Blessed 7th Day of Christmas
https://youtu.be/WHWqj6gKS9g
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
6th Day of Christmas
Blessed 6th Day of Christmas to one and all
https://youtu.be/yxDZjg_Igoc
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://youtu.be/yxDZjg_Igoc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Friday, December 29, 2017
Feast of St. Thomas Beckett
Today is the 5th Day of Christmas.
The Church also remembers St. Thomas Beckett. Born in AD 1118, Thomas eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. In AD 1170, Thomas was brutally murdered after he confronted the king for his seeking to exert power over the life of the Church.
"Will someone not rid me of this meddlesome priest", said the king. Four knights burst into the cathedral at night, and murdered him at the high altar.
For those who stand up to power, who refuse to be bullied, who work for liberty in conscience, and freedom of religion, St. Thomas Beckett, pray for us.
Fr. Troy Beecham
The Church also remembers St. Thomas Beckett. Born in AD 1118, Thomas eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. In AD 1170, Thomas was brutally murdered after he confronted the king for his seeking to exert power over the life of the Church.
"Will someone not rid me of this meddlesome priest", said the king. Four knights burst into the cathedral at night, and murdered him at the high altar.
For those who stand up to power, who refuse to be bullied, who work for liberty in conscience, and freedom of religion, St. Thomas Beckett, pray for us.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Holy Innocents
On this 4th Day of Christmas, the Church also remembers the Holy Innocents, that otherwise nameless and unremembered group of children who were brutally murdered by a power mad king in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus and so eliminate a possible threat to his continued dominion.
How often do we accept when we are told by those holding the reins of power that "collateral damage" is acceptable or inevitable, or do we turn a blind eye towards the suffering of children, when inflicted in the name of maintaining privilege, luxury, access to cheap goods, or dominion?
How long until we see every human person as our own child, our own most beloved, for whom we have the duty of care? How long until we refuse to serve any power, system, economy, or person that reduces anyone into a commodity, a problem to be eliminated, an alien, or as lacking the same human dignity that we demand for ourselves?
...until the day that we are ourselves transformed by the love of God, and the world is renewed...
For the dawning of that day, please, pray.
https://youtu.be/uhCLwwmtKjs
Fr. Troy Beecham
How often do we accept when we are told by those holding the reins of power that "collateral damage" is acceptable or inevitable, or do we turn a blind eye towards the suffering of children, when inflicted in the name of maintaining privilege, luxury, access to cheap goods, or dominion?
How long until we see every human person as our own child, our own most beloved, for whom we have the duty of care? How long until we refuse to serve any power, system, economy, or person that reduces anyone into a commodity, a problem to be eliminated, an alien, or as lacking the same human dignity that we demand for ourselves?
...until the day that we are ourselves transformed by the love of God, and the world is renewed...
For the dawning of that day, please, pray.
https://youtu.be/uhCLwwmtKjs
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Feast of St. John
Happy 3rd Day of Christmas!
Today the Church remembers St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. John, the "beloved disciple", who as a young man was one of the early disciples of Jesus. Of all the male apostles, John is the only one who did not run away when Jesus was arrested and crucified. He stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of the the cross, and there Jesus commended the duty of care for his mother to him. John cared for Mary until her death many years later.
He lived to old age, even though he faced exile, deprivation, and torture because of his faith in Jesus. He wrote many of the works that are part of the Christian holy scriptures, perhaps most famously the words that begin with "God so loved the world..." and "God is love".
In gratitude we remember John, faithful witness of Jesus and his astonishing revelation that the nature of God is love.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Today the Church remembers St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. John, the "beloved disciple", who as a young man was one of the early disciples of Jesus. Of all the male apostles, John is the only one who did not run away when Jesus was arrested and crucified. He stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of the the cross, and there Jesus commended the duty of care for his mother to him. John cared for Mary until her death many years later.
He lived to old age, even though he faced exile, deprivation, and torture because of his faith in Jesus. He wrote many of the works that are part of the Christian holy scriptures, perhaps most famously the words that begin with "God so loved the world..." and "God is love".
In gratitude we remember John, faithful witness of Jesus and his astonishing revelation that the nature of God is love.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Feast of St. Stephen
Every year on December 26, the day after we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. St. Stephen was among the first deacons of the Church. He was “full of faith and power” and “did great wonders among the people.” For this, he was condemned by a council of Jewish leaders and, after preaching publicly to a crowd at the Temple, was stoned to death. The man who presided over his stoning would one day become the most prolific early Christian writer and missionary, Saul of Tarsus, later called St. Paul.
Blessed Stephen, ora pro nobis.
https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/12/26/christmas-is-about-martyrdom-the-lesson-of-st-stephen/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Blessed Stephen, ora pro nobis.
https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/12/26/christmas-is-about-martyrdom-the-lesson-of-st-stephen/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
Sunday, December 17, 2017
O Wisdom
The great O Antiphons begin! Over the next seven days, those who follow Jesus are invited to ponder the great mysteries of the Incarnation.
The first, O Wisdom!
https://youtu.be/VcoYzoSfZUc
Fr. Troy Beecham
The first, O Wisdom!
https://youtu.be/VcoYzoSfZUc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, December 7, 2017
St. Ambrose
Today, the Church remembers St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan.
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose (c. AD 340 – 4 April 397), was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was the Roman governor of Liguria and Emilia, headquartered in Milan, before being made bishop of Milan by popular acclamation in AD 374. Ambrose was known for his deep beliefs and eloquence in preaching and teaching the orthodox Christian faith, and for his ability to be both resolute in confronting error and willing to live in Christian love with those who made themselves enemies. He famously is quoted as saying “No one heals themselves by wounding another”.
