by Garry Wills, “…the priesthood itself has a dubious basis. This does not mean…that Christianity itself must then have a weak foundation. On the contrary, it stood without the priesthood at the outset, and it can stand stronger without it now. Some think that the dwindling number of priests can be remedied by the addition of women priests, or married priests, or openly gay priests. In fact, the real solution is: no priests…Read carefully through the entire New Testament and you will not find an individual human priest mentioned in the Christian communities (only Jewish priests in service to the Temple). Only one book of the New Testament, the Letter to Hebrews, mentions an individual priest, and he is unique – Jesus. It is not surprising, then, that some Protestant communities are able to be good Christians without having any priests.”
Posted in book recommendations | Tagged Bible, books, christ, christian, christianity, church, faith, god, jesus, jesus christ, religion, spirituality, theology | 1 Comment »
Love Wins, a sermon given by Ron Fournier at St. Mark on April 28, 2013 on John 13:31-35, (to listen to this sermon follow this link to iTunes, http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/st.-mark-lutheran-church-sermons/id319408325?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 )
Many Christians like to wear a symbol of their faith; perhaps a cross on a necklace or on a chain. However, sometimes displaying a cross can get you into some hot water, especially at work. The New York Times reported back in January that a part-time worker for British Airways won a court battle after she was told by her employer that she could not wear a cross when working at the airline’s check-in counter. Continue Reading »
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But Some Doubted, a sermon given by Ron Fournier at St. Mark on April 7, 2013 on John 20:19-31, (to listen to this sermon follow this link to iTunes, http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/st.-mark-lutheran-church-sermons/id319408325?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 )
A few years ago a friend of mine’s 4th grade daughter asked me to help her find on the Internet a picture of Veronica’s veil that her teacher said supposedly exists. So we Googled “Veronica’s Veil” and something like 28,000 hits popped up. The veil was used by a woman named Veronica to wipe the sweat and blood from Jesus’ face while He was on the way to the Cross.The veil presumably holds an image of Christ that was imprinted on the veil. Legend has it that Veronica later travelled to Rome to present the veil to the Emperor Tiberius. And this veil is believed by the faithful to possess many miraculous properties, such as being able to quench thirst, cure blindness, and even raise the dead. Continue Reading »
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by Leo the Great a Saint and Pope who was born in Rome and died in 461 A.D. Our understanding of truth, should receive with purity and freedom of heart the glory of the cross as it shines in heaven and on earth. It should see with inner vision the meaning of the Lord’s words when he spoke of the immenence of his passion: The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Afterward he said: Continue Reading »
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by St. Melito of Sardis a Bishop of Sardis and a prominent writer in the latter half of the second century. There was much proclaimed by the prophets about the mystery of the Passover: that mystery is Christ, and to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. For the sake of suffering humanity he came down from heaven to earth, clothed himself in that humanity in the Virgin’s womb, and was born a man. Having then a body capable of suffering, he took the pain of fallen man upon himself; he triumphed over the diseases of soul and body that were its cause, and by his Spirit, which was incapable of dying, he dealt man’s destroyer, death, a fatal blow. Continue Reading »
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Facing Suffering, a sermon by Ron Fournier given at St. Mark Lutheran Church on March 20, 2013 on Job 19:25-27
Our theme for our worship service today, which is the sixth in our Lenten Series we are doing on “Facing the Cross,” is called “Facing Suffering.” Let me begin this message by first telling an old Buddhist short story. Continue Reading »
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All is grace, a sermon given by Ron Fournier at St. Mark Lutheran Church on March 10 2013 on Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 (to listen to this sermon follow this link to iTunes, http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/st.-mark-lutheran-church-sermons/id319408325?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 )
Last summer I read a wonderful book called the Return of the Prodigal Son. This book was published in 1992 by Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest and bestselling author. It is like an extended reflection and commentary on this parable from Luke’s gospel that we just heard. What makes Nouwen’s book unique is that it is based on a painting by Rembrandt that shows the father welcoming home his younger son. This painting has been shown in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg since it was acquired by Catherine the Great in 1766. It is one of the Dutch master’s final works and was completed about two years before his death in 1669. Continue Reading »
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