hiepiscopal.org

Here is the chart I referenced in the Sunday morning forum on Biblical Interpretation

Christ the King Sunday celebrates the all-embracing authority of Christ as King and Lord of the cosmos. Officially called the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, it is celebrated on the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before Advent. This year it falls on November 23, 2008.

The earliest Christians identified Jesus with the predicted Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish word “messiah,” and the Greek word “Christ,” both mean “anointed one,” and came to refer to the expected king who would deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans. Christians believe that Jesus is this expected Messiah. Unlike the messiah most Jews expected, Jesus came to free all people, Jew and Gentile, and he did not come to free them from the Romans, but from sin and death. Thus the king of the Jews, and of the cosmos, does not rule over a kingdom of this world.

Christians have long celebrated Jesus as Christ, and his reign as King is celebrated to some degree in Advent (when Christians wait for his second coming in glory), Christmas (when “born this day is the King of the Jews”), Holy Week (when Christ is the Crucified King), Easter (when Jesus is resurrected in power and glory), and the Ascension (when Jesus returns to the glory he had with the Father before the world was created). However, Pius XI wanted to specifically commemorate Christ as king, and instituted the feast in the Western calendar in 1925.

In the 21st century many Western Christians, Catholic and Protestant, celebrate Christ the King Sunday, including Anglicans and Lutherans. Unfortunately, in some mainline Protestant churches, “king” language is not popular, and the feast is downplayed. However, in a chaotic and unjust world that seems to scorn any kind of authority, many Christians proudly celebrate Christ the King Sunday, where the loving and merciful - and just - king of the universe is praised and glorified.

Read more here

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old gold earring beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem’s old city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.

The discovery dates back to the time of Christ, during the Roman period, said Doron Ben-Ami, director of excavation at the site.

Click here to read more

Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of our next president and other officials and representatives, that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

An Israeli archaeologist has discovered what he says is the earliest-known Hebrew text, found on a shard of pottery that dates to the time of King David from the Old Testament, about 3,000 years ago.

Click here to read more

We are a diocese sent in mission. As we celebrate our mission in our 40th diocesan convention preparing to mark 40 years of life in 2009, I call upon this diocese to establish the Episcopal Charities Fund of the Diocese of Southwest Florida.

At last year’s convention I observed that we should explore this as both a financial and programmatic resource for the life of the diocese. Episcopal Charities is a helpful resource in many dioceses. I am asking 2,009 Episcopalians of this diocese to each contribute $1000 to establish this endowment for outreach. The number 2009 is simply to mark our 40th anniversary. This will raise more than $2 million that will generate approximately $100,000 per year.

These funds could be used to assist work in the Dominican Republic, the Haitian ministry, refugee resettlement ministry, the work with military families as mentioned in Archdeacon [Dennis] McMannis’ report, or immediate funding for crisis care via the Episcopal Relief and Development.

Read all of Bishop Smith’s Convention Address

On Sunday I spoke about the importance of remembrance. In creating and worshiping the golden calf, the Israelites forgot their identity as God’s chosen people. As Psalm 106:21 reminds us, “They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt.” They forgot WHO they were, because they forgot WHOSE they were.

The spiritual discipline of remembrance is not easy, but it is an essential part of our walk of faith. One way we remember is through the process of journaling. Through spiritual journaling we capture those moments in our lives when we experience God in new and exciting ways. We capture those moments when a particular portion of scripture came alive to our heart and mind. We capture those moments when we came to believe something in our heart that before was only a bit of information in our mind. Then we go back (days, months, or even years later) and are reminded of the faithfulness of God in our lives. We see where we have grown spiritually and where we still need encouragement and spiritual nourishment.

I encourage you to take a few moments this week and write about your experience of God. How has God’s presence been manifested in your life this week? In a few weeks, go back and read what you wrote…and remember…

Hundreds filled the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City on September 25 where Church of England Archbishop of York John Sentamu said that “God is calling us to be part of transforming the world.”

In his sermon, Sentamu stated that “hope for the world” would come through transformation. He had those in attendance stand and recite to their neighbor, “be an agent of moral, social and economic transformation.”

“I trust the ancient wisdom of the faith that I hold, to point the way to the future,” he said. “Love wasn’t put in our hearts to stay. It isn’t love until you give it away.”

Read it all

Many of you have asked for the prayer I quoted in my sermon on Sunday. Here it is…

I know I am not what I ought to be. Nor am I what I wish to be. Nor am I what hope to be. But I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God I am what I am.  - John Newton

For more information about John Newton, click here.

The Diocese of Southwest Florida is starting a newly constituted School for Ministry this fall. These classes are offered to anyone in the diocese (lay and ordained). If you are interested in more information about what classes are offered, click on the link below.

Read More