The Introit (entrance) is an ancient remnant of liturgy. As the congregation awaited the arrival of the clergy it would chant Psalms, usually many of them. In our day the Introit is reduced to just one Psalm, a portion of it, or sometimes a combination of two psalms. (On rare occasion a New Testament verse or prophet). The Psalm is chanted "antiphonally". That means back ...

This quote from Bushur's book leads us back to the reservation of right Scriptural interpretation: "The body of Jesus as narrated in the Gospels anchors the church's reading of prophetic texts and apostolic epistles. However, the stability provided by the flesh of Christ for the church's reading of scripture does not necessarily produce a monolithic or predictable exegesi...

Fundamentalism, be it religious or political, is hazardous to your health. Pasadena California assistant prosecutor Michael Dowd is such a fundamentalist, and enemy of the church of Jesus Christ. A fundamentalist is a person who can only operate within the most narrow of boundries for fear of losing everything that is important to them. The 2020 flu epidemic has expos...

The four gospels should not be thought of or treated as literary documents, but as the presence of Christ among his people. They are the verbal icon of Christ. They are the church's prayer, the church's liturgy, the church's story and her participation in the mysteries of Christ. They are the "power of God unto salvation to all who believe " (Romans 1:16). They are a sacr...

You should know, Gentle Reader, that I have resisted writing on this subject for fear of scorching the ecclesiastical earth. But today I received an emailfrom a company that sells and installs live streaming equipment in churches. The email is entitled: Top Three Reasons To Live Stream Worship. When this pandemic invaded the earth in March of 2020 no one was prepared, lea...

The 138th Psalm, assigned for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost in Series A, makes a perfect prayer for today. The fear of coronavirus has invaded the world, as surely as if space aliens had landed. Never before, except at the Flood and Tower of Babel, was there world-wide dismay and distress. Never before has such panic been induced by those whose vocation it is to make peo...

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 ...

The gospel for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost fills us with great courage! And that is something we can all use right now. Read it, and meditate on it, and be consoled and calmed by it. (Matthew 14:22-33) 22 And immediately he ordered the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd; 23 and when he had dismissed t...

When I heard the snap of the trap under the kitchen sink, this is what I found.Naturally, being a pastor, I instantly saw the theological lesson herein. It may be a bit vivid (nothing worse than you see on TV), but a picture is worth a thousand words. St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:11, " ... so that we might not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not unaware of his d...

The church's "tradition" is anamnesis, that is to say the celebration of the kerygma of the gospel of salvation by Eucharistic remembrance. What Christians call "the" liturgy is the blessed "format" which is, if you like, the delivery system. But it is not only that. To use another picture, think of soup served inside of a bread bowl. Both the "dish" and meal are edible. ...