St Mary Magdalene

  • Weekly task planning at home.
  • Small admin chore accomplished with the Treasurer.
  • Devotions in the cathedral.
  • Conferred with the Interim Provost regarding life at the cathedral.
  • Morning Prayer in the office.
  • Gave my consent to the retirement of the Bishop of Massachusetts.
  • Exchanged emails with the Secretary of the Nashotah House board of trustees, and the chairman of the Dean Search Committee.
  • Initiated via email discussion of two items that require Nashotah trustee approval.
  • Spoke by phone with the chairman of the Commission on Ministry regarding some emerging business.
  • Took a walk around the block.
  • Exchanged emails with Fr Coleman and Deacon Jody regarding a date to come down and bless their new house.
  • Spoke by phone with the Bishop of Eau Claire regarding s clergy deployment situation.
  • Reviewed some last-minute changes I need to make to the script of a video presentation I will record at Nashotah House on Thursday.
  • Attended the cathedral midday Mass for the feast of St Mary Magdalene.
  • Lunch from Chitown's Finest (Italian beef), eaten at home.
  • Implemented the necessary changes in the video script.
  • Took another walk around the block.
  • Tweaked, refined, and printed a working copy of my homily for this Sunday (St John the Baptist, Mt Carmel).
  • Plotted all the sermon preparation tasks for the Sunday between the middle of September and the beginning of Advent. This includes looking at what's available from prior years on the same liturgical occasions and determining whether something can be reworked and freshened up, or I need to start from scratch. I do this about three times a year, and it's quite time-consuming.
  • Evening Prayer in the office, after which it was already last 6pm.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Image
Ten years ago, minus about six weeks, I served as the supply priest for Trinity, Lincoln six days before my consecration as Bishop of Springfield. Today I was there for the final regular scheduled canonical parish visitation of my episcopate. (I have a few more gigs on my calendar: March 7 in Mattoon, the Chrism Mass, the Triduum at the cathedral, May 30 in Cairo, and June 27 back at the cathedral--May 2 is available and not yet spoken for--but the every Sunday routine of my life for the past decade (in a larger sense, for the last 32 years) is at a major flex point.) As much as it could have been in the midst of a pandemic, this morning at Trinity was luminous. We confirmed eight adults, six of them qualifying as "young." My homily had to compete with the sounds of active young children. (I would much rather do that than have no kids in church.) Trinity is one of the exciting points of light in my ministry in the diocese. I took my time getting out of Lincoln because I wante...
Read more

Spring 2018 House of Bishops, Day 3

Image
We have new stricter social media rules now in the HOB--no photos taken during a session without the permission of those in it. So ... I'm having to be more creative about finding pics for the blog, because I'm not going to take a panoramic group shot and then contact everyone whose balding head shows in the photo! Once again, the day began with Eucharist. This time, though, I took a pass, and opted for a vigorous walk on a brisk morning. Having looked at the liturgy sheet in advance, there were enough triggers that I knew the net spiritual effect for me would be negative. #selfcare  I will say, however, that HOB worship has gotten incrementally less problematic during the tenure of the current Presiding Bishop, and I give props for that. When we convened at 10:15, there were the usual announcements, then a whirlwind set of summary reports from bishop members of the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) and the Task Force on the Study of Marriage. The full report...
Read more

Saturday

Out the door at 8:30, headed south. Arrived at St Paul's, Alton at about 10:15. Presided over the installation of the Revd Cindy Sever as Rector of Alton Parish. It was an energetic and lovely ceremony. After the post-liturgical potluck I headed further south still, arriving at St James', Marion in time for their regular Lord's Day celebration, which occurs on the eve thereof. Presided, preached, and laid hands on one person renewing her baptismal vows. Dinner for vestry and spouses at the home of St Andrew's, Carbondale parishioner Trish Guyon, which is always an elegant affair. By now she knows what I like to drink and what I like to eat, so it's pretty special.
Read more