Friday (11th Day of Christmas)

  • Morning Prayer in a still-dark cathedral before breakfast, then ton the drive-through at Hardee's (for a change of pace from McD's).
  • Culled the accumulated hard-copy items on my desk.
  • Ran (well, walked, actually) down to Illinois National Bank to initiate a wire transfer of some funds to our companion diocese of Tabora, funds that have been lying around, earmarked for that purpose.
  • Took care of a handful of small administrative items.
  • Consulted with Paige on a couple of her ongoing projects. Did some internet followup of my own on one of them.
  • Got to work refining and editing the working text of my homily for this Sunday (Trinity, Jacksonville).
  • Broke off from this to greet my 113o lunch appointment, arriving fifteen minutes early--one of our postulants. We walked over to Boone's Tavern for a productive "live Ember Day letter."
  • Got back to the sermon work I had started earlier, ending up with a manuscript in my car, and e-versions scheduled to post at 10am Sunday.
  • Plotted and scheduled the tasks related to getting ready for this year's Chrism Mass.
  • Stepped out to get my hair cut, my car washed, and a bit of personal shopping done (the venues of my former Springfield routine continue to beckon, just because of their easy familiarity).
  • My usual Friday prayer practice consisted of a deep final (for this season) listen to Ralph Vaughan Williams' Christmas cantata Hodie, with the sung texts open on my computer so I could follow along. It is a marvelous work of art, not nearly well-enough known, IMO. Because I was the only one in the building by this time, I could have the sound up as loud as I wanted!
  • Evening Prayer in the cathedral.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

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

Saturday (St Charles, King & Martyr)

Substantive phone conversations with the rector of Lincoln, the President of the Standing Committee, and the Canon-to-the-Ordinary. Attended the live-streamed memorial service for a former clergy colleague, and continuing friend, with whom I was in serious conversation about coming to the diocese less than a year ago, who died quickly of COVID at age 66. Then, earlier than I actually needed to, but wanting to get out of town ahead of the snowstorm, I packed up and headed south to Lincoln, where I had time to do some significant reading before hitting the sack.
Read more