Traditionally, Ambrose is also credited with promoting "antiphonal chant", a style of chanting in which one side of the choir responds alternately to the other, as well as with composing Veni redemptor gentium, an Advent hymn. His love of music and of Christian liturgical worship lead him to produce works of sublime beauty that remain part of the life of the Church today.
Blessed St. Ambrose, ora pro nobis. Amen.
https://youtu.be/PU4ycRzwqDc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose (c. AD 340 – 4 April 397), was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was the Roman governor of Liguria and Emilia, headquartered in Milan, before being made bishop of Milan by popular acclamation in AD 374. Ambrose was known for his deep beliefs and eloquence in preaching and teaching the orthodox Christian faith, and for his ability to be both resolute in confronting error and willing to live in Christian love with those who made themselves enemies. He famously is quoted as saying “No one heals themselves by wounding another”.
Traditionally, Ambrose is also credited with promoting "antiphonal chant", a style of chanting in which one side of the choir responds alternately to the other, as well as with composing Veni redemptor gentium, an Advent hymn. His love of music and of Christian liturgical worship lead him to produce works of sublime beauty that remain part of the life of the Church today.
Blessed St. Ambrose, ora pro nobis. Amen.
https://youtu.be/PU4ycRzwqDc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
St. Nicholas
Today, the Church remembers St. Nicholas, a bishop of the early Christian Church in Asia Minor.
Yes, there really is a St. Nicholas. Quite a lot about his life is known, including his time spent as a monk in the Holy Land, his generosity to those marginalized by their culture or circumstance, and his participation in the formulation of the orthodox/Catholic way of expressing Christian truths. It is known that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution of the early Christians under the Emperor Diocletian.
Nicholas is famed as a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam (later New York), from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.
Nicholas was born in Asia Minor (Greek Anatolia in present-day Turkey) in the Roman Empire, to a Greek family during the third century in the city of Patara (Lycia et Pamphylia), a port on the Mediterranean Sea. He lived in Myra, Lycia, at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage, culture, and outlook and politically part of the Roman diocese of Asia.
In 325, he was one of many bishops to answer the request of Constantine and appear at the First Council of Nicaea; the 151st attendee was listed as "Nicholas of Myra of Lycia". There, Nicholas was a staunch defender of the Orthodox Christian position, and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed.
In his most famous exploit, Nicholas aided a poor man who had three daughters, but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Even if they did not, unmarried women in those days would be assumed to be prostitutes. Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house.
It is from this that the tradition of placing gifts in stockings hung out to dry, or in shoes set by the fireplace to dry, comes down to us today.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Yes, there really is a St. Nicholas. Quite a lot about his life is known, including his time spent as a monk in the Holy Land, his generosity to those marginalized by their culture or circumstance, and his participation in the formulation of the orthodox/Catholic way of expressing Christian truths. It is known that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution of the early Christians under the Emperor Diocletian.
Nicholas is famed as a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam (later New York), from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.
Nicholas was born in Asia Minor (Greek Anatolia in present-day Turkey) in the Roman Empire, to a Greek family during the third century in the city of Patara (Lycia et Pamphylia), a port on the Mediterranean Sea. He lived in Myra, Lycia, at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage, culture, and outlook and politically part of the Roman diocese of Asia.
In 325, he was one of many bishops to answer the request of Constantine and appear at the First Council of Nicaea; the 151st attendee was listed as "Nicholas of Myra of Lycia". There, Nicholas was a staunch defender of the Orthodox Christian position, and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed.
In his most famous exploit, Nicholas aided a poor man who had three daughters, but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Even if they did not, unmarried women in those days would be assumed to be prostitutes. Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house.
It is from this that the tradition of placing gifts in stockings hung out to dry, or in shoes set by the fireplace to dry, comes down to us today.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Sts. Simon & Jude
Today, the Church remembers Sts. Simon and Jude.
St. Simon and St. Jude are often depicted as an evangelizing team; in Western Christianity, they share their feast day on 28 October. The most widespread tradition is that after evangelizing in Egypt, Simon joined Jude in Persia and Armenia or Beirut, Lebanon, where both were martyred in 65 A.D.
O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
St. Simon and St. Jude are often depicted as an evangelizing team; in Western Christianity, they share their feast day on 28 October. The most widespread tradition is that after evangelizing in Egypt, Simon joined Jude in Persia and Armenia or Beirut, Lebanon, where both were martyred in 65 A.D.
O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Friday, August 4, 2017
Love wins
In a world filled with poverty, division, war, hatred, and cruelty, it is difficult to credibly hold onto the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the earth. When human history seems only to demonstrate our unerring drive for power, when the enlightenment promise of inevitable human progress towards utopia has turned to ashes in our hearts, it feels almost absurd to cling to the promise of Jesus to be not afraid or to believe that God is love. What evidence can we point to for this mythology of grace? It is irrational to hold on to the Faith built upon the promise that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Yet here I am, choosing to trust in the promises of Jesus, the one who was always merciful, compassionate, and gave himself sacrificially in love to all who came to him for help. If it is madness to believe it, then I will gladly be called a madman, because I have this one hope in my life....
That love wins.
After all is said and done, after the worst that we can do to each other, love will astonish us and redeem us. All of my hope is built on this one promise ...
Love will win.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Yet here I am, choosing to trust in the promises of Jesus, the one who was always merciful, compassionate, and gave himself sacrificially in love to all who came to him for help. If it is madness to believe it, then I will gladly be called a madman, because I have this one hope in my life....
