Today we remember with gratitude and thanksgiving John the XXIII Bishop of Rome, Born Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli (1881–1963)

                          The Confession 

                      at Morning Prayer

     

    We have 

    not loved 

    you with 

    our whole 

    heart; we 

    have not 

    loved our 

    neighbors as ourselves… 

    have mercy on us & forgive us; 

    that we may delight in your 

    will & walk in your ways

Elected Pope in 1958 at the age of 77, in the first year of his pontificate, he called the Second Vat-ican Council to throw open the window of the Church to the Holy Spirit. The Council’s emphasis on liturgical renewal, ecumenism, world peace and social justice changed the landscape of the Church in the 20th 

century and we Episcopalians are 

surely his beneficiaries. 

Pray today for Pope Francis,  

for continual and courageous renewal of the Church; 

for boldness, for humility and humor; for a spirit of love 

and service; for openness to the surprises of God 

who longs to transform our lives, 

our church and our world.

And while you’re at it, pray also for the repose of the soul of Mohammed Ali, born 1Cassius Marcellus Clay in 1942, the 3 time heavy weight champion of the world, "the Greatest of the Great," who has died after a 32 year battle with Parkinson’s Disease. 

“[People] are

 like wine - 

some turn 

to vinegar, 

but the best

improve with age.” 

   - John 23

                                   Unfinished painting 

                                by James Hunter of a 

                                WW 2 draftee who 

                                never returned to have

                                this portrait finished.