A Sermon for Ascension Day

Good day!

I recorded a sermon for Ascension Day as part of Morning Prayer for St. Margaret of Scotland, where I am honorary clergy.  I used the Ascension readings in place of those for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, as we don't always hear these readings in church of a Sunday.  Stupidly I deleted the word file, but you can find the video hosted on video at the parish website or below.  Viewers should be warned: video contains images of a cleric with alarming long pandemic hair.

The theologian I reference in the sermon is Oliver O'Donovan, specifically from Self, World, and Time, Volume 1 of his series Ethics as Theology.

I look forward to preaching more now that I'm retired from the military chaplaincy, in whatever part of the post Covid church God sees fit to call me.

Blessings,   MP+

Coming to the End

 

 

Last week I went to Base Supply and turned in the last of my issued kit.   The stuff in the photo is part of it.   The rucksack, sleeping bags, and winter warfare kit all got turned in last fall.

 This week I will be completing the last bits of paperwork before I retire from the Canadian Armed Forces on 2 June.  It’s been a great career if relatively short (14 years) and not terribly exciting (no deployments, though the two week trip to Australia in 2019 was nice).  It has however been an immensely satisfying career that allowed me to work with the Army, the Air Force, and Military Personnel and Generation (training systems).   The Canadian Armed Forces paid me for two years to be a graduate student, and to work thereafter on chaplain training and to be reassured by the devotion and competence of the next generation of chaplains.

It was also immensely gratifying to shake hands (note precautionary Covid19 gloves) with my dear friend and boss, Lt. Col. Gordon Mintz, an Anglican colleague and the best man at my wedding last June.  Gord and I were roommates during Basic Training at Borden 12 years ago, and we’ve both come a long way since.

It was equally gratifying to see my lovely bride, Joy, on the left, recognized for her brief but supportive tenure as an army wife.  Here she receives a bouquet of flowers from Gord’s wife Margaret.  

Finally, the team of CFB Borden chaplains that I’ve had the pleasure to lead this last year were incredibly kind and gave me a very heartfelt sendoff.

When I started this blog, I had more of a focus on military chaplaincy and over the years I’ve had colleagues tell me that they read this blog before they started their careers.   That also is gratifying.   I may have one more post on the subject of what I learned during my career, but I’ll save that for another day.

MP+

 

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