Reading the Hebrew Scripture assigned for yesterday I was struck by the words “… on that day [that is, on the day of judgement] … the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruits of their doing.” And I found myself thinking about gardens. The garden of Eden, the paradise of the creation story. The song, Woodstock, where “we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.” The garden worked by members of this congregation to feed those in need in this community. (more…)
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November 30, 2013
Advent I (2013)
Posted by johnmangels under Advent, Sermons | Tags: Advent, by John Mangels, Sermons, stewardship |[2] Comments
September 14, 2013
Holy Cross Day
Posted by johnmangels under Church Year, Holy Cross Day, Jesus, Monasticism, Prayer, Saints, Sermons | Tags: by John Mangels, Incarnation, Prayer, spiritual search, St. Helena Breviary |Leave a Comment
Does Jesus live in you?
I found myself asking that question repeatedly during this past week. How does Jesus presence show itself in my life?
That’s what it means to be a Christian, isn’t it? That Jesus, somehow, takes life in our lives?
I use, in my personal prayer life, The Saint Helena Breviary. A breviary is simply a book of offices, in this case Matins, Diurnum, Vespers and Compline (- in English that’s just Morning Prayer, Noon Day Prayer, Evening Prayer and End of Day Prayer). The Order of St. Helena is named after the Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helena, who is supposed to have found a remnant of the cross Jesus died on during excavations she oversaw in Jerusalem.
She built a shrine with two principal buildings where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher now stands. It consisted of a large basilica used for the Liturgy of the Word, and a circular church known as “The Resurrection” with its altar placed on the supposed site of Jesus’ tomb. In the courtyard connecting these two buildings, to one side, you can see the Hill of Calvary. The shrine was dedicated on September 14, 335. Since then, September 14, yesterday, has been know as Holy Cross Day.
As you might imagine, Holy Cross Day is a big deal (more…)
June 16, 2013
You don’t always get … what you expect
Posted by johnmangels under Diocese of Northern California, Personal | Tags: Brian Baker, by John Mangels, Trinity Cathedral, Worship |Leave a Comment
You don’t always get … what you expect.
That’s true so often (in my experience) in our relationship with God.
But this morning I’m really only thinking about the service I attended at Trinity Cathedral (in Sacramento). (more…)
April 19, 2013
Resurrection or Resuscitation?
Posted by johnmangels under Easter, Sermons | Tags: by John Mangels, resurrection |1 Comment
Once again, I doubt that anyone from Ft. Bragg is going to see the sermon I intend to preach this Sunday before I give it. (If I’m wrong, and you plan to be there Sunday, probably you should skip reading this for now.) Also, I apologize to any followers who read “Thrift Shop Resurrection” – most of which is given again here. So here it is:
Easter 4 C
I have problems with this morning’s reading from Acts!
Is that allowed – to have issues with scripture? (more…)
April 8, 2013
An Easter Surprise …
Posted by johnmangels under Easter, Jesus | Tags: by John Mangels, Easter, spiritual search |Leave a Comment
I talked to a young (to me) woman last week. I believe (I’m not entirely sure) that she would consider herself a Christian. (I’ve actually talked to her on a number of occasions.) She knows I’m an Episcopal priest, and she was wondering about Easter … What happened on Easter? What were we celebrating? (more…)
March 30, 2013
A Contemporary Easter Story?
Posted by johnmangels under Easter, World Events | Tags: Episcopal Cafe, GLTBI |Leave a Comment
This is The Lead on Episcopal Cafe today. If you watch the video on the link, I’d be interested in your responses:
DOMA, Proposition 8 and the Easter story
John Fugelsang draws a contemporary parallel to the story of the Passion and Resurrection in this commentary. Does its analogy hold up for you?
March 28, 2013
Thrift Shop Resurrection
Posted by johnmangels under Easter | Tags: by John Mangels, Joe Duggan, resurrection |[3] Comments
Many years ago, I served as the Rector of a small congregation in rural Wyoming (St. Andrew’s in Meeteetse). Some time before I arrived, they had opened a thrift shop for the community (population around 500). One woman had spearheaded the project. Her family donated the building. And she ran the program her way.
I got to thinking about this today because I read a blog post from my friend, Joe Duggan, where he said:
I have had an epiphany in my prayer today. I am no longer going to talk about “at risk congregations”. At risk of what? At risk of dying or closing? There is nothing to fear in the death of our congregations.
Why does he say this? Because he believes in resurrection.
That got me thinking about the thrift shop. (more…)
February 15, 2013
A True Lenten Fast?
Posted by johnmangels under Lent | Tags: by John Mangels, Fasting, spiritual search |Leave a Comment
What, really, constitutes a meaningful fast?
I’ve been thinking about that question as Lent approached – it seems useful to have an answer before Lent arrives … Or maybe just to arrive at an answer during Lent …
When I was growing up, I remember, I was encouraged to give up desserts, or to watch less TV, or not to eat meat one day a week. And as I grew older, I became less certain how meaningful any of these acts are. At least on the level at which I practiced them, they were pretty trivial (and non life changing) disciplines. (more…)
May 15, 2012
These days, there seems to be a real question in people’s minds about the worth of actually joining and participating in the life of a church. You hear things like “so many of the people are hypocrites” and “I do find on my own” and “nature is my church” and “all the church really cares about is its own survival.” And there is, perhaps, some truth in all of these thoughts.
Church members, like everyone else, are sinners. We never fully live up to our best intentions. (more…)
The Sunset Juggler (formerly The Dragon's Mouth) 