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Category Archives: sermon
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
The promise of apocalypse
In the apocalypse that Jesus describes, the sun, moon, and stars are shaken out of their usual routine and function by the opening of heaven. But this is not a catastrophe, a failure of the light; rather, the created order and its finite light is overwhelmed and outshone by the inbreaking of the glory of God. … Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, sermon
Tagged Advent, apocaypse, Emmanuel, Mark 13:24-37, Year B Advent 1
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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
Blessed are those who mourn …
Blessedness is not about material success nor even the absence of suffering in this life: it is about walking ever more closely with God. The closer we come, the greater our understanding of the rewards of mercy, the heights of humility, the purity of love, the power of peace. So yes, blessed are those who mourn when God Themself is weeping. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, sermon
Tagged All Saints, All Souls, beatitudes, grief, Matthew 5:1-12, war in the Holy Land
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Blessed
Blessed are those who know God’s poverty: the emptying out of all that is not God. Blessed are those who grieve with God, who know the sorrow of heaven, who nestle in God’s bosom. Blessed are those who have the mind of God, not … Continue reading
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