Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in 2014 from sundown on September 24 to nightfall on September 26. The Hebrew date for Rosh Hashanah is 1 Tishrei 5775. Though Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year,” the holiday actually takes place on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which is the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. This is because Rosh Hashanah, one of four new years in the Jewish year, is considered the new year of people, animals and legal contracts. In the Jewish oral tradition, Rosh Hashanah marks the completion of the creation...
Read MoreA test of humility
Josemaría Escrivá’s 17 Signs of a lack of humility: Allow me to remind you that among other evident signs of a lack of humility are: Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say Always wanting to get your own way Arguing when you are not right or – when you are – insisting stubbornly or with bad manners Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so Despising the point of view of others Not being aware that all the gifts and qualities you have are on loan Not acknowledging that you are unworthy of all honor or esteem, even...
Read MoreThoughts about love
“In my old age, I have come to believe that love is not a noun but a verb. An action. Like water, it flows to its own current. If you were to corner it in a dam, true love is so bountiful it would flow over. Even in separation, even in death, it moves and changes. It lives within memory, in the haunting of a touch, the transience of a smell, or the nuance of a sigh. It seeks to leave a trace like a fossil in the sand, a leaf burned into baking asphalt… “I told my daughter, the first time she fell in love, not to hold it too close. Think of yourself in a warm, summer pool, I told her,...
Read MoreAmazing Grace
Reflecting on our Banquet less than two weeks ago – a time of celebration and one of spreading the word of what is being done, what we hope to do and hope to involve others in doing, and how it’s all by God’s Amazing Grace – a friend reminded me of a wonderful speech given by Eric Metaxis at the National Prayer Breakfast a couple years ago. Eric has a powerful testimony of how he came to a living faith, one that sees the world as it is with eyes wide open, and was led to write biographies of two men of God whose lives had a profound impact on our culture, William...
Read MoreNational Day of Prayer
Today a city-wide team of over 100 energized intercessors gathered in downtown Rochester to commemorate the National Day of Prayer and hold up our community and its leaders in concerted prayer. The ceremonies, led by a coalition of local pastoral leaders guided by Bishop David Singleton, spiritual leader of Ark of Jesus Ministries, were opened by the sounding of shofars as the intercessors formed a prayer chain that nearly encircled the County Office Building. It is clear that a prayer momentum is beginning to build for unity in the Body of Christ and revival in Rochester. There is talk of...
Read MoreStreams in the desert
Often we encounter tears, sometimes for understandable reasons when something sad happens but sometimes unexpectedly when a particularly happy event takes place. Over the years I’ve come to recognize tears as part of God’s way of refreshing our hearts and making room for healing and restoration. Of course, bitter tears can be shed, a kind of fist-shaking in God’s face – “Why did You let this happen to me” – as if we would be a better judge of how things should happen. This kind only diminishes a person and closes them off. However, tears that are...
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