Shaw and I are now at Lake Michigan! Here we are at the edge of Green Bay (the body of water, not the town). We left Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula this morning and should make Marinette, just a across the Wisconsin line, this evening. We’ve had lots of rain. The locals tells us that this is an especially wet spring. The rain keeps us cool, however, and holds the insects at bay.
Homily preached by the Rev. James La Macchia
Trinity Parish of Newton Centre
June 18, 2017
The Second Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 6A
Exodus 19:2-8a
Psalm 100
Romans 5:1-8
Matthew 9:35-10:8
My Friends:
Unless you count yourself among the reported thirty-five per cent of the electorate who would support Donald J. Trump even if—in his own words—“I were to shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue,” you may well be among the many who are telling area clergy that they are feeling unusually anxious, stressed, and helpless since the November presidential election. The numerous missteps, scandals, and almost daily misadventures that have erupted since his January inauguration as the nation’s forty-fifth president likely have done nothing to allay those anxieties and fears. In fact, if there were not so much at stake for our nation and the world, the daily melodrama and pending constitutional crisis, including their improbable cast of characters, might even prove humorous. Who needs House of Cards when reality itself provides so much, as they say, “must see TV”! Continue reading
We are alive and well in Trout Creek, Michigan, in the upper peninsula (the “You-Pea,” as the locals call it). Our route presently is Michigan highway 28, the aptly-named “Tunnel of Trees” highway. You can see M28 below in middle photo, and also the bottom, with Shaw. You know you’re in the UP when a sign says “Cemetery, No Snowmobiles!” And also – I regret not taking a photo of it – “Fathers Day Walleye Tournament, June 17.”
Happy Trinity Sunday! This morning my son arrived at the Duluth airport. Here he is assembling his bike back together after having shipped it on the plane. And here we are just about to head out the terminal door.
Wanted to share this article by Todd here on the parish site as well. He wrote this in the Parish Newsletter, Fall 2011.
Witnessed the yearly piano recital of my two oldest today in the public hall of the Waltham Public Library. Hearing their lovely melodies and inspired playing reminded me of one of my boss’ best articles on the subject of music, inspiration, and worship. Enjoy! This past summer, my 10 year-old son made a significant breakthrough […]
Homily preached by the Rev. James La Macchia
Trinity Parish of Newton Centre
June 4, 2017
The Feast of Pentecost (Whitsunday)
Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23
My Friends:
A few years ago, Newsweek magazine published a cover story called “The Changing Face of the Church.” This provocative and prescient article chronicled both the now-familiar decline of the Christian faith in Western Europe and in North America, and the burgeoning of that same faith in Africa, Latin America, and even in Asia. According to the article, there were, for example, seven times more Anglicans in Nigeria alone than there are Episcopalians in the United States of America. And, if recent communiqués from places as diverse as Canterbury Cathedral in England, the Episcopal Church Center in New York, and even our very own Diocesan offices in Boston are to be believed, we can only conclude that our chief pastors are realizing what we in our local congregations, especially in the Northeast—often dubbed the “graveyard of the churches”—have known for a very long time: All is not well in the Church outside the global south; the “household of God” in these parts is shrinking; and we Christians can no longer continue to engage in business as usual. And this is not a matter of crisis for the Anglican Communion alone. This precipitous decline is occurring in every so-called mainline Christian denomination, including the Roman Catholic Church, whose US membership would also be plummeting if not for the influx of largely Hispanic immigrants, thanks be to God. The hopes and dreams of the failed “Decade of Evangelism”—in which we were to have doubled the size of the Anglican Communion in Western Europe and North America notwithstanding—we have only to look around us every Sunday in our local congregations to behold the sad wages of post-modernity, scientism, and secularism for the Church. Where are our young people or, for that matter, where are our neighbors? I, for one, sometimes feel as if I am living in some local version of the Incredible Shrinking Church (sic). Continue reading
Here are some pics of the interior of the Abbey church, from top to bottom: the altar area with the monks’ choir stalls surrounding, the baptistery at the church entrance, and the chapel where the sacrament is reserved. The sacrament is in the gold-colored box to the left, and the candle in the niche to the right. The sculpture is of John the Baptist, who stands near the font.