That love wins.
After all is said and done, after the worst that we can do to each other, love will astonish us and redeem us. All of my hope is built on this one promise ...
Love will win.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Ode to the Night
I step out into the enveloping night, and am greeted by the voluptuous scent of purple phlox, languid and dreamy. The trilling of the tree frogs, the cadence of the crickets, the staccato of the bat flying overhead; all lie under blanket of glimmering, seeming silent stars. And the bright moon, shining softly overhead, whispers "Hush your mind, go to sleep my beloved, go to sleep; for the morrow comes only to soon, with sorrows and joys yet unwritten."
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Independence Day
Sitting outside on a cool summer's night; the grass is wet and cool on my bare feet. The dogs are nosing about in the lilies, and an errant bat is busy catching night insects on the wing. A shooting star flashed brightly overhead just under the elbow of the bright moon.
In strange counterpoint, the skies are echoing to the thunder and crackle of fireworks. From where I sit, in safety, I know that my fellow Americans are celebrating with laughter and joy the independence of this nation, the fireworks but the playful, colorful reflections of much darker times.
I am grateful for my ancestors who fought for liberty in the storied tale of their struggle for freedom from tyranny so long ago. I pray for those, who even this night, struggle for freedom in other lands, under the same moon, who's skies thunder and crackle not in happy memory but with dreadful purpose.
May the LORD God grant true and lasting peace to all peoples, and may the kingdom of God dawn upon us in our days. Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
In strange counterpoint, the skies are echoing to the thunder and crackle of fireworks. From where I sit, in safety, I know that my fellow Americans are celebrating with laughter and joy the independence of this nation, the fireworks but the playful, colorful reflections of much darker times.
I am grateful for my ancestors who fought for liberty in the storied tale of their struggle for freedom from tyranny so long ago. I pray for those, who even this night, struggle for freedom in other lands, under the same moon, who's skies thunder and crackle not in happy memory but with dreadful purpose.
May the LORD God grant true and lasting peace to all peoples, and may the kingdom of God dawn upon us in our days. Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Ascension
Today the Church celebrates the Festival Day of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The central point of meaning of the bodily ascension of Jesus is his exaltation, or as is proclaimed in the Nicene Creed "He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty." It is interpreted more broadly as the culmination of the Mystery of the Incarnation, marking the completion of Jesus' physical presence among his apostles and consummating the union of God and humankind.
With Jesus having ascended to the Father, who sent him to be incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the blessed virgin Mary, he who remains incarnate may now also be universally present through the Holy Spirit to all peoples, everywhere, without end.
We rejoice that the Savior of the world sits now in the heavenly places so that he may also live forever in the heart of each of us, and where he ever intercedes for us.
And so, today, we pray especially for the loving presence of Jesus to be with all of those throughout the world who live in nations beset by war, famine, poverty, slavery, and ethnic hatred, that his kingdom of peace will come among us today, to heal the human family and finally unite us together in him in endless joy, peace, and love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrs5XR9Pd7k&app=desktop
Fr. Troy Beecham
The central point of meaning of the bodily ascension of Jesus is his exaltation, or as is proclaimed in the Nicene Creed "He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty." It is interpreted more broadly as the culmination of the Mystery of the Incarnation, marking the completion of Jesus' physical presence among his apostles and consummating the union of God and humankind.
With Jesus having ascended to the Father, who sent him to be incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the blessed virgin Mary, he who remains incarnate may now also be universally present through the Holy Spirit to all peoples, everywhere, without end.
We rejoice that the Savior of the world sits now in the heavenly places so that he may also live forever in the heart of each of us, and where he ever intercedes for us.
And so, today, we pray especially for the loving presence of Jesus to be with all of those throughout the world who live in nations beset by war, famine, poverty, slavery, and ethnic hatred, that his kingdom of peace will come among us today, to heal the human family and finally unite us together in him in endless joy, peace, and love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrs5XR9Pd7k&app=desktop
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Annunciation
Today the Church commemorates the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would bear a child, the Son of God, who would be the savior of the world.
So much depended on her saying "Yes". May we all have such faith to say "Yes", that Jesus will be born in us, as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXebZRQ81bg&sns=em
Fr. Troy Beecham
So much depended on her saying "Yes". May we all have such faith to say "Yes", that Jesus will be born in us, as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXebZRQ81bg&sns=em
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, March 13, 2017
Choral Evensong
The power of worshipping the Lord together in Choral Evensong
http://aleteia.org/2017/03/13/first-time-ever-anglican-evensong-sung-in-st-peters-basilica/
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://aleteia.org/2017/03/13/first-time-ever-anglican-evensong-sung-in-st-peters-basilica/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Lenten meditation
A lovely Lenten meditation:
http://www.anglicannews.org/blogs/2017/03/forevermore-beholding-christ-jesus.aspx
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://www.anglicannews.org/blogs/2017/03/forevermore-beholding-christ-jesus.aspx
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Ash Wednesday
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian season of Lent. Historically, Lent was the period of preparation for those new disciples of Jesus Christ who were seeking to become part of his Body in baptism. The season of Lent is set aside for self-examination for all of his disciples, certainly; but even more importantly Lent is a time set aside for us to re-open our hearts and lives to receiving the wondrous message of love, redemption, and renewal in Jesus Christ.
