What Does it Mean to Backslide?
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Why Do WE Celebrate Palm Sunday? By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear family, Tomorrow is Palm Sunday when the Christian Church celebrates Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is the last Sunday of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. Jesus is coming fresh from raising Lazarus from the dead. While many believed in him…
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…
Dear Family A couple of days I posted an article on peace and violence I had found on the internet that I thought made a good case for non violence and peace. Today I would like to explore that a bit further with some of my own thoughts Two Different Views On War 1. Just…
Dear Friends and Family Enclosed find a pastoral letter on the immigration policy of President Trump that was issued to my church, and in which I stand 100% behind in solidarity with my bishops as well as with immigrants. It is shared here in the hopes some will endorse and embrace what is shared here…
As we begin this story in I Samuel 3 we find Samuel ministering under Eli. He was given to the Lord by his mother Hannah and has been livingwith Eli learning to be a priest. However, it did not teach one tohear the voice of the Lord and recognize it,…
Dear Family, As we celebrate Palm Sunday I would like us to consider where we stand concerning Jesus. In today’s readings taken from Mark 14:1-15:47. It starts off with the religious leaders trying to figure out how they can arrest Jesus without starting a riot. They can’t find any legitimate way to take him so…
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….
Dear family, Find enclosed my latest poem. Hope you all enjoy and comments are always welcomed Brother Lawrence Damien Cos The Power of God By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos I have been broken but not forsaken, Knocked down but not kept down I’ve felt pain but that was gain For the power of God is…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
What is Shrove Tuesday (aka Fat Tuesday)? By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos A week from today many will be gathering in their churches to eat pancakes and celebrate Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday. It marks the end of Ordinary times or Epiphany depending on your tradition and getting ready for Ash Wednesday and the beginning…
Dear family. In a few months, in June, those in the LGBTQ community will be celebrating Pride month, and our pride in who we are. Many from within the LGBTQ culture, as well as straight Christians, look to their faith for answers on what this all means, whether one can be gay or LGBTQ and…
As I was meditating on the messages of this past weekend specifically the message of Pastor John on Saturday morning and Pastor Cavalain’s on Friday night and Saturday morning I began to feel God speaking to me what I believe may be the next step in fulfillment of the vision of the tapestry given to…
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…
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…
Back in the 1960’s the 5th Dimension sang a song called “Age of Aquarius”. In the song, So they claimed that the dawning of the age of Aquarius was happening right then. What is this age about? What will it be like? How can we identify it? Can it be a reality or is it…
Reflections on Radical Jesus the Taboo Breaker By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear Family, Today’s gospel reading was on the women at the well of Jacob in Samaria. If we read this from a 21st century we might think what is so shocking about this passage. After all men talk to women everyday even women…
In Matthew 2nd chapter we are introduced to a group of men call Magi or wise men. These were men highly skilled in astrology, astronomy, predicting the future, and were sought after by kings and emperors as advisers to them. In the world of their day they would have been unsurpassed yet I believe that…
In recent years there has been a rise of Conservative Evangelicalism which has to pass itself off as the legitimate and only form of true Christianity. Theirs is faith-centered in a personal relationship with Jesus, and following a conservative theological understanding of the Bible, as well as a politically conservative agenda. Their idea is to…
In recent days there has been much discussion on what it means to be “Born Again”. Some would say it just a confession of faith and giving ones heart to the Lord. Others would insist that one must be baptized, speak in tongues, dress a certain way, subscribe to a certain doctrine, or belong to…
The Annunciation of the Lord By Brother Lawrence Damien Cos Dear family, Saturday March 25 will be The Annunciation of the Lord also known as The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is also known as the Annunciation or Our Lady or Lady Day in England. It is Christian celebration of the announcement by…
The first place where we encounter the idea of hell is in the Old Testament. It is called Sheol and is mentioned over 60 times. However it was not seen as a place of punishment. Instead it was seen as the common grave of all mankind. It didn’t matter whether you were rich, poor, good,…
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…
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-…
“To be like Jesus, To be like Jesus, All I ask is to be like Him, Through all life’s journey, From earth to glory, All I ask is to be like Him.” Dear Family Back in my Evangelical days I used to sing the above song a lot. Then would come the trials, tests…