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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
Rejoice, repent, renew
I had a realization on Tuesday evening that our Bible Study group witnessed me coming to in real time: that John the Baptist was an Episcopalian. In our daily office prayers, and even in our Sunday Eucharist, if we turn … Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Advent 3 Year B, John the Baptist
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The great forerunner
A star is a miraculous being, born of the infalling of dust and ashes, the sacred debris of creation set aflame on the altar of nightfall; A miracle blazing by night, as dawn breaks open the path of the rising Sun, outshone, the star remains, its fire … Continue reading
Lucy and the Light of the World
I think of the long aperture of a camera taking pictures of the night; instant to instant, our eyes see only the tiniest pinpricks in the darkness, but left open to the sky, the camera is able to absorb and interpret those tiny messages into images of great light and beauty; images of hope. Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Bethlehem, Desmond Tutu, Holy Land, John 1:9-14, John Donne, light, light of the world, manger, Saint Lucy, war
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John, the post-traumatic prophet
My first Advent as a priest was the season of Sandy Hook. That Sunday the Gospel was about John. I realized that he must have grown up in the shadow of that massacre of innocents committed by Herod; although he, like his cousin, escaped, it would leave its mark on his parents and his small self.
I find myself this Advent once again, for obvious reasons, contemplating post-traumatic John the Baptist, his infant self and all that imprinted itself upon him through the coming of the Christ child and the world’s unwillingness to accept the angels’ proclamation of peace upon the earth.
#preparingforSundaywithpoetry Continue reading
Endings and beginnings
Unfurl the sails and let them cover the sun, the moon, the stars with the urgency of glory glorying in the new creation, with tender attention to the fig tree that you always loved, seeing it swell and fall over … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, preparing for Sunday with poetry
Tagged Mark 13, Year B Advent 1
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Words that do not pass away
I do not remember well my mother’s voice any more; the soprano on the cd is younger than I knew her. What I carry buried deep within my skull are nursery rhymes and nonsense that emerge like sea mammals, occasionally, … Continue reading
Christ the King
The Son of Man, the king of kings, summons the nations of the world and mirrors back to them the ways that they have treated the image of God in their own people and in one another’s people; in all people made in the image of God. I find it striking that the question both groups ask, sheep and goats, is, When did we see you? Continue reading
Because all is not lost
I do not think that you are a harsh and grasping God, and there is nowhere to reap that you did not sow, whether with promise or with judgement; what, then, to make of this weeping and gnashing? If you are to be believed, the one who doesn’t recognize your … Continue reading
Oil
In the Hebrew scriptures, oil is a constant sign of God’s providence towards the people, and it is part of the tithe, the offering that the people offer back to God. In the New Testament parables, we see the good Samaritan pouring oil into the wounds of the man assaulted by bandits on the dangerous road Jerusalem and Jericho. Oil is a symbol both of loving God and of loving our neighbours. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged blessing, Matthew 25:1-13, oil, parable of the bridesmaids, Year A Proper 27
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A parable for the anxious
Her voice rasped like a struck match from crying out her wares: Oil! Get your oil here! Don’t run out. She spent her days like a candleburned at both ends, her core alight with the vision of a strip of lamplight creeping from beneath heavy … Continue reading
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