Due to a small glitch, we are unable to post Rev. Clarence’s homily for Palm Sunday today. We hope to post it later. In the meantime, please enjoy last year’s Palm Sunday sermon, below. The readings for today are, however, as follows: Psalm 31:9–16; Isaiah 50:4–9a; Philippians 2:5–11; Mark 14:1–15:47 And, if you so choose, …
Dear Members and Friends of St. James, I send you warm greetings as we enter this most solemn period of our faith tradition. As I mention in my homily (long, because it replaces the long recitation of the Gospel normally heard at Mass on Palm Sunday and Holy Friday), a second year of not observing …
5 Lent Psalm 51:1–13; Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 5:5–10; John 12:20–33 Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 In the most recent issue of the periodical “The Atlantic,” (April 2021, p. 10), Shadi Hamid replaces the …
Dear Members and Friends of St. James, What you next read comes as reminders as we enter into the most solemn period of our liturgical year. A message from our bishops, sent two weeks ago to clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese. “As we look towards Holy Week and Easter, we know that traversing …
4 Lent Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22 Numbers 21:4–9; Ephesians 2:1–10; John 3:14–21 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world. John 3:17 Liturgically speaking, we arrive today at mid-Lent. And our lectionary appointed for this Fourth Sunday in Lent anticipates clearly whither our focus should be, and where it shall be …
Dear Members and Friends of St. James, Lacking a tangible pulpit, I had to forego my annual reminder: Spring Forward. This has been only many of the items that have given us tradition and stability in the past, but not so in 2020. A bit of humor has been injected into our national and worldwide …
3 Lent Psalm 19; Exodus 20:1–17 ; I Corinthians 1:18–25; John 2:13–23 “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2) Question: What do “the Ten Commandments” and the Constitution of the United States of America have in common? Answer: Both …
Dear Members and Friends of St. James, As more and more of our citizenry receive vaccinations, thoughts turn all the more towards regathering in our more formal worship spaces. To that end, our bishops have sent to clergy, parish administrators, wardens, and other designated leaders in parish, an update on expectations for regathering. The letter …
Dear Present and Former Members of St. James, It is with a prayer of thanksgiving for the life of Arthur Ryce, who in his 95th year entered into Eternity on Sunday, 28 February 2021, that I send you this notice. In his more active years, Arthur was involved with the scouting program, youth basketball, and …
2 Lent Psalm 22:22–30; Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16; Romans 4:13–25; Mark 8:31-38 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. Romans 4:13 Stewardship and Evangelism! On this Second Sunday in Lent, our most solemn penitential season, it may strike …