The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning           Evening      


I Samuel 1:18. "And she said, ‘Let your servant find favor in your sight.'"

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation. This Holy Day invites us to remember the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. The visit occurs after Angel Gabriel has visited Mary to tell her the good news that she would bear the Son of God. Now this beautiful truth is affirmed by Elizabeth when her babe leaps in the womb and she pronounces blessings on Mary and her child.  It is a beautiful reminder of God's love and favor and it echoes the story of Hannah who prays for God's favor and is blessed with a pregnancy herself. Hannah ultimately gives birth to the prophet Samuel. The common thread in the life of three of these women is faith ... faith in a God who loves us and is eager to bless us. 

What might it look like to follow this example of faith in your own life? How might trusting in God's love, favor, and eagerness to bless you change the way you pray? Live? 

~Rebecca+

​​Join with everyone using the service bulletin HERE.    Join our Coffee Hour after the service at 11:00 am HERE.

​​Video of only the sermon HERE. (usually posted Mondays)​​
If you are new to St. James and would like to get acquainted, please tell us a little about yourself HERE.
​Prayer requests can be sent to our clergy HERE.

Mother Rebecca prepares us for peaceful sleep with prayer, scripture and contemplation (running time 9:46). Follow along in the Book of Common prayer, page 127, or by clicking HERE.

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning           Evening       

Luke 10:38, 42

Today’s Gospel contains a sentence that hit home to me: Jesus said; “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things and one thing is needful…” Sometimes I find it helpful to list all the things that I am anxious about. This can help me to contain those things which can seem overwhelming. And I feel that things are less fearful if they are named. It can also help to bring to mind the “one thing which is needful.” Mary, Martha’s sister, found that one thing. She “sat at the Lord’s feet.” We would do well to follow Mary’s example in the midst of our anxiety.

Mark

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning           Evening      

Luke 10:25-37

“Who is my neighbor?” This is the question a lawyer asked of Jesus. It’s a question that has resonated throughout the ages. I feel that the current pandemic has broadened our understanding of how that question might be answered. One of the many lessons we have learnt in recent days is how closely our lives our entwined with others who we would never consider “neighbors.” We’ve discovered that an outbreak of the virus at a meatpacking plant in North Dakota can effect what we eat for Sunday lunch. And the workers at such plants, who are mostly low-paid immigrants, have been deemed “essential.”

One of my hopes for good things that might come out of this pandemic is a deeper appreciation of the bonds which bind us together and a deeper understanding of community; which flows out of a broader understanding of who can be counted as my neighbor.

Mark

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning            Evening      

Ephesians 4:4: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

This verse may sound familiar to you: it forms the opening words of our baptismal liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer. It is the reminder that we are all one, sharing in one Spirit, with one faith, in one God, through our one baptism. 

We Anglicans tend to value a diversity of opinions, and we never expect that we will all agree. Historically Episcopalians have appreciated differences of opinion in our "via media" approach. And yet we embrace the call to hold on to the clear sense of being "one" in Christ. In other words, we value unity in the midst of diversity. Sadly in our culture today we are becoming more and more divided, not just by differences of opinion but by hatred for those who disagree with us. And, perhaps more distressingly, we are beginning to lay claim to different versions of reality itself. We are quickly moving into a position in which "unity" as a culture is becoming less and less possible, even as we face a common threat in this pandemic. 

As people of faith, we are called to be witnesses to the wider world: it is essential that we model what unity in diversity can look like because we live this out as the Church every day. This is a gift we have to offer our world right now. But we have to be intentional and prayerful about it ... we have to think before we speak, write, share, post, text, etc.   

How might we model unity in diversity to the wider world? How can we "speak the truth in love" as verse 15 of this passage enjoins us?  What are some concrete ways we can demonstrate what it looks like to be "one" while disagreeing?  Let's share this gift! 

