PENTECOST III – 06.26.22 Bishop Visitation Confirmation This morning we will be presenting Frederic Raymond Roger Spitz to receive the sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation is a renewal of, or recommitment to, the vows which had at some earlier time already been made in Baptism. If Frederic was baptized as an infant, as is common, he…
Trinity Sunday June 12, 2022 Proverbs 8:1-31 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 Before I came to St. Esprit, I worked in Paris and in London as a priest and as a researcher into Christian-Muslim relations. For several years I served as the advisor to the Bishop of London on inter-faith dialogue. They were interesting and challenging…
Pentecost June 5, 2022 Genesis 11:1-9 Acts 2: 1-21 John 14:8-17, (25-27) My mother was the head-teacher of a school and sometimes used to tell funny stories about parents who were convinced that their children were highly gifted. I suppose every parent believes that their child is special, but however specially gifted they might be,…
Easter VII / Sunday after Ascension Day May 29, 2022 Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:15-23 Luke 24:44-53 If search for the word ‘ascension’ on the internet, you’ll find that it is a preferred name for everything from insurance companies to healthcare providers and marketing and sales services. You can see why the word has appeal. It…
Easter VI May 22, 2022 Acts 14:8-18 Rev. 21:22 – 22:5 Jn. 14:23-29 You might remember hearing on a Sunday a few weeks ago that the first gift that Jesus gave to his church was the gift of peace. When he appeared to the disciples gathered in fear in the locked upper room in Jerusalem,…
EASTER V May 15, 2022 Acts 11:1-18 Revelation 21:1-16 John 13:31-35 In both French and in English, someone who has a particular way of looking at the world is often said to have ‘an artist’s eye’. We tend to think that this is something that you’re born with rather than something that you can learn…
Easter IV May 8, 2022 Acts 9:36-43 Revelation 7:9-17 John 10:22-30 It’s rather appropriate that the Mother’s Day reading taken from the book of Acts concerns Tabitha. She is also known as Dorcas; the Greek translation of her name which means “Gazelle”. She even has a species of gazelle named after her – gazella dorcas…
Easter III May 1, 2022 Acts 9:1-6 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1- 19 In nineteen ninety-eight, churches and organizations associated with the flight of French refugees during the wars of religion in the fifteen hundreds commemorated the four-hundredth anniversary of the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes. Before the Edict (and after its revocation by Louis…
Huguenot Sunday April 24, 2022 Acts 5 :27-32 Revelation 1 :4-8 John 20 :19-31 If we take Easter Day 1628 as the first communion service celebrated by the French Protestant community in New Amsterdam, we just celebrated our 394th Easter in this City. St. Esprit is only four years away from commemorating four centuries of Christian worship.…
Easter Day I want you to imagine for a moment the place where you think a new religion should be born. Think about what this means. The world’s religions claim to give people meaning in their life. They claim to show us how to thrive when passing through the best and the worst that the…