Pentecost XXI October 17, 2021 Job 38:1-7, 34 – 41 Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35 – 45 “God has three sorts of servants in the world: some are slaves, and serve Him from fear; others are hirelings and serve for wages; and the last are sons and daughters, who serve because they love.” Thomas Secker Archbishop…
Pentecost XX October 10, 2021 Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 I know that it’s only a small start, but I have to say that it is a truly wonderful feeling to be able to begin in-person worship on Sundays. I’ll try to describe just why that is in a moment, but for now,…
Pentecost XIX / Oktoberfest October 3, 2021 Job 1:1; 2:1-10 Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16 Since we began celebrating an Oktoberfest in 2000, I’ve always looked forward to the occasion. This isn’t just because it’s an excuse for a party in the garden. It’s because it coincides with the beginning of a season of giving…
The Sunday closest to St. Michael and All Angels September 26, 2021 Genesis 28:10-17, Revelation 12:7-12, John 1:47-51 Most people today think of angels in one of three ways. There are those who are firmly convinced that immensely powerful spiritual beings exist, and that they occasionally make their presence felt to human beings such as…
Pentecost XVII / Rentrée Sunday September 19, 2021 Proverbs 31:10-31 James 3:13 – 4:3,7-8a Mark 9:30-37 Well, on our annual parish calendar, which we put together last November, today is supposed to be Rentrée Sunday, so welcome back to Saint Esprit! It’s obviously not the sort of Sunday we were imagining, but nevertheless there is…
Pentecost XVI September 12, 2021 Proverbs 1:20-33 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 Soon after the events of September 11th, 2001, a native New Yorker was traveling on a bus on the West Side when she overheard two tourists conversing in front of her. They spoke about how much they loved New York, and how sad it…
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST September 5, 2021 Isaiah 35:4-7 James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17 Mark 7:24-37 One of the unfortunate by-products of this pandemic has been an increase in bad behavior in public. Not a day goes by without some story of people breaking into a rage about something. Perhaps it is the stress of how…
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost August 29, 2021 Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Anyone who has lived through a bout of food poisoning will tell you that they still feel slightly nauseous when they remember the food that made them so ill. I once caught amoebic dysentery from some olives I…
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost August 22, 2021 I Kings 8:22-30, 41-43 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 What sort of biographies do you enjoy reading? Biographies rich with historical detail, or biographies that reveal the inner lives of their subjects? The biograhies of Jesus in the New Testament give us both types. Generally speaking, while the three…
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost August 15, 2021 I Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58 During the pandemic, a surprising number of people have focused on two things that they might have neglected in the past. Firstly, the lockdowns, restrictions and closures of restaurants and cafés have led to people cooking for themselves, sometimes for…