A little lower than the angels

FRANCES JOSEPH-GAUDET EDUCATOR AND PRISON REFORMER (30 December 1934) Merciful God, who raised up your servant Frances Joseph-Gaudet to work for prison reform and the education of her people: Grant that we, encouraged by the example of her life, may work for those who are denied the fullness of life by reasons of incarceration and lack of access to education ; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen In the week following the Feast of the Nativity on Christmas Day our calendar gives us celebrations of St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr; St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, the Holy Innocents, and Thomas Becket. Then, on New Year's Day, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The name of "Jesus" is given to him because he is a "Savior" or "Deliverer". That from which we are delivered is our sins, corporate and individual, things done and left undone. The sin of the world is on displ...

Christmas Eve 2009 St. Paul’s Church, Bellingham, WA Dear friends, Merry Christmas. Some years ago the book Children’s Letters to God was published, and it contained this gem: Dear God, Are you real? Some people don't believe it. If you are, you'd better do something quick. —Love, Harriet Anne [i] Harriet Anne speaks for all of us at some time or other, even those of us who proclaim publicly our faith. We all at times wonder where God is when the latest outrage hits the front page, or when sudden calamity strikes nearby. Harriet Anne asks the question that summarizes the Advent Season, the season of waiting for God’s deliverance. “You’d better do something quick”, Harriet Anne insists. Implicit here is her understanding that we cannot seem to save ourselves from ourselves. The twentieth-century mystic Simone Weil agrees. “We cannot take one step towards the heavens. God crosses the universe and comes to us.” [ii] Tonight the Season of Ad...