Christmas festivity
Posted December 26, 2008 
Comments(1)
Comments(1) I believe any textual commentary would spoil the purity of this offering, so I leave it to you, dear reader.
Archive for December, 2008
Speedy Christmas
Posted December 25, 2008 Comments(1)
Comments(1) In case you don’t much time to contemplate the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I give you this. As the youtube description says, “This is the winning entry for the Churches Advertising Network competition to retell the Nativity story in 30 seconds. The clip was created by Frankie Hipwell Larkin.”
Thanks, Ty, for pointing this out.
George Bush the Edomite?
Posted December 17, 2008 Comments(3)
Comments(3) Bishop Alan Wilson points out the Biblical connection in the recent shoe-throwing incident involving the President of the USA.
Praying the Bible liturgically every day you don’t half get to know the bits that aren’t headlines or sound bites. Seldom do you see them enacted before your very eyes, like Muntadar al-Zeidi’s dramatic gesture at Sunday’s Bush Iraq presser – a graphic example of the ancient Semitic gesture of disgust and contempt to be found in Psalm 60:8 (Doublet at Psalm 108:9): עַל-אֱדוֹם אַשְׁלִיךְ נַעֲלִי – Over Edom will I cast out my shoe (Coverdale).
In a rare instance of our President being correct, Bush was good-natured about the whole thing and on track about its meaning.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
Posted December 16, 2008 Comments(3)
Comments(3) To get you in the mood, dear reader, for these days of the Great O Antiphons, I give you this recording of “O come, O come, Emmanuel.” Let me say, I was unable to find a completely satisfactory recording on youtube. I was looking for a “Songs of Praise” style recording of a congregation singing. Since I was unable to find what I was looking for, you get this version, lovely in its own way.
New Director of Communication for ECUSA
Posted December 16, 2008 Comments(3)
Comments(3) As some 7WD readers know, I served on the search committee for the Director of Communications of the Episcopal Church. Today the announcement has been made: Ms. Anne Rudig has been named as the new director. I was (and am!) delighted to add my voice to those of our committee in recommending her to our Presiding Bishop and our Chief Operating Officer.
Anne brings much experience to the job (you can get a sense of that in the linked article). More important than that, she has a contagious passion for telling the story of who we are as Episcopalians. She is comfortable talking about her faith and sharing what the church — and what Jesus — has done for her and her family. She has a big vision for what our church can be, and she is eager to lead us in as we seek to tell our story to the whole world.
Wise up! It’s time for the Great O Antiphons
My colleague in the Diocese of Rhode Island priest (and MA resident, like me), John Alexander, has the scoop on the Great O Antiphons. Depending on whether you follow medieval English use or Romish customs, today or tomorrow begins the Great O Antiphons. You can read all about it on his blog, to which you should also subscribe. (He often has good posts on the sanctoral calendar.)
Wishing to avoid controversy, I have decided to post my entry on the O Antiphons now, after sunset on December 16. You Romish readers can think I’ve celebrating the vigil of O Sapientia. You Sarum subscribers can delight in my post on this, the first day of the the Great O Antiphons.
Either way, I hope you’ll celebrate these final days of Advent with holiness, awe, joy, and hope.
Image from the Congregation of the Sisters, Immaculate Heart of Mary. If you visit their site, they have some lovely prayers for each of the O Antiphons.
Crummy church signs
Just what you’d expect. Go visit right away. Rachel gets the credit (or the blame).
Advent on your iPhone
I posted Advent on your iPod. Now here’s the perfect way to celebrate Advent using your iPhone.
Advent08, found here , is a daily devotional tool to help find focus and discipline attention. It is more than just a way to count down the days to Christmas; it is a way to help transform Advent into a journey of faith. It is a way to help prepare for the coming of Jesus to live among us, so that the good news of Christmas morn lingers on long after the packages are opened. It is our hope and prayer that the Holy Spirit would lead you through the Scriptures to a newfound wonder of Emmanuel, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world. May the Lord bless you on your journey.
Don’t wait! (Ironic, isn’t it?) Get it today before another day of Advent slips by. Enjoy!
The NRAC (New Revised Apostles’ Creed)
Posted December 9, 2008 Comments(2)
Comments(2) A little humor for Tuesday night.
Ironically, I’ve seen some home-grown “affirmations of faith” that aren’t all that different from this. It’s why parish clergy should not, generally speaking, be writing liturgy for their Sunday services.
Is Advent a penitential season?
Posted December 9, 2008 Comments(4)
Comments(4) Advent is my favorite season of the church year, I think. I like the sense of longing, of hope, and of quiet joy. I also find this season to be a holy time to focus on repentance — on our need and the world’s need for Jesus. Too often, we only get part of Advent. In our I’m-OK-you’re-OK 21st century American Christianity, penitence is not convenient. Many clergy will say that Advent is not penitential at all.
Over on the Anglican Centrist, Bryan Owen nicely captures the penitential aspect of Advent, along with the rest of Advent’s theological complexity.
Why, then, do we sometimes hear clergy and laypersons so emphatically deny that these themes are an intrinsic part of the Advent season? I don’t want to paint with too broad of a brush, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s because we are increasingly uncomfortable with theological concepts like “sin” and “repentance,” and perhaps especially at a time of the year when our consumer culture is in high “feel good” gear. It’s just so much easier (and more fun) to go with the path of least resistance and join the party. By contrast, themes of sin and repentance convey the clear message that we need to change, that we need transformation in order to be ready for Christmas, that we need to wait for the celebration in God’s time, and that it’s inappropriate and even unfaithful to jump the gun by celebrating too early without doing the hard work of repentance in the light of God’s grace.
Go read the whole thing. And repent! I’m still working on my own repentance…
Advent on your iPod
Today’s Advent installment (later in the day than usual, sorry) is Devo-to-Go. It’s a daily series of meditations on Advent themes. You can listen in your browser, get the RSS feed, or subscribe through iTunes. Either way, it’s good stuff. I’m especially interested in this one because one of the contributors is the Rev’d Melody Shobe, who works with me at Christ Church.
Anyway, go over and listen to Devo-to-Go. Catch up on the last few days while you’re there.
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