As we prayerfully and intentionally contemplate his great love for us as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and the the Holy Eucharist for the 40 days of Lent, we will discover those places in our lives where we have shut ourselves off from the source of our aliveness, hope, and faith. This is where we are invited to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to remove all those things in our lives that choke off the fullness of the life of Jesus in us, and to renew our first love with Jesus.
My prayer for all of us who are the Body of Christ gathered is that we will be renewed in our commitments as disciples of Jesus, filled anew with hope and joy, and discover just how much aliveness and grace he has to offer to us as we embrace his great love for us.
Our worship liturgies will begin with the Great Litany, a series of prayers and petitions sung back and forth between the congregation, choir, and the priest, prayers that come down to us from the early first centuries of the Church.
We all know that language changes over time, and that the meanings of words shift. I invite us all to bear in mind as we pray “Lord have mercy” that the word “mercy” also means “lovingkindness”. When we pray “Lord have mercy”, we are not just asking for God to turn aside his wrath; we are turning to the Lord, our loving Father, asking him to sweep us up into his arms as a mother gathers up her child who runs to her for comfort and assurance of love.
“Gather us up into the arms of your lovingkindness, O Lord”.
Fr. Troy+
Fr. Troy Beecham
As we prayerfully and intentionally contemplate his great love for us as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and the the Holy Eucharist for the 40 days of Lent, we will discover those places in our lives where we have shut ourselves off from the source of our aliveness, hope, and faith. This is where we are invited to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to remove all those things in our lives that choke off the fullness of the life of Jesus in us, and to renew our first love with Jesus.
My prayer for all of us who are the Body of Christ gathered is that we will be renewed in our commitments as disciples of Jesus, filled anew with hope and joy, and discover just how much aliveness and grace he has to offer to us as we embrace his great love for us.
Our worship liturgies will begin with the Great Litany, a series of prayers and petitions sung back and forth between the congregation, choir, and the priest, prayers that come down to us from the early first centuries of the Church.
We all know that language changes over time, and that the meanings of words shift. I invite us all to bear in mind as we pray “Lord have mercy” that the word “mercy” also means “lovingkindness”. When we pray “Lord have mercy”, we are not just asking for God to turn aside his wrath; we are turning to the Lord, our loving Father, asking him to sweep us up into his arms as a mother gathers up her child who runs to her for comfort and assurance of love.
“Gather us up into the arms of your lovingkindness, O Lord”.
Fr. Troy+
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, February 27, 2017
Unity
We have hope for a renewed and common witness to the love of Jesus. All the body of Christ must continue to work for unity in love.
https://www.facebook.com/americamag/videos/10154234570102882/
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://www.facebook.com/americamag/videos/10154234570102882/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Humility
Humility is always the path
https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/02/26/francis-urges-humble-path-unity-historic-visit-romes-anglicans/
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/02/26/francis-urges-humble-path-unity-historic-visit-romes-anglicans/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Political idolatry
A common theme of mine, here eloquently put by a bishop, though the use of the phrase "centrist" has as many political entanglements as progressive/liberal/conservative.
http://anoddworkofgrace.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-radical-centrist-manifesto-2017-iii.html?m=1
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://anoddworkofgrace.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-radical-centrist-manifesto-2017-iii.html?m=1
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Preaching
"All effective homilies have this sense of urgency and freshness, revealing the startling beauty and promise of the Kingdom of God and of Jesus who embodies it and brings it to reality through his Death and Resurrection. The message of the Gospel is truly a matter of “life and death” for us; there is nothing routine or trivial about it. If a homilist conveys merely some example of proverbial wisdom or good manners, or only some insight gained from their personal experience, they may have spoken accurately and even helpfully, but they have not yet spoken the Gospel, which ultimately must focus on the person of Jesus and the dynamic power of his mission to the world."
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, February 20, 2017
Big picture Christianity
For those interested in "big story" attempts to conceptualize Jesus and the "point" of Christianity, this article does a fair job at introducing one of the most influential Christian theologians of the last 50 years, and an Anglican at that.
https://baptistnews.com/article/can-tom-wright-save-christianity/#.WKtmS6pOKaP
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://baptistnews.com/article/can-tom-wright-save-christianity/#.WKtmS6pOKaP
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Gospel
“The political principles of Christianity, if it be right to use such words of a divine polity, are laid down for us in the Sermon on the Mount. Contrariwise to other empires, Christians conquer by yielding; they gain influence by shrinking from it; they possess the earth by renouncing it.”
– John Henry Newman, Development of Doctrine
In response to a question about the state of American Christianity, I have some thoughts. Much of American "Christianity" has become almost indistinguishable from our prevailing culture and our culture wars. Such debased and compromised religion has accepted an idealized and mythical version of an American golden age, based largely in Enlightenment ideals, and has falsely identified becoming a social justice warrior (for whichever side or for whichever cause) in the attempt to engineer utopia (the attempt which inevitably becomes fascist - both left and right), as a manageable and less personally costly substitute for the gospel of Jesus.
I was raised in that maelstrom, as so many of us were, and recognizing the continuing bankruptcy of it often makes it difficult to call myself a Christian. Rather than walking away from the gospel of Jesus, though, we must continue to do our best to love as he asked his disciples to love, live as he asked his disciples to live, and choose to refuse to allow a false substitute to claim the name of Jesus. We must refuse to let demagogues and those who would turn the faith of Jesus into a tool of empire or partisan politics, a path to obscene wealth, or a means of control to be the only voices.
