Censings

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch St Matthews Ecumenical Catholic Church, Orange CA Genesis 15:1-6;21:1-3    Psalm 105:1-2;3-4;5-6;8-9 Colossians 3:12-17  Luke 2:22-40 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Those of you who are choral evensong fans will recognize that as part of the Magnificat, the canticle sung after the first lesson. You’ll recall it as part of the Song of Mary which Our Lady sang at her visit to cousin Elizabeth, as Mary reflected on Her role in our salvation history. As Bishop Peter told you many times, Jesus was not a Christian. He was a Jew . On today’s Feast of the Holy Family, we reflect on the customs of the Jewish family into which Jesus was born.     In Jewish families, male babies are customarily circumcised eight days after birth, and at that time, they are given their names. That is why for ma...

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch December 21, 2014 St. Thomas Independent Catholic Church, San Diego, CA 2 Samuel 7:1-5;8-12;14,16   Luke 1:46-55 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. My wife, Beeper, and I were married at Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church in Anaheim, California in April, 1996. The rector at the time, who married us, was Father Adam McCoy. At that time, St. Michael’s hosted a flourishing Hispanic ministry, and as you may know, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a prominent spiritual figure in their community.  But when an icon of Her appeared in the church at St. Michael’s, some of the low church, protestant-minded members of the white congregation objected.  Unlike the many gutless Episcopal clergy who cave to political pressure when someone says something about appearing “too catholic”, Father Adam did not remove her. No...

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch December 14, 2014 St. Thomas Independent Catholic Church, San Diego, CA Isaiah 61:1-2;10-11    Luke 1:46-48;49-50;53-54 I Thessalonians 5:16-24     John 1:6-8;19-28 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. (Sing) “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king.” Now, I know that’s a bit premature. We all know that Christmas is a joy-filled holiday, or at least, it’s supposed to be that. Today, however, we’re still in Advent and celebrating “Gaudete Sunday”, and that’s why I’m wearing rose colored vestments, which are traditional for this third Sunday of Advent. The word “Gaudete” is the imperative form of the Latin verb gaudeo, gaudere , meaning to be joyful. The imperative of a verb is used to give commands; here, the church is commanding us on this Sunday, “be joyful.” But it’s a different kind of joy from the joy we’re going t...