Blog & Pastor Letters

I used to lead an RCIA session on baptism, where I would bring in my Kermit the Frog toy from when I was a child and pretend to baptize it. It was a session I especially made sure I led when we had children preparing for Easter sacraments. You would think Kermit would have become super holy having been baptized so many times, year after year. But, if he had been real, he would not have been any holier due to multiple baptisms than he was after the first baptism. He couldn’t be re-baptized. (Not to mention, of course, he is a FROG.)

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God’s glory, now, is kindled gentler than candlelight under the rafters of a barn: Eternal Peace is sleeping in the hay, And Wisdom’s born in secret in a straw-roofed stable.*

When I was younger, I wrote music to and recorded Thomas Merton’s poem, “Epiphany Carol.” If you have never read it, search it out on the internet. Merton’s words are profound and paint a picture of the awesomeness of Jesus, the newborn King of Kings, lying in a simple straw bed. The shepherds and Wise Men are drawn to pay homage to the One who has been born above all others and brings with him hope for a broken world.

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