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Category Archives: holy days
Holy Saturday: quiet as the grave
But did the very earth fall silent? Or was the drumbeat of falling rain, children of the waters of creation falling again, amplified by the rock roof, turning the storm into an orchestra of praise; what of susurrating ants, murmuring earthworms, galvanized by the hewing … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, poetry, prayer
Tagged God, Holy Saturday, Incarnation, Jesus, poetry, prayer, Resurrection, silence, tomb
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Palm Sunday: Gleanings
Did they leave their cast-off garments for the poorto pick up and wear after the parade?Who kept watch for the Romans,and what was the signal to disperse in a hurry,and who knew and who was left to fend for herself?Did … Continue reading
The death of Simeon
Simeon, a man full of the Spirit of God, had been told by that same Spirit that he would live to see the face of God. What more could a man want? Yet who could see God and live? Continue reading
Anna in the sanctuary
Widowed, but not alone, shrouded in the living stone of temple prayers woven as a garment of grace haunting the holy place, sanctified and sanctifying the very air with praise. She would not follow them to Egypt, return with them … Continue reading
What heals history?
We enter this new year, and this new season after Christmas, with some trepidation, don’t we? We are haunted by the shadows of the past, concerned for the present, warned by the violence that greeted the new year in New Orleans and Nevada and far beyond; our hopes and fears for the future year clash and mingle in the air like smoke.
And yet this is the Feast-day, the celebration of the Epiphany, the manifestation of God’s incarnation to the nations, to us. The bright promise that God is with us, even us. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Epiphany, Herod, Incarnation, insurrection, Jesus, love, Matthew 2:1-12, The Revelation of the Magi
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A departing
The legends and myths of the kings and the Magi, drawn from faithful, imaginative engagement with the biblical text, resonate with us as a church as we draw together to seek the same saving grace: God with us, Emmanuel; a holy Communion in Christ. The legends reflect our life together as a church, as people, whose paths converge and cross and diverge on the journey toward Christ. We will mark one such departure this morning. After twelve years together, we will remain always united in our experience of God in Christ and in this gathering at the manger and the table and the cross; and yet we will leave by different roads. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Communion, Epiphany, grief, Jesus, leaving, light, love, magi, Matthew 2:1-12, parish, Revelation of the Magi
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New Year’s resolutions
More Jesus, less judgement More Magnificat, less might makes right More mercy, less Schadenfreude More love, less envy More transformation, less conformation More inspiration, less trepidation More Jesus, less me More Jesus
A Christmas Message
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was the cry of a newborn infant, swaddled in cloth and laid in a feeding trough. … Christmas. It’s a … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon
Tagged Christmas, Incarnation, Jesus, John 1:1-14
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Christ the King (or, the king is not the thing)
One of my favourite biblical reflections on kingship and humanity is Jotham’s parable from the book of Judges:
The trees decided to anoint themselves a king. First, they asked the olive tree: Come be our king! But the olive tree did not want to give up its vocation to produce oil for anointing, to honour and to heal, in order to govern other trees. So they asked the fig tree. But it would not give up its vocation to feed people and animals, birds, and all with its sweet goodness, so it declined. So, too, the vine, when asked, said why would I give up wine-making in order to govern other trees? Finally, they asked the bramble. The bramble, said, if you can find shelter under me, fine, go ahead; but if you are pricked by my thorns and shut out or caught up in my briars, it will be the worse for you. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Christ the King, Jesus, John 18:33-37, Judges 9:7-15, neo-nazis, parable of the trees, Pilate
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Witness
A sermon for All Saints Sunday We all know about Lazarus, don’t we? Lazarus has become a byword for those who return from the dead. In paleontology, Lazarus names those species that disappear from the fossil record as though extinct, … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon
Tagged All Saints, grief, Isaiah 25:6-9, Jesus, John 11:32-44, Lazarus, love, Year B All Saints
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over the water 