Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into,Continue reading “Good Infection”
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The Venerable Bede on All Saints
Dearly beloved: Today we keep holy-day, with one great cry of joy, in memory of all the Saints; whose presence is a gladness to heaven; whose prayers are a blessing to earth; whose victories are the crown of holy Church; whose testimony is now to be honored in proportion to the glory imparted to itContinue reading “The Venerable Bede on All Saints”
The plum you’re going to eat next summer
The plum you’re going to eat next summerdoesn’t exist yet; its potentiallives inside a tree you’ll never seein an orchard you’ll never see, will be touchedby a certain number of water dropletsbefore it reaches you, by certain anglesof light, by a finite amount of bugsand dust motes and handsyou’ll never know. The plum you aregoingContinue reading “The plum you’re going to eat next summer”
On Liturgy
Liturgy is a most intimate facet of the Christian assemblies lived faith in Jesus Christ and a function of the presence of within it. The liturgy, like the Sabbath is not playing for the faithful assembly, but it sustained summons home to God in Christ. It is the fundamental way church stands before the fatherContinue reading “On Liturgy”
Robert Farrer Capon on Mothers
To be a mother is to be the sacrament-the effective symbol-of place. They do not make homes, they are our home: in the simple sense that we begin our days by a long sojourn within the body of a woman; in the extended sense that she remains our center of gravity through the years. SheContinue reading “Robert Farrer Capon on Mothers”
Lord, It Is Good for Us to Be Here
Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to His disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them He had spoken of the kingdom and of His second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration inContinue reading “Lord, It Is Good for Us to Be Here”
Rowan Williams on the Transfiguration
The effect of hearing the story of Jesus’ transfiguration this morning — just before Lent — has the effect of framing the whole of Lent between two parallel stories. A story of Jesus going into a lonely mountainous place to pray, attended by his three closest friends: Peter; James; and John. A story in whichContinue reading “Rowan Williams on the Transfiguration”
We Know All Things But the Truth
Step softly, under snow or rain, To find the place where men can pray;The way is all so very plain That we may lose the way. Oh, we have learnt to peer and pore On tortured puzzles from our youth,We know all labyrinthine lore,We are the three wise men of yore, And we know allContinue reading “We Know All Things But the Truth”
Education as Life
Education in the Church’s doctrines is not merely a matter of abstraction or learning, a kind of theological grammar. Salvation in Christ is not simply a matter of the mind or of checking off a list of the correct ideas. Education in the faith requires witness, testimony to one’s relationship with Christ and how oneContinue reading “Education as Life”
Death as Sleep
[The adults] didn’t know being dead is only being asleep, and you’re bound to wake up somewhere or other, either where you go to sleep or in some better place. Edith Nesbit, Five Children and It
Locus Communis 