The Adventures of Mo. Lauren and Fr. Kenny

Hello Friends!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Since the start of Advent, I have been urging you all to wait, wait, wait, but now the wait is over!  Christmas has begun!  (yes it lasts until January 6th, so don’t throw out your tree yet).

Here is my sermon from Christmas Eve/Day, both days have the same reading and different people tend to come to the services, so you only get one sermon.  That’s a little preacher trick. HA!  Anyway, the picture on today’s sermon is of the manger scene inside Emmanuel Church, one of the places I serve.  Enjoy!

Sermon, Christmas Eve/Day, Luke 2:1-20, Dec. 24/25, 2014

Until next time, Merry Christmas!

-Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Greeting a few days before Christmas!  The fourth Sunday of Advent features the story of the Annunciation in Luke, when the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary to inform her that she will bear Christ into the world.  I can’t imagine what she was feeling at that moment.  What can we learn from Mary?  Why, let’s find out by listening (the photo on the sermon is of Emmanuel Church’s “Mary Queen of Heaven” window from 1877):

Sermon, Luke 1:26-38, Advent 4-Year B, Dec. 21, 2014

As always, thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate everyone who listens, and I hope that you find something worthwhile in listening.  I wish you all many Christmas blessings (not just for Christmas, but for the whole year as well!).  Everyone be safe, and happy.

Thanks,

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This past Sunday (the 14th) was the 3rd Sunday of Advent, the week when we light the pink candle on the wreath.  I was away, so Fr. Kenny held down the fort, and got to break out his rose colored vestments, or as I like to call it the pretty pink chasuble.

Eat your heart out Molly Ringwald….

The liturgical color for Advent is usually blue or purple, but on the 3rd Sunday of Advent you can wear rose.  Now, Fr. Kenny has a pink chasuble, but I don’t, because these things cost a lot of money, especially when there are only 2 Sundays a year when you can wear it (3rd Sunday of Advent and 4th Sunday of Lent).  Kenny’s was hand made for him, lucky fellow.

Now pink Sunday in Advent  is also called “Gaudete” Sunday (the pink day in Lent is “Laetare” Sunday).  It is generally accepted that this candle represents joy amidst a penitential season, even though Advent is not super penitential anymore.  If you want more details, check out Fr. Timothy Schenk’s blog, “Clergy Confidential.”  He does a way better job of explaining it than I could ever do: click here!

My speciality is silly pictures, so here we go.

Fr. Kenny was excited to be on his own and we followed Eucharist Prayer D, which is a lovely prayer filled with Orthodox imagery:

And also some awesome, and awesomely difficult, chanting!

Maybe Fr. Kenny should do the simple tone version….

Advent 4 is fast approaching, and then Christmas, but, don’t rush things friends.  Remember to take time to reflect on what we are waiting for, God incarnate, God as one of us, this is a big deal, worthy of contemplation.

Until next time!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

Greetings to you during the second week of Advent!  I hope you are having a quiet, calm, and reflective time.  I know that isn’t very realistic, as we all are getting ready for Christmas, but remember to take time to pray as we wait for the arrival of Jesus.

This week’s sermon is about Mark 1:1-8, the beginning of the Gospel.  Remember that Jesus is just the beginning of the story, it continues through us.  Take a listen:

Sermon, Mark 1:1-8, Advent 2, Year B, Dec. 7, 2014

I’m on vacation next Sunday, so no sermon, but I promise a post with pictures of Fr. Kenny and his special 3rd Sunday of Advent chasuble.  Stay tuned….

~Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

Nov. 30th was the First Sunday of Advent, the period of waiting before Christmas.  Today’s lesson from Mark is filled with conflicting ideas about the end of times, when Jesus returns, but the main thing is to keep awake!  What does that mean?  Well, take a listen:

Sermon, Advent 1, Mark 13:24-37, Nov. 30, 2014

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This past Sunday, Nov. 23rd, was the Last Sunday after Pentecost, or Christ the King Sunday, which is the last Sunday of the Church Year.  That means next week Advent starts, and then Christmas is a mere 4 weeks away!  Wow, it sure does go by quickly.  But…don’t rush things.  Here we have our last text from Matthew for bit, his vision of the final sorting of Jesus’ return on the throne in all His splendor, but, what does this mean for us now?  Well, take a listen:

Matthew 25:31-46, Proper 29, Year A, Nov. 23, 2014

Around 7:46 the power went out on the whole block, but we soldiered through.  It came back on about 15-20 minutes later, just a fluke, so don’t worry.

