Author: seraphimholland

The number 12 appears twice in the story of the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of the woman with an issue of blood; this is not accidental. We see two kinds of faith – weak and strong, and the good news that the Lord will respond to even to weak faith, but we must also respond when He does! Of course, the whole point of His response to our weak faith is that it would become stronger! We look at the weak faith of Jairus and his necessary response to the Lord, and learn form the strong faith of the woman with an issue of blood. Also links to meditations on Psalm 118, verse by verse.

The Gospel is proclaimed succinctly in this classic and often misunderstood! passage from Ephesians. We go through it carefully, emphasizing that we must not only understand what Christ did for us, but also that this understanding places a moral obligation upon us. Every point made by the Apostle has a moral application to our daily lives, culminating in the significant, somewhat forgotten words (since they follow the famous and significant statement: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God") "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This is important stuff! At the end of the homily, a pastoral exhortation regarding what we MUST expect when we attend the liturgy or any service (and how to learn to do this by degrees) and the MOST important prayer that a pastor must have in his heart when he celebrates any service.

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is very complicated and teaches many things. We focus on two: everything in life is a trade; what do you want the most, pleasure now or happiness later? How do we remind ourselves of this trading, and trade well? Read the Scriptures.

In the parable of the sower, the Lord concludes: “On the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Why did He specify patience as the necessary virtue, and not faith, hope, love, zeal, etc? We examine patience, and how it is the active aspect of faith, hope, love and many virtues. How can we increase our patience?

The Psalter. Verse by verse meditations on Psalm 118 – Verse 1: Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord

Colossians chapter 1 contains one of the most succinct and clear descriptions of Who Christ is, what He did, how the cross was involved, and what we must therefore do. It is “Christology 101” and we must understand it and act accordingly. This is not your Baptist Grandmother’s Christology or understanding of the cross!

The Resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain, like most miracles in the NT, must be read as a parable to receive the full benefit of its instruction. This miracle is our life in microcosm. We are both the woman and the boy in the “parable”, and the words “Weep Not” do not fully apply to us now, but they will. In our life we must weep, with purpose and hope, and also “stand still”, and only if we do this, will we receive the much anticipated words of our Savior, “weep Not”. Apologies for the sound quality. The homily was inadvertently recorded at too low a volume, and the audio was massaged by an incompetent sound engineer!

An answer to a question posed in a prison visit: “Why do priests wear black?”. The answer covers a lot of ground, from prison to abortion clinics to the pain of pastoral ministry and life in general for those who are paying attention, to Johnny Cash, who gave a superficially correct answer to this question, and of critical importance, “Remembrance of death” (which we speak of at some length) and “Joyful mourning”