To be, to exist
Most of us like to take out the family album and thumb through its pages; the pictures stir up feelings. The first and second readings from the Lectionary do the same. Both tell us about our beginnings, when Israel escaped Egyptian enslavement, and set out for Canaan having been chosen as the Lord’s own people.
Our national character is descending into ‘meanness of the worst kind’
In the face of early policies from the Trump administration that threaten compassion and aid for the world’s poorest, Executive Director Tom Dwyer penned this Op-Ed calling for an urgent recommitment to social justice and moral values inspired by Gospel teachings and advocated by Pope Francis.
What Happens Next
What can we learn from the past to understand the present and the time to come? Do we really have a crisis in our Democracy? Has this happened before? Are we facing a new kind of American government that places governing control in the hands of a Dictator or King? Are we threatened by any change in the relationship of men to women, or to white Anglo-Saxon males by new foreign groups that are growing in our land?
The God who walks with us
The covenant with Abraham and the transfiguration of Jesus are different manifestations of God. God assures Abraham of his power and love, and Jesus likewise assures his disciples of his ultimate victory and presence. Whatever our Lenten resolutions are, they should focus on the God who desires to walk with us.
Coats for ESOL students
Thirty-four Haitian migrants residing at the Boston Rescue Mission were unable to attend classes, not due to a lack of motivation, but because they did not possess the essential winter gear for their commute. Recognizing this as an opportunity to put our faith into action in service to others, A Faith That Does Justice (AFTDJ) stepped in to assist them.
God’s Generosity to All
The people of God tend to complain even when things are good. They seem to have a need to complain. And when they do, they are not able to appreciate what they already have. They are unable to see the blessings God already has poured out on them.
Giving to, not giving up
Lent has begun, and with an instinct that may go back to our childhood, many of us look around for something to “give up.” Lent is a time for sacrifice, is it not? Sacrifice, though, is not an attractive word. Perhaps we need to look again at “sacrifice,” for the word crops up often during Lent. Maybe it has a positive meaning, not just “giving up.”
For Gentleness in my Dealings
By The Rev. Craig A. Phillips, Ph.D. A long time ago—when I was in high school—I bought a pocket-sized pamphlet of one hundred and two short prayers. They were written by Malcolm L. Playfoot, described as the “Sometime Administrator of the (Anglican) Society of the...
Responsible and careful speech
By Richard Clifford, SJ The gospel today concludes Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, Luke’s version of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1-7:29). Luke’s version (6:20-49) is shorter, for Luke chooses to place much of Matthew’s material in Jesus’s final journey to...
The Baptism of Jesus and our Covenant with God and One Another
Our nation is divided. Whatever our political leanings, as Christians, we each promise to be faithful to the God who calls us. That is what a covenant is. It is an agreement between people in the presence of God. That is why marriage also is called a covenant. It is a promise made between two people in the presence of God. In the Baptismal Covenant of the Episcopal Church, we promise to one another and to God that we will live by the following principles and will do that by doing the following things. Let me now read from the covenant itself.
Generosity and restraint
What is our lesson here? David once again comes helps us understand his successor Jesus’s teaching of generosity and restraint toward our enemies. It’s called “class,” and there is more than a touch of the divine in it.
Radical Hospitality
By The Rev. Craig A. Phillips, Ph.D. Over the past couple of decades, many congregations have sought to practice “radical hospitality.” Simply put, that means welcoming those who come into the doors of the church in the most hospitable way imaginable. Most Christians...
Meet Our New Executive Director: Tom Dwyer
We are delighted to announce that the Board of Directors of A Faith That Does Justice (AFTDJ) has elected Tom Dwyer to the Board and as AFTDJ’s new President.
Blessed are poor in spirit
By Richard Clifford, S.J. We are more familiar with the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-8 of Matthew’s Gospel than we are to Luke’s Sermon on the Plain in 6:20-49. Both sermons begin similarly – with a series of beatitudes; Matthew has nine, and Luke four. The...
The Word Is Fulfilled in Our Hearing, Even Now
By: Francis X. Clooney, SJ Sunday church services are built around the Word of God, its proclamation, our hearing it and sharing it, then taking it home with us. Or so we say, and so I imagine, week after week in my parish. But how often does the Word change anything,...
God has called us to share his love
By Richard Clifford, S.J. God’s call to Isaiah and to the apostle Peter led both of them to feel acutely they were unworthy. Isaiah reacted immediately, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips.” So did Peter,...
Celebrating Our ESOL Program Participants
We are thrilled to announce that 58 dedicated students have successfully completed the latest cycle of our English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program!
The spirit of the Lord is upon me
Though the whole world belonged to the Lord present everywhere, the Jerusalem Temple was the prime earthly dwelling of the Lord and place of divine-human encounter. Mary and Joseph are shown going to the Temple for the rituals around childbirth. In Israelite thinking,...
Costly Grace
Costly Grace By The Rev. Craig A. Phillips, Ph.D. In the Gospel of Matthew, we encounter the following difficult saying of Jesus. It is what is often called a “hard saying,” meaning that for the most part it is not something that we who read it want to hear or do....
Anoint yourself with the Spirit
The first reading (from the Nehemiah Memoirs of the mid-fifth century) and the second reading, the Gospel of Luke, are both press conferences though without TV cameras and microphones. Today, whether it is the launch of a new Apple device or a disaster, we expect...
The Lord likes blue cheese
By The Rev. Craig A. Phillips, Ph.D. Many people are committed to working for God in the church. As they go about the tasks at hand, they hope that they are doing what they call “God’s will.” In my experience, persons on Vestries and other committees of the...
Learning Through Accompaniment
Learning Through Accompaniment: Liberation Theology and Re-entry Communities at Fordham University By Sebastian Budinich When teaching liberation theology to undergraduate students at Fordham University, one of the greatest challenges is bridging the gap between...
What is God doing in the world today?
We usually look at the Lectionary readings with an eye to the lesson they teach us. What action do they urge? Today, differently, we ask: What do the readings tell us about what God, not ourselves, is doing in the world today? In the first reading from Isaiah, God...
A new year, a fresh start
Today’s commemoration of the Lord’s Baptism might be a reminder of the uneven path our own life takes, and indeed of the “jerky” course that human history takes.
The Loaf Keeper of All Creation
In the Lord’s Prayer we ask God, who is “Lord” —the “loaf-keeper”—of all creation, to give us the “bread” we need each day to live. We do not ask the Lord for more than we need, but only for what we need to survive and flourish.
God (and Our Neighbors) Are in the Trees
It is amazing how God reveals himself to us. We never imagined that working to increase the green spaces in our new home, the West End, would be so life-giving. My husband and I started out looking for a way to give back during COVID when we could not volunteer indoors at church as we had done for the past 30 years.
Winter Darkness – Or Light
Darkness at first may seem like absence, aloneness. Yet we are not really alone. Silent darkness is a doorway to Utter Presence. God is always there.
Healing, Wholeness, and Justice
The Gospel of Luke narrates Jesus’ healing of a woman with a spinal deformity that had caused her to hunch over for 18 years (Luke 13:10-17). I can identify with this story as I have had spinal surgeries, and I know how debilitating back issues can be. Perhaps you do too.
Christmas Ironies
Like many others, I fear that the true beauty, depth, and richness of Christmas is too often and too easily overlooked, whether by the commercialization of the season or by Easter, which typically receives greater preparation and reflection from the Church.
The Religious Significance of Vegetarianism
There are good reasons, however, for further consideration of the religious significance of vegetarianism, the choice of a diet that does not include meat and fish products.