Originally, the word "christian" was used to describe the early disciples of Jesus by those who did not follow him. It means "little christ ", because the early disciples lived so closely to his gospel, and paid a high social cost for it as he paid, that their neighbors wondered at their loving-kindness, self-sacrificing generosity, and mutual love. To be honest, someone else has to call you a christian for it to be true. We can only legitimately say for ourselves that we are doing all that we can do to be a disciple of Jesus. Whether or not it is visibly true, or that we are, in fact, christians is up for others to say.
Jesus did not come preaching how to choose a side in the perennial human obsession with the game of thrones, a game that leads us in a constant spiral of genocide, poverty, and slavery.
Jesus came preaching a promise, the kingdom of God, the promise that his Father will someday restore creation, and humankind, to a state of original blessedness and innocence, and give birth to a peaceable kingdom where war, misery, slavery, and even death, have faded away. He taught his disciples that sacrificially loving each other would allow us to experience that promise here and now, and that our love for each other would be the proof that the Father did indeed send him into the world.
This Way, this becoming a disciple of Jesus, re-orients the human heart, teaching us to refuse to participate in the game of thrones, to refuse to be compromised by earthly political realities, the allure of wealth and power, or the ongoing lie that we are anything but one human family.
Following Jesus orients our hearts on the kingdom of God, which will not be found by choosing one empire over another, or become so partisan for a particular nation, tribe, or creed that we lose sight that we are all one human family - all of us brothers and sisters. It is in losing sight of this that we seek to justify war, slavery, and and poverty.
The kingdom of God is not about simply inverting who currently holds power, but about faithfully living in the love of Jesus, enduring the ruin that we continue to make of each other and the world, until God finally subverts all human power in the redemptive power of Love, revealed in Jesus as self-emptying, self-sacrificing care for each other.
So, sisters and brothers, let us love one another as Jesus loves us, keep our hearts fixed on the promise of the kingdom of God, and faithfully await the day of his coming.
Fr. Troy Beecham
– John Henry Newman, Development of Doctrine
In response to a question about the state of American Christianity, I have some thoughts. Much of American "Christianity" has become almost indistinguishable from our prevailing culture and our culture wars. Such debased and compromised religion has accepted an idealized and mythical version of an American golden age, based largely in Enlightenment ideals, and has falsely identified becoming a social justice warrior (for whichever side or for whichever cause) in the attempt to engineer utopia (the attempt which inevitably becomes fascist - both left and right), as a manageable and less personally costly substitute for the gospel of Jesus.
I was raised in that maelstrom, as so many of us were, and recognizing the continuing bankruptcy of it often makes it difficult to call myself a Christian. Rather than walking away from the gospel of Jesus, though, we must continue to do our best to love as he asked his disciples to love, live as he asked his disciples to live, and choose to refuse to allow a false substitute to claim the name of Jesus. We must refuse to let demagogues and those who would turn the faith of Jesus into a tool of empire or partisan politics, a path to obscene wealth, or a means of control to be the only voices.
Originally, the word "christian" was used to describe the early disciples of Jesus by those who did not follow him. It means "little christ ", because the early disciples lived so closely to his gospel, and paid a high social cost for it as he paid, that their neighbors wondered at their loving-kindness, self-sacrificing generosity, and mutual love. To be honest, someone else has to call you a christian for it to be true. We can only legitimately say for ourselves that we are doing all that we can do to be a disciple of Jesus. Whether or not it is visibly true, or that we are, in fact, christians is up for others to say.
Jesus did not come preaching how to choose a side in the perennial human obsession with the game of thrones, a game that leads us in a constant spiral of genocide, poverty, and slavery.
Jesus came preaching a promise, the kingdom of God, the promise that his Father will someday restore creation, and humankind, to a state of original blessedness and innocence, and give birth to a peaceable kingdom where war, misery, slavery, and even death, have faded away. He taught his disciples that sacrificially loving each other would allow us to experience that promise here and now, and that our love for each other would be the proof that the Father did indeed send him into the world.
This Way, this becoming a disciple of Jesus, re-orients the human heart, teaching us to refuse to participate in the game of thrones, to refuse to be compromised by earthly political realities, the allure of wealth and power, or the ongoing lie that we are anything but one human family.
Following Jesus orients our hearts on the kingdom of God, which will not be found by choosing one empire over another, or become so partisan for a particular nation, tribe, or creed that we lose sight that we are all one human family - all of us brothers and sisters. It is in losing sight of this that we seek to justify war, slavery, and and poverty.
The kingdom of God is not about simply inverting who currently holds power, but about faithfully living in the love of Jesus, enduring the ruin that we continue to make of each other and the world, until God finally subverts all human power in the redemptive power of Love, revealed in Jesus as self-emptying, self-sacrificing care for each other.
So, sisters and brothers, let us love one another as Jesus loves us, keep our hearts fixed on the promise of the kingdom of God, and faithfully await the day of his coming.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
True preaching
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/02/14/lack-prayer-turns-gods-word-philosophical-idea-pope-says/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
St. Valentine
So, who was the actual St. Valentine, and why do we associate him with loving relationships?
