I want to share one of my favorite stories about the life of the Episcopal Church, a church that has traditionally welcomed, as the Prayer Book says, “all sorts and conditions,” regardless of age, race, economic status or education. If you’re in the neighborhood and you live near an Episcopal church, you are welcome. To…

John shares a story from Matthew 28:1-10 in his Gospel about two women who come to pay their last respects to Jesus.  What a surprise they found at the tomb: an angel who gave them three profound gifts: an encouraging word (“Do not be afraid”), a critical truth (“he has been raised, as he said”)…

Holy Week is invasive. It’s meant to be. It’s meant to take away all our defenses against our God, who comes to us in ways that we, because we are his disciples, cannot resist. But that’s what we see in the Gospel of John. I feel it in me as I prepare for Holy Week.…

Every year, on Ash Wednesday, in a way that feels both fresh and familiar, I remember again that the receiving of the ashes is always described in the liturgy not as a sign of our fasting, but as a mark of our mortal nature. The ashes are given to us to remind us of the…

Who was David of Wales, and what can we learn from his life? Let’s examine the 3 C’s that characterize his person and works. Confidence in God We know him as “Saint David,” whom we honor each year on his Feast Day (Mar. 1). But he actually never wanted the public eye. Of royal birth,…

It feels an appropriate time to republish my blog “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” as we approach Ash Wednesday.  I encourage you to consider what living beneath the cross of Jesus means in your own walk with Christ especially during this reflective season of Lent.  God’s blessings, +GOB You may or may not be familiar with…

The Feast of the Presentation commemorates the time when Mary and Joseph came to present Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:25-35). Of course, it’s a special celebration in the church year, but it also has some remarkable parallels to our practice of baptism. Let’s examine them now. An Act of Dedication: Bringing a child into…

As we prepare for the birth of Christ, I think it fitting to share a blog post which I published at this time last year reflecting on Jesus’s mother Mary and her song of praise, the Magnificat.  Mary’s words remain radical even today.  Christmas blessings to you, +GOB I’ve heard the Magnificat, the Song of…

“Thank God I don’t have to go to church anymore.” It might surprise you, but that’s what I told myself when I went away to college. Yet through the rather sly intervention of a dear woman who (although I didn’t know it at the time) had been praying fervently for me, I went off on…

If there is any word that in fact describes the active, present-day living priesthood of Jesus, the One who “always lives to make intercession” for us (Heb. 7:25), the one who stands before the throne of the Godhead praying on our behalf, it is the word “shepherd.” This word describes one who, by the very…