Aaron Simms's Blog, page 3

Witnesses and Martyrs

In our Gospel reading for today (Mark 13:1-13), Jesus tells his disciples:

“… be on your guard.  For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.  And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.  And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who s...

New Article at St. Polycarp Journal

I recently posted a new (the first, actually) article at the St. Polycarp Journal site.  I’m hoping to grow the site into something helpful and edifying for the Church, so you have to start somewhere!

Here’s the link to the article: http://stpolycarpjournal.com/the-regu...

The post New Article at St. Polycarp Journal appeared first on Aaron Simms.

Veterans’ Day – In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, 1872-1918 In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place, and in the sky, The larks, still bravely singing, fly, Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead; short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe! To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high! If ye break faith with us who die We sha...

Everything, and a Better Day

The Old Testament and Gospel readings today revolve around widows, particularly the contrast between these widows and people who are rich and powerful (1 Kings 17:8-16 and Mark 12:38-44).  In 1 Kings, we read about Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.  Right before our reading for today, Elijah had announced the Lord Yahweh’s judgment against Israel for its unfaithfulness to Him.  Israel had rejected Yahweh as their God; so, as judgement for this act, there would be no rain in Israel, there wou...

For All the Saints

Today we celebrate All Saints’ Sunday and remember all those who have gone before us in the faith.  We follow in the footsteps of the Church since Christ’s ascension and therefore stand here today with our ancestors in the faith behind us and with our descendants yet before us in the future.  The Church is not only the collection of God’s people across geography, but also across time.  So we are part of a much larger communion of saints who were, are, and yet to be.

For this reason, I want to...

Happy All Saints’ Day!

Today is All Saints’ Day when we remember all those who have gone before us in the faith.  We follow in the footsteps of the Church since Christ’s ascension and therefore are here now with our ancestors in the faith behind us and with our descendants yet before us in the future.  The Church is not only the collection of God’s people across geography, but also across time.  We are part of a much larger communion of saints who were, are, and yet to be.

 

“For All the Saints Who from Their Labor...

The Eternal Gospel

The human eye is pretty amazing.  Each of your eyes has about 120 million rods and 7 million cones.  The rods are more sensitive, but can only detect shades of gray and so are used for night vision.  The cones are used for color detection and daylight vision.  With them you can perceive depth and size as well as see in a rainbow all the hues of color as the spectrum runs from red to violet.  But, in order for your eye to do this, it needs light.

That’s why when it’s dark out you can’t really...

Our Callings from God – Vocation

Have you ever seen the TV show called “Dirty Jobs?”  It’s a reality show that was on the Discovery Channel and stars a guy named Mike Rowe, who then later started a show called “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” which has a similar theme, and now he has a great podcast.  In every episode of Dirty Jobs, Mike participates in doing a different job, a lot of which most of us probably never even knew existed.  Mike introduces each episode by saying, “I explore the country looking for people who aren’t afra...

What must I do? – Mark 10:17-22

Have you ever seen a child clean their room after their parents told them to go clean it?  When they think they’re done, their parents go to inspect their room, and it still looks like a disaster area.  I can remember being a kid and doing the same thing.  My standard of “clean” was not the same standard that my parents had.  I’d spend what seemed like an eternity trying to tidy up my room, but it never seemed to be clean enough for my parents.  Finally, my Mom would threaten to throw anythin...

Marriage

Both our Old Testament and Gospel readings today talk about marriage, and then our epistle reminds us that “we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Genesis 2:18-25; Mark 10:2-16; Hebrews 2:1-18).  So, it would be fitting today to talk about marriage, where it comes from, and what it is an image of.

In Genesis we read that in the beginning when God created Adam, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He created Eve as Adam’s companion...