The Fourth Sunday after Easter

The Collect.

OALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. St. James 1:17-21 (ESV)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

The Gospel. St.John 16:5-15 (ESV)

But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Rev'd Canon Dr. William Griffin, Ph.,D., R.I.P.

When I left the meeting of the Rotary Club of Goose Creek this afternoon I had a message from Karen Griffin and suspected, correctly, that the news was sad, namely that her husband, the Rev'd Canon Dr. Will Griffin, had passed away -- he indeed had the previous night.

Will Griffin and I first corresponded via email before finally meeting in person at the annual Mere Anglicanism conference in Charleston in, I believe, 2006. At the time Will, whose earthly pilgrimage had included time as an Old Catholic as well as Roman Catholic (with a stint as a monk) in addition to time in the Episcopal Church before heading for the Continuum, was a priest in the Anglican Province of America and fairly recently widowed. We struck up a friendship and some time after that he married Karen, who brought him great joy. Will's service on the board of the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas brought him to Charleston with increasing frequency and we often enjoyed getting together -- in between those meetings we would keep up by telephone and email. When a large number of parishes left the APA to form the Diocese of the West of the Reformed Episcopal Church and later of the Anglican Church in North America and added benefit was that I got to visit with him more regularly. At the enthronement of Archbishop Robert Duncan, we processed together.

Will lived a full life in service to Christ and His Church. May he rest in peace and rise in glory!