Tag Archives: symbols

A Parish Where Love Lives

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Proper 26C, 30 October 2022.  The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Habakkuk 1:1-2:4.  Write the vision; make it plain so that a runner can see it.”
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12. The love of everyone of you for one another is increasing.
Luke 19:1-10. The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.

O God of mercy, 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.

The short and powerful book of Habakkuk the Prophet begins with a title: The oracle that the prophet saw. The Hebrew word for oracle can also be understood as burden: the burden that Habakkuk saw. What Habakkuk saw clearly was indeed a great burden: violence everywhere, and God seemed not to see the degradation of justice and the utter devastation of well-being, of shalom. Habakkuk had two complaints, which could be ripped from our own headlines: 1) God has done nothing to stop the violence so far, and 2) it’s about to get worse. In this book, the voice of God is heard, but it’s not particularly good news. Essentially, God’s response is that the violence is due to the greed of the people and their failure to recognize the voice of the Holy One, Who pleads for loving, pleads for people to respect themselves and others. Habakkuk understands the violence as the Holy One’s punishing response. I understand violence as an entirely predictable consequence of greed, arrogance, and fear, which breaks the heart of the Divine. To the question of how can God let this suffering and devastation happen, I ask, how can people let this suffering and devastation happen?  Continue reading →

Reminders of Healing Power & Promise

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Lent 4B, March 14, 2021

Numbers 21:4-9. Moses prayed for the people.
Ephesians 2:1-10. This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
John 3:14-21. Those who do what is true come to the light.

O God of Grace, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will. Amen.

One of the many joys of grandparenting for me is watching Sesame Street! I know I don’t have to have grandchildren to watch it, but they’re a good excuse! Some of you might remember a Sesame Street song called “One of these things is not like the other.” That is an apt song for our Hebrew Scripture passage this morning wedged into a Sunday series of covenant stories during Lent. Remember we started Lent with the story of God’s promise to Noah and then the story of God’s promise to Abraham. Then the promise from God that when (and whenever) we are loving God, we won’t behave in ways that do damage to one another and to ourselves. Next week we will hear the story of God’s promise to write God’s love on the hearts of people so that no one will have to be taught about God, everyone will already know God – by heart. But this week, we have one of those things which is not like the others. We have this peculiar little story from the Book of Numbers.
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A Place in This Seedpod

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Lent 1B, February 21, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Genesis 9:8-17. I will remember my covenant.
1 Peter 3:18-22. An appeal to God for a good conscience.
Mark 1:9-15. The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

O God of Love, 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.

I always love praying the Great Litany with you on the first Sunday of Lent, and I’m sad not to have prayed it chanting in a solemn procession that surrounds and enfolds the congregation in this prayer written for, and intended to be used during, times of great duress, danger, or devastation. I’ve been thinking about and hearing from some of you about how right it feels to be back in our liturgical, spiritual season of Lent. Lent is a season that aligns with much of what we are experiencing: a season of self-sacrifice, a season of recognition of when, where, and how we’ve missed the mark of Love, which is the Biblical definition of sin. Continue reading →

Repentance, Repair & Reconciliation

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Advent 1B, November 29, 2020.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 64:1-9. O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.…We are your people.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 So that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 13:24-37 Keep awake.

O God of Repentance, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Today marks the beginning of a new Church year with the first Sunday in Advent. The Christian new year doesn’t begin with festivities or celebrations, but with lamentation in Isaiah, with a letter from Paul written in response to reports of in-fighting – of quarrelling in the church in Corinth, and with the Gospel of Mark’s “apocalypse” – Jesus’ prediction of the end of life as his disciples know it. The end, according to Mark, will be a very good thing because of the enormity of suffering, because of the desolation being experienced. I get this at a deeper level than I ever have before because of the revelations and devastations of this past year.
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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.