Letters On The Page

  Evelyn Waugh, Helena, 2012. Originally published in 1950.  A delightful historical fiction read.  This is my first encounter with Evelyn Waugh.  His prose is just as good as people say that it is.  Waugh clearly has done his cultural and historical homework. The basic facts are there, but the conversations are all literary genius.   The story begins with Helena as a young woman in Britain.  Constantinius is a rising leader in the Empire but is visiting Britain incognito.  Helena's father is Coel, Paramount Chief of the Trinovantes. Helena and Constantinius meet, fall in love, and they are shortly wed.  Not long after the wedding, they move because of Constantinius' career advancements.  Constantine is born to them.  Not longer after his birth, Constantinius divorces Helena so that he can marry the daughter of a Caesar and thus gain more political prestige.  Helena grows rich through shrewd business practices and investments.  Helena did not begin life as a Christian.  I found

 2023-1-23 Vespers Joel 2:18-32 Romans 11:25-12:13 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  What shall we do with God’s mercy? How do we receive the mercy of Jesus Christ and His cross? Do we receive it as the gift that we did not seek, but are obligated to receive with a smile and a “thank you”? Many people give gifts because they feel obligated.  Many receive gifts with a smile and a thank you because they feel obligated. What happens to those gifts? They are regifted, given to Goodwill, or it just sits on the shelf, forgotten and unused.    I think there are many who have received Baptism as infants and at the “age of reason,” who treat God’s mercy in this manner.  The reception of grace is a thing that is done, an obligation fulfilled because of some member of the family or community, then we forget about it.  If not forgotten, then scant attention is paid to the way God desires that His mercy shapes a life.  In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul encourag

 2023-1-22 Epiphany 3 Isaiah 9:1-4 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-25 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  Isaiah proclaims a beautiful promise: The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.  But, what made the land of Zebulun and Naphtali a dark land?  There are a couple of answers to that question.  One answer is war.  At the beginning of winter, we saw on our screens how Russia’s new strategy for undermining Ukrainian resistance is to destroy the power grid. They wanted winter to do the hard work for them. Without electricity and fuel, Ukraine did go dark.  And cold. They are still resisting. But this is a case in point that war of any age brings destruction.  What is beautiful and life giving is destroyed by the invading army.  Zebulun and Naphtali are the tribes that were assigned the northern area when Israel began to live in the Promised Land. Because they are in the north, the

 2023-1-18 Confession of St. Peter            Acts 4:8-13; 2 Peter 1:1-15; Mark 8:27-9:1 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. The Holy Spirit decided long ago that we needed to know more about some saints than others. A number of people in the Bible make confession of God, but we do not know much about them.  For example, Stephen makes public confession of Christ.  But, we know little about him.  We know of his dedication to service and devotion to the LORD. In Acts, he makes a candid and eloquent confession of his faith before he is martyred by a mob throwing stones. Stephen is an exemplar of the faith and an inspiration to us all. Yet, we know very little about him.  The Apostle Peter, on the other hand, we know a fair bit about him. We know that he sometimes speaks before he thinks; that he puts himself forward, but does not have the ability to follow through; and that he occasionally makes promises that he cannot keep.  Peter is a man who struggles with faith in

 Jeffrey, David Lyle. Real Characters: A Tip of the Hat to Nonconformity. Front Porch Republic. 2020.  Before this book I only knew Prof. Jeffrey through the reference book he edited, A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, and the occasional article in the monthly First Things. In Real Characters, Prof. Jeffrey introduces us to his life through stories about some of the interesting and unconventional people he met and knew in his youth and adulthood in the Ottawa Valley in Canada as well as in his days as student at Wheaton College, Princeton University and as a Professor. The most touching of his stories is about Laird Hamilton, his dear friend since the age of 16. Their friendship lasted until Laird died from cancer. Both Laird and Jeffrey were Christians and careful students of the Bible. While Jeffrey went on to college and graduate school, Laird remained on the family farm. Jeffrey writes with admiration about the impact his friend had on his community and how h

 2023-1-16 Vespers Ezekiel 38:1-23 Romans 7:1-20 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  During the 1990's I read a number of Fr. Andrew Greeley’s novels.  And, eventually I wanted to learn more about the priest behind the novels so I also read his autobiography Confessions of a Parish Priest. His family was conscientiously Irish and Roman Catholic.  One of the concerns his immediate family had was that they did not succumb to the abuse of alcohol that many of their relatives suffered from.  Within the family, they referred to alcohol as “The Creature.” If alcohol was used during family celebrations, it was tightly controlled.  In general, I recall Fr. Greeley stating that he simply abstained.  He did not allow any leeway with “the Creature.” Examples from family and friends show that the Creature is all consuming and destroy lives. The best way to avoid a ruinous end is simply not to start in the first place.  I thought of that revelation from Fr. Greeley’s

