Pentecost June 8, 2025 Romans 8:22-27 Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-1 After the church service next Sunday, a group of volunteers will come together to begin work on the little garden that we plan to make next door. Tending a garden in a shaded yard in the middle of Manhattan surrounded by skyscrapers is not an…
Easter VI May 25, 2025 Acts 16:9-15 Revelation 21:10-22:5 John 14:23-29 Once every few years, our spring schedule of services means that we celebrate four big Sundays in a row: Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Huguenot Sunday and the Sunday of the Annual General Meeting. Almost every year, we celebrate those last two occasions during the…
Easter III May 1, 2025 Acts 9:1-6 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 The word we use in both French and English to describe someone whose interest in sports, a certain sort of music or a celebrity is a shortened form of the word ‘fanatic’. In its long form it has rathe disparaging connotations. It…
April 20, 202510:34-43 Romans 6:3-11 Luke 24:1-10 In recent months, the row over textbooks and what is taught in universities in the United States has reached a head. When I went to primary school in the sixties and seventies, the answer to the question, “Who discovered America?” was “Christopher Columbus.” The answer to the question,…
Lent VApril 6, 2025Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8 The Marys of the bible are confusing, because there are up to six or seven or them. The New Testament mentions the name over sixty times. It probably derives from the ancient Egyptian verb meri – ‘to love’. The most easily recognized is Mary the…
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.…
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…
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…