you ever have someone say that to you? “Breathe!” It usualy comes at a time when you’re not breathing too well. You’re stressed out, you’re worried about something, your anxiety level is rising, you’re actually breathless, and someone says, “breathe!” I’ve heard that said a few times to me, “breathe!”
Jesus was definitely a person of wisdom. And part of that wisdom had to do, I think, with Jesus’ ability to not think in kind of a dualistic way. In other words, Jesus was not someone who saw the world in either ors: either this or that. But Jesus was much more able to see the world in terms of this and that…