http://www1.cbn.com/st-valentine-real-story
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://www1.cbn.com/st-valentine-real-story
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Christian unity
We must always continue to work towards Christian unity as a sign of hope to the world
https://www.facebook.com/AnglicanCentre/posts/1445671222110156
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://www.facebook.com/AnglicanCentre/posts/1445671222110156
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, February 6, 2017
Christian unity
"That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
Jesus
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/look-to-christ-to-overcome-tragic-reformation-legacy-pope-says-99687/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Jesus
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/look-to-christ-to-overcome-tragic-reformation-legacy-pope-says-99687/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Lady Gaga, the Super Bowl, and going to Church
Thank you, Ms. Germanotta, for your witness to your Christian faith in demonstrating your priorities.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Keep our eyes on Jesus
Keep our eyes on Jesus
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-jesus-was-concerned-with-people-not-popularity-83512/
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-jesus-was-concerned-with-people-not-popularity-83512/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, January 30, 2017
Evangelical Catholicism pt. 2
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2017/01/25/evangelical-catholicism-the-ecclesiological-vision-of-archbishop-michael-ramsey-2/?platform=hootsuite
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
Evangelical Catholicism
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2017/01/24/evangelical-catholicism-the-ecclesiological-vision-of-archbishop-michael-ramsey/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Hope for unity
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-christian-unity-cant-happen-if-we-linger-on-problems-of-the-past-15924/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
Friday, January 27, 2017
Never again
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/holocaust-calls-us-to-have-respect-for-the-dignity-of-every-person-11534/
Fr. Troy Beecham
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Unity
An image of Christian unity, imperfect though it may yet be...
Grace builds on grace as Archbishop David and Metropolitan Gennadios join Pope Francis not only in physically giving the blessing but in saying the words of the blessing at the end of the Papal Vespers for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
From Pope Francis' homily:
Reconciliation, he said, is a gift from Christ. Prior to any human effort by believers who strive to overcome their divisions, he said, reconciliation is God’s gift given freely to each one of us.
“How do we proclaim this Gospel of reconciliation today after centuries of division?”, the Pope asked. St Paul himself makes clear that reconciliation requires sacrifice and a revolution of our way of living, he said. Just as Jesus laid down his life for us, so we are called to lay down our lives, by living no longer for ourselves and our own interests, but living instead for Christ and in Christ.
Leave behind isolation and self-absorption
For Christians of every confession, the Pope said, this is an invitation not to be caught up with programmes and plans, not to be obsessed with contemporary fashions, but to be focused on the Cross where we can “discover our programme of life”. The Cross invites us to leave behind all isolation and self-absorption which prevents us from seeing how the Holy Spirit is at work outside our familiar surroundings.
Joint Reformation commemorations "a remarkable achievement"
While looking back can be helpful and necessary to purify our memory, the Pope said, being fixated on the past and the memory of wrongs done can paralyze us and prevent us from living in the present. Pope Francis recalled in particular the fact that Catholics and Lutherans are today joining in commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, something he described as “a remarkable achievement”.
Pray, proclaim and serve together
Greeting especially Metropolitan Gennadios, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Archbishop David Moxon, representing the Anglican Communion, Pope Francis urged all those present to take advantage of every occasion to pray together, to proclaim together and to love and serve together, especially those who are the poorest and most neglected in our midst.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Grace builds on grace as Archbishop David and Metropolitan Gennadios join Pope Francis not only in physically giving the blessing but in saying the words of the blessing at the end of the Papal Vespers for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
From Pope Francis' homily:
Reconciliation, he said, is a gift from Christ. Prior to any human effort by believers who strive to overcome their divisions, he said, reconciliation is God’s gift given freely to each one of us.
“How do we proclaim this Gospel of reconciliation today after centuries of division?”, the Pope asked. St Paul himself makes clear that reconciliation requires sacrifice and a revolution of our way of living, he said. Just as Jesus laid down his life for us, so we are called to lay down our lives, by living no longer for ourselves and our own interests, but living instead for Christ and in Christ.
Leave behind isolation and self-absorption
For Christians of every confession, the Pope said, this is an invitation not to be caught up with programmes and plans, not to be obsessed with contemporary fashions, but to be focused on the Cross where we can “discover our programme of life”. The Cross invites us to leave behind all isolation and self-absorption which prevents us from seeing how the Holy Spirit is at work outside our familiar surroundings.
Joint Reformation commemorations "a remarkable achievement"
While looking back can be helpful and necessary to purify our memory, the Pope said, being fixated on the past and the memory of wrongs done can paralyze us and prevent us from living in the present. Pope Francis recalled in particular the fact that Catholics and Lutherans are today joining in commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, something he described as “a remarkable achievement”.
Pray, proclaim and serve together
Greeting especially Metropolitan Gennadios, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Archbishop David Moxon, representing the Anglican Communion, Pope Francis urged all those present to take advantage of every occasion to pray together, to proclaim together and to love and serve together, especially those who are the poorest and most neglected in our midst.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Dictatorship of Relativism
Before he was elected pope, Benedict delivered a pivotal sermon calling for the Church to regain a common sense of what is truth, how to understand truth, and the real power of truth.
I have seen quite a bit of chatter about alternate facts being bandied about recently, but the issue goes deeper than partisan politics. This is one of the central, perhaps the central, artifact in Western thought that has become deeply fractured and has resulted in a host of societal and ecclesiastical confusion: what is Truth?
This is the sermon where Benedict coined a phrase: the dictatorship of relativism.
Worth reading, contemplating, and discussing, especially during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
http://www.vatican.va/gpII/documents/homily-pro-eligendo-pontifice_20050418_en.html
Fr. Troy Beecham
I have seen quite a bit of chatter about alternate facts being bandied about recently, but the issue goes deeper than partisan politics. This is one of the central, perhaps the central, artifact in Western thought that has become deeply fractured and has resulted in a host of societal and ecclesiastical confusion: what is Truth?
This is the sermon where Benedict coined a phrase: the dictatorship of relativism.
