Tag Archives: spiritual practices

Depth Perception

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Lent 4A, 19 March 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • 1 Samuel 16:1-13. The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul?”
  • Ephesians 5:8-14.Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
  • John 9:1-13, 28-38.  So that God’s works might be revealed in him, we must work the works of [the One] who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

O God of Love, 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.

Today’s lessons hold special power for me; they were the appointed readings for a pivotal moment in seminary, when I was learning to grapple with difficult Biblical texts (as it turns out, most Biblical texts are difficult if we’re taking them seriously). They were the appointed readings for my first Sunday as your priest, 15 years ago, when I asked our head usher Steve Babcock to pass out red pencils with the bulletins. I’ll get back to that in a moment. Then three years ago, these were the readings on the first Sunday of the pandemic shutdown, when my wife Joy live-streamed the service on Facebook using her phone. And here they are again, in this strange time being called post-pandemic, but certainly not post-COVID. Continue reading →

Need

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Lent 1A, 26 Feb. 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7. You will not die.
  • Romans 5:12-21. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
  • Matthew 4:1-11. Away with you, Satan!

O God all gracious and all merciful, 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.

We have just crossed the threshold into the season of Lent in the Church, for period of forty days, not including Sundays (hence our special reception after our service today)! The forty days are set aside for Christians to examine our estrangement from the grace and mercy of the Holy One and to return to right relationship with God and one another. Although each person is called on to do their own Lenten practice, as a congregation we come together for mutual support and encouragement as we go through a this period of intensified self-examination with a call to increased generosity in almsgiving, praying, fasting, and studying scripture. Continue reading →