Saturday after Ash Wednesday Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?    and why are you so disquieted within me? Put your trust in God;   for I will yet give thanks to him,  who is the… Continue reading

Friday after Ash Wednesday Be strong and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the Lord.  Psalm 31:24 The extreme cold seems to have brought with it silence and stillness, as if it has us all… Continue reading

Thursday after Ash Wednesday Take delight in the Lord, and he shall give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 Already the quality of the light has begun to change. My morning commute no longer begins in pitch black, and the… Continue reading

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Excerpt from a sermon preached at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Scranton PA on February 8, 2015 Isaiah 40:21-31 Mark 1:29-39 How did you get here this morning? What life circumstances, what twists and turns, what challenges and promises… Continue reading

This is the irrational season when love blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason there’d have been no room for the child.   Madeleine L’Engle, “After annunciation” in The Irrational Season. Image Copyright: / 123RF Stock Photo Continue reading

God is our refuge and strength,    a very present help in trouble.  Psalm 46:1 I finally leave the office store after a complex series of unbelievable but absolutely predictable setbacks. Because of course I am not the only one… Continue reading

Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in… Continue reading

Feast of St. Thomas, transferred The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in,    from this time forth for evermore.  Psalm 121:8 “Mom’s going to help me bake for German class,” I hear my daughter announce… Continue reading

Praise the Lord with the harp;   play to him upon the psaltery and lyre. Sing for him a new song;    sound a fanfare with all your skill upon the trumpet.  Psalm 33:2-3 As I drive home after a… Continue reading