On a Sunday full as ever with last-minute liturgy changes and uncertain weather, and difficult questions arising from current events, I had a moment of quiet grace, brought to me by one of our tiny parishioners. As a thurifer, I spend a bit of time outside the church walls during services, preparing the coals, and … READ MORE…
The third week of Advent is closed. Witness to the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary school it might seem that the reflective spirit; the expectant hope of the season of Advent is broken. When lives are taken in spasms of violence it is heart breaking—but that so many this time were children. Children are not … READ MORE…
During our Advent Forum series and our Advent Edition of Living Wi$ely (online here: http://stpaulcathedral.org/9am-forum and here http://stpaulcathedral.org/livingwisely ) we have been talking about Advent Calendars and how they can be much more than a fond childhood memory about little cardboard windows and chocolates. They can really be a wonderful devotional, helping us to slow … READ MORE…
Advent is in its second week, by the church and its calendar it is a reflective; promising time. Outside, the holidays have picked up energy. The shopping season is in full swing. Stores are draped in glittering things, reams of wrapping paper roll like waves, everywhere are Christmas displays and pine trees are, lately, a … READ MORE…
Advent is a great time to slow down and a take time from our consumer culture out as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We all know that Christmas is grand finale of our consumer calendar, but Advent is the beginning of the church calendar. It’s a time to “begin again” and renew … READ MORE…
Editor’s note: a Cathedral member who prefers to be anonymous sent us this blog for the Christmas season. You may be sitting next to this Secret Santa on Sunday! In the last year or two, there has been a spontaneous surge of people acting as “Secret Santas” for folks who have Christmas gifts on … READ MORE…
It is Advent. The beginning of the church calendar, four weeks, four Sundays to celebrate the coming of Jesus. It is a mystery, divine and definitely material that those four weeks of Advent match the most consumerist and stressful season in America. Many churches change the colors of their draping’s and vestments for Advent, for … READ MORE…
For us today, Advent is a time for us to explore the spiritual ideas of waiting, patience and delayed gratification. We are counting the days until Christmas and allowing ourselves to hope for all of the best to come. The concept of the Advent wreath actually originated in pre-Christian times when people would gather … READ MORE…
There are so many aspects of the profound presence of God at St. Paul’s Cathedral for which to be grateful, it is difficult to focus on just one. However, I would like to talk about something that has become a true Cornerstone for me this past year: And that is, the many opportunities to receive … READ MORE…
As we consider our cornerstone values as a faith community today, Stewardship Committee Historians John Will and Paula Peeling will be highlighting historic moments and stories from the Cathedral’s past. For many years St. Paul’s Episcopal Church carried the proud label “Mother of Missions.” Even when I first tip-toed in through the back door of … READ MORE…