According to a Pew Research Study published in December of 2023 56% of “Spiritual but not Religious” people “feel a deep sense about the universe monthly.” And I would bet that this past week that jumped up greatly.
A Sermon on Charles, Saint and Martyr
You and I too can have that meaning life and death. Both the king and the begger have equal access to the King of the Universe. If you have not yet accepted his kingship, you can. If you have fallen down in your service, he is there to forgive and restore. You too can run the race and by God’s grace receive the incorruptible crown.
How do Anglican Christians Observe Fasting?
n accordance with this instruction, early Christians fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year; this has evolved and changed over the years. In addition to regular fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, (and then just Fridays), it became regular for Christians to fast during days preceding feasts and seasons of pentience. The Protestant Reformation retained fasting as well.
Momento Mori Part III: Prepare for Death, Include Your a Body
For the Christian the church is the center of life and place where communion is had with the Body of Christ in Word and Sacrament, so it is fitting that in death, here the Christian returns before being commended to God and committed to the earth in “sure and certain hope of the resurrection.” It is not a small thing that the deceased and his or her loved ones join together one last time in Church, for if they too are Christians that is where they will meet again after the General Resurrection.
Momento Mori Part II: Avoidance or Preparation and Life-Everlasting
All Souls’ Day and Christian Funerals are tender times when the living are reminded of God’s love and provision. This is meant to prepare the soul and comfort the heart of the living, the dying, and those surviving. The prayer book anthems and our hymns do the same. They do not avoid death. It is a force to be reckoned with! They focus on Jesus and the Christian resting securely in Jesus.
Momento Mori Part I: Introduction and Personalized Mourning
BE YE THANKFUL
Prayer for Leaving Work at Work
It can be difficult to leave work at work. Whether our jobs require us to take work home or work just “lives” in our head, part of being a good spouse, friend and disciple is to set boundaries. I have found this prayer from the St. Augustine prayerbook helpful. Perhaps it will help you.
Let us Pray,
Let me set aside the day’s work, with its disappointments or accomplishments, tasks accomplished and those that remain to be done; let me leave all this aside, so that none of it will distract me from those I love and who love me. You have given me work to do for the greater good, and you have given those closest to me to love that we might find joy in each other. Give me wisdom to respond to your call in both and to receive them both as gifts from your hand. Amen. (St. Augustine’s Prayerbook Revised, 51)
Roe v. Wade is Overturned! Praise God!
The True Church? A Reflection and a Video
Many people make a key mistake in finding Anglicanism - they find it as an answer to seeking what is ancient and not what is true. They conflate verity and antiquity or, more plainly said, they confuse the old with the true. There is great wisdom and truth to be found in antiquity - to be sure - but the search is to find the Truth (along with the good, the real and the beautiful). Mistaking antiquity with truth leads people to fall for the false claims (sales pitches) made by the Roman Catholic and some Eastern Orthodox that, “This is the Church that Christ Founded,” or “this is the true Church,” and “we hold the authority.”
Happy St. Anselm Day!
Holy Saturday
Entering the Holy Triduum
Today is Maundy Thursday which begins the "Paschal (or Holy) Triduum" for the western Church. "Triduum" simply means, "Three Days." These three days are a season within two seasons. In many ways they are the three days. The holiest time in our life as Christians around which the rest of our church calendar year is built. They bridge Passiontide with Eastertide. They are the heart of the Gospel.
Beginning the morning of Maundy Thursday, the prayerbook has us read Psalm 41, Daniel 9 and John 13:1-20.
In Daniel 9, the prophet confesses the sins of his people and asks for mercy. The Archangel Gabriel reveals to Daniel part of the future. Years later the "anointed one" will bring atonement and everlasting righteousness.
Maundy Thursday Evening we read Psalms 142-143 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-22. In this part of the Epistle St. Paul reminds the Church to flee idolatry. He then turns to focus on how we partake in and are united by the reception of the one body of Christ in the one cup which we bless and the one bread that we break we are one body. (vs 16-27).
