“Ephphatha”, from the Gospel,is a Greek form of a Syro-Chaldaic or Aramaic word, meaning “Be opened“. This word was uttered by Christ when healing the man, who was deaf and dumb, a man frustrated by his limitations. Speaking to the Corinthians’ community (today’s Epistle), St Paul states, “We are not sufficient of ourselves to think  Read more …

The publican and the Pharisee: The first hurt so many people by putting a heavy burden on them: falsifying taxes code and collections. The second man, the Pharisee, hurt so many too by putting on them the heavy burden of laws that he himself does not observe. So why is the prayer of one bad  Read more …

We (Christians) build to see God. In 1 Chronicles 22:19 God says “Seek me, build me a temple”. Building a space for a community to encounter God is one of the most basic acts of drawing heaven into your world. It has been this way for centuries. The Shunamite woman built a room on her  Read more …

What happens in Baptism? What do we hope for from Baptism?  We hope for eternal life for our child. This is the purpose of Baptism. But how can it be obtained? How can Baptism offer eternal life? What is eternal life? In simple words, we might say:  we hope for a good life, the true  Read more …

Dear Miles, Hailey and Jason,  On behalf of the good people of St. Michael, I welcome you into our spiritual family and thank you for becoming our members today. We thank God for this wonderful day and we glorify his most holy name for granting you all a safe drive to our Parish. Indeed, we  Read more …

God? Meaning of Life? Many Americans don’t seek them in church anymore. Many congregations are dwindling exponentially from within. These are folks who were active in their faith but for some reason stopped coming to church. One person shared questions with me like: Does God want me back?; I was a believer but fell away;  Read more …

“Rise and Come forward”.  Jesus spoke these words to a man He had singled out in a synagogue almost 2019 years ago.  For us, these words also express our mission and our faith.  Our passion is for people.  For many, life-changing treasures in the Church have remained “buried”.  The Scriptures, the sacraments, the lives of  Read more …

“O God, put away from us all hurtful things…” (collect of the day) Because of COVID 19, Anita canceled her wedding…. Jack missed his daughter’s graduation… Albert and Anna did not have funeral services for their mother…Our diocese rescheduled the synod…Our parish rescheduled Miles baptism over and over…Frederick county canceled the fair….and the list goes  Read more …

We’ve all been (and still) through the wringer with the COVID19 virus and responses. But, as long as there’s life, there’s hope. In good times and bad, the mission of Jesus of healing hurting people and a broken world go on. What are the broad areas that our church today needs to keep in mind  Read more …

“Dust you are, and to dust you shall return,” Today, we begin the time of Lent.  One of the wonderful things about the Lenten season is a sense of being in process.  Lent is our springtime of new growth and renewed life.  Lent is the season to realize that God is continually creating; that God’s  Read more …