Tag: Feast

The ascended Christ and the earthbound church

Artist and Title Unknown

We have this attitude about us sometimes, don’t we, when we’re approaching the apostles within the Scriptural narrative, that we are supposed to find a way to fold ourselves into them. That is, we’re supposed to identify with the apostles in some kind of Christological way. I can say that our lives are supposed to be cruciform, that is, grafted into Christ’s pattern of suffering and exemplifying His love. But that’s done through the power of the Holy Spirit and was a clear promise from the Father echoing throughout both the Old and the New Testaments. We have no such promise regarding the apostolic life. …For more, click on the title above.

Handing on the Beautiful Tradition of Service

The Transfiguration by Evelyn Stuart Hardy

As congregations like this hold onto the helpful traditions and treasures of the Church, most of you understand that today should be a “white day.” The sights, sounds, and practices, the many good traditions of the ancient Church universal are still used today. That is to help the hearers of the Word better receive God’s biblically revealed gifts. Rightly received, continually taught, and used, they can serve to help keep us focused upon the clear Word and scriptural witness about the work of the Christ. Therefore, the white of Feast Days such as this Transfiguration Day is used to remind all who behold it that this day is all about Jesus. So, why is the Chancel and why are God’s servants before it today, vested in red?…For more, click on the title above.

Epiphany’s Glorious and Beautiful Revelations of Christ

Baptism of Jesus by Lorenzo Scott

This year, God has again called us before this Altar Table to hear of the Epiphany Season’s glorious and beautiful revelations of Christ. To that end, the calendar has given us opportunity to move from one traditional Epiphany reading, that of the visit of the Magi, to another of the traditional readings for that High Feast. It is almost as if there was a cinematic “fade-to-black” after last night’s service so that this day’s readings could move our thoughts from King Jesus’ appearance to the nations to that which He came to do for people from all nations. …For more, click on the title above.

With Jesus, there are only the sick

Symptoms can lead to, or be an indication of, something much worse. So, we can’t always treat the symptoms like we do an annoying noise in the car. You all know how you treat that, right? You turn the radio up until you can no longer hear the noise. There are times when we have to dig deeper and find the underlying problem.
In our Gospel reading appointed for this Festival of St. Matthew, where we hear the call of Matthew and the subsequent dinner held at his house, there’s a sneaky symptom that shows up. …For more, click on the title above.