All Weekly Messages

This holy, solemn season of Lent is a time to turn away from the sin, selfishness and violence that pervade our world and our lives and to return to God in Christ, return to our full humanity, return to the persons our baptismal identity and call intend us to be.

Dear People and Friends of the Diocese of New Jersey, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but

History! On February 11, 1989, Barbara Clementine Harris was ordained and consecrated as Bishop-Suffragan of the Diocese of Massachusetts. She was the first woman in history consecrated as a bishop, not only in The Episcopal Church, but in the whole of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It was a moment in women’s history. It was a moment in Black history. It was moment in church history. It was a moment in American history. It was a moment in the history of Gospel justice.

I urge all who can to respond compassionately to this crisis by making as generous a donation as you are able to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD). ERD is a powerful and effective means by which we as a Church can give concrete expression to Christ’s command to love of neighbor no matter where in the world that neighbor may be.

Please hold the people suffering from the devastation of this earthquake in your prayers. Pray also for all who are providing emergency rescue, relief, and recovery support.

On Saturday, we are all called to ask ourselves, what does God want for the Diocese of New Jersey? What does God want for, and from, God’s Church? Asking these questions faithfully and prayerfully will help guide us in choosing the right person to journey forward into God’s future. Please pray.

It really is about Christ’s mission of reconciliation in the world. It’s about striving for God’s reign. I hope all the congregations of the Diocese of New Jersey will join in this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Today, as we prepare to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day in this country, we continue to live in a world of upheavals with rampant, unashamed, defiant, hatred being spewed in many directions. New Jersey is not immune.

Today, with the Feast of the Epiphany, Christmastide comes to an end. I pray yours has been a time filled with the love and light of the Christ child. Our celebration culminates with the visit of the Magi to the Holy Family. Matthew tells of their following a great star and being overwhelmed with joy when the star stops at their appointed destination. He writes of their entering the house, seeing the child and his mother, kneeling down, paying him homage and offering their gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh (see Matthew 2:1-12). The story is filled with mystery, awe and wonder.

This is the Christmas announcement and the Christmas mystery. The angelic voice is calling us once again, to join the shepherds, and go, now to Bethlehem, “to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So let us go, go and rejoice.

Without Christmas, the Incarnation, the en-fleshment of God in Christ and his birth, there is no Passion and there is no Easter. Conversely, had there not been Easter, not been a rising from the dead, the birth of the child in Bethlehem is no different than that of any other birth.

I’m excited about the growing recognition and celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Diocese of New Jersey and invite and encourage all members of our diocesan community to join in. This feast affords us an opportunity to be cross-cultural and through this “crossing over” to deepen our awareness and understanding of God and God’s mysterious ways. This feast invites us to deeper awareness of God’s grace, to a greater engagement with the poor and marginalized in our communities, our state, our nation and the world and, through this, to glimpse what the Kingdom of God might look like. Celebrated in the midst of Advent, this feast invites us to consider yet one more facet of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, and to give thanks for her soul and the many ways she magnifies the Lord.

We are in Advent. Advent has a depth, power, and mystery that I find particularly moving. This has been true for me from the time I was a young boy. The hymns of Advent are among my favorites and, no doubt, contribute to the hold Advent has over me.

. . . that’s where I find myself at this turning point moment in my life and in the life of this diocese. Profoundly thankful to God. Profoundly thankful for all the blessings of this life which God has bestowed upon me, family, friends, a rich and fulfilling life and ministry which is still continuing to unfold, and the blessing of serving as the 12th Bishop of New Jersey with its wonderful array of gifted people who make up this diocese. Thank you, thank you, thank you to God and to each one of you.