Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Feb 5, 2012, 12:05 am
There are many occasions in our lives where, if we allow time to reflect, we’ll realize that we are at a loss. That we really don’t know what to do or how to respond to the situation we find ourselves in, or to the challenge posed by it. Such times of life seem characterized simple endurance. B...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Feb 4, 2012, 10:58 am
Related Posts:From ILoveMountains.orgThoughts from General ConventionRandom connections about giving and love.ForgivenessEpiscopal Clergy in the Media
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Jan 30, 2012, 12:48 pm
As I’ve been writing out my thoughts for the upcoming solemn communion preparation class that will begin at the end of February, I’ve been rereading a number of books to refresh and tighten up my thinking on the sacraments. One of these, which I purchased in seminary as one of those “other rec...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Jan 23, 2012, 9:21 pm
I’ve been at St. Joseph of Arimathea for two years as Priest-in-Charge.  This month, I became Rector. This coming Saturday, January 28th, Bishop Bauerschmidt will officially install me during a service at St. Joseph’s: Related Posts:The Anglican Rugby ScrumNice to meet youTonight’s presentat...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Jan 21, 2012, 10:09 pm
... and hearing reports, I’m pretty much brain dead and for the most part am only doing the most necessary things (like reading stories to my 9 month old son) before bed. But, in the quiet this evening, as I ... and by the People in Their Homes * O Almighty God Who hast blessed the earth wi...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 30, 2011, 9:00 am
Christ the Teacher The Letter of James, which some scholars contend echoes the words and teaching of Jesus more than any other portion of the scriptures outside the Gospels, provides the following exhortation: “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 15, 2011, 1:27 pm
Sermon prep for Proper 24 (Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22).  Re-reading bits of Christopher Bryan’s Render to Caesar: Jesus, the Early Church, and the Roman Superpower: Still, for good or ill, as true or false, Jesus would have appeared primarily as a prophet, and as a prophet he proclaimed the immine...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 13, 2011, 10:18 pm
The following is one in a series of ads put out by Christ Church, New Haven.  They have sparked quite the response on Facebook.  It’s interesting that I shared one of the ads and it received several “likes” mostly–though not totally–from younger folks, providing an example of the pheno...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 4, 2011, 9:11 am
Stanley Fish hits on something important here: we all have our objects of “unreflective scorn,” and he’s right, I think, that meeting and knowing them makes it less possible to scorn them.  There’s a profound lesson in reflection on both of those facts. The German philosopher Jürgen Haber...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 4, 2011, 8:52 am
I have to be honest: I view the push to make the leadership of every student group on a campus open to everyone–even those who do not share a commitment to the purpose of the group–as absurd.  I may write more about exactly why later on, but for now I pass along this opinion piece.  I agree wi...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 3, 2011, 4:02 pm
Augustine argued that evil is a privation of the good.  That does not simply mean that evil is simply a lack of the good, but rather, that the creation/creature has been deprived of the good that is part of the original intent.  In humanity this may mean being formed or educated away from the goo...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 3, 2011, 3:15 pm
From being immersed in this supposedly amoral melting pot, here is what I’ve found: Brooks is right that many college-aged individuals do not have a traditional framework for tackling morality. Many are not immersed in religious traditions; few have taken ethics or philosophy courses. That said, ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 29, 2011, 5:45 pm
Today is the feast of St. Michael and All Angels in the calendar of The Episcopal Church, as in much of the Western Church. Collect of the Day: Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy ange...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 27, 2011, 12:42 am
So, lots of folks have been frustrated by the changes in Facebook’s news feed recently. There are more changes coming, this time to your profile. For those who aren’t aware, there’s this article (H/T to @revstevewood). I took advantage of the opportunity given to developers to preview the new ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 21, 2011, 5:50 pm
Howard Triest Shades of Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.  Amazing story about a German Jewish man who ended up joining the American Army and later worked as a translator for the psychiatric team that examined & questioned the Nazi prisoners at Nuremberg in an att...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 17, 2011, 10:57 pm
As I reflected upon tomorrow’s Gospel reading (Matt. 20:1-16), the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, I found myself considering the different reasons that we should be thankful for the merciful character of God, even though our human nature is to cry out for justice (for everyone except u...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 16, 2011, 12:55 am
