Prayer is an essential part of our life together. It is not only gathering together for worship, and reciting formal prayers; it is also working for the spread of the Gospel, leading a life which is an example to others, being charitable, remembering Christ’s commandment to love one another, and simply taking time to remember and be with God.
As a Christian community, we at the Cathedral live to support and encourage one another in all kinds of prayer. We pray for one another in our daily life and work, we pray for those who are suffering and in any trouble, and we give thanks for the good things in one another’s lives. Prayer not only binds us together as a community, but it binds us together with the whole body of Christ’s Church throughout the world, and throughout history. Prayer enriches our lives also be offering us peace of mind, body, and spirit, grace, and the unfathomable riches of God’s presence among us.
We meet together for prayer every weekday at 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. People who cannot come to the Church to meet for prayer can participate by praying at home or at work. Forms for daily prayer are found in the Book of Common Prayer, and links are available from this page. People who participate in this prayer find it valuable because it offers some regular time of peace and quietness, an opportunity to connect with God, and an ‘antidote’ to the noise, cares, and concerns of daily life.
We invite people everywhere to join us in prayer and thanksgiving for members of our community, and for people everywhere, according to their need.
Our worship and our prayer lead us into a process of formation: of allowing ourselves to be re-created and renewed by our loving God. We engage with this process by deliberately studying all aspects of our faith, and of the world we live in. We engage with one another and with the community around us to deepen our call to seek and serve Christ in all persons. We challenge one another with our viewpoints and spur one another to greater charity and devotion. This is not a congregation where you are expected to ‘check your brain at the door’ but one where you will be given the chance to grow through this process of formation and enliven our conversations with your distinctive views and beliefs.
Building a Temple with Living Stones ~Fr. Michael The Cathedral has been a profound delight for me to pray in since I first visited here to discern the call to be dean some six years ago. Like many people who come to visit, I was rather overwhelmed by the simple grandeur of the High Altar,…
April: Fools for Christ ~Fr. Michael April has a peculiar tradition. We make jokes and play pranks on April first, because it’s “April Fool’s Day”. Most people suppose this is just a silly recent phenomenon, maybe something that some joke shop somewhere invented to increase sales. But, it’s actually very old, and like many things…
Lent is a Time for Health and Healing ~Fr. Michael One thing is abundantly clear from the Gospels, no matter how you read them or interpret them, this point is solid: Jesus was a healer. ‘Everywhere he went’ we’re told over and over again, ‘everyone brought the sick and infirm to see him.’ It seems…
A Practical Way to Grow in Your Relationship with God: Develop a Daily Habit ~Fr. Michael If you have read any of my reflections in the Spirit in the past five years, or perhaps hear one of my sermons, you will very likely have heard me talk about thanksgiving and gratitude. This is because I believe…
The Gift of the Kingdom ~Fr. Greene There is only one simple qualification for being a disciple of Jesus: give up everything. That’s a pretty insurmountable obstacle. So hard is this qualification that earnest Christians have thought of many ways to soften Jesus’ words without washing all meaning and challenge out of them. It is often…
All Hallows’ Eve ~Fr. Michael All over America, Halloween is a day for children to dress up, have fun, and get lots of treats from indulgent neighbors. Skeleton suits and zombie makeup are all in fun. Some like to point out that the origins of this festival are not as fun, but have dark and…
Silence in the Church from a tract at Durham Cathedral ~Fr. Michael As a child I was taught always to whisper or speak quietly in church, except when joining in acts of public worship, and only to speak at all other times when absolutely necessary. The church building was a holy place, where people came to…
“Sono Contente?” ~Fr. Michael Our recent visit to a few monastic communities in Italy taught me some valuable lessons about life. I always find monastic devotion and dedication rather remarkable, but seeing how it intersected with a different language and culture made it more so. The first question all of our monastic hosts asked as…
“How Am I supposed to Believe That?” Our Beliefs, Our Worship, and Our Everyday Life-Fr. Michael Think of all the people you encounter every day. Maybe they’re in line ahead of you to pay for gas, maybe you cross paths in the street, maybe you catch eyes while waiting next to each other at a…
Common Life and Personal Prayer -Fr. Michael What would you think if you were watching a baseball game on TV, and in the interviews after the game, the manager said, “my strategy worked out well, didn’t it?” or a player said, ‘I pushed myself hard, and it paid off when I hit that home run,…