 2023-1-11 Evening Prayer Ezekiel 33:1-20 Romans 3:1-18 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  One of the many things I enjoy about the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome is his questions. He has interlocutors who are off the page, but no less present to Paul as he writes. Sometimes his questions are rhetorical questions offered for effect.  One of my favorites is Romans 6:1. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Would anyone who is listening to or reading his letter honestly expect the next words to be, “Yeah! Keep it up! Do what feels good for you!”  I think not. Of course, Paul answers his own question with an emphatic, “By no means!”  But, there are other times when the questions are clearly his way of writing his way through an argument or an ongoing dialogue with others. These questions are addressing real theological and life issues.  The questions then take on the role of catechism questions. The question is as

2023-1-15 - Epiphany 2 - Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42a In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  As we go through the liturgical seasons and through the Scripture readings that give shape and content to these seasons, we hear many names for Jesus.  In Advent and the build up to Advent, Jesus is the righteous judge. In Christmas, we hear names for Jesus such as Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Savior, and Christ. At Jesus’ Baptism, we hear our heavenly Father stating that Jesus is “my beloved Son” and he commands us to listen to him. Today, we hear Jesus referred to as Servant in Isaiah and we hear Jesus called “The Lamb of God” by John.   All these names tell a story and carry certain connotations and have a history of their own.  Each of the names express a promise and a hope for Jesus.  If there is a need for promise and hope, then that means that things are not so rosy for those that need a promise from God and the hope t

 2023-1-9 Spoken Vespers Ezekiel 3:12-27 Romans 2:1-16 In the various places I have served, I enjoyed asking the question of people, “What brought you here?”  Almost all of the people I have met are from somewhere else. This question pertains to congregation members, but also to the area they live in.  What brings you to South Bend? Work, love, climate, lower taxes, closer to family and friends?  I have to wonder how the Judeans that Ezekiel ministered to would have answered that question.  What brings you to Babylon? I suspect that at first, the answer would be: war. We are a conquered people who are now slaves. Later, they would have a different answer, but there at the beginning, they are feeling very much like the victims. But, I suspect that if we asked Ezekiel, even at the beginning, he would say, “God is punishing us for idolatry.” Ezekiel is very much aware of the sins of his fellow countrymen, especially his leaders.  Despite how they answer the question, they are definite

      L'Amour wrote this book a year before he died in 1988 at the age of 80. It is the closest we have to an autobiography.  So, we are glad for what we have.   L'Amour was born and raised in Jamestown, North Dakota in 1908.  He dropped out of school at 15 and began to make a living wherever he traveled.  He did all kinds of manual labor: elephant handler, mining, harvesting, cutting wood, cooking.  He worked as a deckhand on ships. He did whatever was available to him.  The list is extensive. All the while he continued to read books.   One of the great discoveries in this book for me was "The Little Blue Books." I did not know these existed. These books were about the size of playing cards and could easily fit in a shirt pocket.  They were available in gas stations, drug stores, restaurants, and wherever else books were sold in the 1920's and 30s. They published good literature and L'Amour read a bunch of them.  L'Amour also made use of libraries wheneve

 2023-1-4 11th Day of Christmas Isaiah 64:1-12 Luke 2:40-52 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  Perhaps you have joined with the myriad others who make use of the new calendar year to set goals for yourself.  Engaging in an annual review and setting goals for personal and professional development is always a good thing. Whatever goals you have set, regardless if they involve the words “yes” or “no,” I hope that you find support here at Emmaus. But one goal for every Christian that is not up for annual review is the desire to be shaped and molded by God. As a people who are marked by the sign of the cross, we desire to grow into the faith in which we are baptized.  We desire to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord our God.  I am always struck by the image of the Potter and the Clay in Isaiah 64. “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” I am not an artist of any kind. And, I am certai

2023-01-02 Ninth Day of Christmas - Isaiah 62 & Luke 2:22-40 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  The Lord prepares His people Israel for the coming Savior through discipline.  When Israel repents, He forgives them and renews his promises to her. As He declares through the prophet Isaiah, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.”  For their sake the Lord refuses to allow Israel to indulge in idolatry, misuse His name, or forget the Sabbath. For their sake, he provides His holy Word through Moses, the Commandments, the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the worship of the Temple and Synagogue, and the forceful voice of the prophets. Through his Word, the Lord admonishes the people to turn away from their sin, return to Him with repentant lips and hearts, so that He may bestow upon them forgiveness and the blessing of his grace.  But

           Simmons, Tracy Lee. Climbing Parnassus a New Apologia for Greek and Latin . Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ORD), 2014. This delightful read is a strong defense and encouragement to learn Latin and Greek, especially in the younger formative years. Simmons beautifully explains why. Amongst other things, learning these two languages and reading the classic works that they are written in will form the mind in a positive, profound way. Throughout the book, Simmons offers a critical assessment at the American educational system. He sees much that has been lost with the diversification of subject matters, lack of classical language learning, and an emphasis on vocational training. What school is not doing is teaching children how to think and think critically. In the last chapter, Simmons briefly discusses the value of reading the classic works in translation. If one cannot learn the languages then reading in translation is a good substitute. The edition I used is an electronic