A Few Facts About Rogation Days

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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Rogation Days are traditionally observed on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day (May 25 this year), though in practice they may be observed on other days. Here at Holy Apostles we will mark them a day early this coming Sunday. Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, France, is credited with originating the tradition of fasting and prayer in the 5th century — the goal was to prepare for the feast of the Ascension and to beseech God to forestall any impending calamities. (The word “rogation” comes from the Latin rogare, meaning “to ask.”) Farmers would often have their crops blessed by a priest at this time….

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Let Us Pause to Reflect on the Triduum of Easter Week

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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Happy Easter!…
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Lent, Holy Week, and Easter can be an emotional roller coaster, full of ups and downs and twists and turns. So much so, that many of us metaphorically or even literally (for church musicians and clergy!) collapse after Easter Day! The week after the Sunday of the Resurrection can feel enervated and even anti-climactic. And yet we could instead be surrounding and infusing ourselves with the joy of new life!…

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Who Was Saint Mathias the Apostle?

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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Today, February 24, is the feast day of St. Matthias the Apostle. Does he sound familiar? If you don’t remember his name from the lists of the twelve apostles in the gospels, you are correct — he isn’t there! That’s because he was chosen to be an apostle later, as we read in the opening chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. After Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter stood up among the believers — a crowd of about one hundred twenty persons — and made a suggestion. He told of the horrible death of Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus (see Acts 1:18 if you are interested in the gory details)….

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An Article Published On Huffington Post by Mother Susan

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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I published my first piece on Huffington Post this morning! I was inspired by Bishop Andrew’s sermon on Sunday, and prodded to write something by Tom Cunningham – and voila! You can find it on the Huffington Post website…

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Acts of NYC Kindness

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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As I marched with the Women’s March on NYC this past weekend (well, really, it wasn’t so much a march as a very slow shuffle!), I was overwhelmed by how joyful the huge crowd was, and especially how kind everyone was. Maybe it was the effect of having a large concentration of mothers and grandmothers gathered together with all kinds of other folks, but it was the most helpful group of people I’ve ever witnessed in midtown Manhattan. And I don’t say that lightly — I often defend New Yorkers as much more kind and generous than our reputation would suggest! But the kindness reached a new peak, I think, this Saturday, as complete strangers helped separated group members reconnect, made way for hapless folks who were just trying to get to the drugstore, and became fast friends along the march route. Couldn’t we all do with a bit more kindness in our day-to-day lives? …

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A Baptism Meditation for the New Year

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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This Friday, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we remember and celebrate the visit of the Magi to the Christ child. It is an important feast in the liturgical year, and so we will transfer our celebration of Epiphany from Friday to Sunday, January 8.

Unfortunately, that means that we will give short shrift to another traditional feast of the liturgical year, the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ – at least on Sunday. However, we will be using the Baptism of Christ gospel lesson as the basis for our Insight worship service at 6:15 pm on Tuesday, January 10 – please consider joining us! And you might also use the story of Jesus’ baptism as a catalyst for your own personal meditation time. To that end, I offer you my version of a guided meditation that our former Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori led for a group of priests of our diocese several years ago….

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Think You Know About Saint Nicholas?

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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This past week on December 6 we marked the feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. It’s a long road from his birth in Asia Minor (now Turkey) in 260 to our current popular culture idea of Santa Claus! Nicholas grew up in a wealthy home, but was said from an early age to have developed the virtues of generosity and empathy. These virtues (and some of the characteristics of Santa) are evident in the many stories that circulate about him — especially perhaps the story of how he saved three sisters from being sold into slavery. They each needed a dowry in order to marry, and so legend has it that Nicholas secretly brought a bag of gold on each of three successive nights to their house and threw it down the chimney, where it landed next to their stockings drying by the fire!…

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Coming to Terms With the Results of the General Elections

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts, Uncategorized
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As we continue to process the unexpected election results and what a Trump presidency will mean for us and for the country, it might be helpful to recognize that for many of us, this is a time of grief. Let us respond accordingly with some concrete things that help with any grief process…

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Take A Break From Politics

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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There has been a constant theme in nearly all of the conversations I’ve had recently — with parishioners, with folks who see me for spiritual direction, with friends, with some family members: the 2016 Presidential Election. No matter where people are on the political and ideological spectrum, this election has stirred up intense emotions and led to challenging debates. I know that I’m not alone in having wildly different opinions than many of my extended family members — so much so that it is difficult to even talk calmly about the candidates and the issues. All of the turmoil in the national conversation and our personal conversations is adding an enormous amount of stress to our already stressful lives!…
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Taking regular breaks from politics might also help us avoid the temptation to just check out and disengage from the whole election process. Official Episcopal policy recognizes voting and political participation as acts of Christian stewardship. Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry reminds us that as Christians we are not only called to participate in the political life of our country, but to do so in a way that reflects the basic tenets of our faith. In March of this year he wrote, “If we who are Christians participate in the political process and in the public discourse as we are called to do — the New Testament tells us that we are to participate in the life of the polis, in the life of our society — the principle on which Christians must vote is the principle, Does this look like love of neighbor?”

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The Lord’s Prayer Comes In Many Forms

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Rev Susan Hill in Pulpit Posts
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We are studying the Lord’s Prayer over the course of four weeks at our Tuesday evening Insight worship service (which combines a contemplative bible study with an informal Eucharist). The series has reminded me of the elegant simplicity of what we call the Lord’s Prayer, or the Our Father. You can find Jesus’ advice about how to pray in both Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, and of course in the traditional and more modern versions of the prayer in our 1979 Book of Common Prayer….

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