Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost August 8, 2021 II Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Ephesians 4:25-5:2 John 6:35, 41-51 When I was a child, my grandmother had a pressure cooker and I hated it. I wasn’t alone: her dog hated it too. It is a sort of saucepan with a very tight-fitting lid. It is so tight,…
Pentecost X August 1, 2021 II Samuel 11:26 -12:13 Ephesians 4:1-16 John 6:24-35 “Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant, a robber-baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point be sated; and since he dimply knows he is doing…
Pentecost IX / Afrique-fête July 25, 2021 II Samuel 11:1-15 Ephesians 3:14-21 John 6:1-21 Though the time when Europeans and North Americans could be forgiven for knowing very little about Africa is now long past, there are still many who continue to believe that Africa is the name of one country, and not the name…
Pentecost VIII July 18, 2021 II Samuel 7:1-14 Ephesians 2:11-22 Mark 6:30-34, 53 – 56 When the first lock-down was imposed in New York City in March of last year, I decided that one of the ways in which we could respond to the situation would be to hold daily live-streamed morning and evening prayer…
Pentecost VII / Bastille July 11, 2021 II Samuel 6:1-19 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29 The Bible – a bit like the French, (as you may recall on the occasion of their national holiday) has a rather complex relationship with the concept of royalty. At times, the virtues of kings or queens are celebrated, and at…
Pentecost VI July 4, 2021 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13 Pledges and donations to the church have become more and more important over the last year or so. Because of the pandemic, we haven’t been able to ‘pass the plate’. We rely on the generous donations that many of you have…
Pentecost V June 27, 2021 II Samuel 1:1, 17-27 II Corinthians 8:7-15 Mark 5:21-43 Do we always get what we deserve? I suspect that most of us would answer this little question with a resounding “NO!” We would love to live in a world where the equation would go something like this: “If I do…
Pentecost III June 13, 2021 I Samuel 15:34-16:13 II Corinthians 5:6-17 Mark 4:26-34 Have you ever had to do one of those ‘ice-breaker’ exercises where you’re supposed to ask each other questions to get to know each other better in a short period of time? They go by the name of ‘accelerated team development exercises’.…
Pentecost II June 6, 2021 I Samuel 8 :4-15, II Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3:20-35 If I asked you to recall stories of Jesus’ family in the Gospels, I imagine that your minds would first conjure up the nativity stories in Matthew and Luke. You might then remember the incident when Mary and Joseph realized that they…
Le dimanche de la Trinité Le 30 mai 2021 On ne sait pas grand-chose du personnage dans l’Évangile de Jean qui a provoqué Jésus et lui a fait prononcer non pas un, mais deux des versets les plus cités de la Bible : « Il vous faut tous naître de nouveau » (Jean 3:8) et « Car Dieu a…