Lent II March 16, 2025 Genesis 15:1-18 Philippians 3:17 – 4:1 Luke 13:31-35 On this first joyful Sunday celebration of Joris’ ordination as a deacon, I was relieved to see that our reading from Luke’s Gospel puts the religious authorities of Jesus’ day in a good light. Most of the time, Jesus has very few good things to say about the ordained people of his day. Large occasions…
March 9, 2025Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13 In the darkest days of the Second World War, the Christian author and professor C. S. Lewis wrote a series of articles for a magazine. The articles took the form of letters from an experienced senior devil in hell, offering advice to his young nephew.…
Last Sunday of Epiphany March, 2nd 2025 Exodus 34:29-35 ; Ps 99 ; 2 Co 3:12-4:2 ; Luke 9: 28-36 Today is the last Sunday of the Epiphany season. We have followed the rise of the ministry of Jesus, he has revealed himself to us. His power of attraction and subversion was gradually revealed to us as we…
Epiphany VII February 23, 2025 Genesis 45:3-11; 15 ; 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 ; Luke 6:27-38 Reporting abuse, corruption or injustice is an extremely difficult act that makes those who dare to speak vulnerable. The victims themselves often find it difficult to comprehend the seriousness of what they have endured, oscillating between denial, guilt and sometimes fear…
Epiphany VI February 16, 2025 Jeremiah 17:5-10 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Luke 6:17-26 How did Jesus teach? Most of us can remember several of his parables: like the lost sheep, the prodigal son or the sower who sowed his seed on good and bad ground. We can probably remember some of the things he said about…
February, 9th 2025Isaiah 6 :1-8, 9-13; I Corinthians 15 :1-1; Luke 5 :1-11 Have you ever caught wild animals? Have you ever fished or hunted? How did you set about it? Apart from a few attempts at angling and fishing (which is more like picking fish up than going on a hunting safari!) I have…
Feast of the Presentation / Candlemas February 2, 2025 Malachi 3:1-4 Hebrews 2:14-18 Luke 2:22-40 This year, the Feast of Candlemas – or the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple – falls on a Sunday. It always falls on the fortieth day after Christmas – the second of February. It seems that the early Church…
Epiphany III January 26, 2025 Nehemiah 8:1-10 I Corinthians 12:12-31 Luke 4:14-21 Think about the first time you came across the Bible. Was it through a parent or relative? Was it in Sunday School? Was it in church? Was it at a secular school? Did you first think of the Bible as a book…
Epiphany II January 19, 2025 Isaiah 62:1-5 Ps 36:6-11 I Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11 Lack of wine can have dramatic consequences, as we well know at Saint-Esprit! I’m not talking about our receptions (I don’t think we’ve ever ran out of wine), but about what happened in 1919. At that time, supported by secular and…
Epiphany I | The Baptism of ChristJanuary 13, 2013Isaiah 43: 1-7 Acts 8 : 14-17 Luke 3 :15-17, 21-22 When I was first ordained, I used to baptize about four babies per month. I was serving in a poor parish in Birmingham, England when it was The Thing To Do to get your child baptized.…