Sunday Drive: Choral High Mass from St. Mark's Episcopal, Philadelphia

Your Head Trucker hasn't been to church in a very long while - for good reasons -  and is not a high churchman; but sometimes a service of bells and smells can be refreshing to the soul.  At least I can make a spiritual communion online, and listen to a good sermon.  

BTW - Psalm 37 is particularly apropos in today's world.

Video description:

Choral High Mass on the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon by Mother Nora Johnson

The music for the Mass is:

    Missa Octavi Toni – Orlande de Lassus (1532 - 1594)

    O Lord, Increase Our Faith – Henry Loosemore (? -1670)

    Love Bade Me Welcome – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

The service leaflet (PDF) for today's service is found here.

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Sunday Drive: Be Still, My Soul

Embed from Getty Images

Well, as those of you who keep up with the news may know, the End of the World failed to happen on schedule yesterday. Perhaps it was just an oversight. Nevertheless, for those cold, lonely hours that assail us all from time to time, I present a song of comfort, as performed with angelic voice by David Archuleta.  I apologize for the annoying titles on the screen, but this was the only clear, complete copy I could find of this tune by this artist on short notice.




I used to draw much comfort from the Eucharist. Unfortunately, circumstances have kept me from attending Communion for many years now, and it is most unlikely that I will ever do so again. Still, sometimes I find a healing balm, a note of hope in the words of the liturgy, fondly remembered. Fellow Anglicans will understand what I mean. The rest of you, if you find a word or phrase that helps you, fine - if not, look in a direction that suits you better. But here are the lovely words that speak to my soul, dulled and weary as it is now by all the changes and chances of life in a world that seems more and more hopeless every day.

I pray speedy help and recovery may go out to all those suffering from the recent hurricanes.  It may be only words, but words and a hope of hope are all I have to give now.

St. Laika's Church Welcomes You

Say fellas, want to tell you about something that I like a lot, and that is the online Holy Communion podcasts done by a fellow blogger called MadPriest - aka the Reverend Jonathan Haggar, who lives in Yorkshire, England, and is a (currently unemployed) priest in the Church of England.

For my truckbuddies who are believers but who, like me, cannot get to church for one reason or another, Jonathan's podcasts are the next best thing - they follow the Book of Common Prayer, but with Jonathan's delightfully quirky musical choices:  everything from cathedral choirs to rock and roll, black gospel and white gospel, old familiar hymns and newly written pieces.  Yet despite the eclectic mix of service music, it's all reverent and fitting, and surprisingly relevant to each week's readings, though you'd never hear the same stuff in church.

I think Jonathan's onto something good here.  Go check it out, if you need some spiritual nourishment, I think you'll like it.  I've posted the link in my Help & Support section in the sidebar, but here it is again:  The St. Laika Podcasts.

Everyone is welcome at St. Laika's, believers or not; you don't have to give your name or sign up for anything, and there are no membership requirements, only your interest in what's posted there. And if you do enjoy the service, which is available in three different audio formats, do consider leaving something in the virtual collection plate - although Jonathan says, "nothing at all is okay with me. I'd rather you listened than didn't listen because you are unable or unwilling to donate anything."

Lesbian Denied Communion at Mother's Funeral

From a friend of the family at Addicting Info, presumbly a straight woman:

My friend Barbara, the daughter of the deceased woman, was denied communion at her mother’s funeral. She was the first in line and Fr. Guarnizo covered the bowl containing the host and said to her, “I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin according to the church.” To add insult to injury, Fr. Guarnizo left the altar when she delivered her eulogy to her mother. When the funeral was finished he informed the funeral director that he could not go to the gravesite to deliver the final blessing because he was sick. . . .

I am not about to paint all Christians with a broad brush. There are those out there who understand that the teachings of Jesus boil down to one thing. And that thing is Love. For if you love, you do not deny a person the solace of communion with the Creator, if that is their belief. You judge not, lest ye be judged. Only God knows the true heart of any person and in the end, if there is to be judgment, it will not come from some misguided, prejudiced priest who needs to go back to the seminary and learn the basics. And if he can’t find them there, then he needs to get down on his knees and pray to his Jesus to forgive him the terrible trespass he visited upon a grieving woman on the occasion of the death of her mother.

This is but one small story but it is indicative of the battle raging in America today. It is an ugly battle and one I never thought I would see. But it is here and we must deal with it. We must keep politics out of religion and religion out of politics. Perhaps if we can get back to a place where the separation of church and state are once again accepted as one of the founding principles of this country, stop trying to out-Christian each other, stop vilifying other religions and other people based on purely human and not godly concepts, we will begin to mend the fractures that are tearing us apart today. To do that, the Father Guarnizos and the Rick Santorums of the world will have to undergo a radical change of heart and I don’t think they have it in them. So it is up to the rest of us.

What I say:  Your Head Trucker is going to repeat:  It boils down to one thing - Love.

And love is not what you say.  It's what you do.