Creation, Covenant, Shekinah, Kingdom (Wisdom of Solomon 10–11) The St. John’s Bible has been completed after fifteen years of labor.  I’ve followed this process for a number of years. I think I was a freshman in college when I first heard about the work.  It’s an amazing endeavor and I�...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 16, 2011, 12:04 am
In order to establish clarity about the inner logic of theological construction, it would be good for once if a presentation of doctrinal theology were to start not with the doctrine of God, but with the doctrine of the church. –Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio Related Posts:Burke Lecturship: Stanl...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 15, 2011, 10:23 pm
I don’t follow the happenings or statements of Pat Robertson, and I am–like so many others–very used to hearing of his random statements from time to time, becoming irritated or made uncomfortable by them and then moving on.  On the one hand, I find myself thankful again and again that Robert...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 13, 2011, 1:19 pm
  Per Christian Smith’s video comments (posted on the St. Joseph of Arimathea Facebook Page or available from the St. George’s Institute/C3 Conference video page, it’s not appropriate to chastise young adults for lacking the vocabulary to tackle important moral issues.  They lack the vocab...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 13, 2011, 12:16 pm
This connects with the discussion of Spirituality below: The folks who make up God as they go are side-by-side with self-proclaimed believers who claim the Christian label but shed their ties to traditional beliefs and practices. Religion statistics expert George Barna says, with a wry hint of exag...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 9, 2011, 1:34 am
At St. Joseph of Arimathea this Sunday we will have a somewhat different service as we observe the tenth anniversary of September 11th.  Along with almost everyone I’ve talked to, I find it hard to believe that ten years have passed since that day.  And yet, much has happened since then in my li...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 1, 2011, 11:07 pm
When I first met my wife we embarked on a long process of creating a shared vocabulary.  We not only grew up in different families, but were raised in different parts of the country.  This created the opportunity for a number of fun misunderstandings.  For instance, there was the time I mentioned...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 21, 2011, 9:22 pm
“It has been a common mistake to assume that there was no fourth alternative open to Cranmer besides Catholic, Lutheran, and Zwinglian. There was in fact, a fourth available possibility in Virtualism, the Eucharistic doctrine according to which, while the bread and wine remain unchanged after the ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 20, 2011, 10:34 pm
In his well-known book Christ and Culture H. Richard Niebuhr has this wonderful section early on where he talks about our picture of Jesus, and how our perspectives tend to shape it.  Niebuhr writes:, a Confucius, or a Mohammed, or even with Amos or Isaiah. Interpreted by a monk, he may take on mo...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 20, 2011, 10:11 pm
John Keble, c. 1860 “Because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: Therefore thus saith the Lord God; behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus.” –Ezek. xxvi. 2, 3. Tyre of t...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 19, 2011, 1:25 am
This new theme allows for “status updates”  This is a test Related Posts:From Mere Comments: What has dating come toVery Cool: Detect the fake smilesI’m no Expert, but I know who Jesus is: Sermon for Proper 10B, Trinity Church, WinchesterRandom thoughts on a TuesdayThe Living Church Foundati...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 19, 2011, 1:20 am
By Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus How do colleges manage it? Kenyon has erected a $70 million sports palace featuring a 20-lane olympic pool. Stanford’s professors now get paid sabbaticals every fourth year, handing them $115,000 for not teaching. Vanderbilt pays its president $2.4 million. A...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 17, 2011, 12:29 pm
In the course of a recent Catholic Herald column attacking entry charges for York Minster, William Oddie indulged in ultramontane triumphalism: I have had this problem before, getting into Anglican cathedrals built by the Catholic Church and purloined at the Reformation. In this week’s Herald, t...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 17, 2011, 1:03 am
Jesus blesses the little children Anna mentioned this to me earlier today. I’m thankful these folks have been sent away. This is a horrible situation, and people need to be warned about this book. “If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 17, 2011, 12:27 am
In his book Lost Icons: Reflections on Cultural Bereavement, Rowan Williams points to the sexualization of children (and the formation of childish adults) as the key in the spread of points of view where adults and children are seen as competitors for resources, for attention etc…  This is an ext...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Aug 16, 2011, 8:08 pm
  Slate discusses the discomfort many pro-choice folks express about the increasing request for “twin reductions:” To pro-lifers and hardcore pro-choicers, this queasiness seems odd. After all, a reduction is an abortion. If anything, reduction should be less problematic than ordinary abortio...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Dec 18, 2010, 8:20 pm
I thought I might have use for this observation in my sermon, but it didn’t really fit.  Be that as it may, I wanted to share this remark of Martin Buber’s: “Premessianically our destinies are divided. Now to the Christian, the Jew is the incomprehensibly obdurate man, who declines to see w...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Dec 9, 2010, 3:33 pm
