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Category Archives: homily
When worlds collide
Today, while our church celebrates and ruminates on the revelation of Christ to the nations – the arrival of the magi at the manger and their joyful homage to the child they recognized as the saviour of the world – the news cycle is full of analysis, unresolved shock, and grief over what happened and what so nearly happened to our nation a year ago today. Continue reading
Posted in current events, Holy Days, homily
Tagged Epiphany, insurrection, January 6, Jesus, magi
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Word, wordless
A brief message for Christmas Day If, like me, you have memories from long before you learned how to talk, then you know that even before it speaks an infant tells itself stories and lays them down, woven into the … Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, homily
Tagged Christmas Day, John 1:1-14, John's Prologue, Word of God
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Because love is the miracle
Love is what it takes
to make the other
miracles true… Continue reading
Posted in Blessings, homily, poetry, prayer
Tagged love, marriage, miracle, wedding of Cana
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For All Saints and All Souls
He has dwelt with us as our God; we are his people,
and God is with us; and as surely as Jesus wept for his own friend,
he will one day wipe every tear from our eyes. (after Revelation 21:1-6) Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged grief, John 11:32-44, Resurrection, Revelation 21:1-6
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The faithful shepherd
The Incarnation of Christ is the certainty that God has experienced and undergone all that drags us down into that valley. God is with us in its depths, with rod and staff, the faithful shepherd. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged consolation, depression, Good Shepherd, grief, Psalm 23
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Friends of Jesus
Jesus’ radical reordering of the relationship between himself and his disciples is part of his final teaching, the pinnacle of his incarnation as a human being, a friend among friends. Continue reading
Posted in homily, sermon
Tagged Aelred of Rievaulx, John 15:9-17, spiritual friendship
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What is the meaning of this?
Resurrected, Jesus came back to his people, and he loved them out of their grief and his suffering. He remained true, in his resurrection, to the calling of his incarnation: to use his humanity for healing, his relationships for grace, his life for love. Continue reading
Maundy Thursday: washing Judas’ feet
The devil had already sown the seeds of betrayal in Judas’ heart, and Jesus knew it full well. He let Judas know that he knew it. And he washed Judas’ feet. Continue reading
Posted in Forgiveness, Holy Days, homily, meditation, sermon
Tagged footwashing, Judas, Maundy Thursday
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Are we there yet?
There is nothing in Christ’s story that would justify our sacrifice of children, women, grocery shoppers, police officers, and passers by to defend our right to reserve weapons of violence to ourselves. On the contrary, the resurrection is God’s ultimate judgement on the violence that nailed Jesus to the cross. The resurrection is God’s utter negation and reversal of all that would kill the beloved. Continue reading
over the water 