Tuesday

  • Just as I was pulling out of the driveway to head to the office I got a phone call from my optician's office letting me know that my new glasses were ready, so I diverted west instead of east. Then I stopped for gas. When I arrived at the office, I discovered I didn't have my keys, so I drove back home to retrieve them. While returning, I got a phone call from a priest in another diocese seeking pastoral/strategic counsel, which kept me out in the parking lot for several minutes as we concluded our conversation. All this is just to say ... it was fully mid-morning by the time I got in!
  • Consulted with the Archdeacon and emailed the Treasurer about some cash flow technicalities pertaining to wiring some funds to one of our companion dioceses.
  • Fiddled with some new software that a friend online enticed me into downloading (a Mac client for WordPress). No satisfactory outcome from that yet, but I'm hopeful.
  • Spent the rest of the morning refining my homily for this Sunday (Advent I at St John the Baptist, Mt Carmel) and printing a working script.
  • Lunch at home. Leftovers.
  • Wrote the first draft of a post due soon for the Covenant blog. It mentions Jesus, Mel Gibson, and the "alpha issue" of ecclesial conflict.
  • Compiled some links to online parish search profiles that I had promised to send to the wardens of St Paul's, Pekin and All Saints, Morton.
  • Worked on my homily for Advent II (Trinity, Mt Vernon), taking it from "developed  notes" to "rough draft."
  • Threw up the broad strokes of two of the three meditations I am scheduled to give in a couple of weeks at an Advent Quiet Day at St Stephen's in Providence, Rhode Island. Taking my cue from the General Thanksgiving, the three will attempt to explicate the Redemption of the World, the Means of Grace, and the Hope of Glory.
  • Evening Prayer in the cathedral.

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