Worth reading, contemplating, and discussing, especially during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
http://www.vatican.va/gpII/documents/homily-pro-eligendo-pontifice_20050418_en.html
Fr. Troy Beecham
Unity
On this seventh day of Prayer for Christian Unity we pray
Eternal Father,
we praise you for sending your Son
to be one of us and to save us.
Look upon your people with mercy,
for we are divided in so many ways,
and give us the Spirit of Jesus to make us one in love.
We ask this gift, loving Father,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Eternal Father,
we praise you for sending your Son
to be one of us and to save us.
Look upon your people with mercy,
for we are divided in so many ways,
and give us the Spirit of Jesus to make us one in love.
We ask this gift, loving Father,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, January 23, 2017
Unity
On this sixth day in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we pray
God of all, we pray as one, that we may be one, just as the Lord Jesus prayed we may be one in Him. Your son Jesus compels us to be reconciled to one another. May our spirits be joined to your Holy Spirit so that our lives may witness to the visible unity of your Church. May we all recognize that we are truly one with you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and grow together in peace. We as this in the name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
God of all, we pray as one, that we may be one, just as the Lord Jesus prayed we may be one in Him. Your son Jesus compels us to be reconciled to one another. May our spirits be joined to your Holy Spirit so that our lives may witness to the visible unity of your Church. May we all recognize that we are truly one with you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and grow together in peace. We as this in the name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Unity
On this fifth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we pray
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace:
give us grace seriously to lay to heart
the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions.
Take away all hatred and prejudice,
and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord;
that, as there is but one body and one Spirit,
one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may henceforth be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace:
give us grace seriously to lay to heart
the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions.
Take away all hatred and prejudice,
and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord;
that, as there is but one body and one Spirit,
one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may henceforth be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Unity
On this fourth day in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we pray
Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Friday, January 20, 2017
Unity
On this third day in the week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we continue to pray with our Lord Jesus Christ that we all may be one.
Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior.
Amen.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Reconciliation
Pray for a spirit of mercy, compassion, and repentance among all the divided Body of Jesus, the Church.
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5826/reformation-anniversary-statement-from-the-archbishops-of-canterbury-and-york
Fr. Troy Beecham
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5826/reformation-anniversary-statement-from-the-archbishops-of-canterbury-and-york
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, January 8, 2017
The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ
Today, the Church commemorates the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many reasons why his baptism is important to the life of the world and of the Church. In his baptism, Jesus charts an alternate course and redefines what it means to be the Savior, the Lord.
His cousin, John the Baptist, wanted to present him to the great masses who had come out to be baptized, and to anoint him as the messiah and King of the Jews. John had spent years confronting the power of the Herods and the empire, and expected Jesus to do the same.
Instead, Jesus knelt in the river with the crowds, crowds of faithful Jews, gentiles, outcasts...with the great mix of the human family that he had come to redeem. John tried to prevent it...great kings don't kneel with the lowly masses!
But Jesus insisted. And the heavens were torn open, and the voice of God proclaimed "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
In this, and through the duration of his ministry, Jesus consistently inverted our human expectations about power, our obsession with having the power to compel others to be and do as we desire. He showed us that the power of God is manifested in humility, self-offering, compassion, and love.
We keep on believing that power has to do with the authority to compel others, usually through threat of force or through violence, and that this power will bring us peace, or security, or lead us to utopia. Human history has shown, if nothing else, our ability to deceive ourselves, our ability to believe the great lie, and our willingness to sacrifice others to achieve some proposed good. We have made the world a graveyard with our millennia of empires, kingdoms, political philosophies and movements, and economic philosophies.
Jesus teaches us that it is impossible to return to paradise without God, and that to ascribe to God any association or blessing upon our using power over each other is a lie.
And for this we murdered him.
We want to keep believing that we are able, on our own, despite the witness of history and of current events, that we can achieve paradise if only we can force people to act right, and failing that if we can only eliminate them.
Dear ones, we are unable to redeem ourselves, or to engineer paradise. Jesus refused to take up a sword; he refused to get into a contest of will with the empire. Instead, he dismissed the authority of empires and kings, and set about proclaiming the good news, that God is self-emptying love, and that God will one day restore the human family to paradise; and he asks us each to turn away from our quest for power and to embrace the power of God through lives of compassion, humility, reverence, and self-emptying love.
All of this is set in motion by his baptism, which we remember today. A baptism rather than a coronation. Kneeling with, rather than standing above, the masses, even those who would one day reject him.
How can we do any different?
Fr. Troy Beecham
There are many reasons why his baptism is important to the life of the world and of the Church. In his baptism, Jesus charts an alternate course and redefines what it means to be the Savior, the Lord.
His cousin, John the Baptist, wanted to present him to the great masses who had come out to be baptized, and to anoint him as the messiah and King of the Jews. John had spent years confronting the power of the Herods and the empire, and expected Jesus to do the same.
Instead, Jesus knelt in the river with the crowds, crowds of faithful Jews, gentiles, outcasts...with the great mix of the human family that he had come to redeem. John tried to prevent it...great kings don't kneel with the lowly masses!
But Jesus insisted. And the heavens were torn open, and the voice of God proclaimed "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
In this, and through the duration of his ministry, Jesus consistently inverted our human expectations about power, our obsession with having the power to compel others to be and do as we desire. He showed us that the power of God is manifested in humility, self-offering, compassion, and love.
We keep on believing that power has to do with the authority to compel others, usually through threat of force or through violence, and that this power will bring us peace, or security, or lead us to utopia. Human history has shown, if nothing else, our ability to deceive ourselves, our ability to believe the great lie, and our willingness to sacrifice others to achieve some proposed good. We have made the world a graveyard with our millennia of empires, kingdoms, political philosophies and movements, and economic philosophies.
