First Sunday in Lent, B; February 22, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of love, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

I always love praying The Great Litany with you each year on the first Sunday of Lent. Intended to be used during times of great duress or danger or devastation, The Great Litany seems particularly appropriate this year as we are in the midst of what feels like a slow motion, wide-spread, ongoing disaster of a winter in Boston with record-breaking snowfalls and low temperatures which are straining people and systems to the breaking point. I hesitate to call weather disasters “natural” disasters because the most disastrous parts have the fingerprints of humans all over them. (People are a part of nature, I guess, but that’s not usually what’s meant.) The suffering is born by most people, of course, but the disparate impact on those who have limited or insufficient resources is scandalous and painful. With coming cycles of melting and freezing, hoped for warmer temperatures are actually going to reveal and result in much more structural damage and flooding in buildings including our own parish house, where it’s been raining in the kitchen, music room, and basement for much the last week. I’ve been hearing similar stories from parishioners all week. If you are distressed by the disaster, I’m glad you’ve found your way here to this warm building and, more importantly, warm community. If you are not distressed by the disaster, please take a little time in the weeks to come to see what you can do to help people who are struggling. Continue reading →

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, B, February 1, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of love, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will. In our reading from Deuteronomy this morning, the last book of the Torah, we hear a portion of the section of Moses’ teaching about developing and maintaining the welfare of the community. A couple of chapters earlier, Deuteronomy has taught, “If there is among you anyone in need within the land that you inhabit, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand…give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so…open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor.” Compassion is one of the hallmark values of Deuteronomy. [1] Compassion is an ordering principle for Torah and Gospel. Continue reading →