Thanks for stopping by,

Mo. Lauren.

Hello Friends!

On November 14th and 15th, the Diocese of Long Island gathered for its 148th Diocesan Convention at the Marriott Hotel in Melville, NY.  Fr. Kenny and I were, of course, in attendance.  Our theme was “Walk in Love as Christ Loved Us.”

shouldn’t it be “loves” us?…Pat Malloy would be annoyed….

If you don’t know, Convention is a time when all the parishes get together for worship, fun, fellowship, and of course, business.  Each church’s priest and a certain number of lay delegates (depending on eligibility) attend convention and get to vote on resolutions, committee elections, and the “ministry plan” (which is like the budget….ok, its the budget).

The business stuff is necessary, but the fun stuff is what convention is all about.  Here, we get to see people that we don’t get to see all year.  The Diocese of Long Island starts at the Brooklyn Bridge and goes all the way to Montauk Point (or the other way around depending on your perspective), so we don’t often all get together in one place.  There were many video presentations about different ministries happening around the Diocese, and it was so great and inspiring to see what our colleagues are up to.  We are truly a vibrant and diverse Diocese.

I have been to many Conventions, in Massachusetts as a Youth Delegate, in Central New York as the youngest voter (representing Syracuse University), and several previous Long Island Conventions, BUT this was Fr. Kenny’s first Long Island Convention!  Many people were excited to meet Fr. Kenny, like the ladies of the St. Boniface, Lindenhurst chapter of Daughters of the King:

They want to nominate Fr. Kenny for Presiding Bishop, but I don’t think he is ready for that.

Dean McGinty, from Long Island’s very own George Mercer Jr. Memorial School of Theology, posed with Fr. Kenny:

Fr. Kenny is interested in teaching a course on Anglican Doll Theologians of the 19th Century.

Fr. Kenny is looking through the course catalog

Down to BUSINESS:

Getting ready to vote, the modern way

Delegates from Emmanuel and St. Mark’s

Coffee helps in the afternoon.

Our good friend Canon John Madden responds to the Bishop’s address!

The shirt didn’t come in XXXXXXXXS.

We made a lot of friends:

Archdeacon Hickman, certainly a VIP.

Mo. Ale and Fr. Kenny are fast friends now.

Fr. Kenny has some sage advice for seminarians Neil and Terrance.

Fr. Kenny wanted to go kayaking, but he will have to wait until summer.  He can apply to be a Chaplain at Camp DeWolfe, our very own Diocesan Summer Camp:

Don’t worry, we partied hard at the banquet:

Electric slide time!

PHEW! Good thing, Fr. Kenny got a room, he was really tired, but it was totally worth it. Until the 149th!

We had a great time and learned a lot.  The music and worship was wonderful.  It was reflective, beautiful, and joyful.  Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard to put the weekend together, it is always hard to get large groups together and you handled it beautifully!

The Bishop’s address was inspiring and informative and can be found here:

Bishop Provenzano’s Address 

We have a lot of events coming up before Christmas, so stay tuned for more posts!

Thanks for stopping by,

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

This week’s parable is unique to Matthew and is the story of the 10 bridesmaids.  5 of the bridesmaids are “wise” and 5 are “foolish” but no one remembers that the groom was late!  Anyway, take a listen as we explore what is behind this strange little story….

Matthew 25:1-13, Proper 27, Year A, Nov. 9, 2014

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Happy Election Day (in the U.S. at least).

Here is my sermon from Nov. 2, 2014.  I got the record function on my iPad to work again, yay!  So this sounds a little better than the phone recording from last week.

The text is Matthew 23:1-12, in which Jesus calls his opponents hypocrites and fame seekers.  Jesus speaks harshly about these Pharisees, but as always, we must remember that Jesus is talking about a specific group of people here, not ALL people.  Jesus wants everyone to know what it takes to be an authentic teacher, take a listen:

Matthew 23:1-12, Proper 26, Year A, Nov. 2, 2014

Thanks for dropping by!

Mo. Lauren