The Encouraging Thomist

The Walk to Emmaus Icon Third Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14a,36-41 Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17 1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35 I. "Hope is the thing with feathers  That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words,  And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard;  And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird  That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land,  And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity,  It asked a crumb of me."   [Emily Dickinson. "Hope is the thing with feathers (254)".] This is one of my favorite poems  by one of the great poets of American history:   Emily Dickinson. If you don't know much about Emily Dickinson,  I would highly suggest you at least read her biography   at the Poetry Foundation website    [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/emily-dickinson] But even if you don't know about her life,  what can be seen is the incredible word

Jesus Appears to St. Thomas Icon Second Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Psalm 16 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 I. What is your evidence for your belief? Anyone who has written a term paper,  defended a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation,   studied in the areas of the sciences,    especially the natural sciences,     have run across this very important question:      what is your evidence for what you argue? Evidence,  at its most simplest terms,   is someone or something that furnishes factual proof of something    Basically,     it is the facts that bear out a conclusion of truth.      [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evidence] We operate this way all the time,  and for good reason. Maybe you are a parent,  and you hear, from the kitchen area,   the opening of the fridge,    and you know that your spouse is outside.     But you know who is inside?      Your child that you told about 5 minutes ago       that they ar

The Resurrection of Christ Icon The Great Vigil of Easter Romans 6:3-11 Psalm 114 Matthew 28:1-10 (The Conclusion) I. How on earth can this be?! The earth quakes,  the guards of the tomb where Jesus lay fall down, scared out of their minds,   the women on the way to the tomb look up    and there is an ANGEL that has opened the tomb,     and we freaking out! We hear the angel speak comfort to us,  "Don't be afraid!"    then invite us to look in the tomb,     and show us that Jesus isn't here,      because he is risen       just like he said! Holy Angels in heaven,  how can this be?! And as the women race back to the disciples to tell them  this amazing,   stupendous,    frankly unbelievable news,     Jesus Christ our Lord actually meets them on the road,      and with undoubtedly a huge smile on his face,       shouts, "Greetings!" Sweet Lord Jesus,  how can this be?! All we can do is fall on our face in w

Holy Friday Icon Good Friday Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Psalm 22 Hebrews 10:16-25 John 18:1-19:42 [Triduum Sermon, Part 2] I. How can this be? That Jesus Christ,  who healed the sick,   opened the eyes of the blind,    restored the limbs of the lame,     raised the dead back to life,      is betrayed by one of his own disciples? How can this be? That Jesus's own people despise and reject him,  even so much so that they hand him over to Pilate,   the Roman governor of Judea,    and nearly start rioting unless Pilate puts Jesus to death. How can this be? That Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior of the world  chooses to fulfill the Holy Scripture even under horrific suffering   chooses death on a cross,    and actually, literally     dies as a sacrifice for sin,      the perfect, spotless Lamb of God? And who will fault us for asking,  "How can this be?"   Because, if we are honest with ourselves,    we might also struggle with mak

Institution of the Eucharist Icon I. How can this be? That Jesus Christ,  our Lord and Savior,   gives us his Body, broken for us    writes for us the New Covenant in his blood     and gives his full self to us in this Blessed Sacrament      that he lovingly institutes tonight? How can this be? That Jesus Christ,  on the very night before he was betrayed by one of his own disciples,   removes his clothes, straps a towel to himself,    literally taking up the garb of a slave,     and washes each disciple's feet,      even Judas Iscariot's feet, his betrayer? How can this be? That Jesus Christ the world's Redeemer,  commissions his disciples in a new commandment,   that above all else,    they must love on another as Jesus Christ has loved them,     and that the world will know that they are disciples of Jesus      by their love? II. How can this be? Because we, the disciples, have no idea what Jesus is doing for us  as we sit at table

I don't often write personal reflections, as I'm usually quite deep into writing sermons for the next week and getting on top of my study. ...honestly, that's probably what I should be doing right now, since most Episcopal priests have no fewer than 4 sermons to write this week for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, The Easter Vigil (Saturday), and Easter Sunday! But, someone reached out to ask how I was doing. You know who you are, and you are a saint. And the more I thought about this question, the more complicated it got! So, I hope you may enjoy a little reflection on how I've been doing the past little bit in the form of a FAQ. Q: How are you doing? A: I'm doing fine. And I'm also not. I'm not exactly sure how to even begin to measure how I'm doing. If we are judging by job performance as a priest, I'm not feeling super great. I feel like I'm failing to gather the community in worship, and that I'm not keeping up with pastoral c

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ Icon I. Humanity can be awfully fickle. One moment we can be seemingly getting it so right,  only for us to turn around the very next moment   and get it so very wrong. One moment, we can be happy and kind to our family,  and the next moment we are at each other's throats,   whether that be because the kids have a bad attitude,    or when our estranged family gives us a tense phone call,     or even when we simply miss a meal. We are caring for our neighbors on moment,  and then the next we ignore them and turn our faces away,   whether that be because of their ethnicity,    their spoken language,     or even because of their socio-economic status:      which is a fancy way of saying,       sometimes we desperately ignore people because they are poor. We are loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength,  and the next moment we scream, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" II. The crowd in the Passion Go