Category Archives: Uncategorized

Apostles Anglican ChurchFr. John A. Roop Transcription and Sacrament(Prov 9:1-6, Ps 147, Eph 5:3-14, John 6:53-59) Jesus said: 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him…58 whoever feeds on this bread … Continue reading →

I suppose I should begin with a “trigger warning:” what follows is entirely political, though I write not primarily as a citizen but rather as a priest. I write because I feel the need to, though I also write with … Continue reading →

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C. S. Lewis I have long struggled with this all-or-nothing dichotomy of Lewis’s: not with the logic of … Continue reading →

Apostles Anglican ChurchFr. John A. Roop Psalm 78: A Psalm of Generations(Nehemiah 10, Psalm 78:1-18, John 6:1-21) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 5 He made a covenant with Jacob, … Continue reading →

AXIOS Today is the one hundredth birthday of St. Paisios the Athonite (d. 1994). I first encountered stories and teachings of this elder of Mount Athos in the book The Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos Markides, which remains, for me, … Continue reading →

Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even … Continue reading →

A friend posted this meme, a friend who has moved away from Christianity and religion to what I might describe as a “Spiritual Scientism” — my description, not my friend’s. I thought to respond to my friend, but I decided … Continue reading →

Being new to something, even to something you want or need to do, can be disconcerting, particularly if the “something” is personal. That is certainly true in the case of the Reconciliation of Penitents (Confession). From time to time I … Continue reading →

Judges 5:1–2 (ESV): 5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: 2  “That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly,bless the Lord! Verses mean what they mean in their literary, … Continue reading →

The Daily Office Lectionary appointed Psalm 109 for Evening Prayer recently, but I found that I could not, in good faith, pray it. It is a classic example of the imprecatory Psalms, those that curse one’s enemies, that invoke God … Continue reading →