This morning, as I sat by the window watching the birds, I watched the sunlight slowly break through the clouds. A welcome site after all the rain we have had recently. The way it touched the earth, warming the land reminded me of a simple truth: the sun shines on both the righteous and the unrighteous alike.

Our Lord, in His mercy, does not withhold His blessings from those who are far from Him. Just as He allows the sun to rise and the rain to fall on all people, He extends His love and patience to both believers and unbelievers. Christ Himself teaches this in the Gospel of Matthew: “He causes his sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and he causes it to rain upon the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) In this teaching I see an example for us to expand our prayers and our hearts. It is easy, perhaps natural, to pray for those we love—our brothers and sisters in the faith, our families, our friends. But what about those who don’t know even God? What about those who reject Him, or those who have wronged us? We are called to pray for them too.
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When we were children, most of us dreaded taking medicine. Depending on what it was, it was often bitter, and we didn’t understand why it was necessary. Yet, our parents insisted because they knew it was for our good, even when we didn’t see it.

As an adult in my 80s, I now face a different kind of medicine—spiritual medicine. Christ’s teachings are this medicine. At times, they might be hard to swallow, challenging my pride, my desires, and the comforts I’ve grown accustomed to over the years. His words call me to humility, forgiveness, and a life of self-denial, which can often feel as difficult as any physical burden I’ve carried. Yet, just like the medicine I once resisted as a child, His teachings heal me, restore me, and make me whole. They go deeper than any earthly remedy ever could, reaching the heart, mind, and soul. In these later years, I’ve come to realize that this spiritual medicine is exactly what I need to sustain me, not just for the moment, but for eternity. Though His path may challenge me, I now trust that Christ’s teachings, even when difficult, are always for my ultimate good, shaping me into the person He created me to be.

We can’t ignore this spiritual medicine. Just as our bodies need healing, so do our souls. Christ, the Great Physician, offers us the remedy in His Gospel. Let us accept it, trusting that what may seem hard at first is ultimately for our eternal good.

Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, is observed this Sunday, September 29 and is a significant feast in the Anglican calendar. It is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church as the Dedication of St Michael the Archangel. It offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on the often-overlooked role of angels in our faith, making us think of the spiritual reality that surrounds us, and the ongoing battle between good and evil.

St. Michael is the mighty warrior of God, the one who cast Lucifer and his fallen angels out of heaven. In the book of Revelation, St. Michael leads the heavenly hosts against the forces of darkness, standing as a symbol of God’s ultimate victory over evil. When we contemplate Michaelmas, we are invited to consider not only the celestial beings who do God’s will but also the spiritual warfare that takes place beyond our physical senses.
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As I reflected this morning on the teachings of our Lord, the image of a square peg and a round hole came to mind. It’s a simple idea, one we’ve all heard before: you can’t fit a square peg in a round hole. But in its simplicity, this saying holds a deeper spiritual truth.

The Gospel is clear. Christ’s teachings do not conform to the patterns of this world. His words, His commandments, His way of life—these are like the square peg. The world, with all its brokenness and distorted values, is the round hole. No matter how much we try, we cannot fit the two together. The teachings of Christ will never perfectly align with the ways of a world that has turned its back on God. This is something we must reckon with as Christians. Too often, people attempt to soften or reshape the Gospel to make it more palatable, more acceptable, more in tune with modern sensibilities. But this is like trying to shave off the edges of that square peg just to make it fit. In doing so, we lose the essence of what Christ has given us. His teachings are radical, countercultural, and unyielding. They challenge us to be transformed, not to conform. Continue reading →

It’s another rainy day here at the hermitage. The skies have been heavy with dark clouds since yesterday evening as the effects of Hurricane Helene make their way through the state. The wind has been moderate for now, sometimes strong bending the trees on the shores of Normandy Lake, and the rain has been steady, soaking the earth.

The sound of the rain falling against the windows brings a certain stillness, a reminder of how small we are in the face of God’s creation. There’s something about these storms that make you pause and reflect—on the power of nature, on the fragility of life, and on the constant need for trust in the Lord’s providence. Hurricanes like Helene remind me how quickly things can change. The calm that was here just a few days ago has been replaced by the rush of wind and rain. Yet, even in this, there is a kind of peace. The storm outside mirrors the storms we face in life, and much like we take shelter during the rain, we seek refuge in Christ the Good Shepherd during our trials.
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