Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost August 23, 2020 Exodus 1:8 – 2:10 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew 16:13-20 Modern Western society seems to have an obsession with the concept of time. Our personal computers have to be precisely calibrated in order to function properly. Modern watches keep accurate time down to the millisecond. Almost every gadget in our…
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost August 16, 20220 Genesis 45:1-15 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15:(10-20),21-28 In our Gospel reading, we hear of the only occasion in which Jesus fails to respond to someone who calls to him for help. He simply remains silent when a foreign woman appeals to him to heal her sick daughter. The…
Pentecost X August 9, 2020 Genesis 37:1-28 Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33 Before the tunnel from England to France was built, the quickest route by car or train was to take the boat or the hovercraft from Dover to Calais. This gave rise to many jokes in England, such as “Fog in Channel. Continent cut off.”…
Pentecost VIII Afrique fête July 26, 2020 Genesis 29:15-28 Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-52 Afrique Fête is one of my favorite Sundays of the year. It feels to me like a festival that is unique to the family of St. Esprit, and it always comes as a surprise to me to hear how many of our…
Pentecost VII July 19, 2020 Genesis 28:10-19 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-43 Though Edwin Muir was born on the island of Orkney in Scotland, he must be one of the most well-travelled poets in history. He spent time in London, Prague, Germany, Italy and Austria. He was Norton Professor of English at Harvard University. He had…
Pentecost 6 / Bastille 12 July 2020 It is said that Jean-Baptiste Belley, the first black deputy for the French colony of Santo Domingo in 1793, introduced the third term of the motto, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. Still today, the motto that one associates so often with France is also one of the mottoes of the…
CINQUIEME DIMANCHE APRES LA PENTECOTE 5 juillet 2020 Il est probable que ce soit le fait de grandir à Chypre qui m’a donné le goût de tout ce qui est “oriental”. Notre passage de la Genèse sur le mariage arrangé d’Isaac et Rébecca est rempli de ces images que les gens qualifient d’orientales. On…
Tutti Frutti Christi – Le quatrième dimanche après la Pentecôte le 28 juin 2020 Une des choses les plus difficiles quand on écrit un sermon et qu’on est un baby preacher comme moi, c’est de ne pas se laisser tenter par les fruits les plus accessibles. C’est plus facile à dire qu’à faire. Je…
Pentecost III June 21, 2020 Genesis 21:8-21 Romans 6:1-11 Matthew 10:24-39 The story of Sarah and Abraham’s banishment of Hagar and Ishmael is one of the most troubling and enigmatic texts in the book of Genesis – a book well known for its difficult texts! It is difficult because it shows us that the Hebrews,…
Trinity Sunday June 7, 2020 Genesis 1:1-2(a) II, Corinthians 13:11-13 , Matthew 28:16-20 Why does the Bible begin with a story of creation? It needn’t have done. It could have begun with the call of Abraham; a creation story that tells us of the founder of our faith. It could have begun with the story…