The Arrow's Path

The following is my final newsletter article for St. Mark's. -The Archer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sabbath Snapshots" There is a certain view in the main chapel at St. Mark's that virtually no one, save perhaps the celebrant at the Eucharist, gets to see. Since I have been ordained a priest, I have gotten on several occasions for the Liturgy of the Word to sit at the prayer desk facing the pulpit when I am the presider at mass, and I have come to appreciate this particular point of view. If you look up from the prayer desk from the vantage point of the priest, you can peer out of one of the windows on the east side of the chapel and see the very top of a lonely tree that resides in the University parking lot next to the church. The view from this angle is by no means a spectacular or Epiphany-inspiring view, and you have not really missed much if you have never noticed it. Really, all you can see is ...

The following is my article from the August edition of the newsletter, some of which I recycled from a previous blog entry. -The Archer ------------------------------------------------- "Who believes in Aslan anymore?" As a gift to the people being confirmed when the bishop visited in April, I decided to give copies of C.S. Lewis' classic children's book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . I think that book is particularly appropriate for such an occasion because it tells a great story, is a perfectly succinct yet rich Christian allegory for adults as well as children, and was written by perhaps the most famous Anglican of the 20th Century. And last but not least, I think it is always a bit humorous to remind people who are officially joining the Episcopal Church that joining the Church is not all that unlike stepping through the wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia. Since people now know that I am a big fan of C.S. Lewis, many have asked me what I think of t...

Here is my latest editorial musings... -The Archer ---------------------------------------------------------- "The Process" There is a scene from the end of the movie, Shawshank Redemption, where the corrupt and abusive prison warden realizes he has finally been caught in the act. The camera pans around his office and brings into focus a framed needle-point wall hanging that his wife had made that reads, “His Judgment cometh, and that right soon…” I have had that scene in my mind for the last month or so. This is not because of some morbid fire and brimstone view of God that I harbor, but simply because the day that I thought would never come is finally upon me. As most of you know, my ordination to the priesthood is scheduled for May 1st, which is the Feast of the Ascension. As I have to write my Roar articles in advance, my ordination will likely have already happened by the time this edition of the Roar is printed, mailed, and read, but I thought I would take a moment to r...

The Curate's Corner “The Bishop is Coming! The Bishop is Coming!” The old nursery rhyme says, “April showers bring May flowers.” According to the weatherman as of this writing (in Mid-March), apparently that will ring true here in Nebraska. As weather predictions go, only time will tell. Regardless of whether it rains or not, April is also bringing another goodie our way, the annual visitation of the Bishop. This always begs the questions of what a bishop “does” and why he always dressed so peculiarly. The answer to the first part of that question can be found in the catechism in the back of the Book of Common Prayer (page 855) under the question pertaining to the ministry of a bishop: “The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese; to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church; to proclaim the Word of God; to act in Christ’s name for the reconciliation of the world and the building up ...