As demonstrated by the number of stories surrounding St. Nicholas of Myra, as well as the traditions surrounding Santa Claus, Nicholas certainly had an impact on people, and his memory—though clouded by myth and commercialism—is alive and well. One of my favorite St. Nicholas stories doesn�...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Dec 5, 2010, 10:00 am
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear… (Isaiah 11:3) The Prophet Isaiah's Call A common tool in the storyteller’s art, whether in comedy or drama, is to rely on misunderstanding to advance the plot.  One only has to think of stories such as Shakespeare’s M...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Dec 4, 2010, 9:54 pm
People get ready, there’s a train a-comin’ You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’ Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord -Curtis Mayfield Curtis Mayfield wrote these words the year after the 1963 civil rights march on ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 21, 2010, 9:00 am
Christ Enthroned Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 20, 2010, 4:51 pm
As Anna often reminds me in a joking way, I tend to remember a great deal of what I read or hear.  I can often remember about where a phrase or comment occurs in a book, enough of a magazine article to look it up several years later (assuming it’s accessible to Google) etc…  Given this, you mi...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 16, 2010, 11:58 am
Anna and I officially met Eli Joseph Howard this morning and look forward to his arrival in April! Update: Video of the ultrasound Eli’s First Movie from Joseph B. Howard on Vimeo. Related Posts:Tonight’s presentation to the Men of the Church: Not For SaleFighting Pedantry with PedantryQuick ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 16, 2010, 9:32 am
This morning Anna and I have an appointment that is supposed to tell us whether the baby we’re awaiting is a girl or boy. Obviously our only preference is that TLH (that’s “The Little Human” or “The Little Howard”) be healthy. I’ve had a growing anticipation of this day, despite the ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 15, 2010, 11:50 pm
“…they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” Jesus is in Jerusalem teaching in the Temple in this section of Luke’s Gospel, as he comes closer and closer to the time of his betrayal and crucifixion...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 13, 2010, 10:31 pm
“Torture is therefore an ecclesiological problem, to do with the church’s nature as a communal body.  The church cannot confront the torture system simply by treating it as a violation of any individual’s human rights.  From the church’s point of view, torture should be read as aspiring to...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 9, 2010, 12:29 am
Over the years I’ve used a number of resources in my scriptural study, with my preferences changing as I’ve learned more, have been exposed to different thinkers and interacted with my professors in seminary, my colleagues in ministry and members of the congregations I’ve served. Presently, I...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 7, 2010, 8:00 am
“Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive” (Luke 20:38). I’ve discovered that Nashville is an interesting place to be if you’re involved in any way with churches.  The Methodists and at least two Baptist groups have their headquarters here.  I fou...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Nov 6, 2010, 9:37 pm
William Porcher DuBose As I was writing my sermon this week I came across this passage in William Porcher DuBose’s High Priesthood and Sacrifice and wanted to share it: We may say what we please about the anthropomorphism of God’s wrath or vengeance; translate it into terms of those natural co...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 30, 2010, 11:41 pm
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5) What must it have been like for Zacchaeus to hear these words?  On the one hand, he was very successful.  Not simply a tax collector, he was a chief ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 30, 2010, 2:10 pm
An old school picture from Madison Co. NC Several years ago I was in a book/record store looking at some bluegrass & old time music when a quote on the back of a CD caught my eye.  It made an impression because I’d fought the same battle of pronunciation between Appa-latch-a and Appa-lay-chia (w...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 29, 2010, 1:37 pm
I’ve been reading up on election news lately, dealing alternately with feelings of disgust and the desire to participate (isn’t that the way it goes with so many things in life?).  One of the things that always amuses me around election season are the charges of dirty politics, complaints about...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Oct 24, 2010, 11:36 pm
A great quote about the dangers of spiritual pride from F.D. Maurice (19th century Anglican theologian) caught my attention while I was preparing my sermon on the Pharisee and the Tax collector this week: Spiritual pride is the essential nature of the Devil.  To be in that is to be in the deepest ...
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Joseph H. posted an article on Quo Vadis ? - Sep 23, 2010, 6:56 pm
An ad inspired by the old Lyndon Johnson “Daisy Girl” commercial: Related Posts:Thoughts from General ConventionThank you: the gratitude campaignThe Anglican Blog Song: a little needed levityEpiscopal Clergy in the MediaShocking Message to Pastors & ChurchesPowered by Contextual Related Posts
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