Sermon – First Sunday after Christmas

The First Sunday after Christmas Day December 29, 2019 Isaiah 61 :10 – 62 :3 Galatians 3 : 23-25, 4 :4-7 John I :l-18 The great market square in Marrakech, the Djemaa el Fna, is the largest town square on the African continent. As the sun sets, it becomes more and more crowded with people…

Advent IV – Sermon

Advent IV December 22, 2019 Isaiah 7:10-17, Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Dreams play a major role in the nativity stories. It seems as if every key moment in the conception, birth and early childhood of Jesus was accompanied by a dream. When I think about my own dreams, they sometimes reveal my worst fears, and…

A CHRONICLE OF MY PILGRIMAGE

 By Jungja Jacqueline Hong “I can’t believe you are here,” Canon Jeanne said, finding me standing in front of the bar at the St. George’s Guest House. I arrived there, exhausted and unnerved. The other pilgrims were all in the introductory session when I walked through the lobby to my room. They already had strolled…

Avent II – Sermon

Advent II December 8, 2019 Isaiah 11:1-10  Romans 15:4-13   Matthew 3:1-12   It is hard for us to understand today, but there have been times when the Middle East was at peace. In fact, centuries have gone by without the area knowing any conflict at all. The period from about 825 BC until 730 BC…

Avent I – Sermon

Advent I December 1st, 2019 Isaiah 2:1-5                 Romans 13:11-14         Matthew 24:36-44 One of the things that I like the best about the Episcopal Church is that it follows the regular and traditional pattern of the Church’s Year. Every season of the secular year has its corresponding liturgical season. The Church’s year begins with the…

Sermon – HARVEST / CHRIST THE KING 2019

HARVEST / CHRIST THE KING November 24th, 2019 Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Philippians 4:4-9 John 6:25-35 The news stories concerning migrants and refugees over the past 5 years or so have reminded us forcibly of the historical fact that migrant peoples are very rarely welcomed with open arms by the settled populations into which they move. The…

Sermon – Pentecost +23

Pentecost XXIII November 17th, 2019 Isaiah 65:17-25 II Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19 When I encountered the breadth of Christian spirituality in the United States first-hand, I was astonished at the importance that many Christians gave to thinking about the end of the world. Televangelists, book sales, entire denominations were dedicated to interpreting the book of…

All Saints | La Toussaint – Sermon

All Saints Sunday November 3, 2019 Daniel 7:1-18   Ephesians 1:11-23   Luke 6:20-31 For centuries it was the custom in Christian countries to give children the name of a saint. The principle is even written into the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church: “Parents, sponsors and the priest are to take care that a name…

Pentecost +19 – Sermon

Pentecost XIX October 20, 2019 Jeremiah 31 :27-34 II Timothy 3 :14- 4 :5 Luke 18 :1-8 Nobody likes a complainer, and very few people like having to complain. But I’m sure I’m correct in thinking that everyone here has been in a situation of having to complain about incompetent service: (banks, phone companies, insurance firms to name but…

Pentecost +18 – Sermon

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 13, 2019 Jeremiah 29:1, 4 –7 II Timothy 2:8-15 Luke 17:11-19 In 597 BC, a calamity befell the southern Jewish state of Judah. About one hundred and thirty years before, the Assyrians conquered the northern state of Israel and dispersed its people forever. In 597 BC, the Babylonian king besieged…