Spirituality

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Well, a very blessed Easter to all! While Christmas is prerequisite in salvation history as God has ordained that history, Easter itself is the holiest day of the Christian year in our remembrance of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Because, as the apostles write, He is simply the “first-born” from the dead; His faithful disciples are called to follow, and through His resurrection comes our hope for eternal life with God.

Of course, leading up to this great joy was pain … the extreme bittersweetness of Jesus’ Passion and death—so bitter in the divine who loves us literally Read More

Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon  Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By The Rev. Mary Ann Hill

On the Sunday following Easter, many churches read the story of “Doubting Thomas”. Thomas sometimes gets a bad rap. He really was more of a pragmatist than a doubter. He was a plain-spoken straight-shooter. His skepticism was completely understandable, given the circumstances. Like all the rest of Jesus’ followers, Thomas knew that his Lord was dead and buried in a tomb. But Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Dang. Though by no means a British royalty watcher, I sure hated to see that Princess Catherine has come down with cancer. She seems like such an elegant, classy and yet down-to-earth young woman. She’ll be a lovely queen one of these days if she can beat this disease. Prayers for her and ALL who come down with cancer, and for all who care for them. Me and the bros lost our dad that way, so been there, done that. And who among us who have been around for a while hasn’t watched friends and family battle that.

There was also a headline not long ago of Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania’s Read More

Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div.
ELCA

As a child, growing up in the Episcopal Church, I learned early on the significance of the week before Easter. My public school took a break that week, and my family would attend church more often than usual. After waving palm fronds and processing into the sanctuary on Palm Sunday, I could expect several more worship services later Read More

By Father Glenn Jones:

Ah, ‘tis St. Paddy’s Day, when those (we) of Irish descent (and many others) celebrate this great man who promoted so successfully the Christian faith in the land of Erin, so much so as to be the isle’s patron saint and called “the Apostle of Ireland”.

But other than been associated with “the green” and legends about ridding Ireland of snakes, few know much history of St. Patrick. He was not born Irish, but actually Welsh or Scottish, taken in a slave raid as a boy by Irish pagans or possibly pirates. After six years, he escaped and returned home and eventually became a priest, and Read More

Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Pastor Nicolé Raddu Ferry
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church

“I dedicate this book to my mother and father, Mathlida and George, who taught me never to ridicule anyone who is searching for God with a lighted lantern.”

This dedication is the introduction to the book The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser. This book draws from a variety of sources to offer a spiritual Read More

By Father Glenn Jones:

Cool … back to 2 Chronicles again this week, though not very uplifting. Well … not until some more history had passed, at least.

The period is, or just after, 600 B.C. The great Israelite kings David and Solomon are long gone, as is the greatness of their kingdom. Israel—not divided into the separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah—has waffled back and forth from fidelity to infidelity…as have thier fortunes. The post-split northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and absorbed by Assyria, which itself has been conquered by the Babylonians. Only the southern kingdom of Read More

Clergy from left, Pastor Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Rev. Deb Beloved Church
White Rock Presbyterian Church

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…” (Exodus 20:7a, King James Version)

I suspect that many people, Christian or otherwise, are familiar with this commandment (#3 in God’s top 10; cf. Exodus 20:1-17). Or as a more modern translation (the New International Version) puts it, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God…” Read More