Becoming Flame

There is a story from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers that has stuck with me over the course of my spiritual journey...

"Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, 'Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?' Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands

towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, 'If you will, you can become all flame.'"

The story is a reminder to me that there is much to faith that exists beyond our rites and rituals and disciplines. If you know how much I love liturgy, then you know that I'm making a pretty bold claim when I write that.

The story is also a reminder to me that we should not settle in how we live out our faith. We are always called forward by the Holy Spirit to deepen our walk with the risen Christ. God loves us as we are, and celebrates each step forward we take...but is never satisfied with where we are. That same stirring in the heart of Abba Lot, "What else can I do?", stirs in our hearts as well, when we quiet ourselves enough to hear it.

So do not settle for where you are on your faith journey, my friends. Listen to that stirring in your heart, that whisper - 'What else can I do?'. If you let yourself, you can become on fire for the Gospel - a source of heat and light that blazes like a beacon in the world to those around you. If you will, you can become all flame!

[translated by Benedicta Ward ; foreword by Metropolitan Anthony. (1975). The Sayings of the Desert Fathers : the alphabetical collection. London : Kalamazoo, Mich. :A. R. Mowbray ; Cistercian Publications,]

St. Paul: Man of Mystery!

St. Paul might seem bookish, workmanlike, and no fun at parties. But the truth is that there are several mysteries swirling around this most well known apostle. For instance, what WAS the thorn in his flesh that he prattles on about in 2 Corinthians?

Today, however, we consider another mystery: did Paul go to Spain? He announced his intention to do so in his Letter to the Romans. Yet the Book of Acts finishes with Paul in a house in Rome, receiving guests for two years (Chapter 28).

So he didn't go to Spain, right? Well, not so fast. Some early sources suggest that Paul did, in fact, make it to Spain. For example, Pope Clement I, in his letter to the Corinthians around the year 96, notes that Paul went "to the extreme limit of the west".

Perhaps most mysteriously, in 1871 a 29th chapter of Acts surfaced, which details Paul's trip to not only Spain, but Britain as well. Curious about what it says? Read the attached PDF! But reader beware...it is most likely a modern fraud. :)

Long Lost Chapter of the Acts of the Apo.

Download • 631KB

What’s the deal with saints in the Episcopal Church?

We’ve started having Eucharist on Wednesdays at noon again, and we’ll take that opportunity to commemorate saints’ days.

Before I went to seminary, I didn’t know that Episcopalians could care about saints. I admit: I used to think, “Oh, that’s just superstition or idolatry.”

St. Helena

But actually, a strand of our Anglican tradition has a rich history of venerating saints. Turn to page 996 in your Book of Common Prayer, and you'll find a list of saint names and days, along with readings for each one.

The Episcopal Church also publishes a book called Lesser Feasts and Fasts, which includes biographies and prayers about one saint to remember for nearly every day.

That’s our official saint calendar, but we have others approved for "trial use." Old lists are male-heavy and European-heavy, so newer ones (Holy Women, Holy Men and A Great Cloud of Witnesses) try to have more of a balance.

And yet, the Episcopal Church doesn't state a clear theology of sainthood. The prayer book says,

"The communion of saints is the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer, and praise." (p. 862)

This is beautiful, but vague. The vagueness is intentional. While some Episcopalians feel strongly about the communion of saints in the Roman Catholic sense, others want a more reformed understanding of it. (That's "reformed" like the Protestant Reformation.)

So, perhaps you like the idea of venerating the saints, or maybe you think invoking the saints is "repugnant to the Word of God" (it really says this in the Historical Documents in our Book of Common Prayer! see page 872). Either way, you're in good company in the Episcopal Church.

Join us for Eucharist on Wednesdays at noon. I hope that, like me, you'll enjoy learning about how to follow Jesus by studying the lives of saints.