Our perspective of time, for the most part, is confined to our shared mortal experience of circling around the sun on this terrestrial ball. While reflecting on the Church Calendar and its seasons over the past year, I have thought about this occasionally. Our ability to understand the infinite is extremely limited. The concept of […]
Tag: Humanity
On Christ the King
The Church Year comes to a close with the final Sunday being dedicated to Christ the King. It is one of the newest holy days on the calendar, having been added after World War I as a way to remind us that the kingdoms of this world are temporal and that the only Kingdom we […]
On Biblical Aspirations
Some churches and their congregants strive to “live biblically”, and while this is perhaps a noble sounding mantra, it can also lead us down a dangerous path far from the Christ-following faith towards which we are called. The concept of living biblically is one where Christians reestablish a rule structure in-line with specific commands in […]
On Creation
For nearly a year, I have been writing blog posts about the Church Calendar. It has been a mix of reflections on the seasons of the Church Year, ponderings on particularly special days, and more recently exhortations regarding church-life (during this long period of Ordinary Time). There are still a few church-life topics I’d like […]
On Church Worship
During this year in which I have been pondering the Church Calendar and its seasons, I’ve also been thinking a bit about church worship services in general. How do we keep our worship practices rooted in the Universal Church, which receives direct nourishment from the Holy Spirit of God? One of the arguments against the […]
On Going It Alone
Much of society has come to celebrate the role of the individual. We love stories that revolve around the solo renegade, the superhero, the maverick, the main character. Meanwhile, the ideals of community and togetherness, while not necessarily destained, rarely receive the same spotlight treatment. Institutions like churches often struggle in this environment. That is, […]
On Holidays
Throughout the year—both the Church Year and any other calendar year—there are many holidays that have been established over time. Some are truly holy days and others are celebratory in different ways. Some are personally or nationally relevant, and some are simply silly and fun. It is likely neither good nor bad to either partake […]
On the Natural Seasons
As I have personally come to genuinely love the traditional Church Year and its seasons, I have also come to appreciate how it complements the natural seasons of the year. Of course, this observation has been from my Northern Hemisphere (Midwest, United States specially) perspective. I’d be very curious to learn more about how other […]
On Ordinary Time
The season of Ordinary Time has arrived. Nowadays though many liturgical cycles call this time of the Church Year “the time after Pentecost” since that sounds more lively and less, well, ordinary. My personal preference is for the old, boring phrase though, and let me explain why. First, the work that God is doing in […]
On the Triune God
Wedged between the festival season of the liturgical calendar and Ordinary Time is a Sunday devoted to the concept of the Holy Trinity. This day acts as a theological seam between the two halves of the Church Year. The Holy Trinity is the concept that God has been revealed to us in three distinct ways, […]
Relevant Reformation 