Reflections

Reflections
This post originally appeared on The Rambling Priest, the blog of the Rev. Philip LaBelle, Rector of St. Mark's Church in Southborough. The parish I serve, St. Mark’s in Southborough, was founded in 1860 by a local business man Joseph Burnett.  Joseph gave land and money to build our…
Reflections
For years I resisted admitting that my eyesight was slipping.  Always I told myself that the light was bad, or I was just tired.  I was unwilling to recognize this gradual function of nature because, honestly, I had spent a lifetime being quite proud of my eyesight:  20/20 in one eye…
Reflections
A benediction offered by Bishop Alan M. Gates at the 45th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast on Jan. 19, 2015:With the voice of a prophet did Amos say:  “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.” [5:15]  Pray, dear friends, that we would know the evil we must hate,…
Reflections
O God, in seasons of darkness you call us to seek illumination and proclaim the brightness of hope.  We are renewed this night, O Lord.We are renewed this night in our grief and sorrow, at the recollection of precious lives ended at Sandy Hook, and all the equally precious lives…
Reflections
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, It is not the usual sort of waiting.  The Advent discipline is unlike our typical experiences of waiting.  We wait in line at the grocery store and in congested traffic.  We wait for our computer program to download.  We wait for our workday…
Reflections
One of the most interesting parts of this past state election, at least in my mind, is the map the Boston Globe put together that breaks down how each town voted.  As I look at it, I am struck, as a lifetime resident of Massachusetts, by just how divided our state is politically.  Popular…
Reflections
"Tom, who so lived his life in the power of the resurrection, longed to challenge and help others to come fully to life, to glorify God by becoming the unique and wonderful person God had made them to be."  Beverly Fisher…
Reflections
I read an article yesterday in the Boston Globe that really got me thinking.  It was about social media and self-esteem.  The article reported that a 2013 study by the University of Michigan asked participants five times a day to rate their feelings about themselves, and to report how…
Reflections
Dear Friends of God's Creation, Our diocese's fifth annual Creation Care Season (from St. Francis Day, Oct. 4 through the rest of the Pentecost season until I Advent on Nov. 30) comes on the heels of the Sept. 21 global climate demonstration in New York, at which more than 300,000 people,…
Reflections
A sermon given on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, with the Cathedral Congregation of St. Paul, Boston, at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Bowdoin Street, Boston, by the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts. A video of the full sermon may be found here. A printer-friendly PDF may be…