~Rebecca+

Pentecost marks the day that the Holy Spirit descends and gives birth to the church. These pieces of choral music are from a variety of traditions, from Negro spirituals to Taizé, Mozart and Bach. Listen to how different styles of expression capture this unique holiday.

Listen to all the music in its entirety HERE
OR 
sample each piece in the player below.

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning           Evening      

1 Samuel 16:7b:  “…the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Isn’t it wonderful that our outward appearance means nothing to God? For all the focus and hype in our culture on good looks and the resulting anxiety so many of us have about it, it’s good to recall that appearances mean nothing in the spiritual life. Maybe this time of quarantine is helping us to care less too, given all the jokes about lack of showers, haircut fails, and quarantine “fashion”/ the lack thereof. It can be good because we may have more mental space to care about what God cares about: our hearts.

This word for “heart” in Hebrew is “lebab” and it has to do with our inclinations, our will, and understanding. The heart is the “seat of life” itself.  So, in what direction are we inclined? Where are we leaning?  Are we inclined towards God, towards aligning our will with God’s will?  

In the end, it is only our hearts that matter – and having a heart focused on God is the most beautiful and important attribute we can ever have. (I still recommend brushing your teeth. )

​~Rebecca+

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning           Evening      

Psalm 89:9: "You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them."

Our world has felt a lot like a raging sea with rising and falling waves (curves?) in this pandemic. The feelings inside me have also at times felt like a raging sea of rising and falling waves of uncertainty and grief. And so I resonate with this ocean imagery a great deal. I have loved swimming and surfing in the ocean over the years but I always have an acute clarity about just how fragile I am when I'm at the mercy of the ocean waves. This season of pandemic has offered me, and all of us, a similar reminder about our fragility as humans. When confronted with the current "raging sea," we are aware of just how little power we have over our external circumstances. It can cause us deep anxiety. But  then the Psalmist reminds us that even in the midst of rising waves, there is One who has the power to still them. And God can give you and I the grace to still the raging sea inside of us as well.   

May God bring peace and stillness to us all in this time - both internally and externally, as we surrender to the loving and all powerful Creator of the universe. 

~Rebecca+

​Join with everyone using the service bulletin HERE.    Join our Coffee Hour after the service at 11:00 am HERE.

​​Video of only the sermon HERE. (usually posted Mondays)​​
If you are new to St. James and would like to get acquainted, please tell us a little about yourself HERE.
​Prayer requests can be sent to our clergy HERE.

​The Schola Cantorum of St. James offers a virtual service of Compline-by-Candlelight. The most contemplative of the monastic offices, Compline has been prayed as the last service before bedtime since the middle ages. You may follow the order of service HERE.

Mother Rebecca prepares us for peaceful sleep with prayer, scripture and contemplation (almost 14 minutes). Follow along in the Book of Common prayer, page 127, or by clicking HERE.

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning          Evening      

Matthew 7:1-12

Yesterday Jesus told us not be anxious and today he says “judge not.” Some things are simply easier said than done! We can’t help but be anxious and judging just comes so naturally to us that it’s not easily avoided. Jesus’s teaching is nothing if not challenging. 

It's also very compelling and simple. What Jesus says about judgement is conveyed so graphically in what he says about logs and specks. And then he manages to sum up so much of his teaching in just a few words, “do to others as you would have them do to you.”

As disciples of Jesus let us seek to walk his ways with confidence and simplicity.

Mark

The Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer or online: 

Morning           Evening       

Matthew 6:25-34

Three times in these verses Jesus says “do not be anxious.” Did he not know how much we have to be anxious about?

He also offers three strategies we might adopt to lessen our anxiety;

First, he encourages us to live in the moment. Focus on today, the present, he says, as “tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” 

Second, and related to the idea of focusing on the present, is his suggestion that we “consider the lilies of the field.” Let’s fill our minds with the beauty of simple things.

Third, he says, “seek first God’s Kingdom.” Let us seek God, whose love casts out all fear.

Mark