Monthly Archives: December 2018

Make the choice to let Love in!

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Fourth Sunday of Advent (C)
December 23, 2018

Micah 5:2-5a And he shall be the one of peace.
Hebrews 10:5-10 In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Luke 1:39-56 Blessed is she who believed.

O God of “she who believed,” grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

 

It’s been a noisy week for me around here: the newly manufactured elevator doors have been getting installed, the roofers have been walking back and forth outside my office window. At home, it’s been the gutter cleaners and leaf blowers. Aside from sawing rocks, I don’t think there’s any machine noise that I dislike more. And really, those things are quite trivial compared with the domestic and international news that just keeps going from bad to worse. While the timing might not seem so good, the noise really fits very well with where we are in our Christian calendar. Our readings have wisdom for us to hear through the din.
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Prepare for the Peasant of Peasants!

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Third Sunday of Advent (C), December 16, 2018.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Zephaniah 3:14-20. I will change their shame into praise.
Philippians 4:4-7. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
Luke 3:7-18.   What then should we do?
O God of the Prophets, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

It’s the third Sunday of Advent; we are barreling toward Christmas, and we haven’t really heard any biblical readings about peaceful preparation for the birth of the Christ child. It’s been more about bulldozing and less about receiving blankets. Our ancient narratives describe nations at war, raging seas, devastation and disaster, with plenty of blame to go around. The people are anxious and afraid; they are struggling. And just to be clear, we are talking about 28 centuries of struggle. The people Zephaniah was addressing were struggling in about 625 BCE. The people Paul and Luke were addressing were struggling in the latter half of the first century of the common era. And the people I’m addressing are struggling in the early years of the 21st century.
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2018

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Emmanuel House, home to a small intentional community, was created by the Charles River Episcopal Co-Housing Endeavor (CRECHE) with funding from our diocese’s Together Now campaign.  As Executive Director of CRECHE, The Rev. Isaac Everett (above right) serves at the altar and in our pulpit from time to time. They rent from our diocese the former rectory of St. Luke and St. Margaret at Packard’s Corner, Allston.  Learn more about the intentions of Emmanuelites who live there on their website.

September.  The Rev. Susan Ackley joined us while our rector the Rev. Pamela Werntz took sabbatical leave.  In addition to preaching and provided pastoral care, she was instrumental in creating a weekly Recovery Eucharist held in Lindsey Chapel.

hamsa palm

Digits of the hamsa signify generosity, strength, replenishment, blessing & well-being.

The theme Pam chose for her sabbatical was exploration of the hamsa, a palm-shaped symbol used by Muslims, Jews, and Christians, also known as the Hand of Fatima and the Hand of Miriam. She visited Istanbul, Vienna, and Andalusia in search of its depictions.  We also used it for our stewardship campaign.

Please do something!

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First Sunday in Advent,
December 2, 2018.

Jeremiah 33:14-16 [Jerusalem] will be called [the Holy One] is our righteousness.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.
Luke 21:25-36 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

O God, our righteousness: grant us the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

Good morning! Happy Advent! Happy Churchy New Year! Und fröhliche Leipzigerwoche! I’m so happy to be back with you after four months of time away.  I’m eager to hear about how you’ve changed and grown while we’ve been apart. I hope you’ll find a time to talk with me so we can catch up; or if you’re new here, so that we can get to know one another. I have a lot to tell you about my adventures learning Quranic Arabic and learning grandmothering of a new granddaughter and a newer grandson. and my adventures in Queens, NY, Annapolis, MD, Roslindale, MA, as well as Istanbul, Vienna, southern Spain and Lisbon. I also have a lot to say about Advent and ways we might approach this season before Christmas.  I have at least a dozen sermons that I want to deliver this morning, so I’m going to keep my time in this pulpit short because there really is too much to say!

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