What Does it Mean to Backslide?
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Within the straight and gay communities there are people who practice BDSM (Bondage, Discipline or Domination, Sadism and Masochism. This is a form of role play involving “slaves” and “masters”. I have no intention of either defending or endorsing, or condemning the practice. However there are principles within these activities, which are applicable to our…
We have gotten through Holy Week and celebrated Easter and now its Easter night. The disciples are all sitting behind locked doors debating a message they had received earlier in the day. Certain women had gone to the tomb early in the morning to anoint the body of Jesus. When they arrived they found an…
Dear Family, Bruce sent me a copy of a chat that happened in chat the other night after I left between Bruce, Dad and Father Steve. They were discussing morning stars and how both Satan/Lucifer and Jesus are referred to as morning stars and wondering why? Enclosed find my response to them in case anyone…
Dear. family, Why did Jesus die? Many Evangelicals would answer to appease an angry God. God was upset with the fall of our first parents and was going to send everyone to hell. Jesus came then to solve that problem and save all who would believe in him. However, is that the case or is…
During the season of Lent many churches do what are called the Stations of the Cross. These are fourteen stations, which re-enact the last moments of Jesus life here on earth from His condemnation before Pilate through His body being laid in the tomb. We get to walk with Christ along the same path He…
Today is forty days since we celebrated Easter and the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the grave. Now He is preparing to return back to the father and no longer be visible to the disciples and others whom He has just spent the last forty days with teaching and instructing them. The disciples…
The following study is based on an article sent to me by Bruce Kine called Close Encounters of the Sacred Kind by Lee Speigel, a contributor to AOL News. It also includes the opinions of Rev. Barry Downing, a retired Presbyterian minister who believes that earth has been visited by extraterrestrial beings since Bible times…
Dear family Today March 25 we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation i.e. when Gabriel appears to Mary to tell she would become pregnant and a son to be called Jesus. So its nine months to Christmas and no, no one actually knows when the annunciation actually happened. Its celebrated now because Jesus birth is…
Brother Lawrence Damien Cos (Community of Solitude) was born in Maine in 1948, started teaching/preaching in 1966, and was ordained to the ministry in 1970. I was raised in the Congregational faith and later became Church of Christ, then Pentecostal, then Episcopal then Independent Catholic. which I still am today. I was educated at Melodyland…
Dear family Continuing on Lenten journey today I am reflecting on the Book of Revelation and what it may mean for those of us now in the age of Coronavirus. In my evangelical days I saw the Book of Revelation as pointing to the last days just prior to the return of Christ to this…
After our recent meeting a friend of mine and I had a discussion on hell and whether or not it was a place of eternal suffering without end. Many of our Evangelical brothers would believe that it is a place of eternal suffering. However other Christians would say that all who are cast into hell…
Is God and Environmentalist? By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear Family On Saturday April 22 we will be celebrating Earth Day here in the USA. That got me to thinking about what God might think of Earth Day? What would God think of our handling of the earth? Would he or she care? Many believe…
What is Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday? By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear family Palm Sunday has come and gone. Holy Week has begun and we are about to witness and be a part of the last few moments of Christ’s life. The first major event of that week comes on Maundy Thursday or Holy…
Dear Family As anyone knows who knows me very well knows I am an pacifist committed to non violence. I believe all wars are immoral and that we as Christians and followers of Jesus are called to be peacemakers. Enclosed find an article that for me sums up the case very well for non violence…
INTRODUCTION Recently many of my friends and I have been discussing compassion and the compassionate Christ. What is it, what would it look like are questions we have asked ourselves and discussed with each other. One important issue we need to address and think about is how do we bring the reality of a compassionate…
In case anyone is interested I have done the following on Priestly Celibacy for my church. Thought some of you might be interested in the history of where the idea comes from so am sharing it here. If there are any Roman Catholic who are members of our group this is not a put down…
Dear Family, Many when joining a monastic community change their name as I myself did. Why do we do this? What is the meaning of it? Is it something the Catholic Church dreamed up or is there a biblical basis for the practice? In my last post I shared how I changed my name and…
For Everything There Is a Season and a Reason By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos For everything there is a season and a reason There is a time to be born and a time to die, There is a time to be young and time to grow old, A time to be weak and also a…
Dear family In the last few months during the having to be shut in due to the Coronavirus I have had a lot of time for reflection and contemplation on various aspects of my life and how well I may be doing in seeking to be more like Christ and fulfilling the ministry he has…
We have made it through Easter, encountered the risen Christ and are moving from there. The next two events are Ascension Thursday (or Ascension Sunday if the church doesn’t have Thursday services) and the ten days later is Pentecost which then leads to the beginning of Ordinary Times, which lasts to the beginning of Advent…
Dear Family I was surfing on the internet and came across what were called “Living Humanist Values : The Ten Commitments.” They are based on the Ten Commandments found in the Bible but taken from a humanist standpoint and non religious platform. While I do not endorse Humanism necessarily I think the article makes some…
Dear Family, This past May I celebrated my 71st birthday and in October I will celebrate 53 years in ministry which is cool. So what have I learned in all that time? Am I smarter now than I was then? Actually no. I have gotten dumber in one respect. In my teens and early 20’s…
When it comes to eunuchs many of us have been taught that it refers to a castrated male i.e. one who has had his testicles cut off. However I believe, scripturally speaking, that is only one of the definitions for a eunuch. The scriptures give three different types of eunuchs, as taught by Jesus. “For…
Sixteen years ago at Thanksgiving 2002 I began a journey that would ultimately take me from the Evangelicalism of my younger years to my becoming a Catholic in 2008 which I still am. During that time as a man dedicated to following the “Word” and Jesus I have had a problem and wrestled over seemingly…
Read chapter 1 “A Passion For Compassion” first Chapter 2 “…and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your ancestors-…
At a recent retreat I was at, the topic of forgiveness was discussed and various aspects of it. As I pondered more on what I heard and learned there I began to wonder what would true forgiveness look like? How could we recognize it. Is it simply a matter of saying “I’m sorry, please forgive…
Why Did Israel Want a King and What Were The Consequences? By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear Family I participate in a conference call on Monday nights where several of us gather to discuss what we have been reading in the Bible and sharing any insights God may have shown us so all can be…
What is Chrism Mass By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear Family, We are approaching Holy Week. At some point during Holy Week the priests, bishops and the faithful will gather for a Chrism Mass. This mass has two purposes. First it is the time for the blessing of the oils which will be used in…
Dear family Here is my next chapter. Hope you are enjoying this and comments welcomed. Brother Lawrence Damien Cos  Down The Mountain To The Valley To Confront Life (Chapter 2) In our last chapter we were on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses, Elijah, Jesus and God. What an experience that must have been….
How many roads can a gay man walk down Before they will call him a man? How many times must a gay man cry out Before his voice can be heard? And how many gays must take their lives Until we know to many have died? The answer my friend lies with you and me…