Jesus teaches us that it is impossible to return to paradise without God, and that to ascribe to God any association or blessing upon our using power over each other is a lie.
And for this we murdered him.
We want to keep believing that we are able, on our own, despite the witness of history and of current events, that we can achieve paradise if only we can force people to act right, and failing that if we can only eliminate them.
Dear ones, we are unable to redeem ourselves, or to engineer paradise. Jesus refused to take up a sword; he refused to get into a contest of will with the empire. Instead, he dismissed the authority of empires and kings, and set about proclaiming the good news, that God is self-emptying love, and that God will one day restore the human family to paradise; and he asks us each to turn away from our quest for power and to embrace the power of God through lives of compassion, humility, reverence, and self-emptying love.
All of this is set in motion by his baptism, which we remember today. A baptism rather than a coronation. Kneeling with, rather than standing above, the masses, even those who would one day reject him.
How can we do any different?
Fr. Troy Beecham
Friday, January 6, 2017
Epiphany
Happy Feast Day of the Epiphany!
Epiphany, meaning "manifestation", is also called the Theophany, the "appearing of God" in the Eastern Churches, and Dia de Reyes, Kings Day, in Latin American and Hispanic cultures. On this day, the Church commemorates the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem to worship God, who has so wondrously become one of us in the the infant Jesus, God incarnate.
In his humanity, Jesus is a Jew, a rabbi, a descendant of David. In eternal faithfulfulness to the covenant made with the Jewish people, God promised to send them a savior, who will also be a light to all nations and peoples.
Born in the most humble circumstances, in an animal pen, with a feeding trough for a crib, God shows us that there is no place so despised or situation so hopeless where his love will not make a home. Adored first by shepherds, God shows us truly that the meek and lowly in heart are nearest to seeing the glory of the Lord. And with the arrival of the magi, God reveals to us that the gift of grace, the invitation to a life of transforming redemption in Jesus, is freely offered to all people, even those whom we might think of as being foreigners, outsiders, or unclean. In the magi, we see that the Gentiles, and that means me, are included in the promise of salvation.
So today, we rejoice and give thanks for the revelation of the astonishing love and amazing grace given to the world by God, who became one of us in Jesus, and who invites all nations and every people to love one another and to live in peace.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Epiphany, meaning "manifestation", is also called the Theophany, the "appearing of God" in the Eastern Churches, and Dia de Reyes, Kings Day, in Latin American and Hispanic cultures. On this day, the Church commemorates the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem to worship God, who has so wondrously become one of us in the the infant Jesus, God incarnate.
In his humanity, Jesus is a Jew, a rabbi, a descendant of David. In eternal faithfulfulness to the covenant made with the Jewish people, God promised to send them a savior, who will also be a light to all nations and peoples.
Born in the most humble circumstances, in an animal pen, with a feeding trough for a crib, God shows us that there is no place so despised or situation so hopeless where his love will not make a home. Adored first by shepherds, God shows us truly that the meek and lowly in heart are nearest to seeing the glory of the Lord. And with the arrival of the magi, God reveals to us that the gift of grace, the invitation to a life of transforming redemption in Jesus, is freely offered to all people, even those whom we might think of as being foreigners, outsiders, or unclean. In the magi, we see that the Gentiles, and that means me, are included in the promise of salvation.
So today, we rejoice and give thanks for the revelation of the astonishing love and amazing grace given to the world by God, who became one of us in Jesus, and who invites all nations and every people to love one another and to live in peace.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Thursday, January 5, 2017
12th Day of Christmas
Happy 12th Day of Christmas!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iLXNSIaYc
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iLXNSIaYc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
11th Day of Christmas
Happy 11th Day of Christmas!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1mItWsC8RtM
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1mItWsC8RtM
Fr. Troy Beecham
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
10th Day of Christmas
Happy 10th Day of Christmas!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WHWqj6gKS9g
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WHWqj6gKS9g
Fr. Troy Beecham
Monday, January 2, 2017
9th Day of Christmas
Happy 9th Day of Christmas!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc
Fr. Troy Beecham
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc
Fr. Troy Beecham
Sunday, January 1, 2017
8th Day of Christmas
Happy 8th Day of Christmas!
Today the Church also observes the solemnity of the Holy Name of Jesus, the feast of the naming of the child Jesus; as recounted in the Gospel read on that day, "at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."
The faithful are called to contemplate again this wondrous mystery: that the one who called the galaxies, stars, and worlds into being, and gave each a name, loved us so much that he became vulnerable to us, entrusted himself to us as an infant, and allowed us to give him a name.
So today we call upon the Incarnate holy child, the Prince of Peace, to came among us again, to bring peace to our confused, lost, yet ultimately loved human family, and call us each by our true name: beloved, redeemed, holy, child of God.
Fr. Troy Beecham
Today the Church also observes the solemnity of the Holy Name of Jesus, the feast of the naming of the child Jesus; as recounted in the Gospel read on that day, "at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."
The faithful are called to contemplate again this wondrous mystery: that the one who called the galaxies, stars, and worlds into being, and gave each a name, loved us so much that he became vulnerable to us, entrusted himself to us as an infant, and allowed us to give him a name.
So today we call upon the Incarnate holy child, the Prince of Peace, to came among us again, to bring peace to our confused, lost, yet ultimately loved human family, and call us each by our true name: beloved, redeemed, holy, child of God.
Fr. Troy Beecham
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