A Shepherd In The Field

Diocese of Pennsylvania’s ‘Digital Disciples’ build on mission to help parishes engage with technology : [Episcopal News Service] A Diocese of Pennsylvania program that helped congregations ramp up their use of technology early in the pandemic now has transitioned into a new phase focused on expanding…

  In our Daily Office reading today (Acts 9:10-19), Our Lord speaks to Ananias, who responds, “Here I am Lord.” Our Lord tells him to go to a man named Saul, who is at that moment praying. Ananias is taken aback. This Saul is not a very good guy.   Ananias trusts the Lord. He goes, lays hands upon Saul, and Saul has a new vision. He is baptized, and that one act, that one moment, continues throughout history. All because Ananias listened to the Lord and acted.  There is someone who is now praying that someone, someone, will bring them a message of love and hope. Will you be revolutionary and act on that divine voice speaking to your soul? Take a chance, be daring, and share the love of Christ today. Don’t be afraid. Christ is with you always. Share it. 

On the Feast of the Blessed Mother St. Mary the Virgin, I have found she is the greatest theologian, teacher and guide.  In five words she instructs me on hope, life, love and transformation: “do whatever he tells you.”  I need nothing more than to just do it.  

In my letter to the Diocese before Lambeth, I wrote that I would be present to listen, learn and represent. Now we are concluding our time. For this reason, I sent videos of my siblings from across the communion speaking about their time. I interspersed a few pictures along the way. However, instead of reporting, I hoped you would listen to their voices and see their faces. During this time, I cannot adequately describe how we are bound together in God and made real in Jesus Christ. The time was educational and informative, but more importantly - revelatory. As in 1 Corinthians 14:26, "When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up."  I learned a new hymn sung in a beautiful indigenous voice. A revelation formed in the heart of Africa. A tongue of praise spoken from Southeast Asia, a profound interpretation of scripture from Latin America.I attempted to listen, and the Holy Spirit all

  “that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:21 This week I am blessed to represent our Diocese once again in the greater Anglican Communion. Bishops from across the world have been invited to Lambeth by the Archbishop of Canterbury for two and a half weeks of study, prayer, and the profound work of living into Communion.   Some may ask, "why does this matter?"  The answer is in Jesus' farewell prayer from the Gospel of John. We belong to this family called the diocese, which is part of The Episcopal Church, part of the larger Anglican Communion, and part of all of Christianity. We must be faithful to Jesus’ command and overcome the worldly divisions that continually separate us.   We also need one another. In New Mexico, I often think of the quaking aspens that cover the mountains and meadows. When you gaze upon the forest, you see thousands of individual tree