Vocation in Action

  American pastors are abandoning their posts, left and right, and at an alarming rate. They are not leaving their churches and getting other jobs. Congregations still pay their salaries. Their names remain on the church stationary and they continue to appear in pulpits on Sundays. But they are abandoning their posts, their calling . They have gone whoring after other gods. What the do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t the remotest connection with what the church’s pastors have done for most of twenty centuries… The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns—how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money. Some of them are very good shopkeepers. They attract a lot of customers, pull in great sums of money, develop splendid reputations.

  Third Sunday of Epiphany   Prayer of Invocation   Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with  you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   Prayer of Illumination   Lord Jesus, you call us to follow you wherever you go, to love who you love. You call us to repent, to turn from our evil ways; you give us moments like these to examine ourselves--you invite us to measure ourselves in light of your mercy and grace. Search us, and know our hearts; try us and see if there be any idolatrous way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting--that your name may be glorified, and our hearts be healed.   Proclamation   “Forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”, Jonah cried out in the capital of Assyria, that city that embodied all that was wrong with the world. 

  Second Sunday of Christmas: Grace wins! Psalm 147.12-20 Jer 31.7-14 Eph 1.3-14 John 1.1-18 Prayer of Invocation Father, you wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of humanity.  Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Proclamation Have you ever had the experience of coming out of a deep sleep in a room that is pitch dark, and not knowing where you are? You don’t know what day it is, you don’t know what time it is, and you don’t even know where you are? I remember this happening to me about five years ago. I had just finished a grueling  nineteen-hour flight. I was recovering from Leptospirosis. I was wracked with panic attacks. I didn’t sleep on the plane. When I got to my hotel room, I made sure the curtains were tight around the window so that no light could penetrate. When I wok

First Sunday of Christmas: Clothed in Christ            Isaiah 61.10-62.3          Psalm 148          Galatians 4.4-7          Luke 2.15-21   Prayer of Invocation   Father, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.   Prayer of Illumination   Spirit, teach us to keep in step with you as you lead us to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Bless our meditation on these words you have given us for life.    PROCLAMATION Judging from Facebook posts, we are not the only family that brings in the Christmas season with new PJs! It is fun to see the pictures with the family together, all sporting their new, matching, comfy pajamas, sometimes with names engraved on the front. This year might be t