Category Archives: sermon

Monday 2020: Cleansing the temple

Posted on April 6, 2020 by

Monday morning: disinfecting doorknobs, disaffecting traders, tilting tables to wipe them down, zealously sanitizing sacred space, swiping between compassion and contempt; mask slipping, brow sweating, having tested positive for mortality Also from Monday’s Daily Office readings: How lonely sits the … Continue reading →

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Ostriches and jackals

Posted on April 3, 2020 by

(This Lenten meditation for the daily series from the Diocese of Ohio was composed before our part of the world was turned upside down by COVID-19; but God’s mercy endures forever.) Continue reading →

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The question of Lazarus

Posted on March 28, 2020 by

“Tell me, mortal,
can these dry bones live?”
Lazarus, coughing and blinking
replies, or would
if breath permits, Continue reading →

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Chasing clouds

Posted on March 24, 2020 by

Not as children naming
animals in a fluffy sky; nor yet
storm chasers, seeking secrets
funnelled from heaven to earth; more
refugees from understanding,
lost in bewilderment, following
clouds across the wilderness
desert dry-mouthed – Continue reading →

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Why did this happen?

Posted on March 22, 2020 by

When Jesus and his disciples come across a blind man begging, the disciples ask a question that the sages have answered in various ways throughout the ages: why is there suffering in the world? Why do even the unarguably innocent – babies and children – suffer? Why do we live with these questions from birth and throughout our lives, even in the midst of joy, even in the midst of love, even with Jesus walking right next to us? Continue reading →

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Sermon from the edge of a pandemic

Posted on March 15, 2020 by

Jesus was not great at social distancing. Wherever he went he attracted crowds that pressed against the lake shore, against one another, against him and the hem of his garments. Once, he filled a house so full that they had to take the roof off to fit one more person in.

Even out in the sticks, he managed to find the one woman next to a well, and asked her for a drink. Continue reading →

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Naming the idols

Posted on March 2, 2020 by

Some are easy to spot, sporting colourful plumage;

they make fast promises they cannot keep. Continue reading →

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