Category Archives: sermon

The prodigal God

Waiting  for the God to come home; if I saw her on the road would I run, hitching up my skirts, fire up the pyre, melt the golden calf, sacrifice my unbelief, my cold soul on the altar of her … Continue reading

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A cynical preacher on the prodigal parable

Every story has a point of view. I knew that family. I would have told their story a little differently than Jesus did. I would have told you a little more. The kid was a chancer, a gambler, an addict. … Continue reading

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Year C Lent 3: self-examination and repentance

Lest ye repent, says Jesus, you will all perish as they did. It was the first soundbite of Jesus’ campaign trail, his initial mission statement: Repent, for the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Our exhortation … Continue reading

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The penitent

on her knees scrubbing blood from the pavement beneath the broken icon

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Year C Lent 1: reading and meditating on God’s holy Word

So it is Lent; but because we are not Puritans but Episcopalians, we can still have a little fun. Today, I have brought a new game to get us in the mood to consider this morning’s gospel. It is called, … Continue reading

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An Ash Wednesday meditation

We are dust, and to dust we shall return. That much is true, and yet it is not the whole truth. We are dust. We are accounted as dust in the scales of creation and God, of the nations and … Continue reading

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Last Sunday after the Epiphany: shining through

The closer we come to the core, the center of the gospel, the more clarity and the more mystery we encounter. On the one hand, the story is straightforward. A child’s board book would show Jesus and the disciples dusty … Continue reading

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The Dorchester chaplains: friends of God

Homily for Evensong at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland A website dedicated to the memory of the Dorchester chaplains describes a fine detail: Petty Officer John J. Mahoney, tried to reenter his cabin but Rabbi Goode stopped him. Mahoney, concerned about the … Continue reading

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Year C Epiphany 4: bread and stones

It is a curious thing that so many of the people whom Jesus meets want very quickly to kill him. He has only just begun his ministry, after the baptism in the River Jordan; after the forty days of desert … Continue reading

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Year C Epiphany 1: Come, Holy Spirit

The Gospels take a lot of short cuts through the life of Jesus. Whether they begin at his baptism, as does Mark, when he is already fully grown and ready to set out into the wilderness of temptation, and the … Continue reading

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