The second lesson for both morning and evening on Maundy Thursday is John 13 which tells of Jesus’ washing his disciples feet and gives them a new commandment - that they love one another (Jn 13:34-35).
So we see at least three themes this Maundy Thursday:
God’s response and atonement for sin,
Our participation in one body in Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and
Jesus’ new commandment to love one another.
These are all different points to meditate on as the Triduum begins. I find the Passion of Jesus overwhelming in it’s entirety, but breaking the story apart helps us understand the significance.
We see a common theme - Charity (self-giving love). Charity of the Father in promise, of the Son in the act of atonement, and of the Holy Spirit in the love of each Christian connected to each other and to God.
As I meditate today, the hymn that runs though my head is a lesser known one - but one I grew up singing - entitled, O Love How Deep, How Broad, How Wide - particularly verse 4. (You can listen to it below)
Whether you are a parishioner, former member or friend of St. Anselm, I invite you to read the Triduum readings listed for these three days on page 744 in the 2019 BCP. Let them form you this week wherever you are and let your response of worship in Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday be responses to all God has done for you in His love. I know you will be blessed.
Vows and Authority: Tools of Love
To do this it is important to understand that I along with each of you are “men under authority.” In the Church and we submit to Christ by the Scripture and as interpreted by the bishop’s teaching and canon law. In this all of us are our brother (and sister’s) keeper. These vows are daunting, but also precious things. Let us endeavor to keep them, the Lord being our helper.
St. Anselm Lecture #2 "On Truth"
Feast of the Annunciation
St. Anselm Lectures: Lecture #1 St. Anselm's Place in Christian Thought
Do Anglicans Have Real Bishops, Priests and Deacons?
Have you ever had a Roman Catholic say things like, "well Anglican priests are not real priests?" or "your mass is not real and doesn't count?"
While many Christians in the Anglican tradition simply do not worry about it, we should have an answer. Anglicans are an exception in the Protestant Church that retained the historic and ancient three-fold Holy Orders of 1. Deacon, 2. Priest, 3. Bishop.
Parish Dedication of St. Anselm Anglican Church
Sunday, February 20th 2022 at 2:00pm will be the Dedication of St. Anselm Anglican Church as a Parish Church. Join us at Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church for this historic occasion.
Church Dedication? Institution of a Rector? What Is This All About? - Part 3 Of Rectors, Letters, Litanies
We continue in looking at the significance of the Dedication and Institution service. Today we switch to focus more on the Institution of a Rector. What is a “Rector?” It comes from the Latin regere meaning "to rule or guide.” It is the same root from which the English “Director” is derived. The Rector is the spiritual “ruler or guide” of his Parish. In Anglican governance ruling authority is split by canon (church law) between the Rector and the Vestry. In the last article you read how the Wardens hold temporal authority with the Vestry, today we look more deeply at the role of the Rector
The Rector holds authority in all spiritual matters in the Parish Church. This includes the selection of clergy, staff, programs, teaching, preaching, music and liturgy. He also sits as chairman of the Vestry and appoints most committees and ministry leaders.
Together the Rector and Vestry hold authority over the local congregation but they are both subject to the spiritual authority of the Bishop and Synod (essentially the congress of the diocese made up of lay and clergy delegates). It sounds complicated, but that is because there are many checks and balances in recognition that even in the Church the sinfulness of humans must be factored in.
In the service this Sunday you will hear the bishop read the “Letter of Institution” and then give it to the Rector. As the Rector receives it he says, “I promise to be a faithful shepherd to your flock, the Lord being my helper.”
The bishop will also ask God’s grace on the Rector to, “empower him with the truth of sound doctrine, and endue him with holiness of life.” In the epistle reading for the day St. Paul writes,
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
In addition to the checks and balances in the church and the mantles of authority, this also reminds us that though we have different roles we are all equal in the body of Christ. It is God who give us our roles to play and it is also God who gives us the grace to accomplish what He asks of us. While this is His promise, we still beseech Him to ever do so in singing the Litany for Ordinations.