When things seem to fit together....
It has been quite a couple of days - just one of those 'meeting to service to meeting to visit to meeting to service to service' kind of thing. But three things have all coalesced and my thinkings have all come together in a way that seemed to me complementary.
Firstly I had the privilege of presiding and speaking again at the 12-step Eucharist which is offered by Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria. The Gospel reading for the day and the structure of the service seemed to me (strangely in the case of the lectionary, as you will see if you follow the link) to speak to Grace, even in Jesus' Critique of the religious leaders of the day. Then we had a wonderful celebration of New Ministry at the Induction of Bruce Bryant-Scott here in Victoria which had a sense of joy and liberation about it which made the whole evening (despite being at the end of a long day) feel very positive. Then I was preaching and presiding again at our early Eucharist, which remembered Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross - and the readings and prayers and my own thinking seemed to come together in quite a special way. So here are the links to the sermons - found in full on New Kid Deep Stuff, and a picture of the Clergy at the service. I have a hippo on my head, 'nuff said.
Firstly I had the privilege of presiding and speaking again at the 12-step Eucharist which is offered by Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria. The Gospel reading for the day and the structure of the service seemed to me (strangely in the case of the lectionary, as you will see if you follow the link) to speak to Grace, even in Jesus' Critique of the religious leaders of the day. Then we had a wonderful celebration of New Ministry at the Induction of Bruce Bryant-Scott here in Victoria which had a sense of joy and liberation about it which made the whole evening (despite being at the end of a long day) feel very positive. Then I was preaching and presiding again at our early Eucharist, which remembered Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross - and the readings and prayers and my own thinking seemed to come together in quite a special way. So here are the links to the sermons - found in full on New Kid Deep Stuff, and a picture of the Clergy at the service. I have a hippo on my head, 'nuff said.Sermon 1- for 12 Step Eucharist
Amazing Grace
We live in a society that often seems obsessed with how we look… the clothes we wear, the way our hair looks, or the state of our skin, whether we eat right, exercise, look buff, whatever… We are obsessed with how things seem, how they look, what impression we give. [more]
Sermon 2 - Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross
Teresa of Avila & John of the Cross
October
Today is the remembrance of Teresa of Avila, and of St John of the Cross – two 16th Century contemplatives. We are using the readings and prayer for Teresa, but we keep in mind also her friend and follower John of the Cross. From the companion to our readings we are told that Teresa of Avila was a Spanish nun of the sixteenth century whose visions of Christ and gifts as a spiritual director have placed her among the greatest of all Christian mystics. She was the only daughter of a minor nobleman and entered the Carmelite convent in her native town of A’vil-a when she was twenty-one. Over the next two decades she endured many illnesses, one of which left her paralyzed, and also a nagging sense that in her prayers and devotions she was doing nothing more than “treading water.” [more]
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